SOLD

One of the most beautiful words in the English language!!!

Well, after 7 long months, many rush clean jobs, stress, packing, moving, patching holes in the wall, about a case of Windex, cleaning the carpets, worry, driving around town while people looked, 2 Realtors, panic, intense negotiations, at least a case of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, ads placed, signs made, sleepless nights, and enduring people telling me "The Market is Slow" at least 1,000,000 times, I SOLD THE HOUSE (I hope!).

We have a contract. It is signed. We will not close immediately because the buyers are also trying to sell their house in Missouri. So they will "Occupy Early," which is the real estate phrase for living in it, paying me rent, and waiting to close until their house sells. We are in the process of taking care of things that the housing inspector found, all small. Although it is quite a challenge coordinating it all from Atlanta, I think I have it mostly all lined up. My dear friend Laura has agreed to take down the curtains that I left. I was trying to make it look more "homey" since my Realtor was worried since it was going to be empty. If only I had known, I would have packed those suckers!!

As we thought, they do plan to move in on October 1. YAY! Selling a house is not easy! The price is only $1500 lower than we were asking, but that is heavily dependent on the appraisal anyway. Maybe with the delay in closing, the market will get better. . . I can hope, right?

I was counting on the military to come through for me. I was thinking that the constant movement of army folks in and out would be the answer. Several deployments of large units at Polk did not allow this to come to fruition. But in the end, the answer to our prayers was someone with a transient lifestyle, a family always on the move, someone who has to relocate for their job: it is a preacher and his family! This makes me feel even better about taking the risk of allowing them to delay closing and occupy early. That is why we did the home inspection now. Once they move in, they agree to buy it as is.

I cannot tell you what a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. Now when I sign the lease for our quarters on post at Ft. Stewart, I will not be paying for 2 houses. I will sign the lease October 30, but we will not move in right away. I cannot yank the kids out of another school just as they got settled. Bless their hearts, they are such troopers about all the constant changes. I want them to be able to feel secure for a while. And I am so thrilled with their preschool, I don't want to leave, either.

So now I am hoping that someone wants to buy a house in Kansas City, know anyone who is interested??