This Little Light Of Mine
In my adult life, I’ve lived in so many different condos, apartments, houses, that my cats have had more addresses (9) than years on this earth (8)! That pattern continued this year as I officially sold and moved from my condo and into an apartment closer to work.
Earlier this year, I had decided to sell my condo so that I could move to be closer to work (like, walking distance vs driving distance), to sell while the market was still good, and for a change of pace. I had lived in my condo for the single longest period of time in my adult life at three years, my longest stint at a single address!
Now, part of selling a condo is getting it ready to be sold, and having it look as good as possible! And even though I started that process in September, it was just a heckuva lot of work for one person to do on nights and weekends (especially while simultaneously getting moved into an apartment and getting that set up). I'm very grateful for my mom, who came down from Maryland, for helping me get the final couple repairs and paint jobs done before listing it.
I listed on a Friday. By Monday, I had five offers.
The final stressful part came down to the inspection report, though. There were nine items that needed addressing, including things that had been issues when I bought the place back in 2018. A number of them I could repair on my own (e.g. replacing an outlet, light switch), some needed a plumber and the stress of finding one on short notice (e.g. securing a shower head, fixing drain placement), one needed appliance repair (e.g. the ice maker)...it was a lot to coordinate, especially around Thanksgiving, and a lot of stress.
The final item that I had to take care of was swapping out a light bulb in an outdoor lamp. I started trying to replace it on the Tuesday before closing, but when I went to replace it...I couldn't undo the screws. They were stuck in place, stripped, so I went to get a replacement outdoor lamp unit. Got it, started undoing the previous unit so that I could replace it, and a screw snapped off inside of the junction box hole that would secure the new backing plate. And I...I felt helpless in the face of a (minor) inconvenience, but the latest in a long line of inconveniences. I just had to walk away from the project, capping the exposed wire, and kicking myself mentally.
The story of this last item does have a good ending, fortunately; I tried again that Thursday, and with a combination of different screws, I was able to drill out the screw that had broken off, attach the new backing plate, and finish installing the outdoor lamp. Then one final check, ensure that I had re-attached the wiring correctly, and we got the image in the header. The condo was ready to go.
A few days later, we closed, and the condo was in a new homeowner's hands. And I hope that they enjoy the condo as much as I had.
