My mother accepted a contract on her house today. It went for $385,000. That's $16,000 over the asking price. There was a biding war between two contracts so she accepted the best one. The highest price for a one and one half bath house in her neighborhood. She goes to closing in less then a month. I'm very glad it went quickly and for such a high amount. I'm not at all bothered by the fact that she sold her house. My brother, however, is totally pissed off that she sold it. Maybe he's got some childhood memories that he can't get over. I remember different things I guess. I remember planting a tree and a bush with my mom when I was much younger and they are now both very tall. I'll remember things like that as well as family gatherings but I don't think I'll miss the place like my brother will.
Category: Family
On The Market
My mother put her house on the market yesterday. In 24 hours of having it on the market she's had 8 people through her house and two contracts being written tonight. She is frantic and doesn't know what she's going to do. She wants to move to a condo but hasn't found one for sale that she likes. She thinks she won't have any place to live once the house sells. I told her things would move very quickly once she put it on the market. I suggested she go ahead and sell her house, move in with my sister, and take her time finding a place she likes. She's going to pay cash for her condo so it's not like she has to move quickly if she's not ready. But the condo market in Northern Virginia is so red hot right now it's very hard to find one that doesn't already have a contract on it or is what she's looking for. I live in a two high rise complex and there is nothing for sale in our complex. Condos here sell in 24 hours and usually for higher then the asking price. When I think what I could sell my condo for considering what I paid for it, it makes me sick. Of course if I were to sell my place, I wouldn't be able to buy anything. Even thought I'd make an unbelievable profit on my place, it wouldn't be enough to buy something in this area that I could afford. So I won't be moving anytime soon. Then again, it's not me I'm thinking about. It's my mom. I think she's stressing out about how fast this is moving. I've talked to her 3 times on the phone today and she's been frazzled each time. I tried to assure her that it would all work out and she wouldn't have any problems. But as I've learned, she has to come to that conclusion on her own. She hasn't had too much emotional stress about selling her house though. She's lived there for 39 years. I've been trying to get her to move for a few years but some of my brothers and sisters don't want her to move. She needs to move though. The yard work, the up keep, it's just too much for a 72 year old woman. She has a lawn service and has no problem calling to have things serviced but if she was in a condo where most of that would be taken care for her, it would be much better for her. I'm sure I'll talk to her one more time before I go to bed. I talked to her just a few minutes before sitting down to write this and she was waiting for yet another real estate agent to bring some prospective buyers to see the house. If she's really lucky all the contracts will get into a bidding war and she'll get way more then the asking price. We'll see! I'll keep ya posted.
What Are Sundays For?
I don’t know about you, but Sundays are great days. Lots of people spend their Sundays relaxing, reading the paper, getting up late, enjoying the day. I see Sundays as days to catch up on all the things I couldn’t get to during the week. I get so much done on Sundays. In the past few years my sleep patterns have changed and I just can’t sleep late anymore. I’m usually up before 7:00 am. Since Brad and I didn’t sleep together last night I was actually able to get a good nights sleep. I got up at 6:00 am this morning. I didn’t set an alarm or anything, I just woke up. So I did my lazy things. Read a little of the paper, ate breakfast, surfed the web reading my favorite blogs and web sites, checking mail. Then I put a load of laundry in and got started. I changed the sheets on my bed, took a shower, and went to run errands. I got all that done before 9:00 am! For some people that’s a whole days work.
Then I went to my mother’s house to meet with a real estate agent. She’s ready to sell her house and get a condo. She’s lived in the place for 39 years. When she and my father bought the place in 1965 they paid $16,500 for it. The real estate agent told her he could list it for $370,000. She was shocked. I’m glad it will go for that much. That way she can buy a condo out right and not have a mortgage. That will make her happy.
After meeting with the agent, I came home and finished my laundry, balanced my checkbook, paid a few bills, updated a few pages on my web site, read a few chapters in the book I’m reading and watched some TV. Then I got a surprise phone call! Brad called and asked if I wanted to go run some errands with him and get some ice cream. Of course I said yes. Any chance I get to spend time with Brad, I’ll do it. So he picked me up and we ran his errands and then we went to Creamy Stone ice cream shop (a new one just opened up in Vienna and there’s one in Fair Oaks). The place was pretty busy for a rather chilly Sunday afternoon. We waited in line and made our selections. After awhile we got our ice cream. We went outside and sat on the patio to enjoy it. It was very good. The portions were rather large so I had to help Brad finish his. It was delicious. Of course I’ll have to walk an extra 30 miles this week to work it off! Hahaha. Then Brad brought me home, kissed me, and was off on his way.
When I got home I checked my e-mail and I had a message from Apple saying my iPod Mini had shipped! I clicked on the tracking number and went to the Fed Ex site and it said it was in SHANGHAI China! Of course it’s tomorrow there already. It’s got tomorrows date as the day it left China. I hope it gets here by Wednesday. I didn’t really need an iPod Mini but I wanted one and I’m justifying it’s purchase by saying I will walk an additional two miles a day, each day to increase my cardio and increase my weight loss. Another 10 pounds would be nice. Brad thinks I look fine and doesn’t think I need to loose any more. I told him I’m loosing it for me, not for anyone else. I want to be 165 by my 40th birthday (I’m sure I’ve mentioned that before).
So that was my Sunday. I consider it to be very productive as well as relaxing. The rest of the evening I will watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition (but it’s a rerun so I probably won’t pay attention to it) and the Sopranos and then I’ll read a few more chapters in my book before bed. I love reading and this book is holding my interest. I hope you enjoyed your Sunday!
House Lights
My mother took me out to dinner tonight. We went to Red Lobster. After dinner she said she wanted to drive through the neighborhood and see all decorated houses. So we drove all through her neighborhood and looked at what seemed like thousands of houses. Then we went to her house and turned on her lights so we could see what it looked like in the dark. Here's a picture of her house with the lights on. I think she needs more lights but I don’t want to be the one to put them on. he he he