2010 Moving Support Thread - Page 5

[dawningmama]

Woohoo! Go, avent!

I'm going to start seriously looking through our books today. I cannot part with my sociology books and a couple of fiction favs, but I am ready to let go of a lot of the early education ones from our first few years of homeschooling. I should be able to find homes for them, though, as our friends in the hs group are all preparing for next year.

[marieangela]

Hello! I'm new here. My dh mentioned last year that he'd like to be in a new house before all of his family comes to visit this June. I didn't really think it was doable, but figured we could start getting the house ready to sell. A couple of weeks ago we found a house (in our same neighborhood) that we love. It has since been a mad dash to get our house in shape and get it on the market. We put in a new floor in the bedroom and repainted it, new floors through the living room and dining room, going to have the carpet replaced on the stairs and in the upstairs hall, need to paint the front door and any chipped trim in the house, have been donating clothes and decluttering, working on clearing out the basement, planted some new plants and remulched the front yard....It is neverending! We have a real estate agent coming to the house this afternoon that someone at my dh's work recommended. We've already had the real estate agent from the house that we love come and she'll be back again tomorrow. We need to figure out what we can ask for our house and what else we REALLY need to do. I think my dh wants to do too much.

[GoodUserNamesTaken]

Oh cool, a moving support thread! Just found it today

We're in the middle of a move, things are so nuts! We have to be in a temp places for three months first, which makes it more frustrating. So far, in the process of packing, I've dumped lots of clothes I never wore (but didnt want to give away, b/c I didnt want to feel like I have "no clothes"... I'm sure you know what I mean). And we also gave away a lot of books that we don't need to have.

The movers come Thursday, and we're doing odds and ends now. In some ways, the hardest part.

Moving gives me so much anxiety.

[avent]

Welcome, new movers!

BarefootScientist, any news?

dawningmama, how's it going with the books?


Well the haulers came today (4 hours late!) and took away 11 cubic yards of stuff. Most of it was good stuff but we didn't need it anymore. (This hauler donates everything and then sends donation receipts back, so it's all good.) It felt really good to get all of that stuff out of here. I've been piling it in our front room for a couple of months while I decluttered. A lot was in the garage too.

Raining here so the landscaper says he'll start Monday. I hope it stays dry.

[BarefootScientist]

Originally Posted by avent

BarefootScientist, any news?

Ah yes, we are under contract! They accepted our counteroffer. Inspection early next week, close June 18!

[dawningmama]

I've not gotten very far with the books at all. We may end up not taking the house we are in contract for----the radon portion of the inspection did not go all that well. Family meeting tonight.

Congrats, barefootscientist!!!!!!!

[Conteuse]

Ooo, goody, the perfect thread!

We both work for the US Census, which is a temporary job. When it ends, in August (for me) and September (for him), we are planning to move across the country -- and in the USA, that's a BIG country! We're moving from New Hampshire to Nevada, ideally with only what we can fit into our Chevy Blazer. So this is going to be a move into minimalism. I am so excited!

For our books: Much as I love most of our remaining books, I am wondering whether it might not be a good idea to replace them with electronic copies? Is there an affordable way to do that?

Also, in an effort to go paperless with my home office, I am wondering about using online storage solutions -- Google docs, Zoho, Photobucket, and the like. What are all your thoughts on that?

The good thing is that we have enough time between now and then to REALLY weed out the extra junk. And we've decided that it's going to be cheaper to get rid of some things and replace them from thrift shops when we get there, than it would be to hire a trailer or a mover and move them ourselves. We're only going to ship a couple of boxes after we get there.

Our situation is complicated by the fact that we're moving out there cold. We don't have jobs, friends, or a place to live when we arrive. So it behooves us to keep things light, in terms of what we bring. This is going to be quite the adventure!

[mumkimum]

Hello all, again! I wish I could say I haven't been around MDC much because of busy, moving things but there hasn't been much going on with our house for sale lately (except a viewing today ). We reduced our price recently & will do another open house on Sunday. Dh is getting cranky about keeping up on the place and not having all his stuff (mostly his warmer weather clothing, I think). I've been to tired to really care about all that, I think I'm weathering it better (hasn't really been that long anyway, like a month & a half - dh just really hates having to clean things with any reguarlity ).

On the happy side, we did make an offer on a new place, that'll be waiting for us until our place sells (it's a bit of a fixer-upper, with a lot of violations we accepted cause it could be a really great place to live for the next 10 or more years, and a great, old neighborhood with a bigger - and totally neglected - yard that used to be a garden. Plus it's bigger and we'd get it for what our current place is listed for which is a pretty good situation).

Congrats, barefootscientist!
And wow on all your recent work, avent, it's exciting to get so much done (and to get rid of so much stuff too).

[walking burp cloth]

OK. So we are all decluttering, organizing and packing.

How are you all actually planning on moving your things? We just had someone come to our place to prepare a quote for us, and with us packing all of our things, them loading, driving and unloading , it was a lot more expensive than we have been planning. And we are probably planning on taking about half of our things. UGH. I thought I was doing a good job getting rid of stuff!! We looked into pods, but they don't come to our area.

[BarefootScientist]

At this point we are planning to move it all in my DH's pickup, my Pontiac Vibe, and possibly rent a U-Haul trailer behind the pickup if we need more space (most likely). I'm not sure how realistic that is, as I have a really hard time visualizing space and such. But we are not taking much, if any, of our furniture with us, and I already moved most of our books, my maternity clothes, clothes and supplies for NextKid, and some other little things up to my parents and my in-laws houses.

Other than that, I haven't really started packing at all. But I think I've gotten rid of about half of our stuff just to get the house ready to sell. Maybe not quite.

Hmmmm....

[marieangela]

I started packing things up in our kitchen that we don't use much and ran into a dilemma. I am a bit of an indecisive/perfectionist type person. I was tempted to sit and make sure all of the tuperware lids had matching containers, but called a friend and had her help talk me into just packing them all for now. I could seriously waste so much time on small particulars, but I don't really have the time. The only thing that I'm really sorting are clothes. I have different places to donate clothes and I am saving some of them for consignment. And I have spent a decent amount of time on that already. Anyway, is it terrible to just start packing away things without thinking about it too much? We hope to have our house up for sale next week and some serious decluttering needs to be done. I have a whole pile of things to give away or sell, but there are still a lot of things that I could either pack quickly or spend a long time sorting.

[marieangela]

Me again. Does anyone know a formula for calculating possible monthly payments on a house? I can do the math for the most part but I'm not sure how to factor in the percentage rate (i.e. 4.99% on 30 year loan).

[BarefootScientist]

marieangela, try here http://www.mortgageloan.com/calculator/

[avent]

So how is everyone doing?

We started some repairs this morning and we picked paint colors. The painter is starting tomorrow, which is exciting. I really dislike the colors we have now and I love the new colors. (I know, I know, we're leaving. But still...nobody should have to live with those colors.) And we removed this really big ugly mirror that was glued to the wall, so that's good.

Lots of stuff going on here, but mostly other people working on the house. My main focus is packing up the rest of the stuff, so I guess I'm working on the contents and others are working on the shell.

[BarefootScientist]

Originally Posted by avent

So how is everyone doing?

We had our inspection and the buyer wanted a leak in the shower fixed and some drywall patched up so my DH has been working on that. I've been spending my time looking for a place to move INTO. And that's about it here right now. Waiting on the appraisal this week. Haven't really started packing yet, though I have some lists and a plan all worked out (I'm anal like that).

[avent]

That's great that you only had those things to fix after the inspection. We have an old house (102 years) and I'm expecting more to fix. The inspector is coming next Wednesday so fingers crossed.

Do you have a lot of packing to do? Or is it relatively light?

[limette]

I so need this thread right now.

For the past couple of years I've been bugging dh to move someone warmer with acreage so we can homestead, with the eventual intention of making an income from it.

Dh was never on board with this until a couple of weeks ago. So now he's finishing off some minor renos and we'll be putting the house up for sale in about a month. The market is super hot right now so it's expected that our house will be sold within a week or so of putting it up. We got rid of a ton of junk on the weekend (yard sale).

I am pregnant and due in August. We have a 4 yr old and a 2 yr old.

I'm only 90% sure we will actually go through with this. We would be moving to a different province (3000km away) and at the very least need to have a job set up before we leave. The problem is the locations with cheap acreages/decent houses are where there are no jobs.

On the plus side, if we sell, we will be able to pay off all our debt (mortgage plus 30k in car loan/credit cards) as well as have enough savings to give us a year of income. So we could move and he could find a job later but I'd rather not.

The other issue of course is the pregnancy. I'm planning a homebirth (after a c-section and a vbac) with a midwife, and this option will not be available to me when we move. I'll likely have to drive an hour to the hospital and birth with an ob.

Ideally a house and a job will come up that it suitable and in close proximity to each other all will be well. At the moment I'm scared that's not going to happen and now I really want to leave this place, I've never felt right anywhere I've lived and this move seems so right to me. I feel like I'm in limbo until a permanent decision is made.

I'm frazzled.

[avent]

Wow, limette, that's a lot going on.

I don't have much advice except to say that it sounds like one way or the other it's all going to come together.

I don't know if you believe in astrology (I kinda do) but it's been mercury retrograde, which can slow things down and make it hard to make decisions. Merc retrograde is over today so hopefully you'll be able to get more info and make some decisions.

Is homebirth with a midwife not allowed in your new province, or are you worried you won't find someone?

[BarefootScientist]

Originally Posted by avent

That's great that you only had those things to fix after the inspection. We have an old house (102 years) and I'm expecting more to fix. The inspector is coming next Wednesday so fingers crossed.

Do you have a lot of packing to do? Or is it relatively light?

I think I got rid of about a third to a half of our stuff in order to get our house decluttered for selling. So it shouldn't be too bad. I packed my first box yesterday - all our decoratives. Walls are a little bare.

It's funny how toddlers have no sense of time...I wonder what on earth DS must be thinking. We've told him about the move, and yesterday when I was packing that box he must have been thinking "this is it" because he was asking whether DH was coming with us! (He was at work at the time.) I tried to explain how I was going to be packing for the next several WEEKS but of course I don't think he really understood. It must be hard for the little ones. As much as I can't wait to leave this house, I feel a little sad when I realize that DS might only very vaguely remember it or not at all, and it is the only house he's ever known!

limette, good luck! I hope things work out perfectly.

[limette]

Originally Posted by avent

Wow, limette, that's a lot going on.

I don't have much advice except to say that it sounds like one way or the other it's all going to come together.

I don't know if you believe in astrology (I kinda do) but it's been mercury retrograde, which can slow things down and make it hard to make decisions. Merc retrograde is over today so hopefully you'll be able to get more info and make some decisions.

Is homebirth with a midwife not allowed in your new province, or are you worried you won't find someone?

They just regulated it, so government only hired about 5 practicing midwives for the whole province (down from many more, previously) and there's a waiting list to get on. There's no way I'm going to get a midwife at 8 months pregnant. Most of them only practice in a select area, so if I'm not in that area, I wouldn't make the list anyway.

I'd prefer to wait until after the birth, but we want to get the house sold while the market is good and I doubt traveling with a newborn is going to be much fun.

Things always work out in the end for us, but in the meantime I'm stressing out!