My Minimalist Home: Negotiations

I found my next home, but I knew that the hardest part of the process was yet to come. No matter how smooth you think the path will be, buying and selling a home always includes a few bumps along the way. My first bump, or rather bumps, occurred during the inspections. I had ordered two: one for the house and one for the septic tank system. I’ve never owned a house that used a septic tank and was a bit nervous about it.

Despite my initial inclination to save the septic inspection costs, I’m glad I went ahead with it. Within 20 minutes, the inspectors had discovered that the water wasn’t draining properly and that the drains were damaged, most likely due to the root structure of the enormous maple tree nearby. About 10 minutes later, they found cracks in the concrete septic tank. My realtor immediately called the owner’s realtor to come over and hear it directly from the inspectors. I mentally put “replace septic system” as the first item on the repair request list. I felt worried.

If you’ve ever purchased a house, then you know that the inspection is very thorough – nothing minimal about it. In fact, the details can be overwhelming and make you reconsider buying a house altogether. I knew that an older house would have some issues. I didn’t want a fixer, and I wasn’t willing to pay the big bucks for major structural problems. When the inspector spotted polybutylene pipes in the plumbing (a red flag that shows up on most disclosure forms but was not on the seller’s form), I added it to the repair request list. There were some other issues that I’d need to address, including some electrical work, and I started to worry a bit more. My realtor got estimates. The owners got estimates. We went back and forth for a few days on the who, what, when, and how much. It wasn’t fun. I felt grumpy.

In the meantime, I was getting my home ready to sell. My realtor’s colleague unexpectedly called and asked if she could show my home to a client of hers, who was in town for two days, even though my house was not yet listed (we planned to list it in a week). I sputtered a bit about how the house wasn’t as perfect as I would like it to be, but she really wanted to show it to her client, so I agreed. I quickly tidied up, glad I had decluttered so much the past year (minimalism for the win!). I started lunch early only to have them show up half an hour earlier than planned. They began to look around while I quickly cleared away my lunch mess. The client looked around, we chatted, and they all left. I took a deep breath. I felt flustered.

In the midst of inspections on my future home, the offer came in from the early-viewing client for my current house. Over the next few days, as negotiations for my new home continued, I crunched numbers for both selling and buying. I had lived in my current home for only two years and invested more money than I wanted in order to replace the roof and old carpet, so while I knew I wouldn’t profit much, I still wanted to break even after all the fees and commissions. The gain would come in buying a smaller, less expensive home, so I didn’t want to spend too much on structural repairs there. It got a bit tense for a few days, but in the end, deals were made and contracts were signed. I felt relieved.

Hopefully, the worse is behind us all now. There’s still the inspection to come on my current house, but it’s not very old and in pretty good shape, so I’m not anticipating problems. I suspect that the owner of my new home is still feeling a bit grumpy about the negotiations (as am I). My realtor didn’t seem very happy that last day, either. We’ll just have to get over it and move forward. The owners of my new home will be moving to a new state and job, so they can look forward to a new chapter there. My buyers will soon be settling their family into a new home and city. My realtor and I have been getting to know each other better as people, not just realtor and client, and I’m hopeful we can continue on that path. I felt optimistic.

My son is in town for a visit, so I’m going to show him the house and neighborhood this week. I wish he could be here to help with the move in six weeks, but he did his duty when helping me move across the country two years ago. My daughter’s summer is already fully scheduled with little free time, so she’s not available, either. That’s ok. This move will be easier. It’s just across town (so much easier than a move across the country), and I have a lot fewer boxes than I did in the last move. I felt hopeful.

Now comes the fun part. I’m imagining wall colors, flooring options, and furniture placement. I’m dreaming about fruit trees and flowers and a vegetable and herb garden. I’m picturing myself riding a bike to the town center for the weekly farmers’ market or one of the many festivals. Now I feel happy.