Tag: moving

Categories
life

Taking Posession

After a long weekend with no internet access I was not at all surprised at the long list of emails that I had to deal with. It was a very good weekend to be disconnected since I had plenty to do as we moved into our new house. After a good three day weekend we are pretty well established with most of the boxes unpacked (besides those that are sitting in the garage – which is mostly food storage) and the furniture arranged. I fixed a couple of doorknobs with dysfunctional locks but not before Savannah accidentally locked herself inside the upstairs bathroom (the lock was easy to lock, but unlocking it from inside the bathroom was too difficult for women and children). I also mounted a flag bracket so I can fly the flag here.

It’s been a very fun few days as we have been awed and surprised to watch all the birds and squirrels, to feel the mountain breezes, to see so many stars at night now that we are above the main part of the city, and to look out the window before a storm and realize that we are literally living in the clouds at times. After today I should have internet access again so I won’t have to wait out the weekend before sharing when fun new things happen in our new home.

Categories
life

Done Deal

It’s been more than a week since we received word that there were no more obstacles in the home sale and purchase that we have been working on. (As with selling my house, we completed our home purchase without enlisting the help of a real estate agent.) Despite all the assurances, I never feel fully comfortable until the money has changed hands and the sales have been recorded. Today was that day. It’s nice that no change of status can derail either of those contracts anymore. Now we just have to move the stuff.

Categories
culture life politics

Taking Ownership

Yesterday I helped my brother move into his new house (like me, he changed jobs and relocated over the summer). I am looking forward in the next couple of weeks to completing a home sale (this week) and a home purchase (next week) so that he can return the favor (actually, him returning the favor is not as important as me simply having my own space again). While I was there I got talking to my sister-in-law and she mentioned how different it felt moving into this house than it did when they moved into their previous house. They bought a brand-new house last time so they had spent about six months choosing options, colors, fixtures, etc. When they moved into the house it felt like their house already. This time they purchased an existing home and they closed in a relatively short period of time. When they moved in it still felt a little bit foreign to my sister-in-law.

As I have thought about that I have realized that it is universally true that we do not really take ownership of anything until we have invested ourselves in it – not just our money, but time and energy and commitment. The fact that my brother and his family have not done that already is no slight to them, it only illustrates a stage in the process of taking ownership that often gets overshadowed by the later stages when that investment has taken root. Often the period of time between choosing something and owning it is fast enough that we never get a snapshot of the intermediate condition of possession before ownership (actually it is possible to own something before it is in our possession).

I think that can be applied to our citizenship and civic responsibility. The statesman has taken ownership of his country by investing himself in the political process etc. On the other hand, many in our nation simply posess our citizenship without having taken ownership. Even among our politicians there are those who seem to posess their office without taking ownership of their responsibilities and position.

Categories
life

Stuck in Limbo

The last few weeks I have consistently not written on Saturdays. Of course I have been generally less consistent, but Saturdays would seem like the time when I would have the most opportunity to make time to write. This week I have ample time to write, but I find that there is apparently another barrier that I will need to overcome before I can consistently post on the weekends – I am busy enough that I don’t follow the news during evenings or weekends in the last 6 weeks. All that time has been spent working on various projects related to moving (finding a house, preparing the old house, etc. The result is that I don’t have anything that I have been mulling in the back of my mind that I can remember clearly enough to write about it. I am hopeful that this is not a permanent change, but until I have more time to think I expect that my weekend posting will be infrequent at best since I don’t have news articles to react to.

The funny thing here is that just as I am finishing this post I had a thought of something worth posting about from yesterday.

Categories
culture life

Feeling Welcome

Laura and I are very excited about the house we are buying in Bountiful – even before our visit there today. We were visiting the house as part of an inspection and while we were there we were given an invitation to a neighborhood party that the neighbors are throwing for us and the couple that is moving out of the house. The party is set for one week before we close and the whole purpose of it is for us and the neighbors to get to know each other even before we move in.

Can we say “inviting?”

Categories
life

Sans Agent

I have nothing against real estate agents, they definitely have their place in helping to buy and sell houses, but I just have to say how nice and refreshing it has been to sell my house without working through an agent or two. I met a great young family on Monday as they came to look at my house and they chose to make an offer. We were able, without any faxing back and forth and delays of having an agent write up an offer which is delivered to another agent who delivers it to the other party to review and counter, to work out an acceptable agreement whereby my house will no longer be mine in the next few weeks. We have not yet signed the formal contract, but we quickly went through the negotiations without having any go-between and because we are not paying any agent commissions we both had the flexibility to arrive at a contract price that was mutually beneficial.

When I receive a written contract (probably tomorrow) it will not have any significant surprises for me because we have already agreed on the concessions necessary to make this deal work and so I will be able to sign it quickly and move this process along so that I am free to buy my new house and be back to living in my own space. I’ll know what address to give people without wondering if it will still be the right address six weeks from now.

Based on my experience I would suggest that even if you want or need to use a real estate agent to buy or sell a property, if it is at all possible you should get the actual buyer and seller to work directly with each other until a broad agreement is reached, then let the agents handle the minutia for a smooth transaction.

Categories
life

Selling

I’ve mentioned that I have moved to the Davis County area. We are currently in a temporary living situation with friends until the house sells. We have it listed on the MLS, but if anyone knows of someone looking for a place in the northern part of Utah County they could come look at our house. If anyone is looking for a house for sale by owner, I have priced the house with the assumption that I have to pay a buyers agent so if you don’t have a buyers agent I can be more flexible with the price.

I figure there’s no place too obscure to advertise and my readers have always been responsive when I talk about life changes such as new jobs and moving so thanks in advance for your well-wishes and/or referrals.

Categories
life

Keeping Up In Silence

I would think by now that I would be smart enough to predict that it would be hard to keep up with blogging when I am simultaneously starting a new job and moving from Utah County to Davis County. Despite how predictable this challenge should have been in foresight, I have been disappointed that I have not had the time to write those few things that I have been thinking about.

I just wanted to take the time to assure everyone that despite my silence (in new posts and as a voice in the comments) I am paying attention to what is being said and I am trying to make time to be as active in the conversation(s) as I always prefer.