Painting makes my husband very grumpy.
(This window was LITERALLY replaced just HOURS before the first showing of the house)
The house listed on Thursday afternoon, April 3rd.
We had our first showing the next night around supper time so we went out for dinner to kill some time while the potential buyers checked out our house.
(He's dipping yogurt melts in blue cheese dressing. GAG!)
Then, surprisingly, we didn't have any showings on Saturday. But Keith and I spent that day looking at properties, hoping that we could find a house that we like so we would be prepared to make an offer if we went under contract on our house. We had our second showing on Sunday evening around 6:30. Since we didn't feel like taking them to a restaurant, we hit the Wendy's drive-thru and fed them as we walked around Walmart killing time (their food is in those cups).
When we got home that night, our realtor called to say that they wanted to come back the next evening so their children could see the house and they asked a few questions that led us to believe they might make an offer. So, Monday night we took a family trip to Target to pass the time.
Late Monday night we got our offer. The house had been on the market for FOUR days! They had given us a 48 hour deadline to respond, and we took that opportunity to show the house a few more times. Then, we did a little negotiating and eventually settled on a price and we were under contract- just six days after we listed (April 10) . I had been hearing that houses were selling very fast and "they" were not wrong.
We quickly learned why our house sold so fast. There are WAY more buyers than houses for sale right now. The market is HOT. I would say that about 2/3 of the houses I would inquire about already had a contract. We were kind of interested in a house in Brentwood that we had seen the weekend before, but our realtor took us out to see about four or five more before we made a decision and by Saturday night (April 12), we were writing an offer for a house in Franklin. We had to wait on approval from the sellers' relocation company and by Thursday, April 17th, we were under contract.
(I HATED the columns, but we were making plans to change them)
Then, we had our inspection on Friday, April 19th. We discovered that the house had some foundation issues and moisture issues that we were not comfortable with and we pulled our offer.
We saw a few more houses over the weekend and then saw one on Monday night (April 21st) that I loved and we made an offer the next morning. We learned that we were in a multiple offer situation and found out on Thursday, April 24th that the sellers went with a different offer.
On Friday we finally made an offer on the house in Brentwood that was our "backup plan" this whole time. We found out on Saturday, April 26th (Alice's birthday) that the earliest they would close was June 9th (six weeks away) and there were a few other stipulations in the contract. We pulled our offer.
At this point, I gave up any hope I had left of having Etta's IEP transition meeting before this school year let out.
On Sunday afternoon, we went to see a few houses in a neighborhood in Thompson's Station. I had originally hoped we would move further north, but I have always loved this neighborhood. We went to one house with our realtor and two more open houses in the neighborhood. At that moment I was out of options. There had been no new listings that met our criteria and we were just kind of done. So, we kind of started considering building in that neighborhood. We were interested in learning more about a house that had just been framed, but our realtor had to leave so she set up a meeting for us with the builder's agent at the house that was under construction. Keith and I were both surprised when the builder also stepped out of the car along with the agent. He had the floor plans with him and we discussed the house that was under construction. We were going to have to change a few things about it to make it suit our needs and then he asked if we had walked through the house next door (which was also under construction, but further along in the process) and we told him that we had and that if THAT house were available, we would be making an offer on it. So, we went over and walked through that house and talked about things that we liked and didn't like. Mr. Shaw spent a couple of hours with us that day and we talked about his available lots and we chose a lot that we think we're gonna love and we went home to sleep on it.
The next day, we all met again. Mr. Shaw, his realtor, our realtor, me and Bill (my step-dad, who is an architect and was still in town following Alice's birthday celebration). We spent FOUR hours walking around that house that was still under construction, making plans and changing a few things and we drove over to a nearby neighborhood where Mr. Shaw had a completed home and we could talk about the finishes that come standard with the house and what might be an upgrade/ added cost. Then, we marked all over the plans with the changes we wanted to make.
I spent the day Tuesday frantically searching for a house we could rent for six months, but no one wanted to give us a six month lease. I gave up hope of finding a HOUSE and settled on an apartment complex in Cool Springs that had an apartment available for immediate occupancy. On Wednesday, I took Alice for her one year check up, went by and toured the new apartment/ started the lease process, took Alice back to the house where Mel was hanging out with the older kids and I headed over for a meeting with Mr. Shaw again to look over the revised floor plan. later that afternoon, his realtor came over to our house so we could sign a contract and hand over an earnest check before I had to run out the door with Etta so she could get to GiGi's for her weekly tutoring session.
With our signed contract, I was able to register Etta for school next year!! I have heard great things about the school we will be zoned for! That meant that we were able to set up her IEP Kindergarten Transition Meeting before this school year lets out (to be exact, her meeting is taking place on the VERY LAST DAY of the school year)!!! Huzzah! (I will be driving her back and forth to Thompson's Station every day for two months once the new school year starts, but still, YAY!)
The POD arrived in our driveway on Friday morning.
(they are playing with a roll of packing tape)
We were very busy on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Final supper in our house:
First supper in the apartment:
The apartment was not completely cleared by Sunday afternoon, but we stayed our first night in the apartment on Sunday and we went back on Tuesday and finished clearing the house. It took us four FULL days, but we finally cleared the house.
1/3 of our stuff is in a storage unit, 1/3 of our stuff is in a POD (mobile storage unit), and the other 1/3 is sitting in this apartment with us.*side note* Etta wasn't feeling well the ENTIRE time we were moving. She ran a fever on Saturday, Sunday, and by the afternoon on Monday, I KNEW it was strep.Took her to the pediatrician first thing on Tuesday morning and got the confirmation and a prescription for antibiotics.
She followed the orange fish all the way around the tank. "Hi, Orange Fish!" It was cute.
We are slowly settling into the apartment.
Etta is still in school in Spring Hill, so we are driving down every afternoon to drop her off and spending time driving around in circles until the littlest ones fall asleep for their nap (which last no longer than 40 minutes, but usually less).
**Another side note: Compounding the situation: I have not had a/c in my car this whole season. I just have not found a day when I could give up my car. The only day of the week that Etta doesn't need to go to school is Wednesday and I have had things to take care of every Wednesday since the weather warmed. So, we've been driving around with the windows down, which Etta HATES. Keith is finally going to be taking it in tomorrow and I hope they have whatever parts they need in stock because I really need my car and we really need the air conditioner to work (it was in the mid-80's today).
I thought I would add a little video tour of our apartment, but we still have boxes to unpack and I don't even know where the sheets for my bed are! So, maybe another time on the video.
We signed the closing papers on our house today. What an incredible month that was!!
