"Moving" woes (JAWM?)

[vonfirmath]

14 minutes ago, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

I just sent my DH to the basement with some boxes to start packing. There’s not much down there but it needed to be sorted and packed. I went down later to find a huge pile of trash (wonderful) and one box with things heaped in it. It’s about three boxes worth all piled into one. ?‍♀️ Why does he do that?! At least I know what he wants to keep so I can go down there and pack it correctly. ?

 

What do you mean three boxes worth piled in one? Does it not close? It if it closes, I can easily see your husband grumbling about the amount of space you leave in boxes when properly they should be stuffed to the gills to take up less space in the moving truck!.

[EMS83]

Sorry; you probably don't think that's funny.  DH is doing nothing but collaborating occasionally, which is fine.  I've got 3 kids I can boss around all day.  ?  We definitely disagree about what this house should look like in order to be photo ready. 

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

4 hours ago, vonfirmath said:

 

What do you mean three boxes worth piled in one? Does it not close? It if it closes, I can easily see your husband grumbling about the amount of space you leave in boxes when properly they should be stuffed to the gills to take up less space in the moving truck!.

Oh no, it doesn’t close. I pack boxes like a Tetris game. He packs them like this.

[EMS83]

Alright advise me, y'all.  We have a 13x13 master bedroom which doubles as the office/man cave (DH's hobby is gaming).  Currently on one windowless wall is a short booksehelf, our king-size wall bed, and a chest of drawers.  This is the wall opposite the door.  Along the door wall is a tall narrow shelf, an executive desk, and a tall bookshelf (matches the short one; the only two things that match in this room).  On the wall that runs between them is the one window, and a TV with 3 consoles underneath it (it's close and perpendicular to the desk so one chair can serve either screen).  Hopefully that makes sense.  Is it a crime to just leave it this way?  The staging thing is random here, really.  Some places do, some don't, and some don't even clear the cosmetics off the counter or remove dirty dishes from the sink.  It's not going to lose us $20k to leave it the way it is.

[WendyLady]

We are in the middle of a crazy moving saga, too.  We are renting, and our landlord has decided to sell.  That was fine with me, as I thought it would list quick and sell quick and we would find a home and move...  I hope it's okay if I take advantage of your thread to just complain a little! (or a lot!)

Our landlord listed the home back in February, they priced it very high for the area and really high for the neighborhood, and are slowly lowering the price.  It has been torture to keep someone else's home clean at all times, with no hope of the financial payback at the end of the sale.  The realtor that we are working with is very difficult, and she gives me the creeps. They have come to take, and retake photos 4 times!  Do you know how nice the house has to look for a photo shoot???  They have not done a great job of keeping communication open, which has been frustrating - ie - it would be nice to know that you are dropping the price $25000 and that we can expect a crazy weekend of showings, again! 

With kids in school, springtime is so busy!  We've had to work showings around Easter and Prom and finals and Graduation and have had to get ready for concerts in the car and study at the library as we couldn't use our own home.  We have had to kick company out of our house while visiting and it feels like this will continue for.e.ver!  They lowered the price again this week and we have a showing tonight and tomorrow night and probably all weekend. fun!  

In the beginning of May, we approached our landlord asking if we could just stay here, and pay a little more rent.  We are military and will be here one more year with this assignment.  We love this area and hope to retire here in a few years. Hubby will be deploying for the next year, leaving in July, and staying here would just be easier. So we offered to pay more rent to stay.  Landlord said no thanks...  Then two weeks later, she contacted us, asking if we would sign a one year lease at the higher rent that we had offered.  We said yes!  Great!  Thanks!  And she wrote back "okay, we will keep that in mind..."  Hmm.

And then they lowered the price of the home (without mentioning it.)  I think they hoped they would get a quick offer at the lower price, but no such luck.  After that frustrating back and forth, we found a home and gave them 60 days notice.  We will be moving at the end of July.  In the mean time, we have a showing tonight and another tomorrow night.  On Monday this week, after getting a text at 9am for a noon showing, I let them know that I need 24 hours notice for any listings or inspections or home photoshoots (which we have had 3 of). I work mornings.  We have teens who are home alone.  I just can't make a showing work with 3 hours notice...  

I hate showing a house.  But I love how clean our house has been for the last 4 months!  

I should be up tidying the house for a 5:00pm showing.  But I don't want to!  Dying over here!! 

[EMS83]

Yuck.  I'm so sorry.  That would drive me insane, for real.  I hope they respect the 24-hour thing.

[G5052]

3 hours ago, WendyLady said:

And then they lowered the price of the home (without mentioning it.)  I think they hoped they would get a quick offer at the lower price, but no such luck.  After that frustrating back and forth, we found a home and gave them 60 days notice.  We will be moving at the end of July.  In the mean time, we have a showing tonight and another tomorrow night.  On Monday this week, after getting a text at 9am for a noon showing, I let them know that I need 24 hours notice for any listings or inspections or home photoshoots (which we have had 3 of). I work mornings.  We have teens who are home alone.  I just can't make a showing work with 3 hours notice...  

I hate showing a house.  But I love how clean our house has been for the last 4 months!  

I should be up tidying the house for a 5:00pm showing.  But I don't want to!  Dying over here!! 

 

This is one of many reasons why we moved in March to a rental while getting the house ready for sale. We were going to have to rent when it sold anyway, so we just did earlier than we had to. The last time we sold my Army guy was a toddler, and I thought I was going to go crazy with how many times they didn't give me any notice at all despite what the listing said. We really wanted it sold, so I put up with it, but REAAALLY. 

One day when I was at the old house cleaning and watering, someone came wanting to see it. It was so nice to say, "No problem. I'm leaving." It's settling in two weeks, so thankfully it's been removed from active listings. I can dust and mow in peace in the interim. 

I did a quick peek today at rentals online, and the nearest rental that would meet the criteria I used for our current place is 45 minutes in the wrong direction. So glad we moved when we did.

[G5052]

3 hours ago, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

Oh no, it doesn’t close. I pack boxes like a Tetris game. He packs them like this.

 

We had all different people over two weeks helping us. I got a few boxes like that which were put in my garage. And a few boxes that were labeled "HEAVY STUFF" and a few boxes that a few things from multiple rooms and multiple floors all in one box. I still haven't found the fancy utensils from the dining room. They've got to be in a box labeled something else that I haven't opened yet.

I'm not complaining. They were amazing. One day two different friends brought big pots of soup, and we ate on that for awhile. And I ordered a lot of pizza. It worked.

[hjffkj]

Are you by chance working with Redfin?  I simply ask because if that is the case then it is 2 different agents for buying and selling.  Their business model is that agents only work one side of the deal, never both, from my understanding.

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

4 hours ago, WendyLady said:

We are in the middle of a crazy moving saga, too.  We are renting, and our landlord has decided to sell.  That was fine with me, as I thought it would list quick and sell quick and we would find a home and move...  I hope it's okay if I take advantage of your thread to just complain a little! (or a lot!)

Our landlord listed the home back in February, they priced it very high for the area and really high for the neighborhood, and are slowly lowering the price.  It has been torture to keep someone else's home clean at all times, with no hope of the financial payback at the end of the sale.  The realtor that we are working with is very difficult, and she gives me the creeps. They have come to take, and retake photos 4 times!  Do you know how nice the house has to look for a photo shoot???  They have not done a great job of keeping communication open, which has been frustrating - ie - it would be nice to know that you are dropping the price $25000 and that we can expect a crazy weekend of showings, again! 

With kids in school, springtime is so busy!  We've had to work showings around Easter and Prom and finals and Graduation and have had to get ready for concerts in the car and study at the library as we couldn't use our own home.  We have had to kick company out of our house while visiting and it feels like this will continue for.e.ver!  They lowered the price again this week and we have a showing tonight and tomorrow night and probably all weekend. fun!  

In the beginning of May, we approached our landlord asking if we could just stay here, and pay a little more rent.  We are military and will be here one more year with this assignment.  We love this area and hope to retire here in a few years. Hubby will be deploying for the next year, leaving in July, and staying here would just be easier. So we offered to pay more rent to stay.  Landlord said no thanks...  Then two weeks later, she contacted us, asking if we would sign a one year lease at the higher rent that we had offered.  We said yes!  Great!  Thanks!  And she wrote back "okay, we will keep that in mind..."  Hmm.

And then they lowered the price of the home (without mentioning it.)  I think they hoped they would get a quick offer at the lower price, but no such luck.  After that frustrating back and forth, we found a home and gave them 60 days notice.  We will be moving at the end of July.  In the mean time, we have a showing tonight and another tomorrow night.  On Monday this week, after getting a text at 9am for a noon showing, I let them know that I need 24 hours notice for any listings or inspections or home photoshoots (which we have had 3 of). I work mornings.  We have teens who are home alone.  I just can't make a showing work with 3 hours notice...  

I hate showing a house.  But I love how clean our house has been for the last 4 months!  

I should be up tidying the house for a 5:00pm showing.  But I don't want to!  Dying over here!! 

Well that doesn’t sound fun at all. We had 9 showings in 2 weeks and the 9th one was our buyer. I’m so glad we didn’t have to do that any longer! It was stressful!

[vonfirmath]

15 hours ago, CES2005 said:

Yuck.  I'm so sorry.  That would drive me insane, for real.  I hope they respect the 24-hour thing.

 

WE bought a house that had renters in it. They had the 24 hours for showing things.

 

But the renters 1) did not clean and 2) did not vacate (they stood on the porch right outside the house)

 

We bought the house anyway but I wonder if it is part of the reason the house sat on the market for 30 days before we even looked at it.

[J-rap]

Interesting thread!  We'll be putting our first (and last home) on the market probably early next spring.  (Our plan is to move to a townhouse in a large metro area.)  So, I figure now is the time to start decluttering -- so much stuff!  We did have a realtor walk through it last year and make so many expensive recommendations.  The thing is, we KNOW putting a lot of money into it won't get us much more money out of it.  It's a lovely home, but has some odd quirks and is over 100 years old.  (And is fairly small.)  We live in a small town and the very old, small to medium sized homes never sell above a certain amount here.  

The one thing that's on our side is that a new school and VA home are opening sometime next year, which will be bringing new people to town looking for homes.

[EMS83]

13 hours ago, hjffkj said:

Are you by chance working with Redfin?  I simply ask because if that is the case then it is 2 different agents for buying and selling.  Their business model is that agents only work one side of the deal, never both, from my understanding.

No, but it's a similar set up, I'm pretty sure.  I haven't asked.  The listing agent is firm we'll get about $10k less than I think we can.  But I'll list at his recommendation and just see what happens when the times comes.  I've already made sure it won't mess with our loan options.  That was the big concern.  

And I'm done.  We're cleaning, taking the last bit of stuff to storage, but the bedroom is staying the way it is, and I might be done touching up paint.  We'll see.  I sort of hit a wall and need to just step back and chill for a bit.  It would sell in this condition, just maybe give buyers more room or desire to negotiate more than I'd like.  Or not; who knows.  All I know is I'm tired!

[Pink and Green Mom]

19 hours ago, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

Oh no, it doesn’t close. I pack boxes like a Tetris game. He packs them like this.

I'm sorry, but I cannot stop laughing at this!  This would be my husband 1000 percent and then feign ignorance at why the movers wouldn't be able to stack that in the truck.  Adding insult to injury, the box would contain:  power tools, the TV remote control, 23 pairs of underwear, and a few coffee mugs.

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

3 hours ago, Pink and Green Mom said:

I'm sorry, but I cannot stop laughing at this!  This would be my husband 1000 percent and then feign ignorance at why the movers wouldn't be able to stack that in the truck.  Adding insult to injury, the box would contain:  power tools, the TV remote control, 23 pairs of underwear, and a few coffee mugs.

Well, we are the movers. We’re renting a truck, accepting all the offers of help we can get, and moving ourselves. I’m tempted to just leave it like this and let him figure it out. I’m pretty sure it’ll be too heavy to lift and/or all start falling out (off?) when he tries to pick it up. 

[hjffkj]

Our inspection report and request for repairs came in.  It doesn't look too bad, a few electrical issues, some shingles need to be replaced, and something else I can't remember at the moment.  I have to call our realtor to see what she thinks but she's busy until 7.  I will just do yard work and make dinner while I wait.

[WendyLady]

edited to say - I just don't want to do it anymore.  And I hate that I was a big whiner here!  

[katilac]

On 6/13/2018 at 4:36 PM, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

Oh no, it doesn’t close. I pack boxes like a Tetris game. He packs them like this.

 

I"m having OCDiinduced anxiety just looking at this! 

[EMS83]

edited because I'm dumb and tired.

[EMS83]

Now I'm really having cold feet.  It's complicated.  /sigh.  Going from rent to mortgage is so much easier than mortgage to mortgage.  I'm seriously tempted to just sell and rent for a bit, but our mortgage is stupidly low.  DH is not actively involved in any of this, either.  He said he's fine with that, but... I lack confidence.

[Scarlett]

1 hour ago, CES2005 said:

Now I'm really having cold feet.  It's complicated.  /sigh.  Going from rent to mortgage is so much easier than mortgage to mortgage.  I'm seriously tempted to just sell and rent for a bit, but our mortgage is stupidly low.  DH is not actively involved in any of this, either.  He said he's fine with that, but... I lack confidence.

Hey I feel your pain.  We have no mortgage....we do have a very small HELOC, but basically no mortgage. What are the main reasons you want to move?  

[EMS83]

We want land for privacy, gardening, and future hobby farming.  We want more space.  Not tons, but there are 5 of us & 2 big dogs homeschooling in 1200 sq.ft.  No attic, basement, garage, shed.  Land & privacy is more important to us, but still, I'd really like at least a dedicated school/toy room.

edit: And I feel kind of bratty even complaining because there are worse conditions to live in, and not that long ago families routinely started and finished in about this much space.  But they didn't tend to home school, and big dogs weren't as much of a thing.  But still.  It's cramped.

[Scarlett]

9 minutes ago, CES2005 said:

We want land for privacy, gardening, and future hobby farming.  We want more space.  Not tons, but there are 5 of us & 2 big dogs homeschooling in 1200 sq.ft.  No attic, basement, garage, shed.  Land & privacy is more important to us, but still, I'd really like at least a dedicated school/toy room.

1200 is not bad.  Is there anyway to build a garage on the property you have?  It might not help with gardening and with farming but it might take off some of the pressure space wise.  Could you double up on payments and get the current house paid for quickly?  Having it paid off helps in the process of buying something new.

[EMS83]

1 minute ago, Scarlett said:

1200 is not bad.  Is there anyway to build a garage on the property you have?  It might not help with gardening and with farming but it might take off some of the pressure space wise.  Could you double up on payments and get the current house paid for quickly?  Having it paid off helps in the process of buying something new.

I've suggested both in the past (or just adding a second story).  DH vetoed both.  He'd like to not see any neighbors.  ?  We're not too close, relatively, but still.  I think 200-300 feet is more his minimum distance.  I've also pared down as much as I can without co-opting everyone else's stuff and tossing it out.  And I'm sitting here wondering do I want to still be here with a 14, 12, and 9 year old?  We could probably pay it off in 2 years if we got serious about it.  But then that could also be saved for a massive down payment for elsewhere (DH's approach).  idk.  We're at this point we're at now because I got tired of seeing great deals (fixers, but solid) pass by, as well as cute move in-ready options.  It just happens to be his busiest time of year.

[Scarlett]

9 minutes ago, CES2005 said:

I've suggested both in the past (or just adding a second story).  DH vetoed both.  He'd like to not see any neighbors.  ?  We're not too close, relatively, but still.  I think 200-300 feet is more his minimum distance.  I've also pared down as much as I can without co-opting everyone else's stuff and tossing it out.  And I'm sitting here wondering do I want to still be here with a 14, 12, and 9 year old?  We could probably pay it off in 2 years if we got serious about it.  But then that could also be saved for a massive down payment for elsewhere (DH's approach).  idk.  We're at this point we're at now because I got tired of seeing great deals (fixers, but solid) pass by, as well as cute move in-ready options.  It just happens to be his busiest time of year.

Well, either way, paid off or a big down payment saved, it shouldn't be that difficult to go from one house to another.  When we moved from a starter house to another house we did a bridge loan.  We didn't have to sell the old house before closing on the new one.  Obviously you have to have enough income to cover both mortgages but if you have a small one now, along with a big down payment for the new house, the bank should be happy to work with you.  

[EMS83]

Well we don't have a big down payment now; we could in two years.  I'm just not sure I want to wait that long to try again.  But it would probably be the wisest option, I guess.  I was just commenting on how renting would cost us more than staying here and saving up more.  I'm just tired of seeing deals go that we could have if we were simply prepared.  It's just apparently incredibly stressful to get and stay prepared...  For me, anyway.  I'm probably doing it wrong, lol.

[scholastica]

2 hours ago, CES2005 said:

Well we don't have a big down payment now; we could in two years.  I'm just not sure I want to wait that long to try again.  But it would probably be the wisest option, I guess.  I was just commenting on how renting would cost us more than staying here and saving up more.  I'm just tired of seeing deals go that we could have if we were simply prepared.  It's just apparently incredibly stressful to get and stay prepared...  For me, anyway.  I'm probably doing it wrong, lol.

You are not doing it wrong. House buying/selling is incredibly stressful. No way out of that, unfortunately, so don't beat yourself up.

[I talk to the trees]

3 hours ago, CES2005 said:

Well we don't have a big down payment now; we could in two years.  I'm just not sure I want to wait that long to try again.  But it would probably be the wisest option, I guess.  I was just commenting on how renting would cost us more than staying here and saving up more.  I'm just tired of seeing deals go that we could have if we were simply prepared.  It's just apparently incredibly stressful to get and stay prepared...  For me, anyway.  I'm probably doing it wrong, lol.

 

? <———That emoji looks nothing like a hug. I liked the hug on the old forum better. 

You aren’t doing it wrong!  We are (supposedly) prepared for this move, and I am still ready to pull my hair out! 

[EMS83]

I hope you're right....

This post is not JAWM.  I'm not sure what to do:

I've asked for listing papers, a stager, and told my buyers agent I want to make an offer on house #1 from this thread.  Our second choice is #2.  #3 is out and #4 is now meh.  The stager is coming today at 2:00 (I just want a second opinion; it's as emptied and staged as it's getting).  I asked for the listing papers anyway, because up to that point it sounded like it wasn't contingent on stagers or whatever, I was told we could get papers and then schedule a photographer when we were ready.  I'd specifically asked about the timeline for listing and there was no "you can't get papers until xyz."  Anyway, I didn't hear back about that yesterday.  I haven't heard from my buyer's agent after saying which house I wanted to offer on and what I wanted to offer.  I asked the loan officer to run numbers on that property after getting an insurance quote, and so far he hasn't.  Also the loan officer said he'd call about or second choice because the loan is different, but I had to be somewhere three hours later, and said that.  Didn't hear back from him.  Am I sending mixed signals?  Or do I need to find new people?  /sigh.  We've never sold a home, so I mean I get I'm the client or customer, but if I'm making mistakes that's sending the wrong messages, that would be nice.  DH said screw that and if he took over, he'd probably fire the listing agent immediately, and I have a feeling the buyer's agent would have to go with him, and since the loan officer was a recommendation of theirs...idk.  Sometimes it feels like the mafia.  And I'll never meet the broker, I don't think.  I don't like their business model at all.  But I've already dragged the buyer's guy to 7 houses at this point and am at the point of potentially offering if we can get numbers run and things signed... 

But DH is behind on proposals himself, so I don't want to fly off the handle and fire people if it's like that for them.  I'm not sure what the acceptable time frame is here where it goes form my impatience to their poor service.  make sense?  If anyone's related to real estate people, I'd appreciate their input for this one.

Edit: and I'm just going radio silence on people I'm not planning on going with, so I can't say much.  /sigh.  I told DH if I were the bread winner, we'd starve because I don't do this business stuff well at all.

[Scarlett]

8 minutes ago, CES2005 said:

I hope you're right....

This post is not JAWM.  I'm not sure what to do:

I've asked for listing papers, a stager, and told my buyers agent I want to make an offer on house #1 from this thread.  Our second choice is #2.  #3 is out and #4 is now meh.  The stager is coming today at 2:00 (I just want a second opinion; it's as emptied and staged as it's getting).  I asked for the listing papers anyway, because up to that point it sounded like it wasn't contingent on stagers or whatever, I was told we could get papers and then schedule a photographer when we were ready.  I'd specifically asked about the timeline for listing and there was no "you can't get papers until xyz."  Anyway, I didn't hear back about that yesterday.  I haven't heard from my buyer's agent after saying which house I wanted to offer on and what I wanted to offer.  I asked the loan officer to run numbers on that property after getting an insurance quote, and so far he hasn't.  Also the loan officer said he'd call about or second choice because the loan is different, but I had to be somewhere three hours later, and said that.  Didn't hear back from him.  Am I sending mixed signals?  Or do I need to find new people?  /sigh.  We've never sold a home, so I mean I get I'm the client or customer, but if I'm making mistakes that's sending the wrong messages, that would be nice.  DH said screw that and if he took over, he'd probably fire the listing agent immediately, and I have a feeling the buyer's agent would have to go with him, and since the loan officer was a recommendation of theirs...idk.  Sometimes it feels like the mafia.  And I'll never meet the broker, I don't think.  I don't like their business model at all.  But I've already dragged the buyer's guy to 7 houses at this point and am at the point of potentially offering if we can get numbers run and things signed... 

But DH is behind on proposals himself, so I don't want to fly off the handle and fire people if it's like that for them.  I'm not sure what the acceptable time frame is here where it goes form my impatience to their poor service.  make sense?  If anyone's related to real estate people, I'd appreciate their input for this one.

Is your offer contingent on selling your house first?

[EMS83]

Yes, that's why I'm trying to get the listing agreement over here.  That was the idea--to get it to 98% list-able, then find something we'd actually live in.  Then list and offer, possibly in the same day. 

[Scarlett]

2 minutes ago, CES2005 said:

Yes, that's why I'm trying to get the listing agreement over here.  That was the idea--to get it to 98% list-able, then find something we'd actually live in.  Then list and offer, possibly in the same day. 

Ok, I definitely think agents don't get too excited about offers with contingencies.

However the listing agent should be moving quickly.....and if he doesn't then I do wonder about them.  I don't know what the time frame is that is reasonable.....I would think he should tell you when he will be there with the papers For you to sign.  

[EMS83]

He said let him know, I said today (yesterday); we have to add an extra day for DH to sign whenever he gets home.  But I also asked about the stager, because it sounded like the two didn't have anything to do with each other.  Then I didn't hear back, even after saying I'd like the papers that day so DH could look at them overnight (which the agent had already said was fine to do).  So now it's today, and I'm wanting to crawl in a cave for different reasons.

The listing agent said our house would be a good starter home for someone.  That will not make me realistic or even pessimistic about sale price, it will make me not want to bother moving.

[PinkTulip]

Here’s my honest opinion: your listing agent sounds like a flake and if I were you, I would fire them. If you are stuck with that particular agency team, I would call them and ask if there are any listing agents there who are interested in listing your house TODAY and willing to put the work in to get it sold in the next 30 days. Time is of the essence in all real estate transactions, and if you have a listing agent that doesn’t get that, dump them. Especially if you are making a contingency offer, the owners of that home want to see you doing everything possible to get your home sold as fast as you can.

I have moved 6 times in the last 16 years in the same general metropolitan area and used the same agent on all of those moves. I am probably one of his most demanding clients, but he knows that we move a lot and he has earned a lot of commissions off of us. I have his personal cell phone number and we talk probably every other day when we are in the buying / selling process, but more often if something comes up. I have met in his office after hours to sign things, he has come to our house, we have met on weekends, his days off, and talked when he was on vacation. Through all our transactions, I felt like he was working hard for me - like I was his only or most important client and he always jumped to meet my needs and do what needed to get done quickly. I have recommended him to friends, and he makes them feel the same way. 

So all of that to say: if you have an agent that doesn’t return your calls, doesn’t bring you paperwork when they say they will, makes you feel like you’re not too high on their priority list, it’s time to dump them and find someone who is hungry to help you and make something happen. Good luck! 

[EMS83]

Well I just learned half an hour ago he brought it, unannounced, yesterday.  And he's sorry he missed me.  ... ?  Can he bring them by around lunch today?  "Yes, when's 'around lunch' for you?  Here's my time window today."  No answer yet.

 

To be fair, we've been in contact since December, though I've been up front about how we're approaching this whole thing from the start and indicated we're basically nuts.  So they could think we're just dragging our feet some more, but I'm asking for papers to sign now and laying out terms I want to offer on specific properties and asking loan people to run numbers on specific properties and near radio silence.  ?

[Storygirl]

If you have not signed any contracts, you are not obligated to use these realtors. My honest opinion is that you should find someone else. You really don't want to be dealing with this kind of treatment throughout the home buying and selling process, which is stressful enough.

Pick someone else.

[EMS83]

Haven't found someone else, but I'm done with them.  I'll likely lose out on all the houses we were looking at, though.

[katilac]

On 6/20/2018 at 10:11 AM, CES2005 said:

I've suggested both in the past (or just adding a second story).  

 

 

You can add some outdoor storage without actually building a shed, just search "rubbermaid outdoor storage." 

Not cheap but nowhere near the cost of a shed that requires a foundation and so forth, and would at least give you a bit of breathing room. Moving might be the permanent solution, but you can still use some intermediate solutions. 

Although, I'd also look into whether adding a permanent shed would pay off when selling a smaller house. Yes, the buyers could add one on there own, just like they could update a bathroom on their own, but some things are big selling points. I'd check to see whether a shed would be one of them. 

[EMS83]

43 minutes ago, katilac said:

 

You can add some outdoor storage without actually building a shed, just search "rubbermaid outdoor storage." 

Not cheap but nowhere near the cost of a shed that requires a foundation and so forth, and would at least give you a bit of breathing room. Moving might be the permanent solution, but you can still use some intermediate solutions. 

Although, I'd also look into whether adding a permanent shed would pay off when selling a smaller house. Yes, the buyers could add one on there own, just like they could update a bathroom on their own, but some things are big selling points. I'd check to see whether a shed would be one of them. 

Good point.  I'll look into that.  For us it was a dispute over what shed to put (him: $2k-$5k shed shed; me: $250 aluminum frame with fitted tarp). ?  And at this point, if we can afford his idea of a shed, I'd rather put one on our next property.  kwim?  But if it bumps our sale price...  we'll see.  

[katilac]

20 minutes ago, CES2005 said:

Good point.  I'll look into that.  For us it was a dispute over what shed to put (him: $2k-$5k shed shed; me: $250 aluminum frame with fitted tarp). ?  And at this point, if we can afford his idea of a shed, I'd rather put one on our next property.  kwim?  But if it bumps our sale price...  we'll see.  

 

Look at it this way: if you build a $2,000 shed and then stay in this house for 2 years, it will cost about $83/month for the shed. 3 years, $56/month. Disregarding any potential bump in sales price, is that affordable, and would it add to your quality of life while in this house?

When my husband switched to working at home, we were buried underneath samples and catalogs. It was frustrating, but I didn't realize just how frustrating until he finished his office in the yard. We had become accustomed to the constant low-level annoyance, and it was unbelievable how much better we felt once we cleared some of that stuff out of the living area. Saving money and paying off the house quickly is awesome, but not tripping over belongings and having room to breathe is also awesome. Focus on future goals, but also focus on how you can improve your life right now.