We sold our house!

We sold our house and we’re finally moving!

Finally, after weeks of living in slow motion, we sold our house! The past five weeks have been a journey that I don’t wish to go through again.  As you recall, we listed our house on March 15th and immediately got an offer. But that buyer not only fell through, he disappeared in a matter of hours after the ink dried!

That didn’t help our situation and we sat on the market for over five weeks. Last weekend we were scheduled to do a sunset open house Friday night and then another on Sunday. On the Thursday before the open houses, we had a request to view the house. This couple stayed in the house for over an hour – that’s a good sign! They gave us a full price offer that day and once again, we cancelled the open houses.  Luckily, they love the house and are very excited to move in.

With our looming deadline of May 9th for moving into the apartment, we’ve decided to take our chances and move before closing. Yes, it’s risky, but we are very confident that everything is aligned and that they won’t back out. That means, we’re moving in one week! Yikes. Now things are getting real.

Remember, we’re moving from a four bedroom house that has three living rooms and two offices to a 1100 sq ft two bedroom apartment! That means, we have to get rid of three couches, two dining sets, desks, chairs, etc. Luckily, my niece and nephew wanted the majority of the items, so we only had to sell or give away a few things – including our 370 bottle wine cellar!  As you can see, we’ve been drinking away so we don’t have to move so many bottles!

Now it’s all about the logistics of moving everything out in a week. But luck strikes again and friends took the cellar and the huge dining set.  I’m really glad that an old high school friend took the dining set & can continue it’s memories. We have entertained a lot with that set and it’s a bit surreal to see it broken down and ready for pickup.

What we don’t get rid of, we’ll donate to Goodwill.  Tomorrow we have 1-800-GOT-JUNK coming to clean up old yard trash and junk from the garage.

We also lucked out that the new owners wanted the majority of our wall art! So glad they want it and will keep it. When you don’t have a lot of wall space, you can’t take much art with you.

Now we’re living the life of the books we’ve read

It’s crazy to think that four years ago I was reading books about other people selling their stuff and sailing away. Now here we are, though we’re simply sailing into a  small apartment!

One thing I will say about this entire process is that it has been very cleansing. There’s something about getting rid of “stuff” and simplifying your life. Really, who needs to clean three bathrooms or have ten tubs of Christmas decorations? Obviously, we did at one time. 😉  Since I haven’t been working for the past few months, this process as certainly been easier as I have taken care of the packing and the moving details.

Coordinating a move

If you haven’t moved from a house to an apartment (lately or ever), it’s not as simple as you think these days. I have rented many apartments and just figured I would move when I wanted. Not so fast. This time around, Scott and I ordered a moving company. With that said, we had to work around their availability. Then we had to call the apartment complex and reserve our “move date and time” in order for them to shut down the elevator for us. Luckily, it seems to be working out on both ends.

We aren’t closing until May 21st, so this gives us plenty of time, to come back and clean the house and do some more yard work before they move in. Scott and I are hoping they are able to close early.

Boating life during our move

Last weekend it was gorgeous here in Seattle, so Scott and I spent Saturday cleaning the boat inside and out.  We also took the dinghy motor back down and put it on the dinghy.

I was worried about mold or dirt, but really it looked pretty good.  I checked the inside cabinets and water heater for any leaks and all looked great.

The cabin wasn’t too bad, we really just needed to wipe things down and vacuum.

Then on Sunday, we will tour the Clipper Around the World sail boats moored at Bell Harbor. Stay tuned for our next blog as we’ll share lots of photos and a tour of the inside. These sailors are truly courageous and inspiring!

Thank you for subscribing to our blog and for your support.  Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Cheers, Scott & Ally

#KokomoSeattle  #BoatingJourney