vlbrown-mzydt

So, I'm sitting here in an AirBnB apartment in Seattle, WA (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/35813335). If you missed some of my posts back in Sept/Oct, I'll fill you in.

The Saga began in Sept. Since January, we had been talking about getting some money out of our house in San Bruno. We'd gotten some info on Reverse Mortgage (do NOT go there)  and from a home equity investment company called "Point".

Then, before we could really do anything, Rich took a short trip to Austin, TX in March, to visit friends and, while he was away, things got weird. They got weirder after he got home and Point stopped making appointments for a few months.

We finally talked to Point again in the late summer. We went as far as getting an appraisal (which Point pays for). But, the amount of $$ they offered was lower than we liked and the repayment was going to be higher than we liked.

Then on Sept 14 (a Monday), we went for a walk and, as we walked, we talked. And Rich (or I) said "well, we could sell the house and move somewhere cheaper…" And we talked about Lompoc and Cambria and Rich said "we've discussed Seattle in the past…"

When we got home, Rich started to research Seattle… and things sped up from there.

Rich sent notes to all the people we know who live up near Seattle. He contacted a realtor in the neighborhood (via NextDoor) to come by and chat.

We talked until 4am.

On Sept 15, we decided to cull our enormous paperback book collection. We also talked to the realtor found through Nextdoor.

Over the next several days we culled books, held a garage "unsale", looks at houses in Zillow, and ordered PODs. (We do nothing by halves.)

On Monday the 21st, we had an appointment with another local realtor (Karin Cunningham). I liked her better (probably because she liked our house. 😉 )

Later in the day, Karin sent us a note to say: "After I left, I went to show a house to the couple I’m working with. I mentioned your place and they were ready to make an offer right now! Crazy! I told them I would talk to you about seeing it one day. You wouldn’t even have to do any work, just move!"

At this point, the Universal Laugh Track started to play, but we didn't hear it…