I had forgotten what it was like to sell an old home to a first-time home buyer.  *sigh*  Yes, there’s lead paint.  The house was built in 1870.  Yes, there’s asbestos (although most of it has been taken out) because that’s what they used to use for insulation.  All the time.  Everywhere.  Yes, storm windows for windows this size are expensive, and yes, things settle and don’t look perfectly straight.  I’m actually glad that we filled out a disclosure statement and were absolutely honest about the house, because nobody can claim that we hid anything.  I’m also glad that we had multiple offers on the house in case these buyers pull out, but what a pain that will be.  I liked them when I met them, and I think they’d do nice things to the house.  I also don’t want to have to make huge changes in the contract we have for the new house, because those sellers really want to get moving, too.  We shall see. 

Sometimes you forget exactly how much goes into moving.  Holy cow, I’m not going to have a lot of free time in the next six weeks.  Our offer was accepted in Toms River, with only slight tweaking, and we’re going to have no trouble overlapping by a couple of weeks – signing on the new house on November 4th, signing for the old house on the 18th.  Plenty of time for painting, cleaning, etc.  Packing is another issue entirely, I’m afraid.

We’re using the same lawyer for both transactions, so that’s no problem.

We’re using the same bank for all the sundry bank things that need to be done – so far, so good.

The home inspection here is tomorrow, the home inspection there is Tuesday.

The kids have a four-day weekend because of the teachers’ convention, so we don’t have to take them out of school.

The movers’ estimate came in under what we expected. 

I still can’t exhale, though.  Not until it’s all over, so thank goodness for quick closings.  If I had to do this over 90 days, I’d have to be institutionalized.