We’re Living in Slow Motion Right Now
When Scott and I finally made the decision at the end of February to put our house on the market, when never thought we’d be living in slow motion. Soon after, we frantically started working on our home.
As we were painting rooms, replacing carpet, refinishing our floors and moving stuff into storage, we were also hauling out our boat Kokomo to get it ready for Spring. Houses here in the Seattle area have been selling at a RAPID pace. In fact, one of our neighbors sold their house in 30 hours! So we had no idea what to expect when we finally listed it. But all of our neighbors and people who have been to our home said it would sell FAST since we have one of the best views in Fairwood with lots of entertaining space and privacy.
Hearing of houses selling in just a day or two, we started packing and by the time we listed the house we had packed everything up but the bare necessities. We did all of this in just two weeks!
The house is in great condition and we just had it inspected for our own peace of mind. That came back great too.
Here’s our full listing with Brazen Group Properties: CLICK HERE
What just happened?
Back in March, I gave you all a quick update on the sale of our house. At the time, I didn’t think too much about everything that had actually happened. Now I feel compelled to share more of the details. Everyone I have told the story to, is as baffled & dumbfounded as us.
The facts:
- We interviewed three agents and selected Ginny Morris, who I have known for 30+ years to list our house.
- The house was listed on MLS in the evening on March 15th & we immediately had a showing appointment for 8am the next day (Friday) with the local Fairwood agent we interviewed, but did not select (how ironic).
- That buyer gave us an over asking offer and $40k non refundable earnest money with no contingencies, cash offer. (too good to be true?)
- The house went to “Pending” on the MLS and the buyer’s agent put a “SOLD” sign on our real estate sign on Sunday.
- Monday, we never got the earnest money and the buyer disappeared and we never heard a thing. After numerous emails that week, our agent finally got a response from the buyer’s agent that said they didn’t know where the buyer was. We were out of luck and with no earnest money.
- I looked up the buyer’s address on the contract and it was for a UPS store.
Do we feel we have been duped? We don’t know. I can’t imagine any realtor being so vindictive, especially in this small community. What would she have to gain? But if she was a good realtor, she would have screened this buyer first to see ensure he was a legitimate buyer. And don’t you think she would have at least called our agent the following day to apologize for things going so bad? It’s all so bizarre.
What’s even weirder about all of this, is that during the 23 days we have been on the market, not one person after this incident, has called for a showing. Baffling and weird. Scott and I are worried that the house has a black mark after going from Pending back to For Sale. You might be thinking it’s the price? While we felt our price was right on the money, we wondered if lowering the price would help draw new traffic. We are ready to move, so today we lowered the price by $15,000. Figures we run into a neighbor today and she said she thought our price was too low. Can’t win. Right now, we feel like we are living in slow motion compared to where we were a few weeks ago.
Can things move any slower?
Why all the talk about the house? Well, it’s part of the whole story as we are in the midst of downsizing our home, to live in an apartment. This is the stepping stone for us before moving onto a boat full time.
Now onto the boat! That’s what this blog is all about. We hauled out on March 7th and as I mentioned last week, Seaview Boatyard finally started working on it. Like I said earlier, we’re living in slow motion! They painted the bottom and the engines. Now we are waiting for new props and they are going to do a 10pt inspection.
Last week we also had the engines inspected and tuned up. You might remember we were having troubles finding a Mercruiser mechanic, but thankfully our good friend Ben, referred us to Paul at PB & J Mobile Marine in Everett. He came down on Monday, did the work and said things looked great.
The weather was gorgeous the day we went to the boat yard and the views were awesome! Definitely got us in the mood to go boating!
We also saw a sea otter crawling around the docks.
We finished the day enjoying cocktails on the deck overlooking Puget Sound. It was surprisingly warm for Seattle and a gorgeous evening.
The Weather Game
Tomorrow our nephew and his dad will be cleaning and waxing the boat for us. We are truly grateful for their help (and yes, we are paying them!) Everything should be done by this Friday, but then we have to wait for a good weather window to move the boat back to Elliott Bay Marina. Unfortunately, the boat yard isn’t open on weekends, so we need a nice day during the week. On top of this, I’m currently interviewing and hopefully this can all get handled before I (hopefully) get a job offer.
It’s ironic that we don’t have our boat moored at Elliott Bay Marina right now. While we were enjoying the beautiful sunset at Shilshole, M/Y Kogo moved onto the yacht dock right across from us. It’s the largest private yacht at 236′ to dock at Elliott Bay.
So stay tuned for the next “As Boating Journey Turns” episode. Who needs to watch soap operas when we are living one! We are certainly ready for boating season!
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Lastly, thank you to our friends Matt & AJ for “buying us a drink” via our blog. This helps us support this blog and our journey. Cheers! Scott & Ally
