Hey Geoguy, wasn't it back in November (when you did your last entry) that you said you had plenty to share? What's the delay?
Simple. Bought a house.
In other times this wouldn't seem newsworthy/blog-able. However, compared to the other times I've purchased houses, this go-round was it's own brand of insanity.
When Geogal and I were in the market in Tucson, Casa Grande and Chandler Arizona, inventory and price weren't significant issues. Of course, there always were domiciles we wanted but were out of our price range yet together with those was an ample number of houses that met our needs and didn't break our budget. Norton, Kansas was a different story, of course. When you're trying to find a house in a rural town of around 3,000 people, it's a combination of luck and timing.
Upon moving to Saint Peter in August of 2020, we knew we wanted to purchase but were in no rush since we had a month-to-month lease at our townhouse. And for those of you paying attention, you remember 2020 and 2021 weren't great times for homebuyers. Inflated market, prices sky-high for even the most mediocre dwellings and listings that got stamped with "contract pending" before the ink was even dry on the seller's agreement with the listing agent.
What followed was many months of frustration, to put it mildly. Geogal did well to keep her eye on Zillow and Realtor.com, yet anything that seemed promising already had a contract on it (often before we even had a chance to visit the house) or worse, hearing from our buyer's agent that the property had several offers. With the sellers free to choose from the best one (i.e. the highest bidder). More than once I had thoughts of just bagging the whole idea and considered buying land near one of the many lakes in this area, then work with one of the pre-fab companies to do a new construction.
But we kept looking.
Things began looking up in the summertime. We connected with a new buyer's agent, one who seemed more aggressive about finding us something that was a good fit. She had a listing that I liked, but Geogal didn't. Then she showed us a house that Geogal really liked yet I had reservations. (Plus it was overpriced.) Not long afterward we looked at a house near Gustavus Adolphus College. Really near. As in throw a rock and it'll land on campus. No exaggeration. Price was a bit high but the main level was lovely. Elegant living room with a huge fireplace. Remodeled kitchen. But the lower level needed improvement and the bathroom especially was long in the tooth (this house dates back to 1960). And no backyard. A huge deck but the back of the property dropped off significantly, a characteristic of this area due to the Minnesota River Valley. Nice view from the deck, though.
However Geogal was right. She didn't think I'd be happy in a house with no backyard. So we passed.
A postscript: Geogal recently learned the people who did buy that house turned it into a rental. That's just sad.
Then in late September there was a listing, in a nice area of town, with a price that wouldn't put us into the poorhouse. Our agent got us there right away. Walked through, and it checked enough boxes that we wanted to make an offer. Later that night the agent had the paperwork ready to go. I remember heading home from work the following day, grumbling to myself that we would likely just be one of several offers.
Nope. Our agent let us know the sellers made a counter, which was a higher price than we offered but not excessive and not more than their listing price. We signed the counter and the deal was in place! Our agent also told us not long after that the sellers were on the verge of getting another offer. Still a hot real estate market.
We closed at the end of November (our being agreeable to close then, versus the end of October, was one concession in the counter-offer, however as a trade-off the sellers were generous in some other areas). Due to Geogal's work schedule and us already being committed to attend St. Olaf College's Christmas music event (a BIG deal) on December 5th led to the big move happening on Saturday the 11th.
The day where we got between 8 and 9 inches of snow the night before. That sounds like something deserving of a separate blog entry but I just don't want to re-visit that day.
So, with the move and getting everything situated and unpacked (still a work in progress, by the way), I wasn't overloaded with free time to sit and write. But now? Things are working themselves out. And I have on-deck the account of me going to Kansas last April to get the camper. Now there's a story.
I promise, that one will be up in just a few days.
