Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Moving soon

We move in a week. I feel a little sad that we will miss Baltimore Yearly meeting sessions (this week) and probably almost all of Ohio Yearly meeting sessions (taking place in Barnesville the following week). But the "inner voice" I keep hearing tells me to go slowly and take one thing at a time. Right now, the "one thing" is the move, which feels in some ways like being in labor or having a tiny baby to care for: everything in the world collapses to focus on that one point. It's not quite the same--there's much more human control over the process--but it's similar.

As we try to understand how to deal with the transition of putting our house in the hands of a renter--a steward-- and with moving to another state, which neither of us have done as materially-encumbered grownups (when I moved to California after college, I could fit my life in a suitcase)--I realize I haven't asked wiser and more knowledgeable souls for advice.

So: any advice? We hired professional movers to load and pack our 26-foot truck, which Roger will drive the 300 miles to Barnesville. Anything we should know about that? Any packing tips?

Also, I think I will ask our realtor for our renter's phone number so we can talk to her directly. Going through third parties seems almost inevitably to make the situation stiff and adversarial. We want to help make her transition to our/her home as smooth as possible. The whole thing seems very awkward to me as, unlike selling a house, it's not a clean break. Any thoughts? Do people who've done this before think it's a good idea to talk to a renter directly?

4 comments:

Regina said...

Hm... I think it's always good to go through your realtor, esp. when it comes to anything having to do with soecifics of renting. It just sets up boundaries. We rented our little house for quite a number of years and we found out the hard way that trying to be your renter's best friend led to some pretty sticky situations. If we were nice to them, they took advantage of that. Now, I am not saying that will happen with your renter, but it's never quite what you think it will be like...
We gave it up after a while- too stressful, really. And I'm just being honest here. It's really a luck kind of thing. I do hope everything turns out alright for everyone involved.
I hope the moving goes speedily and smoothly for you- we are planning our move up to GA next year and after almost 20 years in FL, I am already thinking... nightmare!!!
Take care and good luck!
:)

Regina said...

Oops- that's "specifics"- you probably knew that!
:)

AbiSomeone said...

Hey, sister...I know packing and moving! If you want some tips, I would be more than happy to share. I can e-mail you (has your e-mail changed?)...

In the meantime, the most important thing is to be clear about where boxes are to GO when the arrive at the new house. That makes it easier when things are being unpacked.

And let me encourage you to listen to your inner voice that says to take it slow. I might be a better think not to be able to attend the gathering -- it will be overwhelming to try to absorb all the names and faces and relationships in one fell swoop.

It hardly seems right to move into a slower life at warp speed.... ;^)

Diane said...

Regina,

Thanks for the advice and best wishes for the move to Georgia.

Peggy,

Thanks for the response and I'm still at the same old e-mail and will be ...