Proceeding to Close

The inspection report had no surprises on it; just a lot of little stuff one would expect to see with a 20-year-old house. The buyers did want to travel down the road of having the furnace and A/C replaced, but we quickly squelched that, as they are both working. Our thought is that if they want a new house, they should buy a new house. Ours has had every appliance other than the HVAC replaced in the last 5 years - several in the last 2 years - as well as the siding, too and driveway. Our price is lower than anything comparable at this point, so we are done dealing. So, when they asked to have their inspection contingency extended until Sept. 3rd to get quotes on new units, we said no; if they want to do that, they can let us put the house back on the market and risk losing it to someone else, because we aren't negotiating in new ones anyway, and anyone can price those out on the Internet within a pretty good ballpark in just a few clicks.

They withdrew their request and are proceeding to close! So, the house is now empty, we got vacant home insurance (did you know most policies won't cover a house that is vacant for more than 30 days if anything happens) and we turned down the utilities and turned off the water. Today, we pre-sign paperwork for close and assign power of attorney to my dad so we don't have to come back on October 23rd. Tomorrow we leave for Fairfax. This week has been so long, but it is almost over, and we can start our new adventure!

Sold!

We sold the house yesterday, contingent on a good inspection, which is scheduled for Monday. I don't know of any issues, so I am hopeful that it will go smoothly. 

Today we did a little around the house, and then started gathering materials for DS1's Eagle project. The movers come tomorrow, and we move into the Residence Inn after that. Friday evening we will start on Tristin's project, and we will continue it on Saturday morning. Busy, busy!

Prepack Survey, Showings, a Dropped Price and a Firm Travel Date

This week, we had our prepack survey with the movers. Our UAB is estimated to come in pretty close to the allowable weight. We may have to remove a few heavy items and drive them to Fairfax, but we have room. It shouldn't be a problem. Our HHE is at less than half the allowable amount. We have read over and over again on blogs that people regret keeping all the junk they have accumulated over the years - furniture in particular - and having to get rid of it upon separation from the Foreign Service. Our mover said that he has heard that regret reiterated time and again, as well, and said that we are wise. I feel good about how much we have pared out. The movers come on Thursday morning, and we are nearly ready for them. We struggled with understanding our travel orders last week. We heard from the travel order issuer that the Foreign Transfer Allowance: Pre-Departure Subsistence Expense Portion was to be used after training, but the 172nd class (DH's class' mentors) had been telling us that it is for before we leave. We finally heard an official ruling on that. DH's class all got an official email that said that it is for use at the hiring location (here in MN) for non-local (meaning not in the D.C. area) hires. So, after our pack-out on the 22nd, we will be able to stay in a hotel and have our meals covered until we depart for D.C. on the 30th. This will give our friends who have been putting us up a big break! Then, our travel expenses are paid until we arrive in D.C. After that, we will have to pay for a hotel out of pocket until the 8th, when we get into our apartment. Then, lodging and M&IE (meals and incidental expenses) per diem begin. The government is pretty generous with its relocation package. It isn't quite as good as what I have seen some friends get in the private sector, but it is pretty great, nonetheless. For example, those of whom I speak have gotten assistance selling their homes. That isn't happening with our move. We will be paying commissions, and we will have to wait until our house sells, with no silver lining at the end of six months where the company will buy it at a pre-determined price if it doesn't sell for what we are asking. I'm not complaining - I'm just sayin', because if I don't, I can imagine that I will get snarky comments from strangers about how taxpayer money is paying for all of this and it is extravagant. At my husband's level in the private sector, it is not extravagant at all. He is taking a pay cut to take this job, and the benefits make it so that we are willing to take it, but we are missing out on some benefits a V.P. in the private sector might expect to see. Enough said. Back to the topic of selling our house... The market has been slow in our price range all month. A house in the next neighborhood over came on the market this week, with one additional bedroom, an additional garage stall, and 400 additional square feet. They came in so far under market value that we decided we had no choice; we decided to drop our price $15K to come close to matching it. It seems to have had some effect, as we had two showings this morning and have one more this afternoon. We continue to hope that it will sell soon. We have some wiggle room, but we are a little disappointed that the price is nearly as low as we bought it for 10 years ago. That was before the housing boom really hit, and we got a really good deal on it then. At least we have been paying it off all these years, so we will get something out of it.

Home, Sweet Home

Since my last post, we have been feeling a little homeless. We lived with friends a week, then crashed at DH's Aunt and Uncle's in Colorado for a few days, and are now at Many Point Family Camp this week, while some of our boys are at the Scout camp side of the lake. We will return to our friends' house for a night it two, then off to DH's parents' house for a week. DH, his dad, and two of our Ds's will be going to the Boundary Waters for a few days in there.

***

Many Point was great (and also busy, as I never finished my post), and now most of us are at DH's parent's house for the week, while DH, DS1 and DS5 are at the Boundary Waters with my father-in-law.

We found an apartment in Fairfax, so now I am busy trying to enroll the kids in school. We can't get into our apartment until September 8th, so we thought we would get a hotel for a few days so that the kids could be there by the first day of school. At the high school, however, in order to register, they require me to show up in person with the students for individual counseling sessions before they begin. So, it looks like those two won't be starting school on the first day. But at least we know where they are going, right?

Aaron has filled out and returned all of his employment paperwork, and we are ready to start thinking about our pack-out. Our house has had three showings and an open house. We are hoping that the market will start moving again soon, as the vacation season hit right as we put ours on.

Prepping to Sell

I know, I know. I haven't posted in a while. I have been busy prepping the house to sell. We are putting our household stuff into categories: Unaccompanied Baggage (UAB), Household Effects (HHE) and Stuff we are Taking in our Van (VAN). The first two abbreviations are the government's. The third one is mine. Everything going HHE is being put into our storage rooms in our house. Some of the UAB is, as well, as long as we haven't needed it up until now. The rest is just kind of all over.

Most of our furniture has sold. A few pieces remain in our garage. Our food storage is also slowly being sold off. I have a friend who will take whatever is left over when we need it gone.

I have been painting the entire interior of the house, with the help of several friends. I am down to a couple of closets, a small bathroom, the laundry room, and the music room. Then, I will just touch up a few places and it will be done.

There have also been all sorts of repairs and replacements all over the house, and trips to the hardware store and charity and environmental center drop-off sites.

Our piano also went to consignment today. Flylady would be so proud of our poundage lost today.

***

I wrote the above part last week,  and never got to finish it. On Monday or Tuesday, I realized I couldn't

continue to live in the house with the kids while painting and cleaning it out. I decided to take up an amazing friend's offer to move in with them while we finished getting the house ready and on the market. We finished painting the house, emptied it, cleaned it, and have had a showing already, with one more scheduled for today. My friend is amazing for letting us live with her family. I think it is going really well there, so far. They have four children who each have a playmate in our family. I just hope we don't upset their routine too much. I am trying to help out there as much as possible, but also have vacation preparations to do and little things to touch up at our house.

We leave on Tuesday for Denver to see DH's grandparents.  I am sure my friends will enjoy the quiet while we are away.

Oh, and I think we have housing taken care of in D.C. We won't be in Oakwood, but we found an apartment that will take us - for much more money than we would have spent at Oakwood, of course.

Invitation and Prayers, Please

Today, Aaron got the email. He has been invited to the A-100 class, which begins September 9th. Unfortunately, we have had a little snaffoo with housing. Last March I asked an authority in HR whether we could get into the recommended paid furnished housing with our family size. He said yes. Today, an assistant at HR sent over lodging orders to the housing facility, and they came back and said they cannot legally accommodate a family of nine. Uh-oh. The housing facility representative asked them if they could approve two 2-BR units for us, since we were told they could. The authority who I corresponded with is out of the office today, so his assistant said we will hear tomorrow. What does it mean if this is not approved? Well, we will have to rent something on our own. Per diem will pay pretty well for a few months, but it decreases over time, so that is not optimal. While it may seem premature that I have already sold most of our furniture, we can't bring more than 1200 lbs. with us to D.C., so we have to get something furnished, anyway. Of course, that costs more. Prayers, please.

All these Questions

I have gotten a lot of strange looks and what, to me, have been strange comments and questions when I have told people about the Foreign Service. So, I thought I would try to answer some of them for those of you who are wondering just what in the world we are up to.

Me: DH is going to be a Foreign Service Officer. Them: Which branch? No, DH has not joined the military. Think of it like this. Non-military government employees work in either the Civil Service or the Foreign Service. A civil servant may work for the FFA, the IRS, or any number of agencies that operate inside of the United States. The Foreign Service is under the Department of State. Foreign Service Officers work out of Embassies and Consulates worldwide. They are diplomats. DH will be an economics officer, which means that after his first 4-5 years of being a junior officer and learning the ins and outs of how embassies run, he will be analyzing foreign economies and helping with trade relations.

Me: We will be going to Virginia while DH trains in D.C. Them: Where are you going to be posted? We don't know where we will be posted. The bidding process starts during training. We will find out after about 6 weeks in a "Flag Day" ceremony. We won't be in one place for very long, either. For junior officers, posts are only 1-2 years, which means that we will be moving a lot over the next 4-5 years. After that, posts last 3-4 years.

Them: Isn't that a strange career move? Yes and no. As the V.P. of Marketing for a tech company, a bishop for our church, and a board member for several non-profits over the past decade, DH has just the kind of experience that the Department of State is looking for. He understands how to do qualitative and quantitative analysis. He is sensitive to people of other cultures. He has international business experience. He knows how to work as a member of a tight team of people toward goals. Also, this isn't an entry-level position. Yes, a person can get into the Foreign Service right out of college, but their pay is commensurate with their experience. The benefits are pretty good.

Them: How do you feel about this (insert funny face here that implies that I must have reservations about uprooting the family and dragging seven children around the world)? I am completely on board. DH has never been happy schlepping electronics. He is happiest when he is making a difference in the lives of others. Not only do I want him to have a career where he can have job satisfaction, but I want this for me and for my kids. I have always liked seeing the world. My kids have not seen the world. They have been stuck in outlying suburban Minnesota for their entire lives, and do not know how good they have it. They will get to see other cultures. They will get to attend some pretty great private international schools, as well as probably get home-schooled when there aren't good schools available. They will get to see places that others just get to read about. Also, this job comes with a lot more vacation time than DH's last one. In addition to accrued vacation time, there will be U.S. Federal holidays, plus all of the government holidays in the country we'll be staying in. Plus, they will "make us" come home to MN for a month every other year or so. We have never had the privilege of much vacation time, so we are pretty excited about it. Of course, we do understand that this comes at the cost of being away from family and friends, and that there will be some long hours at times at some posts. There is a trade-off. We just happen to think that this sounds like a good one. If you have any other questions, leave a comment and I will add to the list.