Monday, January 14, 2008

The waiting game

I started this blog five months ago to chronicle our move to New Mexico.

Now I am getting impatient; things seem to happen so slowly. I feel we are doing more waiting than actual activity.

We ARE working on our house here in the midwest to get it ready to put on the market in a couple of months. Because the real estate market is SO depressed, we feel like the best way to compete and get a somewhat quick sale is to have the house in perfect condition. It’s an almost 50-year old house and so there is a LOT to be done. We are getting there, but sometimes the progress seems so slow. And you have to spend so much money in remodeling to make money. Right now our kitchen is undergoing remodeling - it's easy to see the dollars add up!

The other activity we are able to do is downsizing our belongings and packing. I have been doing this for way over a year now, but I am still finding things to toss out or give to my favorite local charity.

We will take a trip to Santa Fe in less than two months to look at the available houses in Eldorado, and hopefully (fingers crossed) find the perfect one! It’s a buyer’s market, so we have a lot of houses to choose from and some have been on the market for a long, long time, and some have had their price reduced several times. So not only is there a pretty large inventory, but I think we can offer a little less than the asking price and possibly get it accepted.

Once the house is bought, we can actually plan the date for our move. I am hoping for May, but I think June will be more likely. Gosh, that still seems like a long way off! I am trying not to be impatient as we play the waiting game...

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Hi, Bag Blog

I am adding Bag Blog to my list of favorite New Mexico blog sites. She is not in New Mexico, but grew up there, and that's good enough for me!

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

The new year and our new adventure



WOW. It’s the new year! It’s 2008!!!

2008 is the year that we expect to change our lives.

My husband will retire in 2008, we will put our house here in the Midwest up for sale, we will buy a house in New Mexico and we will move to Santa Fe.

What I am hoping for is not a year of stress, but a year of anticipation and excitement and fun as our adventure takes place. Our dream comes true in 2008.

Here is the status of our hunt for the perfect house for us: In October 2007, we looked at 14 houses in Eldorado at Santa Fe, New Mexico. We narrowed our search down to about 6 houses we really liked, never dreaming months later any of them would still be for sale.

As of yesterday when I checked, five of the houses are still listed for sale. One has been removed from the market. The price of four of them has been lowered. Several new listings look interesting, so it looks like we will still have a good number to choose from...all of which have the main features we are looking for.

Our house-hunting trip to New Mexico will be in just a couple of months. I’m ready! I’m so ready to get on with it!

In my kitchen on a shelf I have a small covered wagon which I bought some years ago. On its side it says “Santa Fe or Bust”, and it has been a talisman for me, the symbol of our big move west.

And now it is happening. It’s 2008 and it is finally happening!