Packing

Originally published at Casa de Lovely. Please leave any comments there.

Jen always packs way in advance of moving (I’m more of a “the week before” kinda guy but that idea makes her crazy), so we went out and got a bunch of wardrobe boxes and packing boxes from U-Haul. We also dumpster-dived the recycling bins at McDonalds for french fry boxes (almost exactly the same size as the U-Haul “small box” at 1.5 cu. ft.), because hey, free.

The only problem with this plan is that our place was already at capacity when the books, DVDs, VHS tapes, plates, cups, etc., were being efficiently stored on their bookcases and shelves. Now the stuff is in boxes taking up floor space and the bookcases are still taking up floor space, and we’re running out of room to turn around in. And we’ve still got a lot more stuff to pack.

Also: buying nifty furniture off Craigslist for way less than it’s worth is great. Buying it before you move and having to stash it somewhere in your crowded living room, not so much. There’s a reason we never bought a dining room table and chairs.

But, getting everything packed up as much as possible means that when we have the movers over for a Mk 1 Eyeball estimate (as opposed to a rule-of-thumb internet estimate), they’ll see exactly what needs to get moved instead of having to guess.

Got the Appraisal

Originally published at Casa de Lovely. Please leave any comments there.

…And it’s for exactly $1000 more than what we’re paying for the place. Which is pretty much irrelevant; we were only worried that it would appraise for less.

There’s a list of recommended repairs, of course, all of which we were aware of and had plans for. Now the appraisal goes to the underwriters, and we get to wait and see what they require before the sale.

I suspect that the sellers are neither willing nor able to make any of the repairs — if they were they would have done so long ago since the issues are obvious. I’m hoping that my email detailing what we plan to do on day one after taking possession but before occupying the premises helps mollify the underwriters; but if not we might be in the position on having to go on the property before we own it to fix things.

Stress stress stress.