The move is complete!
This has easily been one of the craziest weeks of our lives - definitely William's! I can't even begin to thank Barb ("Gula") for coming to Austin for a week to help us pack, and to my parents for flying down on Sunday, packing, cleaning, and leaving less than 48 hours later (my Dad DRIVING from Austin to PA with Esch, and my Mom flying with William and I).
Somehow amidst all the chaos of the move, we also had some fun along the way. While poor Esch and Grandpa were driving all of our worldly belongings across the country, Nanna, William, and I got to see some good friends and family in State College! Gula and Aunt Erika came to have dinner with us, and it was great to see them! William is so lucky - he arrived to PA for the first time to find his very own nursery at Nanna and Grandpa's house.
THANK YOU to my parents, Uncle Andrew, Uncle David, and Eric Breniman for helping us move in to our new place this weekend. We literally could not have done it without you guys. And we love our new home - Gula and Grandpa saved us by looking at places for us in PA while we were still in Austin. It's great, and I know we will be happy here! I will post some pictures when we get all set up. It's starting to come together, though, and William's room was the first completed. I think I may like it even more than the "original" in TX.
We are still getting settled in - luckily Esch has today and tomorrow off until he begins work in Allentown on Wednesday. We're still hanging photos and have a few last boxes to unpack, but are getting there.
GOOD NEWS to report: we have a great solution (for now) for our as yet unsold home in Austin. After 2 open houses, our realtor is dismayed at the lack of traffic that has come through. She said that it's a very slow summer, and that all other local realtors are saying the same thing. She said that our house is showing extremely well, and that those who come always like it, but that it doesn't seem to be good timing. Needless to say we have been SO worried about selling - it would be awful if it sat on the market for months and we had to keep paying the mortgage, taxes, utilities, etc.
Our lovely realtor came through for us and has clients who recently sold their (much larger, $400k) home and are going to be moving in the Spring. They were looking for something temporary to lease, and they loved our house! We negotiated an amount for rent, which is less than our mortgage, but not too bad. We'll still be losing a bit each month, but nothing to lose sleep over. The reason we can't ask full market value from them is the catch (and it's great for us)... we're keeping the house on the market! It will remain for sale, and they have agreed to keep it very neat, clean, and leave for showings, etc. They have most of their things in storage, are middle-aged with no kids at home, and I think that they'll take good care of everything. It would obviously be better to show the house while empty, but having this extra income will really save the day!
They have agreed that if the house sells, we will give them 30 days notice to leave.
We really couldn't say no to this arrangement. If the house didn't sell by the end of August, things would likely slow down even more through the fall and winter. If there are still no buyers by the Spring when the tenants leave, at least it will be close to the beginning of Summer again - the best time to sell. Huge relief and a weight off our shoulders!
Just got an email from our realtor that they would like to sign the lease tomorrow!
Back to unpacking - while a very good little boy naps. More soon! We are so, so happy to finally be back!
It was so hard saying goodbye to our friends in Austin, but we know we'll see you all again, and are already planning a trip back next Summer at the latest.
A parting shot of William's last day in Texas:
