September 2001 – Sincerely Sire Newsletter
The Move
There's
an old song by a singer you’ve probably never heard of from the hippie days of
the late sixties – the singer’s name is Melanie, and I don’t remember the name
of the song, but there’s a line in it that goes, “Nothing is real unless it’s
happening to you.” I’ve always remembered that line because it applies to so
many things in life and is so very true.
I
found myself remembering that song as Rosemarie (Roe) and I were making our
move into our new home several weeks ago. We have sold so many homes to, and
for, so many people and families, and yet we have not experienced an actual
move ourselves for many years. Our job pretty much ends when the escrow closes
and the keys are delivered to the buyer and/or the check is delivered to the
seller. We’re not around for the move that follows, when the real work begins.
I
had forgotten how exciting, energy draining, sometimes frantic and always
stressful a move can be. Yes, indeed, nothing is real unless it’s happening to
you.
Our
move started with, as it turned out, a very poorly timed vacation to New York,
which had been planned months in advance, and commenced the day after we
moved into our new home. We literally dumped everything into the house,
searched through the rubble the next morning to find our suit cases and
clothes, and then exhausted, dusty and shell-shocked left on a plane for New
York that night.
When
we got back, two weeks later, we came home to a house that thankfully we had
had time to get the flooring coverings in before we left, but not much else. No
stove, no refrigerator, no washer and dryer, no window coverings, and Roe
hadn’t even begun to redo the entire house inside and out which I had no idea
she was going to do before we closed the escrow (when we put the deposit down
on the house she told me she was just going to “change a few things.”)
We
had all kinds of troubles with the phone lines, our brand new hardwood flooring
was unmercifully gouged by a heavy sofa that was pushed across the floor, paint
fumes and drywall dust filled the house for weeks, and we still don’t have any
family room furniture.
But,
here’s what went right. First of all, Roe, did a great job of decorating the
house. Her best idea was changing the regular door that goes into the guest
bathroom to a pocket door, and her second-best idea was putting in an alcove at
the top of the stairs for our grandfather clock. If Roe wasn’t in real estate
she could have been an interior decorator, no kidding.
The
movers, the painter, the hardwood flooring person, the carpet people, the
carpenter and the drywall man also did a great job. We had the toughest time
finding a source for our hardwood flooring. (We already knew and had used the
other trades people before.) But after a great deal of research, mostly on
Roe’s part, we came up with a gem of a “floor person.” We were very pleased
with his work and highly recommend him. He installs all kinds of flooring. His
name is Ron Dobson and his phone number is 562-458-6123. And if you need any of
the other people I’ve listed above just give us a call.
So, anyway, we are now enlightened with a much greater knowledge of what our clients go through when making a move and hopefully will be better Realtors for the experience. And, finally, thankfully, we’re over the hump with our own move, and about 90% finished with the house. Now, if we could just get some family room furniture I will have reached Nirvana. I’m getting tired of sitting on the family room floor and watching my big-screen TV - - - I’ve found out there’s a reason they call it HARDwood flooring.