The first week of our adventure as bona fide home buyers (rather than house hunters) has flown by in a whirlwind of to-do's: looking through the house as future owners, rather than contemplative buyers, a flurry of emails and calls between the mortgage company, our Realtor, the sellers and their Realtor and us; signing, scanning and sending paperwork hither and yon, calling the utility companies, scheduling the home inspection (this afternoon), and then getting an appraisal. (Fingers and toes and everything crossed that the inspection and appraisal processes go smoothly...those are the two biggest hurdles.)
When we signed off on the bank's counter offer, we agreed to move up the closing by a weekend, so instead of having four full weeks (and weekends) before we close, we have just 21 days and counting. It's quickly becoming decision time on some things:
- Are we going to re-tile the master shower before we move in, or wait? I vote for sooner than later.
- Are we going to paint the dining room and bedrooms ourselves, or have someone else do it? (Am I even ready to pick out paint colors?)
- Can we match the paint color in the den and hallways, and simply touch up the smudges?
- Who can we get to stretch the carpets?
- If we clean the carpets after the painting is finished, how long do we need to let them dry before we move in? (Can I reasonably expect them to remain clean after we schlep through the house with umpteen boxes?)
- On moving day, will we need to rent a U-Haul, or will we move a little at a time, with my SUV and our trusty old Chevy pickup (aka "Big Red")?
- Can we find someone willing to move just the super heavy stuff like the piano and credenza?
- What type of internet service is available at the new place? Working from home means we're moving my office as well as our personal belongings. And moving out to the country means no more Comcast until they decide to remedy the dead zone we're moving into.
And that's just the tip of my iceberg. I realize these are all VERY good problems to have to solve, and there's no real rush - we don't have to be out of our home by a set date. But seeing the closing date get closer and closer tends bring out the list-maker and worrier in me. I don't want to drag out the move longer than necessary, so there is some pressure to quickly plan out what needs to happen, and in what order.
Once we get the home inspection report and the appraisal finished, then I can start scheduling painting and tiling and carpet cleaning...oh my!
Happy countdown!
