Tuesday, July 15, 2014

sold!



The house in Houston is no longer ours...technically. We won't get our check until today and we won't hand over the keys until next Monday, but yesterday we signed all the appropriate papers.


Kevin is a small builder and he plans to build a very nice single family home on the property. He plans to save the house if he can by having it moved onto another property. It doesn't seem likely though because all the power lines are on our side of the street and the streets in the neighborhood are narrow. Definitely the roof would have to be removed and it might have to be cut in half as well. He's still looking into it. He can't just restore it and add on to it where it sits because of the premium he paid for the property.

If he can't save the house he is going to try and salvage as much of it as possible instead of just having it demolished, reusing the old shiplap and maybe even the hardwood floors. I've let go of the house emotionally, and now, physically.

Our daughter had a sleepless night anticipating selling her part of the property. She has never lived anywhere else except for about 6 months in a different neighborhood. Other than that, she has lived in the Heights her whole life and all but about two years were spent either in my house or the one next door that they eventually bought from us. It's harder on her but she is looking forward to a better house. I, at least, had lived in many houses and neighborhoods and several years not even in the city before I settled down in the old house.

We'll be going in every day this week, still collecting stuff like the light fixtures out of the old shop and things we thought we would abandon and then changed our minds. Yesterday I pulled up the sandstone slabs that made up a short walkway and we're still trying to find someone to move the tuff shed for us and maybe get a moving company to move the other three large heavy items. My son-in-law has moved the old truck into his driveway for now since they have an extra week to vacate.



The carved glass entry into the shop and the two 5' x 5' windows will be picked up on Wednesday and delivered out here.


I guess I'm going to tackle digging up several of the larger shrubs because, as my son pointed out, I may kill them trying to move them, but if I don't try they are going to be killed anyway.




12 comments:

  1. Whoa! Woman, you are going to need some Advil.

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  2. What a lot of work.
    It's good to be able to let go of things, but hard if they've been part of your life for a long time, plus this house has charm. I can see why your daughter might be a bit uneasy. Ever onwards, though. You have such a cool new set-up to move into.

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  3. congrats!!! still lots of tough stuff to go, but yay!

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  4. I was surprised at my lack of sentiment when we moved from our house of 22 years. Maybe because I was looking forward to the new place so much. I'll bet you're experiencing a bit of that.

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  5. Moving is agony. Both financially, spiritually and physically. But there is the thrill of a new journey and that is just ahead.

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  6. Yeah! Doing the happy dance on your behalf. Closure feels good, doesn't it? After all the work this move has been you've earned a real vacation. I hope you get a chance to relax in the not too distant future. It hasn't been easy but if a move needed to happen this was the best case scenario for you and your family.

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  7. I feel your pain about moving. And I think you were wise to let go of the house emotionally. I'm still not so sure I've done that and I gave it up in November.

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  8. Congrats on the closing! If it were me, I think I'd just let the shrubs go. (Of course I say this not knowing what the shrubs are or what they're worth to you, economically or sentimentally.) But there's only so much you can do and you've already salvaged so much from that house. Your move is definitely MUCH more complicated than ours!!

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  9. What a lot of work! I'm glad you've salvaged some of the plants. LOVE your shop entrance! I assume you're going to use it at the new place?

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.