TheBanyanTree: First Time Home Buyers

[Margaret R. Kramer]

I read somewhere a while back that well intentioned relatives can be a first
time home buyer’s worst enemy.  I remember how I felt when I was looking for
a house for the first time, it’s a confusing and daunting task to try to
find the “right” home.  My ex-husband’s brother talked us out of several
homes we liked, because he found something “wrong” with them.  Sometimes a
relative can muck up that process by offering advice that suits his/her own
agenda rather than the homebuyer’s.

Something of the sort was happening last night when the new owners stopped
by with her father.  I got the feeling, and maybe I’m just being overly
paranoid, if we weren’t just two days away from closing, he would have
talked them out of the house.

They looked a bit overwhelmed, or maybe after a few weeks of packing and
gathering together papers and money for Monday’s closing date has just left
them exhausted.  I wanted to tell them that all houses have a lot of work
attached to them.  It seems like a lot when you first move in, but as you
settle in the house, you’ll take on tasks one at a time and then it’s not a
big deal.  Plus, most people stay in their houses for a while, so there’s
lots of time to get things done.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, they say.
Right?

I took down the bird feeders yesterday.  Ray threw some more junk in the
dumpster.  I packed a couple of boxes.  Then we went to the circus with the
boys.  It was disappointing.  We took the boys a couple of years ago, and it
was exciting from the time the lights went out to the time it ended.  There
were lions and tigers and trapeze artists and all sorts of exciting things.
This circus was pretty tame with a pig show and a dog act and small horses
that ran endlessly in a circle in the center ring.  My older grandson was
really bored and ended up playing video games on his mom’s cell phone during
some of the acts.

Before we took the boys and Susan home, we drove by our new house.  It
looked someone was there, so we just pulled into the driveway and stayed in
the car.  Ray checks out the house almost every day since it’s on his way
home from work, but this was the first time I saw it since our inspection
back on March 11, so it was exciting to me to see the house in person again.

Today we mobilize for the final assault.  We have lots of last minute
packing to do.  I’ll get the laundry done and packed.  Ray is renting a
small truck and Asher will come over later to help load that.  I’ll organize
all my paperwork for tomorrow’s closings.  I’ll make a chart of where all
our stuff goes in the new house to help the movers and Asher and Ray.  I
think I’ll make a list of our house’s quirks as well, so the new owners won’
t be taken by surprise by some of the weirder things our house does.

I’m so happy that they bought our house, if I have time, I might even buy
them some flowers and some cookies to welcome them into their new tomorrow.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.
~Margaret Atwood