texastoarizona

[texastoarizona]

[texastoarizona]

Moving Sucks!

We made the move to Arizona March 7th. After lots of little bumps we actually closed on the new house March 11th, however we did move in the 8th. I learned quite a bit about the buying and selling of a house and what a pain.

The selling of our home was really the worst part. We found a buyer and then we find out they have actually been in contract 4 times and pulled out. As a seller you immediately start wondering if they are a waste of time. However, we really needed to move forward so we just had to trust the process and keep going. Their real estate agent was a flake and a half and was super slow on returning any phone calls or txt to our agent. They did the inspection the last day of option, they missed paperwork dates and in the end made the date push out by a day. A day doesn’t sound bad but they then refused to close early in the day because they don’t drive during traffic times and with time differences and wire transfer cutoffs we ended up not being able to close till Monday. So between their up and down behavior and my agents lack of communication with anyone besides my husband I was very over this selling process. Take away for me on selling is let your agent go if they are unwilling to communicate with you, put in your contract the buyer is responsible for hotel cost if the closing date is moved out because of them, have your own inspection done prior to listing. We had 2 tiny issues come back on inspection but the stress of waiting for the report I wish i would have gotten my own prior to listing and fixed what was on it for piece of mind. The Buying process has its own set of issues. However, we had an amazing real estate agent and lending team. It’s hard to move across 3 states. The finding a house, getting an offer, accepted and start the process is hard 1100 miles away. We came to AZ 3 times to house shop. First time was a waste for us. We didn’t have our home on the market yet and were a week from listing it. We didn’t realize we needed that to put in an offer out here. I did get to experience Arizona some though which i think was important for me. I saw my dream house be picked up. It was hard since at the end of the day this was our lack of planning and asking questions to a certain extent.

My husband made the second visit. I thought I had found “The House” he came out to see in person and to see a few others. That house was not “The House”, lots of great pictures but the upgrades were not done well poor work done by homeowners. I’m all for diy but they have to be done correctly. You can’t add an extra $30,000 to your home value because you added some rock backsplash and crown molding throughout. The crow molding had so many issues, the house had flooring missing they had painted to match so you couldn’t see on the pics. Also please clean your home. When i see filthy areas i worry that the house was not taken care of and i check out on wanting it. On that visit my husband saw the house we purchased. The real estate agent and him showed up to the property, open the door, and there is water everywhere. Ceiling is falling in, someone had come in turned on all the water and locked all the bathroom doors upstairs and down stairs. There was writing in highliter on a wall upstairs. They call the sellers agent (also the seller),they call the police, and they start opening doors and shutting off water after turning off power to the house. It had been running a max of 24 hours. My husband was shocked because this was the first house he had loved since we lost the dream home visit one. The owner asked how he liked the finishes in the house and my husband said well my wife wanted a white kitchen but other than that it was perfect. My husband flew home a couple hours later and told me that was our home. I was confused I can’t buy a flooded home. The seller removed the home from listing while the insurance claim happened. We continued to look at houses while our home was going into contract.

Trip 3. Once we were out of contingency we went back to Az with the plan to come home in contract. We allowed for a 5 day trip. We had picked homes to see out of the area we wanted in hopes of nailing something down. The house above was 2 days from being finished from “The Flood” as we refer to it and the seller was holding it for us to look at before he put it back on the market. We decided the other areas around Phoenix we could afford were not for us. So we were back to The Copa. The flood house was the first we saw here in Maricopa and it was beautiful. The owner had put in brand new white shaker cabinets throughout the home. Flooring had been replaced, all new paint, new appliances, etc. We placed an offer he had listened so because of that water I was able to get the kitchen I wanted and with the right team we closed in 3 weeks. We were in contract with in 2 days of being in Arizona so we headed home early. Inspection happened quickly and we had to do some back and forth but in the end it worked out well.

As we decorate I will be showing one room at a time. Before, After, and During.

[texastoarizona]

Our Current Home

Well we did not meet our deadline of when we wanted to get our home on the market. It is however listed as of last week. We have had two showings with great response only negative has been all our bedrooms are upstairs and both family’s had grandparents moving in and they felt the stairs would be too much for them. I can respect that.

https://matrix.ntreis.net/matrix/shared/jNqkXrm282/5240AustinRidgeDrive

Feel free to check out our home and if you know anyone moving to the DFW area in Texas please pass it along

[texastoarizona]

[texastoarizona]

Finding a house!

Well we now have our house on the market and I will post y’all some pictures when we get home. My husbands company sent us to Phoenix to look for a home. I’m excited to say I think we have found THE HOUSE. I’m going to keep are appt to finish looking at what else we picked out to see just to be sure. I think the 1st one we saw is the answer though. 5 bedroom, 3 bath, 3 car garage 3005sq beauty. Most amazing entry way and staircase. Upgraded kitchen and new paint. Two sets of French doors going to the backyard. I am in love nothing else to say. If we found a beautiful home with a pool that might top this but in our price range we have learned you either get the luxury backyard or the beautiful inside. You can’t have both and I’m ok with that, I’ve come to terms with out limitations.

This experience has been amazing. We have a great realtor Emily from The Kenny Klause Team here is Phoenix. I was concerned, she looks 12, I must say she may be young but she got us right away. She has been able to show me houses that fit my requirements and some of my wants. She seems to be able to read me when I’m not feeling a house. I would recommend her to anyone.

Second, our finance guy from their office Steven Farrington has been great. This is our first time buying our house in a traditional manner. We have been very blessed in life and bought our first house through family. So lower interest rate and paid mortgage to family member. We have never been through the loan and borrowing process and we were nervous. You can be responsible with your money, you can be credit conscious but when you are someone who suffers from anxiety the approval process is a constant ping pong ball of thoughts in your head. I’ve done everything right I’m gonna be approved no issue, do I make enough money, I wonder if they see that bad credit card I paid off but it went to collections credit card from 20 years ago, I’m gonna have to get rid of my dogs and move into a tiny apartment, I can’t wait to plant cactus, I home my neighbors are nice, I’m probably going to end up homeless because my credit isn’t good enough. Steven walked us through this process, calming our nerves, showing our options, and we are preapproved for more than we planned on spending. It’s like this huge worry lifted off our shoulders. I alway say everything will work out how it’s suppose to but I have a hard time believing and trusting God at times. I should try to control less.

I’ll be posting pics of whichever house we choose and of our house back in Texas all cleaned and staged.

May you have an amazing week!

#phoenix #texastoarizona #movingcrosscountry #findahouse #texas #positivethinking #positivevibes #mojo

[texastoarizona]

Garage Sale Complete!

Well I had our garage sale this weekend. Overall did very well. Made about $1000 and got rid of a ton of stuff. I hate having garage sales, so exhausting. Took everything left over and donated it yesterday. I have two things left to throw on Facebook or Craigslist to sell. Overall very productive weekend.

So what’s next...

Need to finish packing the upstairs this week. However, we have Thanksgiving in the middle of it so I will do my best. I’d really love to deep clean next week and have paint touch ups completed so I can start staging a few areas that currently have nothing and have the carpets steam cleaned. We are getting very close to listing. Exciting and scary.

We go to visit Phoenix Dec. 3rd - Dec. 6th and pick an actual area we want to live in. After looking at maps, pictures, and house styles online... I would like to view San Tan Valley, Maricopa, Buckeye, and Florence. We have different requirements than most. Must be within an hour of an Apple Store for my husbands job and since I will be working from home I require a decent size office. We also need at least a strip of grass for our dogs or at least space to put one in.

Hope everyone has a great week!

#texas #arizona #movingcrosscountry #texastoarizona #packing #moving #garagesale #goodvibes #positivethinking #HappyThanksgiving #blackfriday

[texastoarizona]

Starting The Upstairs

Well we started packing the upstairs. Our room during the clean up downstairs has gained quite a few items. They do belong in our room but since we are downsizing the amount of items out, they are being packed. Goals for this weekend:

* pack up nightstands. I will admit mine is full but of stuff I do use and feel like belong in a night stand. Books, lotion, chapstick, extra glasses, pictures, hmmm maybe not all items belong there is a coloring book.

* sort dresser and pack up the extras send the rest to the garage sale

* pack closet sort clothes into pack, keep out, garage sale, and donate

* box and pack up shoes

* clean out master bath cabinets

* clean out linen closet

* wash clothes and hang back in closets that are to stay out.

* help my husband finish packing his man cave

I already know the bottom will take the longest and will need the most push. His room is holding up the rest of upstairs as we will be moving bedrooms around when it’s complete so we can begin deep cleaning and staging the house.

Wish me luck, we are gonna need it!

#texas #texastoarizona #movingcrosscountry #positivevibes #positivethinking #packing

[texastoarizona]

Downstairs is packed!!!

Well I’m happy to say I have completed the packing of non- essentials downstairs. It’s been a really busy last few weeks with work but at night I have stayed diligent and worked every night some.

My biggest nemesis downstairs was a closet that has become a catchall under the stairs. When we moved into the home I kept jackets and wrapping paper in it. I’ve cleaned it out a couple times and noticed that this has become a catchall for when others clean up downstairs. I’m very big on everything has a place and put it where it goes. I will say when I opened this closet a few months ago looking for something I almost passed out. I then chose to ignore it because it was overwhelming. Big Mistake.

Here is the before. Feel free to judge away.

So inventorying this closet was very interesting and almost like a shopping spree. So apparently when my son cleans downstairs and a shopping bag is sitting out and he is too lazy to take it upstairs and clearly we were as well. He puts this in that closet so on top you see a ton of random junk. Table skirt for parties, picture frame of pictures(it didn’t fit in the trash can so they used the closet), hangers, jackets, what you don’t see underneath that was first layer is all the shopping bags. So I have lost hmm 113 lbs in a little over year and a half changing my diet. Since I can’t eat carbs and sugars when I’m upset or depressed I seem to shop. It’s getting better with replacing that habit with walking and taking the dogs to the dog park but sometimes I have to shop. So I have located the following inventory of new items in this closet.

1. Two Christmas throw pillows purchased after season last year at a popping 80% off

2. A pair of boys jeans, 3 new shirts, and a package of underwear. (Unfortunately they are now 3 sizes too small)

3. Two pairs or my favorite Gap jeans however they are now too big ( might try to exchange for smaller sizes)

4. Christmas Elves that sit on shelves

5. Curtain rods (I’m sure I have more in my garage I have purchased them 3 times for one room the only room that still doesn’t have curtains upstairs)

6. Picture frames

7. Shadow Boxes

8. Metal Wall Art

9. Vera Bradley Bags bought for a Christmas present last year (Guess what they are getting this year)

10. Last but not least a haul from Ulta (makeup and hair products)

11. Oh and wrapping paper and bows

That’s the list of new, I won’t bore you with the list of the old. I worked for about 2 hours clearing this closet and sorting it all into piles. The point to this post is to remind everyone we all have a catchall and we need to be diligent in taking care of it: Chaos in your house leads to chaos in your life. Why do you think I ignored this I didn’t need chaos in that moment. So below is a pic of the after still need to remove the hangers but will wait till after we are set for the garage sale. These are all cheap hangers that came with clothes or from the dry cleaner and I will be moving everything to them to set up for the garage sale

Here is the after:

#TexastoArizona #movingcrosscountry #texas #closet #clutter #MESSYHOUSE #positivethinking #positivevibes

[texastoarizona]

Yes please dream area for the new house. I have a room currently to get ready in but this just goals

#dreamcloset clean arizona

[texastoarizona]

The Kitchen

So day one of decluttering and packing is just about done and I am taking a much needed break. I’ve sorted everything for garage sale, I’ve cleaned all my cabinets inside, I’ve packed up what I won’t be using before the move. I however still have quite a bit to do in here. I’ve emptied each drawer in a small box to sort through. We seem to have accumulated quite a few junk drawers. Instead of one we have 4. Embarrassing but it’s the truth. How quick paperwork,mail, random screws, and pens build up. Next I will be deep cleaning the kitchen and tile before having my cabinets stain touched up. I will have to keep it clean until we put it on the market but we have already decided to see any work that needs to be done everything needs to be immaculate or you really can’t see the imperfections. I keep a pretty clean house but just like anyone else’s there are areas that could be better. I’ve also taken a portion of my pantry (oversized pantry so it takes up space on the 4 empty shelve) to store all my dishes that will be used for dining room and breakfast room staging. It’s ok together by color and should be easy to set up when we are ready. I also have not purged my spice cabinet yet. It’s clean and orderly but not purged as we have decided to do before the big move. If it’s not a keto specific item it will not make the move.

Back to packing

#arizonabound #arizona #texas #leavingtexas #movingcrosscountry #homesweethome #homestaging #moving

[texastoarizona]

Love this so clean

[texastoarizona]

The Plan

Well I’ve come up with a plan to get this done.

1. Remove items of each room to be sold in garage sale that we will not be taking with

2. Pack up non essential items and move to storage

3. Garage Sale with charity picking up all left overs the next day

4. Deep clean the house

5. Have painting touch ups done

6. Have carpet steam cleaned

7. Stage each room

8. Take pictures

9. Pick a real estate agent

10. Let’s put this on the market

11. Find new home in Phoenix area

12. Arrange movers

13. Move!!!!

Clearly this is a very basic list but I have to start somewhere, I’ll be posting on each step and adding pics. What I haven’t shared about us is we have a lot of stuff and we have both been so busy with our jobs that we have become a bit cluttered. Everything seems so easy on that list but I think I’m in for it.

#moving #packing #arizona #texas #positivevibes #declutter #planning #haveaplan #planning101

[texastoarizona]

Finding my positives

So I’ve been sitting on this info for a couple days and I’ve decided to find my positive mojo on this move.... here is what I have feel free to share with me what I might be missing.

1. Less humidity (awesome for my hair)

2. No more lawn work apparently it’s mostly rocks

3. 2-1/2 hours from skiing, I’ve never actually been skiing but it’s on my list of things to try so I feel like this is a positive.

4. Golf year round for my hubby which means plenty of time for me to have my alone (shopping and salon) time.

5. Property taxes are way lower than Texas.

6. I won’t feel guilty having a pool that I can use most of the year.

7. Most important this is allowing my husband to move up in his career and he is worth making this sacrifice for.

Ok so we are still working on the positives but we have a start

#arizona #relocation #positivevibes #positivethinking #mojo #moving #phoenix

[texastoarizona]

Well it’s official we are moving!

I’m starting this blog so I can document my move. I’m unsure if this can even be done so quickly. I’m entering panic mode at the speed of light.

Here is some background on us my name is Erin and my husband is Kelly. I have one son Cameron who is 18 and has decided to come with us(Thank God) on this move. I was in panic he was going to pull the I’m 18 I can live on my own card. We also have 3 dogs Winston, Roxy, and Loki. My husband and I both work in IT and his job has decided to promote him and let him open his own office in Phoenix. This is where excitement should be starting we are getting to move something we have wanted to do for a while. I was born and raised here in Texas my Texas but I’ve always wanted to live in another state, have an adventure, have 4 seasons. So I’m not going to lie, Arizona is not at the bottom of my list of places to live it is not on the list. I wanted 4 seasons, changing leaves, falling snow, flowery springs, and mild summers turns out I’m getting desert. No leaves, no snow, no flowers, and killer summers.

I’ve come up with a plan to get this relocation completed. After all I need to get my home downsized, stages, sold, new one found, and everyone moved. Oh and I need to find a job...

Feel free to send me anything helpful on relocation, I am all new to this.

#relocation #arizona #texas #moving #staging #homesweethome #getting started #breaking news