Nancy is selling her home of nearly 40 years. Big job!

[John Schmidt]

We decided I would not move into her place after we're married, it's nearly 100 years old and would be a money pit so she is downsizing and moving into my 2BR/2BR/2car garage apartment. Her place is a beautiful old home in an historical area of Green Bay and only a couple blocks from two hospitals. Because of that, the area where her home is has been slowly occupied by professionals that have gone in and remodeled and updated these grand old houses. Her place has some interesting features, one being a hidden staircase leading directly from the 2nd floor to the kitchen. It's no longer functional but can be accessed by removing a portion of a closet built to block off the stairway. The house has a fully accessible & functional attic via a stairway leading up from one small bedroom so the place is essentially a 3-story building. Doorways leading into the living room from the large entry foyer have beautiful arched woodwork that appear to be hand made. Same for going from the LR to the dining room. All along one wall are built in bookshelves that also have the same arched encasements.

Now for the clean up and out of 40 yrs. worth of "stuff." We all(her family) ended up hauling three dump trailer loads of stuff from the main floor and the basement, done prior to an estate sale she hired done prior to cleaning and dumping more stuff...another three p/u truck loads which included ancient stuff from the garage. The estate sale brought in a couple thousand $$ and more to come once the place is sold when we sell the remaining furniture now used to stage the house for showing. Daily, the last three weeks there has been five of us fixing, replacing, cleanimg, painting...you name it. But it goes on the market tomorrow and Nancy's daughter-in-law is handling the sale, she being a high producer in real estate sales in the area(nearly 3 mil this year already). She already has had inquiries before listing and has some showings lined up over the next few days. Will be interesting to see how the list grows once it's listed. I feel the place will sell within days and for a decent price. Once done, we will take the next step in our personal lives with all this behind us and a few more $$ for a trip to Virginia in a couple months. I'll be interested to see what it will sell for, Nancy isn't as optimistic as I. For now...my butt is dragging, not used to long hours but it's been worth it.

[cookiedough]

more gas and hotel money for long road trips for sure!  I applaud you for spending 3 weeks going thru the old big house and dumping most of the 'stuff' that would not sell.  

My mom's house also about 40 years of 'stuff', although not that big,  could have filled up 3 huge dumpsters as well.  The rest coulda sold at an auction sale for say 3-5k bucks is about it, all little stuff.  Yes,  we coulda cleaned out the house fully and had an auction sale and hired a realtor and sold for say 110K vs. got lucky finding a buyer who would take mostly 'as-is' leaving about 90% of the stuff with the house for 87K.  I figured by the time we spent every single weekend over there cleaning it all up, having an auction getting it all ready to sell,  and tossing the rest all away in dumpsters, then the realtor taking their cut, was not worth the added 10-15K we coulda made.  the house needed new windows and a new roof all within next 5 years and am sure realtor woulda told us to get those done before sale and IMO was not worth the added expense and hastle for then getting say 125K tops, if that.

best of luck on the sale.  If a large old house and in decent shape and in Green Bay,  should go for a decent price one would think.  

[Jess from VA]

We decided I would not move into her place after we're married, it's nearly 100 years old and would be a money pit

Not to bring up a sore subject, but your (somewhat) recent experience sharing another woman's house didn't work out so well for you (except for your move North and a new lady).  So good move.   

I also think it's a great indicator of her affection for you; many people would not want to leave their long term home. 

[John Schmidt]

We decided I would not move into her place after we're married, it's nearly 100 years old and would be a money pit

Not to bring up a sore subject, but your (somewhat) recent experience sharing another woman's house didn't work out so well for you (except for your move North and a new lady).  So good move.  

I also think it's a great indicator of her affection for you; many people would not want to leave their long term home.  

Jess, my experience is exactly what we talked about, plus Wisconsin's marital property laws would come into play if she still owned the house and I moved in there. This way it's not an issue. A good friend in Florida remarried nearly 5 yrs. after losing her husband and they had their prenup done up so as to not let either of them fall into the same situation as I did. She told me they used my experience to guide them...good plan.

Addition: I do believe mutual affection comes into play, but another item came to light following her knee replacement in September. All her bathrooms and bedrooms were on the 2nd floor, making it extremely difficult for her following the operation. After two nights on her couch, I helped her pack some stuff and I hauled her over to my apartment. Her main attraction...my couch has an electrically operated recliner at each end and she loved it. Would elevate her leg, I could ice it down, wrap it, clean it, etc., and her bedroom was right across the hall from her bathroom. Everything is on one floor...and I was the chief cook and bottle washer for two weeks. About three days in, she's hobbling through the apt. and looked around her, stopped and said "I could really do this in place of all the stairs at my place." That set the hook, I still have to remind her it's a 2 BR apartment, not a warehouse. 

[..]

I feel your pain.

Sandra and I have both shed a lot of possessions and stuff..

[old2soon]

        Some of the "stuff" I've had over the years with 2 X wives and 6 kids now do not seem as important as it once was. I need to downsize "stuff" even more than I already have. But there ARE a few things that will still be in my possesion when I depart this mortal life. John My Friend happy you and your new Lady gittin things sorted out. I wish you two Well!  RIDE SAFE.

[John Schmidt]

        Some of the "stuff" I've had over the years with 2 X wives and 6 kids now do not seem as important as it once was. I need to downsize "stuff" even more than I already have. But there ARE a few things that will still be in my possesion when I depart this mortal life. John My Friend happy you and your new Lady gittin things sorted out. I wish you two Well!  RIDE SAFE.

Dennis, if things continue to go as planned you'll get to meet her in Roanoke. You and Ross met Toni, she loves Nancy and those two shouldn't be left alone. 

[JimC]

John, I am happy for you and Nancy.

Just don't work too hard, I would hate for you to hurt yourself prior to the honeymoon.

Jim

[Jess from VA]

That set the hook, I still have to remind her it's a 2 BR apartment, not a warehouse.

Also, besides being a money pit, you would likely have become a perpetual maintenance and repair man which can get old quickly.

None of my business of course, but if she has funds to contribute, you guys could upgrade to a larger 3 bedroom unit adding just a bit more space for stuff.   

[f6john]

I think it’s wonderful that you and Nancy are putting yourselves in a position to be able to concentrate on each other and not a bunch of stuff. I also hope someone will take Nancy’s home and take it to the next level as I love the architecture of homes from that time period. I marvel at some of the older homes and just wonder, how did they do that!

[John Schmidt]

That set the hook, I still have to remind her it's a 2 BR apartment, not a warehouse.

Also, besides being a money pit, you would likely have become a perpetual maintenance and repair man which can get old quickly.

None of my business of course, but if she has funds to contribute, you guys could upgrade to a larger 3 bedroom unit adding just a bit more space for stuff.   

Jess, we're way ahead of you. A 3 BR unit is a definite possibility...assuming I can't thin out my stash of parts and other highly treasured(to me) stuff. I just have to wait for warmer weather cuz I can't work in this cold...garage isn't heated.

[Rams]

John,
I do not envy you as it pertains to what you're about to go through (moving Nancy).
I've never lived anywhere more than 5 or 6 years, I can only imagine what all would have been kept, stored and/or put up once to never be seen again until it's time to move after 40 years.

Even now, I question why we are keeping some things.   Sentimental stuff is always a problem, I don't have much I'm sentimental about, but someone else that lives with me has a large boatload of that stuff.  

When contemplating a move, my first question is always, do I need to rent a dumpster?  

Rams

[John Schmidt]

Woohoo...sold in one day with cash offer well over asking. Closing early April. Listed Tuesday, sold Tuesday, had numerous offers and took the highest one. I have a happy lady on my hands. 

[Rams]

Excellent!!!   Must be a different housing market up there.   Nothing is moving that fast here.

Rams

[Jess from VA]

John, if you don't mind, since it's now sold (although it ain't sold till closing and money transfer), can you give us the address so we can look up pictures on Zillow, Redfin, (and the like)? 

Just curiosity. 

[..]

Woohoo...sold in one day with cash offer well over asking. Closing early April. Listed Tuesday, sold Tuesday, had numerous offers and took the highest one. I have a happy lady on my hands. 

Well done.

Friends here in MV listed their 2 bed 2 bath cabin with firepit, creek and garage. Sold for 25K Over asking and the asking price was a healthy one.

[John Schmidt]

John, if you don't mind, since it's now sold (although it ain't sold till closing and money transfer), can you give us the address so we can look up pictures on Zillow, Redfin, (and the like)? 

Just curiosity. 

1110 S. Jackson St., Green Bay, WI

There were some much higher offers, into the mid-$300k range, but with some contingencies. Best of those had none except had to wait until they sold their current home, Nancy wanted to get this all behind her so took the best offer which was for cash...no questions. Waiting until a bidder sold their home first could have run into months and she didn't want to take a chance on messing up summer plans which includes IZ. One extremely high offer backed out the last minute which I fully expected, it just didn't feel right to me and I was right. Nancy's really tickled with how it all turned out, now she can destress. 

[f6gal]

Excellent!!!   Must be a different housing market up there.   Nothing is moving that fast here.

Rams

She probably didn't have "antiques" on the front porch. 

[Jess from VA]

1110 S. Jackson St., Green Bay, WI

Thanks.

That is a beautiful home in very nice shape (from the interior pics).   

I can tell you in my area, that would easily sell for $600-750K.

[John Schmidt]

Excellent!!!   Must be a different housing market up there.   Nothing is moving that fast here.

Rams

She probably didn't have "antiques" on the front porch. 

Nope...only me! 

[_Sheffjs_]

I love the old homes. This one was done well.

[John Schmidt]

A little insight re. future plans after the house sale is complete in April. First, we have to find a place for her oldest son since he was living with Nancy at the time. Once that's all behind us, including matrimony, we'll be free to come/go as we please. A jerk that lives in the 'hood near the apartment recently referred to me as a "dumb apartment dweller"...we crossed paths one afternoon while I was cleaning snow off the car. My apt. is near the sidewalk used by folks that take walks for exercise and Einstein couldn't resist commenting I guess.

I decided it was time to share a few things with him. I first asked if he had a mortgage..."yes." Then I added I noticed you hire lawn care and snow removal...correct? "Yes." You pay property taxes and insurance..."yes."  Then I said..."Ok, for your information, interest on our investments pretty much keeps the roof over our heads, lawn care and snow removal is furnished, we have no mortgage, no property taxes, no insurance. To take a trip or leave during winter(our plans next winter), we have the manager shut off the water, we turn down the t'stat, then turn the key to lock up and drive away. No fuss, no muss, no responsibilities." I then asked him..."now, who's the dummy?" He said nothing and walked away.

We have no idea how long we'll have together, but we will enjoy whatever we're gifted with and be thankful for it. Beats living alone in these final years. Although we're in good health and active, given our years(80 & 85 soon), we both have issues that come with the passage of time such as joint pain, loss of flexibility, endurance, etc..  I now know what my dad meant when he said he feels like a walking pharmacy, we're not quite there but I assume that will change as we get still older. In the meantime, we're going to have some fun with new partners, something missing for both of us the last few years. 

[Jess from VA]

Depending on a few things, renter's insurance can be a good idea and not expensive.  Except you have to watch out for policy limits on thing like firearms, jewelry, yada (and add rider coverage for those, if applicable). 

[John Schmidt]

Depending on a few things, renter's insurance can be a good idea and not expensive.  Except you have to watch out for policy limits on thing like firearms, jewelry, yada (and add rider coverage for those, if applicable). 

Renters insurance is $126/year, is very little to add for special stuff I found out.