Jumping Off The Cliff......

[pbahlin]

We feel like that right now, we put the S&B on the market last Weds, had an Open House on Sunday and a showing yesterday....we have just accepted a full price offer. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!! This is exciting and terrifying all at the same time..... we are scheduled to close June 30th...I am still recovering from my surgery so I am a one armed paperhanger so to speak!!! We have 54 days to get rid of all this stuff...that's the scary part....and of course it is so exciting to know we will be living our dream shortly! My DH made me pinch him ...he couldn't believe it was really coming true!!!!

I also want to thank you all for your advice regarding my surgery, you are absolutely right I feel better every day!!!!!

Thanks for listening!! Love the MOC!!!!

Betty

[stiles watson]

Congratulations on your sale. I know you are excited. Dianna and I would advise going with an "estate liquidator" to get your stuff sold. We put what we wanted to keep in one room and they sold the rest. They even sold my bucket of rusty nails. No pricing, no garage sales and the insults that can go with it. No haggling. They display and sell it all. We just got out of the way. They got 30%, but were able to price things higher than any garage sale. So we were ahead emotionally and financially.

[vickir]

Congratulations!!! Agree completely with Stiles' recommendation. We also went with estate liquidator route and would do it again in a heartbeat.

[exav8tr]

Be wary of these folks. When we did this in Alaska they wanted 40% and would price things as THEY wanted. If they didn't sell it you still had it. We did a "neighborhood" sale and then 2 weekends of garage sales. Yes it was alot of work, but we had the "first" sale of the year in Anchorage and had a lot of buyers. We got way more than we would have gotten from them. I'm not saying NOT to use them, just be wary of the contract. This is a common thing in Alaska, as a lot of people want to leave but can't afford to ship personal goods. I think these people feel they have us over a barrel. It was awful hard not to get emotional when something went out the door. A lot of memories come back. Be prepared!!!!!!

Oh, We also lucked out as the buyers wanted several rooms of our furniture and all electronics along with a lot of the yard tools.

We also shipped a pallet of goods to each of our sons with things they wanted. One in San Diego and one in Phoenix....So some of our things remain in the family......

[adelmoll]

We did the Estate Sale. They took 25% and it was worth it to us. My advice is to let them do everything and you park the Montana at a campground near you and stay there until it is all over. There is nothing worse then being there to see everything you paid good money for go to someone else for a fraction of what it is worth. In the end, the freedom you will gain is worth every penny lost. Anything that didn't go was picked up by a charitable orginaziation or tossed into a dumpster that we rented. We wish you the best.

Bill and Helen

[Waynem]

Betty,
Glad to hear the shoulder is coming along well. Can we say "we told you so?" Oh! You already admitted that.

You will be very happy when it is all over. Both the shoulder and the sale.

Good luck.

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

Update, February 4, 2013: We finally sold our home in May of 2011, after it had been on the market for 15 months and after several hefty, painful price reductions. We took a terrible loss on the place, selling it far, far below its appraised and insured value. Home sales in and around the Dillon MT area had been flat for a year or two when we first listed our home; they still have not improved, so if we hadn't unloaded the place when we did, no doubt we would still be staring at the For Sale in our yard while continuing to lower the price month after month. Not looking back and playing the What If? game has been difficult, but we're glad we bit the bullet and went on with our lives.

***

Would you please send your leftover lookers and potential buyers my way? We've had our home on the market since March; it's been shown only twice. In this part of Montana, real estate is still not moving. I have 3 friends in similar situations as ours--no lookers at all. Our realtor says IF we were in the $125,000 or lower price range, the house would have sold. However, anything much over that is just sitting . . . We've lowered the price twice and are now below the appraised value of the house and at the point where we will lose money on the sale, even if we received an asking-price offer.

Meanwhile, our Monty is firmly parked until the blasted house sells. We have, however, been selling off our things so that one day, when we are free again, we're ready to hit the road full time.


Carolyn

[Delaine and Lindy]

Delaine ran a Garage/Yard sell in the paper. The firs day Friday she sold over $12,000 and on Sat. what didn't sell we gave to Goodwill and wrote it off our Taxes. Many who showed up on Sat were those who try to talk the price down and then buy and resale. We only help a few who needed certain things like a TV for their children. But we got rid of everything, but on a different note when we quit full timing we had to buy everything again???? If we had to do it again we would have stored some things, for like two years. Good Luck......... GBY....

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

Please forgive my earlier, self-centered reply to your good news; I was having a full-blown pity party over the dilemma with our home!

Congratulations on selling your home so quickly. I know you are thrilled and, perhaps, a bit apprehensive about getting everything cleared out on such short notice, but what a wonderful way to begin living your dream!

Now, go back to packing and planning. You certainly have good times ahead!
Carolyn

[dreamers2010]

Congratulations! I'm happy for you but also very envious. Our house went on the market March 15th. We have had one showing. That showing did result in an offer that was ridiculous. We're already loosing money on it. I can't give it away. On the other hand maybe we can, if we ever get another looker.

Picking up the Montana tomorrow and bringing it back to a campground where we can play with it and stay in it some. Paid for a month so if we don't have a contract on our house by the time our rent runs out to storage it will go and that will really be tough. We live in a garden home community and there's no place for it here.

Hope all goes well,
Judy (& Bob)

[pbahlin]

Carolyn,

No problem, I did not see anything wrong with your reply.

I must report we have come upon a glitch in our sale.....we had to have a "Title 5" Septic inspection done and our 30 yr old system is failing....so we have to replace the leach field.....there's an unplanned expense, we did pass termite inpection and Radon Testing though. Home inspection went OK, but they want to have our tankless hot water system checked that it is vented properly. It is also our heating system....radiant in floor heat and radiant baseboards...been using it for five yrs without any issues so hopefully that will be ok too! It's vented in our chimney per the manufacturer's installation manual.

We have our fingers crossed that it will all turn out ok.

Wish everyone all the best in your home sales.....the market here is better but still soft. This is quickest we have ever experienced and we have sold 4 other houses, so not the norm either. We sold a house in 1990 (worst ever...bought at the peak of the market and sold at the bottom) lost money on that one so I can relate to your pain.

Betty & Paul

[McIver]

When we downsized we had garage sales to get rid of most everything. Had no takers on some antique furniture that even the kids did not want. Gave it to Good Will and took the tax deduction (almost $4000 bucks). Kept pictures for the anticipated audit that never happened. Good luck.

[stiles watson]

We considered garage sales, but settled on an estate sale run by those who were professionals. We just got out of the way and let them do it. The result was quite satisfactory and the cash, after commissions, was higher than garage sales would have brought.