Monday, July 10, 2017

"Deep Cleaners" Here Today / Other Progress **Updated**

Finally got the radio room suitably "emptied" in preparation for the cleaners to take a whack at it.

They've been working in the kitchen for several hours, and are almost done in there. Next is the "master" bedroom, then the bathroom, then the front bedroom, bathroom and finally Radio Central.

Oh, and the living/dining area.

They're very thorough and "bubbly/perky" young ladies.

The gardener came again today with his big truck, and hauled away a ton of trash. The city also came by and picked up all the stuff we had by the curb. Long Beach gives you three "Large Item" pick ups per year, and we still have two we can use.

I think the cleaners will have to come back tomorrow, as it's already 1210, and considering how thorough they are, I just don't think they'll be done by 1700. The quote was for "Monday and possibly Tuesday", and I'm guessing they'll need at least part of Tuesday to finish. I also have to drop, disassemble, and pack the tripod/mast my discone is on, and the mast on the side of the house holding the weather station and another small VHF/UHF vertical antenna.

The photographer is coming by on Wednesday, and the house gets listed Thursday.

The realtor told us the market in this part of town is "crazy hot", and he had the sales figures to back it up. He thinks we should get some good, solid offers the first week, and it should definitely be under contract well before the end of July.

That means we'll be outta here by the end of August, possibly the middle of August.

I have quite a few items in the garage that the movers will not ship, so I'll either rent a trailer to pull behind the Jeep, or a big "Box Van" like I rented when I moved here to Kaliforniastan some 35 years ago.......

-More to come-

Holy smokes, the house positively sparkles! 

They even managed to make Radio Central here look good.

My hats are off to the young ladies who showed up on time, didn't take any breaks, and worked seven hours straight to clean the house.

We not only paid them the agreed upon price (which my wife haggled down before they came), but we also tipped each of them $20 each.

14 comments:

  1. Sounds like you have things pretty much covered.
    God I hate moving, I have moved probably 40 times in my life at a minimum and it can best be described as barely controlled, insanity fueled, chaos.

    Best of luck my man.

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    1. Thanks, Phil!

      I've moved from Northern Illinois to Socal, and then a few times around SoCal, all handled by my much younger self.

      This is a YUUUUGE undertaking, and I'm over 65 now.

      This will be my last interstate move....PERIOD!

      And after we're settled in whatever house we buy, I'm planted for good.

      Just scatter my ashes in the mountains after I leave this mortal coil....

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    2. When we moved into this house in 1984, it was the two of us loading my old Dodge pickup and making dozens of trips back and forth. I told myself, "I don't ever want to do that again" and was truer to my word than I thought. 33 years here.

      Truth is I really meant "next time I hire movers". Now I'd have to hire movers.

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    3. When I moved from Illinois to California in 1982 I did pretty much the same thing. I rented a big "box van" from U-Haul, and had a couple of buddies help me load it. Another friend followed me driving my little Fiat X1/9. When we got out here we had the van unloaded in a couple of hours.

      These days I don't have half the strength, energy, or stamina I did 35 years ago.

      Delete
  2. You know, there are models who will clean your house while naked. It's a service available in the Greater LA Area. It might cost a bit more, but it would make for a more interesting blog (nothing without photos)... ;^)

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    1. Yeeah.....we'd have to make sure we also had a couple of Chippendale's models, too.

      Just to keep the wife happy,,you know?

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  3. If the realtor thinks your house will move that fast then it isn't priced high enough.

    Econ 101.

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    1. WELL.....yes and no.....The banks will ONLY loan what the appraiser says it's worth. Based on comps in the area, his knowledge of appraisers, and the market, he says he can guarantee an appraisal of $525k. Since he's screening the prospective buyers (pre-approval for a loan, good credit score, etc), he knows that they can, and will, pay up the appraisal value.

      If you get two (or more) buyers in a bidding war, he will insist they can prove they have the cash to make up the difference between the appraisal and what they're willing to pay.

      If they can't make up the difference between what a bank is willing to loan, and the price they're willing to pay, then they can't buy the house, and we won't accept their "offer".

      We don't want to have to wade through buyers who fall out of escrow, buyers with shaky credit, etc, -OR- have the house on the market for 30, 40, 50, or 60 days while we wait for that magic buyer who's got the wherewithal to pay a premium price.

      This is NOT a "premium property". It's in a working class neighborhood, with working class buyers, and the banks, any bank, will only loan what the appraisal says the house is worth.

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    2. Sounds like you have a smart agent. In any transaction where financing is involved, the true buyer is the lender.

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  4. Still, it sounds as if everything is proceeding apace. You'll be out of there in no time. :)

    I have no plans to ever move again. Last year's move into our mountain home was the last.

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    1. It's been stressful in ways I didn't anticipate and/or expect.

      I just finished taking down the last of my antennas and the weather station. I'll take them apart and bundle them up so they're easier to move.

      I'm dragging all the "eWaste" stuff out of here later today, and tomorrow they're coming to take the pictures, which means a final spit-shine on a few things. Even though the cleaners were extremely professional, there were a couple of things they didn't do, like hang the new blinds in the Radio Room. The new ones just snap in to the same mounts the old ones used, so no biggie. And there's some rearranging of stuff I have to do in here. It looks very clean, but a little too "sterile", like somebody put things in here and had no idea what the stuff is, or how it's used.

      Once we settle into whatever place we buy in NoCo (Northern Colorado), that's it. I'm never changing homes again! Plant me in the back yerd, or scatter my ashes in the mountains, I'm staying put!

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  5. Replies
    1. It's been stressful, painful, and draining. I sure hope getting settled in NoCo isn't anything like leaving SoCal!

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  6. Sounds like things are moving along well.
    I've moved so much that I'm thinking I can handle one more. Time will tell on that score. This would have been less stressful if I had more help. Is what it is, need to gett'r done.

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Keep it civil, please....

Annnnd.....We Got Zip.....

 Total snow was about 6~8", but half o0f it melted as soon as it hit, and we never had more than 3" on the ground at any one time....