Keenan and I always talked about downsizing when the kids were launched. When we both worked at BYU, we thought about going south, toward Springville. I love Springville and we would be fairly close to mom and dad to help them.
Keenan's job situation has moved him around, so it seemed like moving south wasn't going to happen. It's best that we stay in the north end of Utah County so he can work anywhere from SLC to Spanish Fork.
Well, sometime in late August, the impression came to me very strongly that the time to downsize was NOW. It really was undeniable. Kamiko didn't mind because he was recently engaged to be married and was moving to Arkansas anyway. Allie was a bit hesitant until I promised her a community with a pool. Melia, still on her mission at the time, understood when I mentioned that the move was a result of a very strong prompting.
So I cleaned the house and called my realtor friend Lissa Lott. We signed papers in early September to have her list the house. Some friends came over to help me finish cleaning baseboards, and we went to Disneyland for the weekend/Keenan's birthday.
We also made an offer on a home in Saratoga Springs. It was a "cottage" in Legacy Farms. That meant it was a nice little house with a tiny yard. Less yard work and a pool in the neighborhood. Soon after that, Keenan left Salt Lake Community College. That necessitated a change in plans since we couldn't qualify for a mortgage with his employment being in limbo. It ended up being a blessing in disguise because I had really wanted a town home. The problem with the town home was that it had NO bathroom on the main level. When we went in to change our paperwork and cancel our offer on the cottage, I said to Keenan, "I'm gonna ask one last time if anyone has figured out how to put a bathroom in." Well I asked and the answer was YES.
So, we changed our offer from the cottage to a town home. The town home is only slightly smaller than the cottage. It has NO yard work. We don't have to put in a yard AND it's $55,000 cheaper. We WILL NOT HAVE A MORTGAGE. Call Dave Ramsey. I'M DEBT FREE!!!!!!!!
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| When our place is done, it will look just like this! |
We feel really good about the decision. It took longer to sell than we hoped. I hate limbo. Actually it wasn't really that long. It just seemed to take a long time. We listed on September 7th. We had an open house on September 22, the day we celebrated mom's 80th birthday in Heber. We waited and waited. Showings, but nothing. Keeping the house clean wasn't too bad since we're all adults and can pick up after ourselves. It was a pain to hide all evidence of a cat when we left the house, though. That dang cat had started peeing downstairs and we had to get the carpets cleaned and keep the door to the basement shut.
According to our buyers, the Michelsons, on conference weekend in early October, it was made VERY clear to them that it was time for them to move, too. They had been in Spanish Fork for over 25 years. Shauna found our house online and contacted Lissa immediately. They walked through the house twice and knew it was for them. They made a full price cash offer and we were in business. Well, kind of. We had to wait for them to sell their home, which Lissa's agent listed. As Lissa puts it, there were a lot of moving parts in that transaction. To buy our town home, we needed to sell our home. Our buyers needed to sell their home to buy our home. It all worked out and we closed on December 5, 2 days before Melia came home from her mission.
