Hand off

Mike handed off the keys, and the house, to his chosen realtor, and went home.

It's done.  Now, we let fate take its course.

The house is listed at $155K.  It needs to be updated, as it still has light fixtures, cabinets, (super ugly) sheet vinyl flooring, (hideous) wallpaper, and some appliances from 1972.

The folks added a small additional room off of the back of the house some time in the intervening years, which became their tv room.  I guess they wanted the living room to be more formal.

Anyway, fingers crossed that it sells quickly, rather than sitting empty for ages.

In the news of our house, we figured out that the back porch light was disconnected by the electrician and never reconnected to the new circuits.

Dave thought the bulb burned out, but he changed it and.... still no light.

Dave took off work twice this past week to wait for the electriian to come back.  He cancelled the first time, and he was three and a half hours late the second time, but he finally came and fixed it.

I wrote out a really big check and plopped it into the mail.

We have been discussing the possibility of replacing my car, right?

Well, this past week, I got a letter from my dealership saying that they want to have my Mazda 2 for a trade, and would be willing to deal in order to get it, while keeping my payments the same as they are now for a newer vehicle.

Perfect timing! 

SO, I went on line and looked at the dealership's website.  I picked out a couple of good ones, and settled on which car I was going to test drive.  I had in my mind the $$ amount shown on their site.

Surprisingly, both were 2018 year models that had not yet sold.  I figured that was also playing in my favor.

I made an appointment, and we went.

I told the salesman which model of car I was most interested in.

Lo, and behold, what a cooincidence, the salesman brought up the exact cars I had researched on line, the more expensive one, with more gadgets....and the one I had my eye on.

So far, my plan was going perfectly.

We looked at the pricey one, and then we test drove the one I had settled on.

We came back, and he wrote up an offer.

It was $3K HIGHER than the price I had seen on line before we arrived. 

Okay, thought I, he wants to haggle now.

SO, having set my max price in my mind, I told HIM what my max monthly payment was, and he said "Sorry."

WHAT?? 

A car dealer who doesn't want to sell a car??  NO HAGGLING??

I could have argued and said "Wait a second.... why does the car show a price $3K LESS on your website, but you offer it to ME at THIS price"

Nope....

SO, we came home!  The Little Green Crash Magnet is still mine!

Also yesterday, Dave gave up on trying to sell his bass guitar, hard case, and amp on line, and drove it over to Guitar Center.  They bought the whole kit and kaboodle, and gave him cash.

Now that's out of the second bedroom, and will make getting in there this afternoon to continue the "home re set" a little easier.

We will also go visit Pop, stop at Kohl's and get Dave some new shoes, and get the back yard mowed.  It will be a pretty busy day.  Best get going on it.