This week's news revolves mostly around realtor progress (or lack of) and preschool progress.
First, the realtors -- we had two realtors come in to do "reports" for the relocation company. They were both very different - and they came up with two totally different numbers for what they thought we could sell our house for. Of course, we would like to think that the "high" number is more accurate (but maybe that's because the "low" number was 10% LESS than what we paid for the house three years ago...before we did the addition.) I know that we bought in '05 -- when the prices were so inflated, but it's still depressing to think that the last three years in this house could set us back so many thousands of dollars... Both realtors were asked by the relo company to "re-do" their reports. The "high" realtor lowered her list price slightly (but kept the "sell" preice the same) and the "low" realtor has yet to turn in her new report. We don't like her - she is just not interested in our little house. I am trying not to get too stressed out about this whole realtor thing - the numbers that will really matter are the ones from the appraisals - those are the ones that determine the buyout offer from the relo company.
Now to the Omaha realtor -- Frank met with him last week. The good news is that the Omaha housing market IS just as bad as it is here (so whoever we buy from will be losing money on their house, too!). The realtor asked Frank what we "needed" in our house out there and Frank proceeded to list off a bunch of things that we absolutely could never afford here -- at least 4 bedrooms, 3 car garage, hardwood floors, updated kitchen, full finished basement,... Even in our price range, the realtor didn't even flinch - seems like most of those things are fairly standard in Omaha -- it might be kind of fun to house shop on the Nebraska end. Although there seem to be a lot of houses with a second kitchen in the basement, which I think is weird - but who knows - maybe there would be occasions when I needed to make two dinners at once, or maybe I would feel like cooking something, but wouldn't want to walk ALL the way upstairs. :)
On to preschools - Yes, the Imagination Station is still the front runner. Frank went to a couple more "upscale" daycare type settings this week -- Primrose school and Goddard School. He said that the buildings were impressive - brand new, "wow" when you drive up kind of buildings. But, Frank said that the "teachers" looked like they were about 18 (OK, maybe we're just getting old -- they could have been much older than that) and overall, not nearly as "homey." They also didn't have a specific preschool program - and one of them "didn't recommend" 2-3 half days per week for someone Ellie's age, because by the time the kids are 4, they really have a curriculum and it might be confusing for her to be doing the letter "W" on Monday and when she comes back on Wednesday, they would on a different letter... really? Somehow, that doesn't seem like it would be that big of a deal. Frank thought they were pretty full of themselves. He has already filled out the application for the Imagination Station and he's going to drop it off this week!
One of our next missions is to plan a trip for the whole family to head out there, probably over spring break. It might be a good time to buy a house by the first week in April, and it might be kind of fun to get the kids a sneak peek at the new stomping grounds.
Of course, more next week... :)
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
The Moving Process Begins...
We have officially gotten the ball rolling on the physical move to Omaha (and we thought it was a lot of work to move from the townhouse to this one - HA!) We met with two different realtors this weekend that could potentially help us sell this house. As everyone knows, it is not the greatest market to try to sell a house, but so it goes - we sort of don't have a choice, so we'll make the best of it. The two realtors that we met with were pretty different - we think we know who we are going to go with, but who knows if it's going to be the right decision (any realtor we have ever chosen in the past has proven to be basically worthless, so we don't have a lot of confidence in our choosing abilities).
Another thing that our realtor meetings produced was a lot of "to do"s -- they each had a list of gripes about our house. Frank spent some time and money at Home Depot this weekend. He put a new faucet on the kitchen sink (the old one looked "tired and beat up"), he put some new hardware on the closet doors in the basement, he shoveled the deck (yes, that was a realtor suggestion), and he bleached and scrubbed the grout in the upstairs bathroom (that one actually did need to be done and it looks WAY better.... so the realtor had at least one good idea). The items that we have not done yet is to dust the water heater and the furnace (is she serious? but, I'll probably get to that one... tomorrow...) and to replace the counter top on the island with a "nice piece of granite" becuase our ugly green counter top has a chip in it. As she put it, "how much could that cost... $1000?" Our answer, " yep, probably about $1000... and we're not doing that!" Slowly, but surely, we'll get this place ready to sell - I just hope that someone wants to buy it...
Frank also has an appointment to meet with a realtor on the Omaha end this week. I hope that the market is as grim there as it is here - we might be able to get a deal on the new home purchase, anyways. That could be kind of fun...
In other "moving to omaha" news, I have been scoping out preschools for the kids. I don't plan to work full time, at least not when we first get there, and I know that they both have gotten so much out of the "preschool / daycare" setting here, that I would hate for them not to have that in Omaha. I did a lot of internet research and found that there are a lot of daycare centers similar to where they go here, where we could opt for a reduced schedule -- surprisingly, the rates for daycare there is less than, but not that much less than what it costs here... without a salary from me, it was looking like the three of us would have to play "pretend preschool" at home :) But, as I kept searching, I found a couple of places that offered specific preschool programs - like 2-3 mornings a week for 3 hours a day. My favorite one is called the Imagination Station (and it's not just the name that I love!) Like lots of things in Omaha, the building is new (less than 10 years old) and it's so darn cute! I sent Frank over to check it out and he concurred - it really is pretty cute, he says. And the best part is that the rates are ridiculous - ridiculously low! It is in a good location for where we think we might live, too. So far, it's the definite front runner...
(imaginationstationomaha.com)
That's all for today - but I think the posts will be coming more often now - things are going to start really hopping!
Another thing that our realtor meetings produced was a lot of "to do"s -- they each had a list of gripes about our house. Frank spent some time and money at Home Depot this weekend. He put a new faucet on the kitchen sink (the old one looked "tired and beat up"), he put some new hardware on the closet doors in the basement, he shoveled the deck (yes, that was a realtor suggestion), and he bleached and scrubbed the grout in the upstairs bathroom (that one actually did need to be done and it looks WAY better.... so the realtor had at least one good idea). The items that we have not done yet is to dust the water heater and the furnace (is she serious? but, I'll probably get to that one... tomorrow...) and to replace the counter top on the island with a "nice piece of granite" becuase our ugly green counter top has a chip in it. As she put it, "how much could that cost... $1000?" Our answer, " yep, probably about $1000... and we're not doing that!" Slowly, but surely, we'll get this place ready to sell - I just hope that someone wants to buy it...
Frank also has an appointment to meet with a realtor on the Omaha end this week. I hope that the market is as grim there as it is here - we might be able to get a deal on the new home purchase, anyways. That could be kind of fun...
In other "moving to omaha" news, I have been scoping out preschools for the kids. I don't plan to work full time, at least not when we first get there, and I know that they both have gotten so much out of the "preschool / daycare" setting here, that I would hate for them not to have that in Omaha. I did a lot of internet research and found that there are a lot of daycare centers similar to where they go here, where we could opt for a reduced schedule -- surprisingly, the rates for daycare there is less than, but not that much less than what it costs here... without a salary from me, it was looking like the three of us would have to play "pretend preschool" at home :) But, as I kept searching, I found a couple of places that offered specific preschool programs - like 2-3 mornings a week for 3 hours a day. My favorite one is called the Imagination Station (and it's not just the name that I love!) Like lots of things in Omaha, the building is new (less than 10 years old) and it's so darn cute! I sent Frank over to check it out and he concurred - it really is pretty cute, he says. And the best part is that the rates are ridiculous - ridiculously low! It is in a good location for where we think we might live, too. So far, it's the definite front runner...
(imaginationstationomaha.com)
That's all for today - but I think the posts will be coming more often now - things are going to start really hopping!
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