Sorry that I’ve been absent for so long, but it has been a busy time for our family.
Last spring, Leslie and I decided that it was time for a big change. We decided to move across the country to the Denver/Boulder area. It was a difficult decision to move away from our family and the only place that both of us had ever called home. Ultimately though, we were confident that the sunshine and outdoor activities would be a game changer for our family. So far, we were right. We do miss our family, but the frequent sunshine on our face and trips to the mountains has made both of us smile more often. 🙂
What exactly have we been doing for the last year (since my last post)?…
February – March 2016
I built a second bathroom in the basement of our house before we sold it. More details to come on that project. It came out awesome, but the tiling project took forever!
April 2016
Painting and general repairs before selling.
May 2nd, 2016
Our house is for sale! If you’d like to see what our house looked like after my complete remodel, take a look at these listing photos for our house when we sold it. We will miss that house.
May 4th, 2016
Multiple offers over our asking price in the first 2 days. Our house is sold!
May 9th, 2016
New offer on the house. All cash!
May 12th, 2016
All cash offer falls apart. The buyer thought that he could push me around with his cash offer, and wanted everything that wasn’t nailed down included. His offer was also below our asking price.
May 14th, 2016
Back to the original offer. The buyers are still interested.
May 20th, 2016
Hold everything… 2nd buyer backs out after home inspection. The home inspector basically scared the buyers away by telling them that the house is old, and will need maintenance. The buyers were an older couple and didn’t like hearing that. No kidding! What house doesn’t need regular maintenance? Our house was as move in ready as I’ve ever seen. Every inch of the house had been remodeled, by yours truly, in the last 10 years!
May 23rd, 2016
We got another offer, but it was low. I knew that we had a premium property for this price range, so we decided to have another open house the following weekend and see what happened.
May 29th, 2016
It worked! We have another offer 5k above asking price! That is $10,000 in our pocket for a couple of weeks patience. This buyer also would like to rent our house for the month prior to closing. Awesome. We can head to Colorado sooner than expected!
Smooth sailing on the home and septic inspections this time.
June 31st, 2016
Move out day! After two long days of packing up the truck, we are ready to roll. That was a tough few days. Thanks for the help, Dad!
July 2nd, 2016
We stuck around for an extra day to attend Leslie’s 20 year High School reunion. That was fun. Now it’s time to hit the road with this big rig. We downsized a lot to move across the country and everything that we now own fit in this 26 ft moving truck (with Leslie’s car in tow). I even sold my speedy VW GTI. That car was fun while it lasted.
July 3rd, 2016
After 28 hours of driving and 1,610 miles I arrived at Jason and Jessica LaMere’s house in Lafayette, CO. This is where we would be staying for the next few months while we waited to close on our NY home and buy our new Colorado home. Thanks for sharing your house with us!
Leslie and Reece flew from Rochester to Denver to meet me. 28 hours in a moving truck with a 5-year-old just sounded like a bit much.
August 16th, 2016
After a two-week delay to sort out a fence vs. property line issue, we finally close on our NY home. Cash in hand… Let’s go house hunting!
August 20th, 2016
Sticker shock! The housing market here is insane. Houses routinely sell in the first few days that they are on the market, for thousands more than the asking price. Apparently, we are not the only ones that want to move here.
Houses are generally selling for 2 1/2 – 3 times what we sold our house for in NY. Our $155,000 house in NY is worth $400,000 here. Wow! The only saving grace is that taxes are a fraction of what we were paying in NY. $4,800 in NY is now $1,200 in CO. Sweet!
August 24th, 2016
We found a house! It’s perfect… By that, I mean that it is the cheapest house in the neighborhood ($325,000) and needs a ton of updating and general repairs. It looks like I’ll have no trouble keeping busy for the next few years. Because the house needs a lot of work, we were able to get the house for 15k below asking price. Most buyers were scared away. Score! The neighborhood is great and the house two doors down from us recently sold for 50k more than we paid. We made a great choice for our family. Westminster, CO is now the place we call home.
September 31, 2016
Move in day. Woot Woot!
October 2016 – January 2017
Home remodeling is full speed ahead! We decided to move into the two bedrooms downstairs while I remodel the two bedrooms and bathroom upstairs. Lots more to come on that project. I’m hoping to have it completed by St. Patrick’s Day.
It’s been a crazy busy time for us, but we are enjoying it now. Camping, hiking, museums, and skiing this winter have all been super fun family adventures.
Till next time…
Sounds like you all have adjusted well. Keep posting pictures of how the house is coming and of the family
Yes, we are enjoying it here. I’ll try to keep everyone updated as the house and life move along here.