It has been quite awhile since our last post, and quite a lot has happened in that time.
Early in the spring Erin and I started exploring the idea of selling out house. We loved our current house, and when we moved in, we thought we would be here for along time, but things change. A few of the reasons we decided to sell our house and move:
1. Schools: You can start by reading this blog posted about a year ago. Things have only gotten worse with no signs of getting better. Oregon schools, especially Portland Public are just not up to our standards.
2. Affordability: When we purchased our house, we did not factor in children, child care and everything that comes with it. I was making over double what I make now, and if we wanted to have another child, and to actually go on a vacation every once in while, we needed a smaller house payment.
3. Costs of living: Erin and I both work in Washington. The schools are better, there is no income tax, housing is less expensive, along with daycare and other costs. It just made sense to move across the Columbia and return to our Washingtonian roots.
4. In state tuition: Don't underestimate the pull of ensuring that Nathan goes to the University of Washington, or at the very least goes no where near that campus in Eugene. In state tuition is the only hope we have of affording college when hopefully that day comes. Plus now we can start a GET account so all his grandparents can contribute.
After meeting with our realtor and finding out that we could sell our house not only without losing money, but possibly squeak out just enough money for a down payment on the next house, we determined to move forward and sell the house.
Now we had a long list of items to complete to get ready. We walked through our house with our realtor and he pointed out just about every flaw, every piece of clutter and personal item in the house with instructions for getting rid of, fixing and tiding up. With a month left of summer we got to work. First step was to order a POD. We ordered a 16 foot POD and loaded it up with all sorts of extra furniture, personal items, holiday decorations and anything else that took up space. We patched and painted, cleaned and scrubbed; we were almost ready to list the house. The final step was the yard. While we keep our yard in pretty good shape, we had some long overdue maintenance to take care of: power washing, yard bark, and a few other things. Since Jeff was teaching summer school we decided to bite the bullet and just pay someone to knock it all out in two days rather than laboring for a week or longer and doing everything ourselves. What a luxury to have two guys sweating over the weeds and bark dust while Erin relaxed inside with coffee for two days.
Just two weeks before the first day of school, our house was ready and the listing went live on the MLS. Our realtor assured us it would take a few days for interested buyers to come by, but we ended up having three visits the first day! We quickly packed up Nathan into a stroller and headed to a local park a few times that day. From then on, it was a fairly steady stream of visitors--at least one every two days or so. Soon enough, school started and we were racing each morning to have the house, "visit worthy" before leaving for work.
As the second week of school was starting, we got an offer! The house had been on the market for just four weeks, which seemed both long and short. We were surprised and excited that someone saw the same value we saw in our beautiful house. The following weeks became a whirlwind of inspections and negotiations, paper work to sign, house hunting and packing up more of the house.
Despite have a 45 day close, we did not find a house in Vancouver that met our expectations. We signed a three month lease on an apartment in Vancouver, feeling a little disappointed. Three days later, we found our next dream house, in Battle Ground. Ugh, what timing! Our realtor inquired about a longer closing period and as luck would have it, the sellers agreed, given that they might build their own future home. Now, thanks to many amazing friends and family, we have moved into our little apartment and anxiously await our closing, currently scheduled for the first week of January.
Stay tuned for details on the new house; we are very excited to welcome all our dear friends and family as guests!
P.S. Perhaps you noticed the title of this blog post is also the name of our state song, Washington My Home. If you are not familiar with our state song, please click the previous link to enjoy the music and lyrics, as well as some lovely portraits of our Evergreen state.
Early in the spring Erin and I started exploring the idea of selling out house. We loved our current house, and when we moved in, we thought we would be here for along time, but things change. A few of the reasons we decided to sell our house and move:
1. Schools: You can start by reading this blog posted about a year ago. Things have only gotten worse with no signs of getting better. Oregon schools, especially Portland Public are just not up to our standards.
2. Affordability: When we purchased our house, we did not factor in children, child care and everything that comes with it. I was making over double what I make now, and if we wanted to have another child, and to actually go on a vacation every once in while, we needed a smaller house payment.
3. Costs of living: Erin and I both work in Washington. The schools are better, there is no income tax, housing is less expensive, along with daycare and other costs. It just made sense to move across the Columbia and return to our Washingtonian roots.
4. In state tuition: Don't underestimate the pull of ensuring that Nathan goes to the University of Washington, or at the very least goes no where near that campus in Eugene. In state tuition is the only hope we have of affording college when hopefully that day comes. Plus now we can start a GET account so all his grandparents can contribute.
After meeting with our realtor and finding out that we could sell our house not only without losing money, but possibly squeak out just enough money for a down payment on the next house, we determined to move forward and sell the house.
Now we had a long list of items to complete to get ready. We walked through our house with our realtor and he pointed out just about every flaw, every piece of clutter and personal item in the house with instructions for getting rid of, fixing and tiding up. With a month left of summer we got to work. First step was to order a POD. We ordered a 16 foot POD and loaded it up with all sorts of extra furniture, personal items, holiday decorations and anything else that took up space. We patched and painted, cleaned and scrubbed; we were almost ready to list the house. The final step was the yard. While we keep our yard in pretty good shape, we had some long overdue maintenance to take care of: power washing, yard bark, and a few other things. Since Jeff was teaching summer school we decided to bite the bullet and just pay someone to knock it all out in two days rather than laboring for a week or longer and doing everything ourselves. What a luxury to have two guys sweating over the weeds and bark dust while Erin relaxed inside with coffee for two days.
Just two weeks before the first day of school, our house was ready and the listing went live on the MLS. Our realtor assured us it would take a few days for interested buyers to come by, but we ended up having three visits the first day! We quickly packed up Nathan into a stroller and headed to a local park a few times that day. From then on, it was a fairly steady stream of visitors--at least one every two days or so. Soon enough, school started and we were racing each morning to have the house, "visit worthy" before leaving for work.
As the second week of school was starting, we got an offer! The house had been on the market for just four weeks, which seemed both long and short. We were surprised and excited that someone saw the same value we saw in our beautiful house. The following weeks became a whirlwind of inspections and negotiations, paper work to sign, house hunting and packing up more of the house.
Despite have a 45 day close, we did not find a house in Vancouver that met our expectations. We signed a three month lease on an apartment in Vancouver, feeling a little disappointed. Three days later, we found our next dream house, in Battle Ground. Ugh, what timing! Our realtor inquired about a longer closing period and as luck would have it, the sellers agreed, given that they might build their own future home. Now, thanks to many amazing friends and family, we have moved into our little apartment and anxiously await our closing, currently scheduled for the first week of January.
Stay tuned for details on the new house; we are very excited to welcome all our dear friends and family as guests!
P.S. Perhaps you noticed the title of this blog post is also the name of our state song, Washington My Home. If you are not familiar with our state song, please click the previous link to enjoy the music and lyrics, as well as some lovely portraits of our Evergreen state.
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