A New Chapter

I have BIG news friends and family!!! And let me say that this isn't something I decided over night or something I decided because of the insane real estate growth here in Denver (that helps) but instead this is something I have been toying with for over 4 years. What you ask is it?
I am officially enrolled in Colorado Real Estate School and I am going to become a Realtor. 

In Oklahoma I worked as a Landman, working in Oil and Gas but dealing with land rights and land ownership then I also worked in a Real Estate office for a year as far some background is concerned. And those careers will help my resume when looking for a job and home as a Realtor.
When we left Oklahoma 3 years ago I sold the home myself in less than 4 weeks, executed all the paperwork, negotiations and made a profit on our starter home. Then last Spring I sold our Ohio home FSBO in under 3 weeks once again. And during closing the new owners said that they were blown away and I could have sold them a crap house and they would of bought it from me. They said I must become a Realtor.
Matt and I have discussed this on and off for years but now seemed right. Moving into our new home in a few weeks we need just a little more income coming in.... And I need something flexible due to my migraines and the fact that I will still be helping Matt at his office when I can. So I prayed on it, slept on it for a few weeks and made the LEAP! I picked Online Real Estate school since we have had a busy Summer, this way I have been taking the classes at home when I have time. I am about 1/3 into it and my goal is to finish and take the State test by the end of September.

Let me also say I have realistic goals, I am not committing myself to pounding pavement 10 hours a day, 7 days a week and dreams of making over 100k..... I don't want to set myself up for failure. I want to do this part time, sell maybe 2-3 homes a year and have this to always fall back on. I am also not saying it will be easy, but I really think this will be good for me and for our family! I do have a company in mind that I want to join and to get in I am hoping I can become an assistant for a year and then jump off on my own but we will see how everything works out.

I am excited and scared to start a new career and I absolutely refuse to have a cheesy headshot! lol! SO there it is friends, I said it out loud....it's Blog official!!! Wish me luck .........

One Week

You guys...... ONE week from today we close on our Ohio Home!!!!!! EEEKKKkkkk! At this point I feel like I have so much to do and nothing to do at the same time! I am in "list making" over drive....we all know I love a good list and each one I make calms my anxieties just a tad! The next 3 days I am meeting ALL my Ohio friends for a "Last Supper" and by all I mean all 3 of them! hahaha! 

You know the logistics of moving across the country are intense, here is the plan......

* Matt gets in next Thursday afternoon and he then has to immediately paint the guest room since some a touch of paint peeled up when I removed my command strips. He told me to wait since I am not that good at painting! 

*As of now next Friday morning at 9am we close and that morning I will also take Bella to the vet to be boarded. A cat would get so upset seeing stuff move out of the house, I can't put her thru all that stress!
* Saturday the movers arrive and all day they pack us up. YES we have movers and the amount of relief I have is too big to talk about!!! We got a 65% OFF deal since this is still the slow moving season (Nov-May is the dead time they say) Saturday Mom also arrives.... yup, I needed my partner in crime!

* Sunday the movers come back to load, the whole house will be loaded on the semi on Sunday. Sunday Matt is actually leaving with Abner and Ralph. He is crazy and he is gonna do it in 2 days again. 11 hours is a long time for dogs to be in a car for one day. But that is his thing... and I can't worry about it. 

* Sunday night Mom, Oscar and I will stay in a hotel here in Pickerington and on our way out of town Monday morning we will get Bella from the vet and hit the road.

* Mom and I are doing 3, 7-8 hour days of driving:

Day 1 to St. Louis and we actually get to stay with my Brother and Sister-in-law 

Day 2 to Kansas to stay in a small motel in the middle of nowhere 

Day3, to Denver!
Our movers will arrive in Denver Between Thurs and Sat the week we move. And then they will then unload and unpack us! Not bad huh? The only craziness there will be that our Townhome is 1/2 the size of our house so 1/2 our stuff we will be storing in the garage for the next 10 months until we buy a home!!! 

Mom and I will try to fit in some fun and tool around our new city and then she will fly home the following weekend!

Whew! That was a lot huh??? Wish me luck!!!!

Inspection Day....

Hey Guys! Today is Home Inspection Day, I don't think anyone would excited to have an inspector comb over your home for 3+ hours! EEK! Fingers crossed everything goes well!

Today is also #TBT aka Throw Back Thursday and I thought we would throw it back 2 years ago to the day of our Okc Home Inspection and after reading it.....today is already a WIN!!!!!
Let's go back to that dreaded day...

Ok......it is 7:30am and the inspection and buyers are set to arrive at 8:30..............And as embarrassing as this is I am a sharer.....so my toilet stops up............I do not know how to plunge? I just don't so when I tried it was tragic......it overflowed on me and it is now 7:40am so I call my Mom screaming and she arrives at 8:00am and we put drano down and then I plunge again................
To read the rest of the post click HERE!!!!

April 11

 This past weekend Matt was able to come home for the first time in 5 weeks!!! I surprised him by bringing Oscar to the airport with me to pick him up. Oscar was a tad worked up if you can't tell....I think until Matt got into the car that he thought he was going to the doctor! Poor baby.
I wanted Matt to be at the house for the second showing we had set up this past Saturday. Just in case there was any question about the home that I could not answer.....and to help clean! haha! The weekend was good, but it was hard....when you don't see each other for 5 weeks, we each have gotten into new routines plus adding in all the stress in our lives we were at each others throats. It was sad that our weekend was squandered away but you know, it is what it is.

Here is the house before the showing all cleaned up, shining from top to bottom!!!

So....April 11 huh??? Well that is our closing date! Give me just a minute to be proud of myself........
As of today the house has been listed for 3 weeks....so I sold our home in under 3 weeks! Also the couple that came Saturday did make an offer which we then countered. Matt had one number in mind and I had a slightly higher number in mind so I told him to trust me and THEY ACCEPTED! I think given the price of our home selling it for only 13k off the list price is a huge win! Our contracts are signed, the Title Company has been chosen and this Thursday is our home inspection! eek
Funny thing is yesterday I actually had 4 more calls on the house and it was nice telling people we are in contract (yes I took their name and number in case anything happens)!
I mean I did it! In 1 month I had the house re-carpeted, "staged", organized, listed, 3 showings and an offer accepted!
The couple did have a realtor.... to get more traffic I did advertise I would pay the buying realtor 3% commission which was a good but expensive plan! The realtor told me that the couple fell in love with the home after the way I "sold" it to them. I explained why I loved this home and showed them my favorite things and the realtor said she didn't know what they loved more me or the house. And guys, it isn't that often that I am actually proud of myself....so this was special to me. She said I should be a realtor in Denver........hmm.....maybe so! I know that selling 2 of my own homes doesn't make me a realtor but maybe I have a knack for it and my Dad might have hit the nail on the head when he said "I could sell a paper sack to anyone"

So today lets be happy, today I will beam with pride and tomorrow we will freak out about having 30 days to do SO much! M'Kay?

FSBO

Ok, I just want to put this out there....getting new carpet is SO much work! You literally have to move out of your stuff just to move right back in.....I clearly underestimated the amount of work this would entail! BUT....I survived!!!!! 

 The new carpet goes sooo much better with the home and it really warms up the great room! In fact it made me love my home even more...boohoo...I don't wanna move (ok, tantrum over)! The carpet goes really well with our kitchen tile also.......So much more flow then white! DON"T even buy a home with white carpet....gag!
I was so lucky to have my friend Kylee come over to help me put the house back together the next day, she was a life saver!!! Literally.

 While I have been organizing, cleaning and trying to get this house ready to go on the market the boys have loved having their Mom home with them all day!!! How cute are these two? I found them like this having a morning snuggle sesh the other day! #adorbs

 Drum Roll Please...............
It is official Casa Savage is for SALE!!!!!! I put the sign up today complete with homemade flyers which I am quite proud of! To check out our listing on For Sale By Owner just click HERE!!!
I worked hard on this and I really think someone is going to fall in love with this house as much as we did.
Any buyers out there????

Now if only all the snow would melt or shovel itself??