Our House

 Our house, circa 1952. The house I grew up in.

This is how the house looked when we first lived there. A two-bedroom, one bath house. Dad later built two bedrooms in the basement. And a "coal room" where we stored coal for the old furnace, also became another bedroom once we converted to a natural gas furnace. Eight kids and two adults lived in that little house. It was tight. Our driveway was originally a dirt path facing onto Harrison Blvd -- a main road that became very busy over the years. We had orchards to the north and behind the house. Those orchards were our playground for many years. The owner no longer maintained them or picked the fruit. Eventually all the land was sold and developed into houses in the 50s and 60s. We had our own apple and peach trees and a large yard. Dad built a large garage in the back of the house and our driveway faced the new Douglas Street that had been added running along the south side of the house through the old orchards. Both mom and dad had a wish to live in the house till they died, and that wish was fulfilled. They owned the house for over 70 years. So much history there. Too much to even touch on here.

Our house, 2023

We finally listed mom's house for sale in December, just a week or so before Christmas. Probably not the best time in real estate terms, but it was ready and we were sick of working on it.

We strangely call it mom's house, although it is really our mom and dad's house -- and our house, really. It was the only house mom and dad ever owned. They bought it when I was about 3 years old -- 72 years ago. I guess we call it mom's house because she had lived alone in it since dad died about nine years before her.

It's been a year and a half now since mom died, and we, the trustees of the estate, have been working hard to settle estate matters. That has been one of the most difficult and frustrating tasks of my entire life. First, it was necessary to empty the house of all the belongings. That, in itself, was a gargantuan undertaking. Mom and dad grew up in the Depression era, and they hated to part with anything that seemed to have some value. In truth, there was little value in most of what they saved, and it wasn't even easy to give it all away. We went through a process that allowed all of the eight siblings multiple chances to find things they wanted from the house and to take those things. Some of them took a great deal and some took almost nothing. We set a rule that we were not going to keep track of dollar values as long as everyone was happy with what they got. That worked fine until a year later when some of the ones who took the most suddenly had complaints about how it was all done. We ended up having to send an attorney's letter to settle it. Costly, but necessary.

In that time, we've had to make a number of repairs to the house as well. It has taken time that some of the siblings resented. Of course, the ones who complained the loudest were the same ones who were too busy to help with the work. Gratefully, some were dependable and helped us get the work done.

Toward the end, we put in some long hours and extra effort to get the house to market. I sacrificed working on my own home to the end. I don't necessarily feel my sacrifice was worth it. Some of the siblings have complained that the house would have sold for more if we had listed it sooner. But the trade-off they fail to understand, is that the house was in no condition to sell sooner. We could have sold it as it for a rock bottom price. But the trustees jointly felt it was in the best interest of all to repair issues in the house before selling. It was the right choice. The house is freshly painted, cleaned, and all repaired now and ready for someone to move right in.

Now, a month after listing, our realtor will be holding an open house this weekend. We're hoping to see some interest in the old house. You'd think we'd be sad and sentimental to see it sold. But after so many months of hard work and hassle, it will simply be a relief and that's all.

My own house is very nearly ready to list. But I've had a series of issues in the yard over the winter. The fiber optic company had to come repair their lines damaged during the water line construction from last summer. As a result, they've dug up three places in my yard that now need to be fixed (the city wouldn't allow them to trench in the newly paved road, and so they are laying line under the sidewalks!). I'm assured my landscaping will be put back as it was, but I know that won't happen, as these workers are clumsy oafs. Also I've had a gopher spree in the front lawn with now 10 mounds! These have been buried under snow most of the winter. But they are now visible, and I'm going to have to kill the gophers and mitigate the mess made by the mounds. It always something with a house. So much for curb appeal. But inside is in good shape, and I'm just trying to keep it as clean as possible. I plan to contact a realtor in February. I'll probably need my yard care guy to come help me with fixing landscaping issues.

Selling mom's house is the end of an era for sure. And selling my own house is the end of one and the beginning of another. I have been mentally preparing to move for a long time, and have been downsizing in terms of personal belongings to make the move easier. I think I still have too much furniture for the small houses I'm considering. My hope now is just that the market is decent enough to sell my house and be able to buy a smaller house, and put some cash in the bank from the difference. That's the plan for 2023. I want a new place and I'm more than ready for that big change.

I don't look forward to moving. But I must do it soon. My body can't handle this hill and the stairs anymore. And I'm tired of cleaning a big house when I basically live in three or four of the rooms. It's time for me to go. Unlike my parents, I don't want to live in this house till I die.

UPDATE: Yesterday, Mar 20, we finally signed papers to close on the sale of the house. It was a relief after some ups and downs. Our first offer was disappointingly low and eventually fell through because the buyer continued to make unreasonable demands for more concessions. A week later, we had three full-asking-price offers and accepted one. Even after that, we had two more buyers wanting to pay full price. We could have gotten into a bidding war, but we aren't greedy. We felt the asking price was fair. Our reward was an easy process from that point to closing. The buyers sign papers today and the funds will transfer to our account tomorrow. And that will close this chapter. I learned a few things in this process that will help me in the sale of my own house.