Under Contract!

We have a winning offer!

A young family viewed the house on Tuesday...they came back on Wednesday to look again, and submitted an offer on Friday. We negotiated over the weekend with a final agreement reached on Sunday morning. Its contingent on the inspection and appraisal, as normal, which should be complete in a couple weeks. Then I will view condos and make a quick decision.

Its an interesting plan and I hope it works out. Being first time homebuyers, this couple was looking to qualify for the $8000 tax incentive. They are in a lease until August and didn't want to break a lease, but have to close by the end of June for the rebate, so they will only have to pay a month or so of extra rent.

As it turns out, the timing should make it possible for ME to qualify for the tax incentive for my next purchase getting the repeat buyer's credit of $6500. I will have been in this house 5 years on June 8th, so we have set the closing for June 11(to qualify for the 5 yr mark on the incentive) and give them possession on June 14th.

This also means that I need to sign a contract on a condo before April 30th and close by June 30th. We will request closing on June 11 on the same day, with immediate possession, so that I can move everything over that weekend.

The couple sounds perfect for my house. They have one daughter about 7 yrs old. On the cul-de-sac, there are several girls/boys that age. Funny story - when they were visiting on Tuesday, the neighbor next door saw them outside with the girl, so she sent out her two girls to play and wave at the visitors. Then when they viewed the house on Wednesday, the neighbors across the street came out with their baby and 8 yr old boy to play and wave, to show how friendly the neighborhood is..... Of course, I am sure the neighbors are happy to be able to see the buyers and help influence their decision.

Hopefully everything else will go smoothly. I'm excited to move on.

Pastel - John In Pastel

"John in Pastel", 8 x 10, soft pastels on velour paper

Today our painting group had a 'micro' workshop on portrait painting led by one of the group, Mary Newman. We were to paint one of the other artists across the room. I chose to work in pastels today and chose John as my subject. He was across the room about 20 feet away! 

This is our last painting date inside and we are all looking forward to getting out of doors for the rest of the season.

Oil Painting - Geen Apples and Cabbage Roses

"Green Apples and Cabbage Roses", 8 x 10, oil on canvas wrapped panel

I wanted to do more to this, but everyone said, "don't touch a thing!". Well, I did fine tune it a tiny bit after I got home, but not much.

Oil Painting - Tomatoes

"Tomatoes" - oil on shellac'd museum board, 5 x 7

This was last week's painting, that I forgot to post. It was painted as an 8 x 10, but the left side of the board held little of interest, so as soon as this is dry, I will cut it down to 5 x 7 (as shown). That is one advantage to working on museum board, as it is much easier to cut down.

Blue Cross Tree

This is a tree at a little park where I walk. I love this tree. Unfortunately, its dead and has been for some time. Its huge. I noticed the other day that it had the 'blue cross of death' marked on it and wanted a picture before they cut it down. Not that interesting of a photo, but wanted to document it (taken with the cellphone camera).

I painted with the group on Saturday, but forgot to take a picture of the painting. And I think it might need some more work. I'll finish it up this week and post it. We plan on painting indoors only two more Saturdays, and then we will brave the weather until fall! I'm looking forward to it.

Update about the house sale...

I've been silent about the progress with the house sale, because there hasn't been much progress. I've had a good number of showings considering the nasty weather in the last couple months. The feedback has been positive in general, but the negatives are they don't like the galley kitchen nor the corner lot (on a cul-de-sac, but corner of a busy main road) - those two things I can't change. I've had 2 or 3 families really like it, and have visited twice, but they all have a place to sell before they can buy mine.... So no offers yet.

We are still trying to lure in the first time homebuyers who are trying to get the tax incentive. They have to sign a contract by Apr 30th to qualify. So with only about 6 wks left for that, we will probably lower the price this week to get more interest. Sigh....... I'm ready for this to be over....

My realtor and I took two days this weekend to view the condos I am interested in and we have the list narrowed down to 4-5.... which I am already decorating in my mind.... how my studio will be setup, etc... That's the most important room, right?