sunnuntai 1. maaliskuuta 2015

Move ahead!

Last time I told you we hadn't been very quick about this whole renovation scheme of ours. Apparently it was because the time just wasn't right or the universe wasn't ready or something else along those lines and it was a good thing we didn't get all stressed out about it. Because now it feels like someone finally found the remote and pressed "play".

Finland is suffering from the same economic recession as the rest of the Western countries, and the media makes the most out of it by reminding us nearly every day about the fact that there are many enterprises that made less money last year than they did the year before, although they've made profit anyway and the managers got their bonuses - but to cover that they need to let people go. And because there's a threat of unemployment hanging in the air nobody wants to buy houses right now. And if you are selling your house at this time despite the economical facts, you should be warned that it will take months and months to find a buyer.

And even though we know for a fact that there are still people out there who do have jobs, start families, and lead quite normal lives - perhaps because they don't watch or read the news all that regularly to know that they should be aware of the abnormal situation of ups and downs in the world - and that ours is a very nice, roomy and flexible house in one of the best locations in this town, we thought we should start selling the house a little in advance, like, and accept the fact that it might take a few months before we'd find a buyer.

So after toying with the idea for a good three months we contacted a real estate agent a month ago. She came round to have a look and asked some questions, then gave us an estimate of the price we could ask for the house. Even though she sounded a bit apologetic when she uttered the numbers, we weren't exactly surprised, because we had seen similar houses being on sale for 20% or 25% higher price - for months and months. It was clear the value of those houses wasn't what the current owners thought it was, because no one would buy them for that price!

Anyway, we agreed on the price she suggested, but because the estate market in Finland works by bargains, we wanted to raise the price a little. It was OK with her: the price was still reasonable enough for the agency to market it without the risk of losing face. So three weeks ago I hid all the toys and books and magazines and stuff around the house and made it look like smart and wonderful people might live there, and let the estate agent come in to take some photos. Then she made the advertisement and we agreed to have the first showing on 22 February.

So that was a week ago. There were 17 people in the showing, and that's a lot in a town of a little over 80,000 inhabitants, in a country where nobody wants to buy a house at this time. We got the first offer on Monday. The first "official offer" in writing - before that we played ping pong on the offers over the phone - was made on Thursday, and we accepted it, in writing, on Friday.

All that's between now and us becoming homeless is the house condition inspection that will be made
This is just one of the nine rooms plus some corners I'll be
squeezing in about a million boxes in the near future.
as soon as possible, then, if and when the house is the way it should be, followed by the actual signing of the contract by the end of this month. Then we'll have to hand out the keys to the new owners within a month, that is, before the beginning of May.

At first I was horrified: we're going to have to move out of our Home! How on earth are we going to be able to pack 9 years worth of life, two adults and four kids? But then again, I think I should've seen this coming... And now it's turned into a great adrenaline rush! How cool is this?! What an adventure! 8 weeks left! We're moving!

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