Well there are a lot of things I just realized I hadn't updated on the ol' blog that I had promised to, so first of all I'm sorry if you were actually HOPING for those updates, and that it has taken me six months to get to it! For reasons that will become clear to you shortly, I'm actually going to do two blog posts in one day. May be a first for me....
I realized my last blog post was from Dec. 1, 2017 while I was visiting Spokane working on the house. So I'll give you an update on what happened with the house, as promised... I did stay until Sunday because I just couldn't get everything done in one morning/afternoon. I got some plumbing done, fixed the roof, removed some wiring that I hadn't finished installing and several other small tasks. But nothing too earth-shattering over all.
So after all the work had been done, several failed offers later, two real estate agents, and enough new gray hairs to make a an overcoat, my house finally sold on Dec. 28, 2017!!!
Now, just to give you an idea of how much of a process this actually was, let me tell you a little story....
At the end of May 2017, I went to my good friend's wedding in Coeur d'Alene, ID and that's when I learned that the real estate market in Spokane was really hot! I quickly made the decision to sell my house because when I left for Germany in 2013, I really couldn't have made enough to make it worthwhile, and after everything may have ended up owed money.
So I decided to head back to Spokane at the beginning of August for a 3-day weekend and hired a real estate agent that I met with during my trip. At that time, the entire state of Washington was covered in a thick layer of smoke from many large wildfires burning in Canada, with Spokane getting the worst of it! Temps were in the 90's and was just miserable. I had personally never seen anything like that. In Spokane, yes. But never the whole state! It was completely insane!
So I rented a U-Haul and started getting rid of all the stuff in my storage. Selling, trashing and giving away to charity. Spilled a large bottle of acid in the back of the truck as well. That was a horrible mess! Thanks to my amazing brother Lionel for his very sacrificial heart to help me!!!
I returned again a month later during Labor Day weekend and did another clean up session. Once again, the weather was extremely smokey and temperatures were in the 90's! I don't do well with that kind of heat. I did bring my big box fan, which helped. These trips were totally exhausting taxing, and expensive. Thanks to Mr. Eik and the Baldwins for very generously letting me stay at your homes. You have no idea how much you helped me! I will forever be grateful to you all! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
So by the time my renters moved out on Nov. 1st, I was now responsible for paying the mortgage, my rent and all the rest of my bills. To say I was poor in November and December would be a huge understatement. No money for Christmas, and I got a Target credit card so that I could buy groceries, and even pay for my cell phone bill (top up cards). By the way, please don't ever do this! The only reason I did it was because I knew I was going to be able to pay it off as soon as the house sold.
During the Fall, my realtor quit on me (I was going to fire her the same day she quit.). She had some kind of falling out with my renter and she couldn't deal any more. That was an extremely stressful time for all of us and emotions were high. But either way, I was not impressed by her skills at all, and glad I didn't have to let her go, that she quit on her own. Very stressful...
By the end of December, I hadn't paid any of my bills (I had NOTHING for any of them). The day the house closed, I received notice of intent of my insurance they would be cancelling my insurance unless I brought it current immediately!
So I also had no money for Christmas. I basically just told everyone we can celebrate in January. Actually ended up working out pretty well. It was totally God.
So on the day the house closed, I was waiting for the funds from the sale of my house to hit my bank. I looked online every hour on my phone to see if it was there yet. Finally at 11:50a.m, there it was! I sat there in shock, I started to shake, and a couple of tears fell. It was finally done.... I was happy, and at the same time I was numb.
So since it was the end of the year, and I just started calling all of my creditors and paying off all my bills (thankfully there weren't too many). But I have to share this one story.
I had one credit card that was over limit, 45 days past due and it ws the last business day of the year.
I have worked in collections before, so the end of the month is huge, you're wanting to collect every past due dollar that you can. So I get this young man on the phone and he pulls up my account and I give him my payment information to pay off the card in full, bringing it current. It was at the end of the day on the last business day of the month/year! You could hear the excitement in his voice. He could barely contain his excitement. I was really encouraged that God allowed me to do that for him. It was a great feeling. I know he was encouraged! :)
So, thanks to God, I was able to pay off my debt. Yes, ALL of my debt. All of the stress, all of the struggle, all of the sacrifice. I'd been holding it in and barely holding on for more than just a few years. In the blink of an eye, it was all done. Debt free..... It still doesn't seem real 5 1/2 months later! So grateful, thank you, God!
One of the brothers in the church earlier this year told me he was very concerned about me during the Fall. I told him how stressful and exhausting that time was and how I was just barely holding on, waiting and begging God to get my house sold. He continued that I seemed much happier now, more funny and playful (the old Tim!).
But the reality was that for at least 2 or 3 months after the house sold, my body just went limp. I was exhausted, lethargic, and a total home body. After being in suspense for so many years, my body took some time off. LOL. I was barely able to just do the basics: work, church stuff and chores. Finally in March/April, the clouds started to clear (literally and figuratively) and I really started to come out of that haze and started feeling human again. Either way, I was glad that my body was starting to function again and I could start to resume living life to the full once more!
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And there was another challenge on the horizon that was also weighing heavy on me during this time. Taxes! Oy....
I knew that I could claim receipts for money I had spent on my house during the time that I owned it for things that would increase the value: landscaping, painting, renovations, roofing, fences and such. The only problem was that I had hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of receipts to weed through!
This process took conservatively 10-12 hours to organize and I was hoping to file my taxes myself (idiot!!) but the tax deadline loomed.... then it came. At the last possible hour, I filed an extension and sent a hefty check for what I thought would be a reasonable amount of taxes, taking into consideration the capital gains, receipts and miscellaneous costs of selling my house.
I finally surrendered and decided to take my taxes to a CPA, and I'm so glad I did. He was awesome! He made it look so easy! I was pretty organized when I went in so it was relatively quick and painless. Before I went to him, I had prayed an "impossible prayer" of getting back some of what I had sent to the federales for what I thought I owed them. But God is way bigger than my little prayer! He not only gave me back ALL of what I had paid them already, I also actually received a refund! A REFUND!!!! Even after a fairly heavy tax bill from the CPA (money WELL spent!), I still netted a few hundred dollars! I got home and I was sitting at my desk just laughing to myself. It was so ridiculous!! I seriously got a refund??? Totally God, thank you God!!!
I'll end this post here. This is the end of the old. Here comes the "new".....
