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Hello, groovy freedomist! It’s been a long time since my last post and a lot has happened. So I’ll dispense with the flowery introduction and get right to business. Here we go.
Stats on the Sale
We sold Groovy Home on May 10 for our list price of $250K. We brought Groovy Home ten years earlier for $225K. So once you remove realtor fees and closing costs, Mrs. Groovy and I walked away with a munificent profit of $8K. Not exactly the greatest return on a $225K investment, but that’s the way things go in the wacky world of real estate. The important thing to remember is that we lived mortgage free for ten years in a great house in a great neighborhood with great neighbors. What percentage of my fellow Americans can say that? And, as a final bonus, we got to meet and work with a terrific pair of realtors. Hailey and Caroline were two of the nicest people we ever met and they couldn’t have made selling a home any easier. So thank you Hailey and Caroline. You guys made the realtor profession proud.
Stats on the Move
Mrs. Groovy and I were determined to move with as little furniture as possible. Our furniture was nice, but it really didn’t capture the farmhouse motif we’re hoping to replicate in Groovy Ranch. But more importantly, moving furniture sucks. It’s hard on the back and greatly complicates the logistics. So I implored Mrs. Groovy to get acquainted with Craigslist and make our furniture disappear.
Now, I won’t get into the nitty-gritty here, but Mrs. Groovy took to Craigslist with remarkable aplomb. In less than two weeks our house was virtually furniture free and Mrs. Groovy and I were sitting on folding chairs and sleeping on aerobeds.
Now, admittedly, she sold a lot of our furniture for a song. But we didn’t want this furniture anyway. Trucking it up to Wake Forest and cramming it into storage would have made zero sense. Besides, the money we made from Craigslist easily covered the cost of our furniture-deprived move.
Money Made Selling Furniture: $3,915
Cost of Small Box Truck Rental: $238
Cost of Gas for Small Box Truck: $109
Cost of 10 x 10 Storage for Six Months: $450
You Meet A Lot of Interesting People Selling Your Furniture
If I learned anything from selling stuff on Craigslist, I learned that you meet a lot of interesting people. Here are just some of the people that made us shake our heads—in a good way, of course.
Star YouTuber
The YouTuber, War Owl, brought our dining room furniture. He’s a gamer who teaches people how to play the game, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
I only met Mr. War Owl briefly, but I was impressed. Just an incredibly nice young man with a first-rate mind.
His YouTube channel currently has over 1.1 million subscribers. Here’s one of his recent videos. It should resonate with a lot of bloggers in the FI community.
Aaron the Bull
I like to think that I’m in pretty good shape for a 56 year old dude. Why, I can still bang out twenty pull ups and five muscle ups. But pull up strength and muscle up strength aren’t the same as moving furniture strength.
I came to this shocking revelation while helping Aaron move the master bedroom set his wife graciously brought from us. That furniture was damn heavy, and I was worried about my ability to be the lead guy when it came to moving that furniture down the stairs.
When I expressed this concern to Aaron, he said not to worry. He would gladly take the brunt of the moving.
And took the brunt he did. The man was a bull. When we finally got the heaviest piece of furniture to the ground floor, my deflated ego got the best of me and I asked him how old he was. Surely he had to be ten or fifteen years younger. What else could explain this endeavor being a moderate workout for him and a grueling battle for me?
He was 54. In the words of Douglas C. Neidermeyer, I am “worthless and weak.”
Steel Magnolias In the House
Perhaps the most enjoyable furniture sale we made was a big, comfy leather chair to three generations of southern belles. The middle southern belle’s husband was having medical issues and she needed a comfy chair that could handle accidents. So Mrs. G and I took a little off an already ridiculously low price, and, I, with the help of mom and daughter, got the leather chair into grandma’s pick-up truck. I then got three amazing hugs from three tearful ladies.
Meet the Patels
My favorite Craigslisters were three Indian-Americans who were moving from New Jersey to Charlotte for a one-year IT assignment and needed a lot of furniture fast. They told me their names, but I forget what they were. Suffice it to say their names weren’t Allison, Norman, and Rodney. Since I don’t remember their names, I’ll just refer to them as the Patels.
Now, don’t get me wrong, the Patels were very nice people. But if I didn’t know they were from New Jersey, I would have sworn they were from central casting. They went through our house like it was an actual furniture showroom. And the lead Patel, the female of the bunch, was very aggressive. Here is just a sample of her shopping style.
Lead Patel: “How much is that picture?”
Mrs. Groovy: “Fifty dollars.”
Lead Patel: “Oh, that’s too much. How much is that other picture?”
Mrs. Groovy: “Sorry. That one isn’t for sale.”
Lead Patel: “Then you got to move the not-for-sale items to another room. It’s too confusing. How much for the sofa bed?”
Mrs. Groovy: “$150.”
Lead Patel: “Can you go lower? You do know we have to rent a truck to pick up all this stuff, and that costs money.”
Mrs. Groovy: “No, sorry. That’s as low as we can go.”
Lead Patel: [To one of the male Patels.] “I want to see the back of that sofa bed. Move it out.”
Mrs. Groovy: “Whoa, whoa, whoa—wait. You’re going to scratch my wood floors.”
Lead Patel: “Okay. Do you have any rugs? Show me the rugs.”
The lead Patel continued like this for a good twenty minutes. When her and her mates finally left our house, we had no idea what we sold them, and we had no idea what prices we agreed to. All we knew was that we needed a drink.
But in the end, it all worked out. The male Patels showed up the next day, and while their footwear wasn’t my choice for moving a heavy sofa bed (flip-flops), they came with cash, a truck, and a great attitude. I actually enjoyed loading up their truck with our stuff. I even got to share a few SQL war stories with them.
Finally, after I said my goodbyes, I returned to Groovy Home and loudly exclaimed to Mrs. G the line that turned out to be the most memorable line from the whole home-selling experience, “We survived the Patels.”
Surviving Mrs. Groovy
And speaking about surviving. I also survived Mrs. Groovy.
Case in point. We go to Lowe’s during the packing stage of the move to get some storage bins. And, of course, there are at least two dozen bin options. So I turn to Mrs. Groovy and say, “Which ones do you like?”
“I don’t care. You pick,” she replies.
Fine. I see two awesome bins, and just as I’m about to load them into our cart, I get a comment from the peanut gallery. “Not those. They smell!”
So, yes, I had to deal with a spouse made fickle by an abrupt sale and a rapidly approaching closing date. And that was okay. I could handle fickleness. It was the lack of progress on the packing front that was killing me. For two weeks, piles of stuff littered almost every room in our house. And Mrs. G was a whirling dervish between the piles, working tirelessly for ten to twelve hours a day. But nothing was getting done. Stuff remained in piles on the floor. What was she doing with all the bins we bought?
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and had to confront Mrs. G. But I had to do it tactfully. If I didn’t broach the matter with guile, my head would surely be bitten off. So I thought long and hard about a proper angle. And at last it hit me. She was metaphorically doing what the Chinese fish mongers were doing in the below scene from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. She was passing fish between the same piles and accomplishing nothing.
Now, did my accusing her of fish passing change anything? Of course not. Mrs. G. laughed and calmly explained why my fish-passing analogy was off base. But here’s a lesson for you married guys out there. Because I came up with a proper angle, I got what was bothering me off my chest, and I didn’t get my head bitten off. I consider that a win. [Mrs. Groovy here. I’m soooo over this moving thing but let me just say that you have no idea what it means to sort, pack, and categorize your belongings so that the right ones go to storage and your parents’ house. You could toss hand soap, dishes, and dirty socks in the same container and think that was smart packing. Not to mention you wanted to load the car up with cleaning items we would need the very last morning in our house, so as not to leave it like a pigsty. Don’t get me started.]
Bloggers Are So Cool
I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but bloggers in the FI community are incredible. Without their advice, cheer-leading, and playful mockery (I’m looking at you, Fritz), there’s no way Mrs. Groovy and I would have maintained our sangfroid during this stressful period. So thank you Fritz, Claudia, Laurie (of Frugal Farmer fame), Brent, Amy, Vicki, and the Budget Epicurean. You guys are the best.
But if there’s anyone I have to give a shout-out to and proclaim the Most Valuable Bloggers, it has to be The Grumbys. Here’s what arrived on our doorstep a few days before the actual move, courtesy of The Grumbys.
Call me nuts, but I can’t think of three better things to include in the cab of a clunky box truck on moving day—a Dwight Schrute bobble-head doll, a hand-written note expressing one of Dwight’s most memorable lines, and the best damn cookies I ever ate. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Grumby. I can’t wait until you guys bicycle over to Groovy Ranch and Mrs. Groovy and I can return the favor. Hail The Grumbys!
We’re Close to Choosing a Builder
Two of the three builders we’re considering have submitted bids. We should be getting the bid from the remaining builder this week.
The bids we’ve gotten so far are a little higher than we expected, but nothing crazy. If all goes as planned, we’ll soon have our builder, and we’ll soon be breaking ground on Groovy Ranch.
And speaking about breaking ground, our neighbors certainly aren’t wasting any time. Here’s a picture of their sprouting home taken from last week.
Fight-O-Meter
Moving was a pain in the arse, and Mrs. Groovy and I surely exchanged a number of snarky comments during the ordeal, but we really didn’t have any fights—as far as I can remember. Perhaps Mrs. G will remember differently. Anyway, I’m leaving the fight-o-meter unchanged. Here’s the current fight tally in case you forgot.
Final Thoughts
I’m not a sentimental guy. I didn’t shed a tear when I left Long Island. And I certainly didn’t shed a tear when I left Indian Trail. But the people of Charlotte and its neighboring towns were truly wonderful. They made two weird Noo Yawkers feel very welcome. And for that, Mrs. Groovy and I will be eternally grateful.
Oh, and the people of Charlotte have quite an affinity for amazing dogs. Here are the last four-legged buds that we managed to photograph before leaving Indian Trail.
Here are Baylie and Bella. We met them in Lowe’s while picking up some paint for touch-ups. Needless to say, Baylie and Bella attracted a lot of attention from the shoppers in their vincinity.
And here is Spencer. He was by far our favorite dog from Crooked Creek Park. Mrs. Groovy loved the way he used to sit by her foot and lean on her leg. Such a sweet dog. And his owners, Al and Debra, weren’t too shabby either. Incredibly nice people.
Okay, groovy freedomist, that’s all I got. Have a great weekend. Peace.
You’re getting quite a bit of lawn and sun with this new place! Do you have an outdoor living space planned?
Not yet. That might be an undertaking for another year.
Those cookies look really good!
Congrats on the move:)
I have the same question as Jillian and may have missed it before
Caroline recently posted…Finally! April 2018 Income, Expenses and Goals
We must have glossed over the fact that we’re staying with Mr. G’s parents. They live about a half hour from our property.
The cookies were terrific. I just know there’s some secret ingredient but I haven’t figure it out.
YOU GUYS WATCH SUNNY IN PHILLY?!?? (Sorry…indoor voice now) I can’t believe you 2 could get any better!!!! If there’s one show that’s bonded me and my husband more than anything, it’s Sunny 🙂
Baylie and Bella must be the Olsen twins of the NC doggy scene. They’re adorable!
Where are you guys staying now?
I can only take SiP in small doses. Charlie’s voice gets on my nerves. Our favorite episode is when Dee is dating a mentally challenged (not what they call him) guy, and Charlie and Dennis perform “Night Man.” Mr. G also likes the one where Mac has an affair with Frank’s ex.
Currently we’re staying with Mr. G’s parents.
So happy to read your words again Mr. & Mrs. G! That YouTube video did strike a chord, thanks for sharing it and the pics of the pups, what cuties! So glad the selling, packing, and first leg of moving is behind you…way to go Mrs. G!
Aww thanks, Amy. One of the best parts about selling our furniture is that we no longer have to figure out how to make it fit. I really loved some of our pieces but the style didn’t scream “farmhouse”. And when you’ve never walked through a model of your home it’s hard to envision the space. We’d rather move in with next to nothing and furnish the house slowly.
Sounds like fun!! Moving is the worst. So I’m glad you guys survived it.
Now onto the next chapter… can’t wait to hear how the actual building goes.
I’m so glad moving is behind us. It still feels weird that we’re not returning there but less so each day. We’re totally ready for the building to begin. Soon!
Yeah! One step closer! Maybe I missed it, but where are you staying between the selling and before the new place finishes?
We’re staying with Mr. G’s parents about a half hour from our property.
We’re moving in a month and I’m trying to figure out the furniture disposal equation. We ought to sell it, but I’m not sure I have the energy for that, but now you’re making me wonder if I should reconsider.
I’m looking forward to when you have the builder signed up and we can start to see the progress photos of the house.
Best of luck on the move, David. Sadly, furniture disposal will require a lot of energy. The only way Mrs. G and I made it work was to go the divide and conquer route. I took care of house-related things–painting, making repairs, moving heavy stuff, etc. Mrs. G took complete control of furniture disposal. She did the advertising, negotiated the sale prices, and coordinated the pick ups. I never asked who was buying our stuff and what any of our stuff sold for. I just helped strangers move stuff out of our house once they handed Mrs. G money. Could we have done it better and pocketed more money? No doubt. But we were very happy with the results. Better to sell furniture way below value than to move that furniture several hundred miles and store it in some facility. Keep us posted on the move, my friend. Cheers.
I’m starting to think Charlotte is a sort of Twin Peaks populated by bargain hunters – idiosyncratic, each shopper a potential murderer who ends sentences with, “Well bless her heart!” Enjoyed your descriptions immensely.
Is this where the Moving Is Groovy offshoot sitcom enters the picture? Happy to have you back – we missed the voice.
Fondly,
CD
LOL! Made my day, CD. And here’s another Charlottean thing that really threw me off the first couple of years we were down here. You ask a clerk in a store or a server in a restaurant if he or she has something, and he or she responds with unbridled enthusiasm, “We sure don’t.”
Love it!
You should have hired the Patel’s the negotiate the pile sorting on your behalf, then snuck a video of the exchange w Mrs. G. Playful mockery, my friend, indeed. Glad to see words flowing thru your keyboard again. You’ve been missed.
Hey, Fritz. It’s good to be back. And we got to talk to you soon. Mrs. G and I are itching to roll into Atlanta and we got to see what dates work best for you. Anyway, I was determined to pull off our furniture-less move without a box truck and have you eat your words. But even sans furniture and a lot of trips to Goodwill and the ReStore, a cargo van would have been woefully inadequate. You’re a wise man, my friend.
Woah cowboy! I don’t think we’re going to get to Atlanta before June 8th. That is the official date, isn’t it Fritz? Can’t believe it snuck up so quickly. Let’s talk soon!
Ah moving is such a hassle – speaking from someone who’s moved 4 times in 4 years… must be nice it’s finally over! Good to see there weren’t too many more fights 🙂
I was amazed our move was basically fight free. But I’ll take it. It’s little victories like that make life memorable. And I can’t imagine what it would be like to move four times in four years. You’re a remarkable soul, my friend.
Congrats on the move and surviving the Patel’s! lol
We’re closing on our new house on the 18th and interviewing moving companies and finally starting to get interest in the house now that school is getting closer to being out. Fingers crossed…
Mr. SSC recently posted…You’re Promoted! Thanks, But I’m Quitting…
That’s awesome, Mr. SSC. Congratulations on Mrs. SSC’s tenure track position, congratulations on the new house, and congratulations on the promotion. I would have loved if you and Mrs. SSC stuck around and built that lakefront property, but you guys made the right decision. As you so often say, it’s all about “lifestyle change.” Cheers, my friend.
Oh, it is so great to have you guys back. Only you could meet such colorful people selling your furniture on Craigslist. And to get a Work/Life Balance YouTuber! Hilarious. I also really enjoyed the fish passing. I can just picture Mrs. G doing that and yes, for good reason. You both must be exhausted from the move.
On a financial side, I think it’s interesting how you evaluated your home sale. Yeah, not as “profitable” as some investments, but when you consider being able to live in a great place for ten years, now that’s a bargain.
Now, how can I meet the Grumbys?!!
I love it, Susan. Mrs. G and I now have new sayings to guard against our all-too-human foibles. When either of us is wasting time, the other one now says, “stop fish-passing.” And when either of us gets on an inquisitive roll and starts asking questions in rapid-fire fashion, the other one now says, “stop pateling me.”
Glad to have you back! You’re absolutely right that us folks from NJ can be tough to survive. 😉 But you did it and made great progress on your journey. And all without committing the cardinal sin of stuffing old furniture into a storage space! Well done.
Gary @ Super Saving Tips recently posted…2018 Finances: How Do They Look, So Far?
Amen, Gary. Describing stuffing furniture into a storage space as a “cardinal sin” really nailed it. I don’t know any mover/relocator who anticipated his or her cherished furniture spending years in storage. But that’s the way it invariably works out. More often than not they end up selling the furniture for a song anyway. It’s either sell your furniture for a song now, or sell your furniture for a song later–after you pay thousands of dollars to move it and store it. We’re so glad we avoided the latter. Thanks for stopping by, my friend. Jersey people are the best!
There back and making progress! Nice work and glad to see things are going well.
Thanks, DDD. Now it’s on to the building phase. I see plenty of fodder for this blog in the future.
Nice to see you back on the scene! I am sure you guys are ready for this whole house story to finally reach its conclusion. Fingers crossed your 3rd builders bid comes in lower than the other 2!
I actually think Ms. FMM and I maybe coming to Charlotte sooner than we expected! We will have to link up when that happens.
It’s good to be back, my friend. We really did miss the FI gang. And keep posted on your Charlotte adventure. Mrs. G and I can’t wait to meet you guys.
Welcome back and congratulations on selling your house! I might be in a similar position to sell a bunch stuff so any words of wisdom is helpful! If and when I leave LA I’m sure it will hit me like it hit you leaving Charlotte. I think when everything is said and done, those memories of that life there come flooding all back at once. Pretty sure I’ll have at least one meltdown. lol
Thank you, Tonya. If it’s any consolation, Mrs. G and I will surely have your back when the meltdown comes. And we’d love to have you ditch LA for Raleigh. But something tells me you’re a west coast gal. So if we don’t get a chance to pick up litter with you in LA (with the WoWs, of course), we’ll be more than happy to pick up litter with you in Portland, Boise, or Denver. “Memories…like the corner of my mind….”
We just sold my husband’s home – the house was originally his grandparents’. I can completely understand your journey on packing/unpacking/sorting/selling/negotiating the furniture and trying to figure out what really needed to be kept. We had items that were over 50+ years and some of them might have been very valuable at one point, but my husband basically told me to decide what goes. I am a minimalist but with an emotional twist (haha, not sure what that says) but we managed to keep items that have bore significant meanings. His grandmother was someone made great impact in his life and she loved Thanksgiving and Christmas. I kept the dishes she used to serve the family. (Now I just have to decide which set will need to stay in the long term).
We sold most the furniture via FaceBook market places and my most memorable customers were the ones from middle east – 4 women came out with a mini van and complained about everything – they tried haggling down the price because they found “flaws” in the furniture (faded color, stains, etc) – we were amazed how quickly we caved into their sneaky maneuvering of price negotiation. They left with van full of furniture, cheaper than dirt, and we were staring at each other with a sense of being hosed. We also encountered a great restoration artist who came out (she happened to be in the neighborhood when I posted 200+ years old French antique suitcases) – she showed up in 20 minutes and stormed through the house and took almost 30% of items on display. She came back the following day – we just let her load all the old chairs, side tables, decorated lamps, cast iron lock, keys, etc into her vehicle. We were thrilled that she was totally in her free flea-market heaven mood.
You know the hard part is when you look back on what potentially we could have done it differently. But life moves on – I am glad you are too and enjoying the new chapter of your journey.
Hey, Mrs. D. Congratulations about selling your husband’s home. Fifty-plus years of memories and stuff is not easily parted with. And I hear ya about those accomplished Middle Eastern hagglers. Some cultures and regions are definitely better at it than others. When I was growing up, the only thing I saw people haggle over was the price of a car (I never witnessed an inside view of a home-buying process as a kid). But now thanks to the FI community and my understanding of the anchoring effect, I now know that everything is negotiable. Ah, wisdom is so cool! Thanks for stopping by, Mrs. D. Your comment was a great contribution to our conversation. Cheers.
So great to hear from you, Groovys!! And Mrs. G – she ROCKED it with her stellar negotiation skills with the Patels – way to go!! Thanks for the morning giggles. Much needed today. Cannot wait to see your new place!!! PS, thanks for the shout out too. You guys are the best!!
Thank you, Laurie. I couldn’t agree with you more. Mrs. G really rocked it with Craigslist and the Patels. As far as the move is concerned, she was clearly the most valuable Groovy.
Congrats on selling your home and moving on! I had the pleasure to experience Charlotte for the blog for the first time earlier this week and I must say that you are absolutely right about the people there. They were all so nice. Almost too nice. 🙂
Oh, man, Lisa. If I only knew! Mrs. Groovy and I would have loved to meet up with you in Charlotte. Did you stay Uptown during your visit? And what eateries did you explore? Let me know when you get a chance. Cheers.
Welcome back! Good to have you back. Glad to hear things went well. Looking forward to the update on living with the Groovy In-Laws. 🙂
Brian recently posted…Interview Series: FI Me Outta Here
Thank you, Brian. It’s good to be back. And, yes, living with mom and dad again should be interesting. I think the next book I work on will be titled, “A Groovy Guide to Moving Back Home with Your Parents.” It should be very popular with next year’s graduating college students. Cheers, my friend.
A beautiful and rich post return. No wonder FIG is so popular. I think you sir are the *real deal* Hunter S. Thompson – if he was a blogger, this is what it would have looked like / Fight-O-Meter, Surving the Patels, Aaron the Bull, Dwight Bobble-Head….
Thanks for the shout out … eh. 😍🙏🏻👍🤓
Made my day, Brent. I think I’m going to add the following to my tombstone.
“Here lies the inventor of Gonzo Blogging.”
I love the ranch updates! Congrats on selling your house and all that furniture! I can’t wait to hear about which builder you go with and see some pics of the house going up. We’ve FINALLY started building so it’s nice to stop by the property and see progress every week.
Thank you, Mrs. FF. We should be choosing the builder this week. And then the fun begins! Congratulations on starting your build. I’m looking forward to seeing your progress. I love the design you chose.
Welcome back Groovester. You moved without a fight…. surely your marriage is beyond rock solid and will last eternity.
Congrats on the sale and move, a new groovy era begins!
Thank you, AF. It’s good to be back. I really did miss our community.