Blessings to the movers
Those of us living in Bella Vista know about moving from one home to another. People move to Bella Vista after working many years with the hopes of settling down into retirement, and the home they purchase reflects their current lifestyle. Never mind that the housing situation where we moved from might be radically different than the housing situation here, we purchase a home that befits our plans for retirement. And then, we find out that we have too much home to take care of, although we have no problem filling it up with stuff.
So then, we decide to downsize. We sell our home and purchase another one that is smaller and easier to take care of. Then, later on, many people sell that home and purchase another smaller home. Of course, the goal is to always live in our own home and not in one of those facilities designed for older (oops, sorry I used that word) people.
Since my wife and I have been going through this process, it’s easy to express a lot of the feelings shared by other movers. The market now obviously favors sellers, but it’s a nightmare for buyers. We put our home on the market and it sold for our asking price within two days. Wow! However, we discovered that things are not what they were years ago when we sold our home to move to Bella Vista. Let me share a few observations in case you are thinking about moving.
Getting a contract was the easy part. Then came the home inspection process. Since we had kept our home up-to-date, the only thing the inspectors could find to list were minor issues we easily took care of. However, we needed to obtain an agreement with the buyers, but our real estate agents refused to allow us to talk with one another. That’s right. No more faceto-face negotiations. However, when everything was in order, we were invited to a “closing” meeting to conclude the sale of our property. That’s when things got interesting.
It appears that everyone believes the seller has the most money and that it is their job to get as much of it as possible. Do you realize it costs almost 10% of the selling price to close on a sale these days? That’s a huge chunk of the seller’s settlement. The real estate agents involved shared 6%, the government took over 2%, and I’m pretty sure there were a few others involved like the termite inspectors who also wanted a cut of the proceeds. I’ll leave it to the buyers to tell their side of the story, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they also have some issues.
In our situation, we were having a new home built and were erroneously told that it would be finished by the time of the closing of the home we were selling. It turned out that scenario was only in our dreams. Because of the weather, the builder’s inability to obtain all of the materials for the house, and a few other things, the closing date for our new home got pushed back seven weeks. We had made arrangements to stay in our present home for two extra weeks, but that still left five weeks with no place to stay. Did I mention that since we had no place for our belongings, we had to rent storage during this time and then pay the movers a second time?
It must be assumed that people believe that since our home had sold and we had some money from its sale, finding a place to stay should be easy. Not so. Staying at a motel for five weeks is not cheap, and many would not even consider allowing us to board our small dogs with us. At one time, it was possible to rent some property in Bella Vista, but now that agency no longer exists and the one operating now charges more than motels. Being homeless is not much fun. It makes you identify with some of the regular homeless folks.
In our situation, we were able to stay awhile with our daughter in Colorado and then spend the rest of the time in an extended motel. In the meantime, we discovered that we needed to notify the internet company, the satellite company, the water folks, the trash haulers, the electrical company, the POA, our neighbors and the dog next door. Oh yes, we also had to find a way to receive our mail and to pay our bills during those five weeks. This moving is not as easy as it looks on paper. Ours is still a work in process.
To all of you who have gone through this moving process, my thoughts and prayers are with you. We have a lot in common. To all of you who want to join us movers, let me encourage you to do your homework carefully and even then to expect the unexpected. And, may God bless you in your efforts.
••• Robert Box has been a law enforcement chaplain for 29 years. He is a master-level chaplain with the International Conference of Police Chaplains and is an endorsed chaplain with the American Baptist Churches USA. He also currently serves as a deputy sheriff chaplain for the Benton County Sheriff ’s Office. Opinions expressed in the article are the opinions of the author and not the agencies he serves.