Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Update pl0x!

A friend of mine wanted an update so I will take a small break from my carnival of paper and boxes. Friday we arrived to a beautiful home adorned with a red bow above the porch. I got a leaping hug/kiss from my son that was the best ever! A plumber (or 2) was here doing something or other so I had to wait for a moment to kiss my husband. My in laws were here too, so the girl and I were greeted wonderfully by all the Tampa Rosens. I unpacked my car and an older woman walking a dog said “You can’t possibly lift that” to which I responded, “I am stronger than I look”. She chuckled as I hauled a huge roll of new carpet remnant into the house from my car and said “I guess so!” We had Pei Wei for dinner which is AWESOME! The next day we kicked ass and took names and got several boxes unpacked and the electrician came to install 8 fan kits. Sunday we bought a mattress for the boy’s trundle and unpacked more boxes. Monday I picked up the mattress from a warehouse and greeted our best friends. I got some help unpacking and we got to have lunch and dinner and play a little. 8 of us got to break in the pool while the other (me) got dinner from Pei Wei. Did I mention I love Pei Wei? Today is Tuesday and I have been unpacking slowly. I am running out of steam. The kids are going with my mother in law in the afternoon through dinner. This will help IMMENSLEY because the kids are driving me insane. I don’t have the time to invest in them right now and they are fighting a ton causing me to stop a lot of what I have been doing.

It is truly a castle… I cannot wait until it is fully unpacked. We have a long way to go! I will take pics when things are in the proper places. My uncle comes in about 3 weeks and school starts in about a month. Lots to do! Better get back to it ;)

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

Today my heart is beating so fast I think it may explode. So MUCH is going on I cannot even begin to wonder what the hell I have gotten myself into. Last week I had 3 carpet companies give me in-home estimates. I weighed price against product and went with the lowest price since we will not be the ones enjoying the carpet anyway. It is a good carpet though

Also last week and yesterday I interviewed 3 realty agents/teams (I tried to set up meetings with 5 more but got no responses from them) so I could make a more educated decision about what path we should take in replacing our current agent. The first was a husband and wife team and when they left I felt like I had been drugged. They were strong minded, gave a powerful presentation and made me think I needed them and only them. They even called their carpet guy and undercut my lowest bid by $400! WOW! I needed THEM, right? Wrong… 2 days later I asked one of them to get the carpet guy to come over so I could see a sample of the carpet he intended to use. Somehow, it went from “We can get you a better deal than the one you have” to “If you SIGN with us we will extend to you the information. Until then, sit n spin”. And the tone changed in the conversation to insinuate that if we didn’t list our house at a price they deemed reasonable, they wouldn’t even offer us a contract. The GHB had worn off at that point and I needed a shower… Realtor #2 was a very nice guy but less prepared than the barracuda and her Boy Wonder. He had an idea of where he would like the house to be listed but no idea where he thought it may sell. He reminded me physically and socially of my father, which was odd but it made it easier to talk to him. He was cordial and seemed to know his stuff, he just didn’t invest the time in me or my home before hand that #1 an eventually #3 would. Before I met Realtor #3, #2 was it by default! When #3 came in I was worried. She was young and beautiful and I assumed maybe she didn’t have the experience. I should know better than to judge a book by a cover, but only time will tell if she can get the job done. She had prepared information in a similar fashion to #1 but didn’t offer the marketing #1 did citing specific reasons why; 0% yield is not the way to go and efforts/funds are better spent elsewhere. Just because a marketing plan seems grandiose doesn’t mean it is effective. She was very sweet, chatty (like #2) and seemed to care about all parties involved, including our current realtor. Sympathy and empathy go a long way in my book. I am not of the opinion that just because you need to get business done, you need to be brutal, pushy and step on others for your clients or for yourself. So, #3 is it and I will update you on that situation as soon as there is some to update.

The suggestion to repaint to neutral colors has been made more than once. Ed is not interested in spending the $ but I disagree. And instead of making this a 700 page essay I will leave it at that. So today I started getting estimates. One estimate was high, over the phone (didn’t even offer to see the rooms) and I wont be going with them. #2 is a friend of a friend and offered to do the patchwork for $50 when he came to do the estimate. #3 is a friend of my friend’s mother and he is coming tomorrow to give an estimate. I am waiting on 3 calls back for other estimates from recommendations from friends and neighbors. 6 estimates should be fine I think…

I cleaned the fridge, freezer and pantry of the junk but I still need to scrub the freezer and fridge next week. I have light packing to do of things that will be coming in my van as opposed to the moving van. I cannot start that until tomorrow when the pictures are done. I promised Jessie we would got to a movie tomorrow but as soon as that is done, hell begins.

Dinner will be out tomorrow with a neighbor, in tomorrow with another neighbor, at a friend’s home Friday, out Saturday and Sunday (more than likely) Then starting Monday I will be living with a neighbor for the week. Monday we get packed, Tuesday loaded (at this point I NEED to get loaded), Wednesday painting, Thursday carpet and Friday drive to Tampa…. Home… to my castle on the sand… with my BOYS!

Now, can someone buy my house in GA please?