Homeless No More

When we decided to put the house on the market, we had made an appointment with a realtor in Sioux Falls to get some information of what needs to be done, the steps necessary to move from one city to another, AND to find out what homes might meet our required expectations. That appointment and first meeting on Saturday. It was a good first meeting. She shared the first steps. She shared the areas of town where new construction was happening. And she shared there were very few HOAs, 3 bedrooms, on the market. OK. We did some driving to the suggested areas, but without a 'guide' had no idea of prices or details. She added our email to her list of available units meeting our requirements.

We talked to a Watertown realtor on the following Tuesday. Officially, the house was put up for sale and sold on Friday.

We spent the first week of July starting the process of cleaning and sorting, tossing and donating, AND looking at units online.

We had an appointment with the realtor on Monday of this week. We gave her our adjusted list of requirements, from several must haves or really wants to just one: HOA.

She took us to 5 places, most were new construction, one resale. Only one of them had the space I envisioned. We came home rather depressed. On Tuesday morning she sent an email telling us of another unit in the same complex also for sale. She sent floor plans of the two and prices. Tuesday was a day of discussion and Nancy's 5 Year Plan. Lots of discussion, some compromise, and the need to see the two places in person. So another trip to Sioux Falls (100 miles one way) on Wednesday morning. We made a decision and began the paperwork that afternoon. The home has an October 11th completion date. All the finishing details had to be chosen by Friday to ensure the October deadline. YIKES! So another trip to SF on Friday to meet with a design coordinator from the building company and our SF realtor.

A little complication in this past week was my notice to appear for jury duty on Thursday. I did but was excused when I shared the Friday "can't change and must do" appointment.

Another little complication for the week was the haboob (wind storm) and monsoon (rain storm) that wrecked damage on a good number of homes in our winter resort and other valley communities and resorts. Our little casa escaped damage. Some of the units lost their car ports, shingles, and have damage from support posts shoved through windows and walls. One more issue we did not need.

In the meantime, Hubby researched moving companies. Because we need 2 months of storage, this aspect could be a wee bit more complicated, but we think we have a winner. And because we are homeless from August 17th to October 11th, Hubby researched campgrounds offering 'long-term' rates. This also was a bit more complicated. Campgrounds are usually full 'til after Labor Day and the full-timers usually don't move on until the weather gets colder. Again, luck was on our side and we have a spot in SF. The other issue was storage. The moving company will need the storage unit on the day they move our 'stuff' from Watertown to Sioux Falls until the day we can move into the new home. We need a place before then to store what we will need for our 25' camper living. We could easily need clothes for 3 seasons and believe me, the camper does not have room for 3 seasons of clothes! We need a place to store the geocaching supplies because we hope to get back to geocaching after August 17th. Besides, the more we move, the less the moving company has to move, $$$. If I put stuff away, I KNOW where it will be and I need to know the where for some of our stuff. So Hubby found a storage unit close to the new home. We will bring a load every time we make a trip to SF. The first load went in on Friday.

So with these 3 details taken care of with Hubby's many, many phone calls, agreeing on the townhouse unit, and choosing the new home finishing details in just 2 hours...Life is Good!

We have chosen a 2 bedroom, end unit of 3 connected town houses, with a full basement (the space I really wanted) that adds 2 more bedrooms, a family room, and full bathroom. It meets the requirements of HOA and all the necessary living on one floor~laundry, bedroom and second room for space in an open concept. The basement is a bonus and meets my 5 Year Plan. The new home is in the northwest part of Sioux Falls and not the southeast Hubby preferred. This location is closer to the G'kids school and is close to main roads to get anywhere we need in a city of 180,000+. We are excited. Now if the packing, sorting, tossing, donating was done...life would REALLY be good!