House-selling woes

OK, I'm having a little slump. It's 30 out now in Durham, although the sun is shining in the windows and I think it will warm up soon. On Wednesday, my day to work for CSN, there wasn't much for me to do. I thought about looking for another part-time job, but did the puzzle instead. I baked the cookies I had made and frozen in little sugary balls a couple weeks ago. The last couple days have seen some activity about selling our house, but not a lot of exciting options for buying one. Ray and I are toying with the idea of traveling for a month or so after the sale, since we won't have anywhere to live (except Durham, which will get pretty hot). This pandemic is one thing interfering with that plan. Also, not sure I would be happy with the uncertainty of it--without a place to come home to...not knowing what we might be missing... There were some permits that had been pulled for work done to the house previously that had never been closed. Shame on those contractors. I will say they acted quickly to solve the problem. Inspections were signed and everything was fine. The other problem was the front door. This is kind of a lesson for anyone in a similar situation. We had our house painted, and clapboards replaced as necessary. They did a great job and everyone loved it (well, some people thought it was a little bright). The trim around the front door needed some work and I had the idea to add a small roof over the door. I had talked to the president of the historical society, who said it could be done, they would most likely approve it. I lined up a contractor. Bob went to the building inspector (I think) and found that we would need an architect to draw up the plans and have to get approval for two variances, as well as the historical society. The whole process would probably take a year and cost lots more than we wanted to spend. So much for having a covered entrance (especially needed in this time of so many home deliveries). We asked Bob if he would just repair the trim where it needed it and paint it. He said sure, could he do it in September? We asked how long it would take and he said less than a week. OK, we said. Well, September came and went and we didn't hear from him. Eventually, he came by and apologetically said he would not be able to do the work. He gave us the molding samples he had gotten and said he would happily consult with someone who would do the work. Turns out, he had several heart attacks and really couldn't do the physical labor any more. We tried some other names, but had the same luck we had dealt with in the years of living there--people said yes, but didn't every follow through, or just didn't return calls. So, now, we had agreed with the realtor to give a credit to the buyer for the cost of the trim painting. This particular buyer wanted $4000. We said $1000, and there is sat for a few days. Eventually, we gave in and agreed to $2000. Moral of the story being, go ahead and get the painting done, even if you plan to redo the work soon. I also had someone come and give an estimate of moving all our furniture to storage. Turns out, storage doesn't cost much. We will just add the cost of moving everything a second time. The total is about what we would pay for housing during a month, so it's kind of a break-even situation. And the storage itself is about $200, so the longer they keep it, the more money we "save." That's the money we might spend on a trip.