HOUSE HUNTING: CONDO or HOUSE

Single family home

Condo

I'll have to admit that I had no idea how difficult it was going to be to buy a home in the Denver area. 

We were so excited when our home here in Riverton got a cash offer and everything went well. After a little negotiating back and forth we came to an agreement with June 26th as our closing date.

Now Cindy has been looking online at houses in the Denver area for many many months. It's just something she likes to do. We had been told that the Denver market was very hot. But now that we are trying to buy a home there we have discovered just how hot it is. 

We have been looking at single-family homes but added condos to our list. I always thought a home with a small yard and privacy close to amenities was exactly what we were looking for. But I've grown accustomed to the idea of living in a condo also close to amenities of course. 

Cindy would show me a property online from time to time and I would look at it and give my opinion but I wasn't taking it too seriously until now. Last week we saw a property listed that we both really liked. It had just gone on the market on Friday. So Cindy gathered all of our financial information and I faxed it to our realtor and so we were working like crazy to get all of our ducks in a row so we could make a credible offer on this property. She drove the 7 hours to Denver and went to see the property with her daughter Laura. Laura using her phone gave me a tour of the property. It looked really good. I could certainly see ourselves living there. Then the property owners evaluated our offer and decided to go with another buyer who had no contingencies. We still have to close on our house. Earlier we had decided that if we got it it was meant to be and if we didn't get it that was also meant to be. We believe God is in charge. We were disappointed but not overly so. Now we have a clearer understanding of just how hot the Denver Market is. The property will go online in the morning and we'll have an offer by the afternoon or by the end of the day anyway. 

Truthfully I am rather in the dumps about this process because it is hard to see how we could possibly buy a house or condo that we just love with having so little time to even think about it. Now Laura is going to be asked 2 be our eyes down in Denver. If she sees it and likes it knowing what we like we may end up putting an offer on it sight unseen. We could get out of it during the inspection. This is something totally new for us and frankly stressful.

HOUSE SELLING & BUYING

After announced my retirement it was time of course to put our house on the market.

We went with Judy Bauman of Cornerstone Realty here in Riverton. To prepare ourselves to put the house on the market meant that we cleaned it from top to bottom - vacuumed, dusted, washed windows in and out,sorted through books, rearranged furniture, got rid or hid personal items, filled in holes in the walls, junked a lot of stuff and on and on. It is hard work moving. We also decided that we would not wear shoes in the house. 

Cindy was in Minnesota for Mother's Day which meant I was all alone. After eating I didn't put my dishes in the dishwasher and I left my dirty socks on the family room floor while watching a movie. During the movie I started feeling sort of out-of-sorts. Something wasn't right. I stopped the movie, got up and put my dishes in the dishwasher and my dirty socks in the hamper. I also cleaned up the kitchen. Then I finished the movie. That was it. WHEN WILL THIS MADNESS END? AM I DOOMED TO LIVING IN A CLEAN HOUSE FOREVER? IT IS UNNATURAL. Having said that I do like the house being clean. Maybe I learned something here.

The same week of putting our house up we had two showings. So we were off and running. 

As you know we have a cat. It was important to make sure that the cat and her accouterments were no where in sight when showing. Cindy did this more than I did since I am usually at the office and she is at home. One time I came home from work while Cindy was gone. I grabbed the cat, put her in her carrier and then put her in the car. I left her litter box and food in the garage. I then drove around and did some business and then finally parked about half a block away and watched the house. I saw the realtor and the potential buyers drive up and spend time in our house. It felt sort of strange. After they left I simply went home and put the cat in the house. 

The realtor made up some brochures for us. As you can see they turned up pretty nice. 

We put the house on the market April 17th and today is May 13. We have a cash offer and are negotiating a closing date. We could possible have it under contract as soon as tomorrow. So this is exciting. Laura has been texting us to find out what is happening. She is excited for us too.

Since I am not retiring until July 24th Cindy will have to go house hunting in Denver by herself. I would have to find folks willing to house me since our house will be sold and I am still here. We are not going to rent it from the new owners so that is off the table. 

We have said all along that we believe God is in control and that is what is happening. Things will get worked out.