If final week’s replace was a schadenfreude-y dump of unhealthy information, this week’s submit is the other. As a result of guys – I DID IT. I bought my childhood residence. FOR OVER ASKING. Not simply that: I set the worth document for my neighborhood! We simply closed on Tuesday afternoon – I bought the textual content that the sale had been accomplished whereas on a Zoom assembly with Em and one in all our companions, which made it even sweeter – and I’m nonetheless in shock that one thing good occurred. So at present, I’m able to spill the tea: every little thing I spent to prep the home on the market, the presents I thought of, closing prices, and the way a lot we netted on the finish. (I’ve at all times been interested in how that math shakes out, and I’m glad to share with the category.) I even have a lot of actually thrilling information, so settle in – it’s a feel-good submit, lastly. I promised a cheerful ending, and boy – I AM GOING TO DELIVER!!!
The Whole Prep Spend
Let’s kick it off with all of the updates at the moment tanking my credit score rating. In all honesty, this can be a a lot smaller scope of labor than I’d anticipated – I deliberate to repair the dinged partitions and scuffed paint – however specializing in solely the essential fixes paid off. My realtor graciously coated the skilled deep cleansing service earlier than our open home and after I’d accomplished the move-out, which my pockets very a lot appreciated, however all different prices are under…
- Changed Tile in Entry/Laundry Room: $3,752.20
- Changed Carpet in Basement, Household Room, and Whole Second Story: $19,236.60
- Changed Gasoline Furnace (with 10 Yr Guarantee): $9,991
- Changed Sump Pump: $1,089.70
- Outside Pipe Restore: $467
- Put in New Bathroom and Pedestal Sink in Powder Room: $1,247.03
- Weekly Mowing: $1,500
- Recent Mulch: $2,000
- Refreshed Outside Crops: $500
- U-Haul Leases (x4, Various Sizes): $1,288.55
- Junk Elimination (x4, Various Sizes): $1,928
The Grand Whole: $43,000.08
Once more, this stays essentially the most cash I’ve ever spent on something in my life – over the previous few months, my credit score utilization ratio has gone via the freakin’ roof. Once I add within the month-to-month mortgage and payments, the quantity creeps to properly over $50,000. It’s been an enormous expense to juggle however actually, now that I’m a bit faraway from the state of affairs (she writes, hours after bringing the sale proceeds to the financial institution), I really feel actually happy with myself for with the ability to make this work – it was actually laborious to handle all of those sudden prices, however I nonetheless saved my head above water and bought it achieved. Mockingly, it virtually made me really feel nearer to my mother and father – they each labored in banking, and I’d prefer to suppose that I absorbed a few of their monetary knowledge via osmosis. I really feel like I confronted a tough state of affairs like an actual, competent grown-up!
However there was some excellent news about all that spending, too: when my realtor regarded on the work I’d put in together with the costs of the newly-listed competing homes in my neighborhood, she prompt elevating our asking worth from $825,000 to $839,000. I used to be a bit nervous about this – the 2 most up-to-date comps on our avenue had bought for $839,000 and $849,000 in 2025, and I wasn’t certain how my residence in contrast – however I trusted her experience and agreed that closing the hole a bit can be smart. (In case you forgot – 3 homes on my avenue went available on the market inside 8 days of one another – the primary for $989,000, the second for $939,000, and we have been third to market with the adjusted worth of $839,000.)
The Provide(s)
That is the place I left you final week: Dennis and I scrambled to get the home clear sufficient for photographs and staging, handed the keys to my realtor to prep for an open home, and instantly booked it to the airport for a 2-week Eire tour with 13 (!!!) members of his household. (Aspect word: as somebody who grew up with like, 3 members of the family, it’s SO FUN to have a companion with each mother and father and siblings and tons of aunts and uncles and cousins. We stayed in Cavan, the city Den’s great-grandfather immigrated from, and it was a blast to discover the nation with such a enjoyable group. I actually lucked out right here – it was a much-needed break with some actually fantastic people.)
ANYWAY – I extremely suggest this hands-off technique. I personally actually struggled with seeing the modifications in my childhood residence – each junk pickup was emotionally difficult; working with my organizer stirred up tough emotions; and I do know that seeing issues transfer round in preparation for the open home would have made me a bit prickly, so the space was a lot appreciated. In the event you’re in a position to give your self some bodily house from your property at the moment, I believe it actually can assist shield your coronary heart a bit bit. (And I’m certain my realtor was glad that I wasn’t like, sitting on the sofa weeping whereas she additional decluttered. Everybody wins!)
So whereas I gallivanted round Eire (did I point out that Dennis was one in all our drivers? He did nice!), my realtor held two weekend open homes…and the presents started to roll in. We listed on Friday, June fifth, and by the night of the sixth, I used to be sitting on two presents with verbal guarantees of a number of extra coming very first thing Monday morning. Den and I have been sitting in the lounge of our Airbnb after I bought a textual content from my realtor, who advised me to test my e mail for the specifics, and after I did…you guys, I WAS FLOORED.
The primary provide was for $900,000. Your eyes don’t deceive you: NINE. HUNDRED. THOUSAND. DOLLARS. That’s $61,000 over asking (I advised you these updates paid off!), $75,000 greater than our authentic asking worth, and SO MUCH MORE than I’d ever imagined once we kicked off this course of. They’d waived all however the finance contingency, wrote a wonderful letter, and provided to cowl a $45,000 appraisal hole. The very best half? They have been a younger household, with ties to one of many hospitals that had handled Brenda in 2025. They have been precisely the customer I’d dreamed of after I determined to eschew that $776,000 OpenDoor provide – I’m so glad I used to be in a position to promote on to individuals who liked my residence as a lot as I did and that I didn’t simply line a enterprise’s pockets.
The second provide began at $850,000, however was raised to $875,000, and included all contingencies. And whereas I knew that extra presents have been inbound on Monday, I didn’t need to waste anybody’s time – I knew I’d already discovered the proper consumers and was assured to maneuver ahead realizing we nonetheless had an ultra-solid backup provide. Sitting in Cavan, Eire, I entered escrow on my childhood residence on a Sunday night. My realtor says she thinks my mother despatched these consumers, and actually, I do too – I’m so, so, so grateful that their two little peanuts will get to develop up in the identical home that I did. I like realizing that my childhood residence – as soon as full of a unending barrage of teenagers screaming about every little thing in any respect hours of the day and night time – will once more be full of love and enjoyable and pleasure. (Let this be a lesson that typically, taking an opportunity on the laborious route actually does repay.)
However Wait, There’s Extra
That is the place I actually really feel like Brenda labored some magic from someplace within the universe: our home appraised for $945,000. That’s $106,000 over asking (!!!), and $45,000 over what our consumers paid. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! The consumers additionally requested to maintain a bunch of furnishings, which took much more off my plate – it felt like a miracle. I’m so excited and actually really feel like everybody received on this state of affairs – the consumers are strolling in with bonus fairness and {a partially} furnished residence, and I’m clearly overjoyed by the way it labored out on my behalf. Completely happy endings throughout!!!
…with just a few exceptions, I believe. Bear in mind my neighbors? The house listed at $989,000 ended up promoting for $874,600 – they found some points throughout inspection – and the home that listed for $939,000 needed to drop their worth to $899,900. They’re at the moment nonetheless underneath contract, however my realtor prompt the acquisition worth was going to nonetheless be a bit decrease. So regardless of the huge gaps in asking worth and the variations in our completed sq. footage…we in some way got here out on prime. I genuinely want my mother may have seen the way it all shook out – I’d do something to simply be capable to discuss to her about it, even when it was just for a couple of minutes. I don’t suppose she’d imagine it!
The Take House $$$
I’m going to be sincere: I had no concept what to anticipate right here. I knew that I used to be forking out 5% for my realtor charges; I knew that $172,000 remained on our mortgage; I knew that there’d be some kind of switch tax…however I wasn’t certain how the proceeds would shake out, and I really feel like most individuals don’t focus on this half, so I’m taking one for the workforce and sharing all of my charges, closing prices, and the like. We’re all mates right here at this level, proper? (I imply – we’ve been via every little thing collectively. You’ve seen me fail at shopping for a home a number of occasions; you’ve seen me efficiently promote a home – we’re principally household at this level, no?)
In complete, the customer needed to pay $901,046.08. The extra grand got here from a prorated reimbursement for the sewer charges, HOA charges, a water charge, and property taxes that I’d paid in 2026. However now, let’s break down my closing prices (as a result of they weren’t low cost!)…
- Settlement Payment: $150
- Wire Payoff Payment: $35
- County Switch Tax: $6,750
- State Switch Tax: $11,250
- Realtor Admin Payment: $395
- My Realtor Fee: $22,500
- Purchaser Realtor Fee: $22,500
- HOA Dues: $300
- Closing Water Maintain: $100
- Water Switch Invoice: $293,28
Closing Prices Whole: $64,273.28
We had $172,876.02 left on the mortgage (at an unbelievable rate of interest – oh man, it was laborious to see that go!), which brings my complete vendor prices to $237,659.41. So yesterday morning, the day after closing, I picked up a test for $663,386.67, which was promptly deposited into the belief’s checking account. I’m ready on the official inexperienced gentle from my property attorneys earlier than I reimburse myself for any of my prices (no splurges right here – the funds aren’t mine but! I’m a accountable successor trustee!), however PHEW. I’m so relieved to be one step nearer to paying off this bank card debt!!!
A Transient Apart
That is the place I spill the beans: that additional $61,000 over asking goes to come back in fairly useful, as a result of DENNIS AND I ARE ENGAGED! (That feels loopy to put in writing – it looks like simply yesterday I used to be telling you guys that I fell in love for the primary time.) It’s a little bittersweet, although – in October 2025, after my mother’s most cancers had unfold to her mind, we’d agreed that we’d get married within the hospital if issues began going south. However then issues did begin going south, and I discovered myself juggling a ton of hospice paperwork and last goodbyes, and it was Christmastime, and it didn’t actually really feel acceptable to tug a bunch of individuals right into a hospital room for my very own profit as my mother pale away. Her final lengthy dialog was really with Dennis – she gave him a whole-hearted blessing, reaffirmed that he’s an awesome man, and mentioned she was thrilled I bought to hitch an enormous household. She died 3 days later.
GOD, THAT’S SO SAD. Let me cheer you up a bit: in February, Den and I flew again to LA to spend 2 weeks in our house (sure, we’re nonetheless paying lease for this glorified storage unit). Our EHD Q1 retreat was being held in Palm Springs, we’d been engaged on clearing out my childhood residence for about two months, and we desperately wanted an escape from the winter’s punishing (and seemingly continuous) snow and ice storms. A visit again residence to LA was a useful reminder that we did as soon as have a life exterior of caregiving and executrix-ing and trustee-ing.
That is the place it will get cute: I drove again from our Palm Springs retreat, parked in our storage, known as Dennis and requested him to assist schlep all my stuff upstairs, and adopted him as he opened the door to our house. I first noticed my month-to-month Bouqs supply – he will get me a subscription each Christmas, extremely suggest! – and was excited that my flowers had arrived. However then I noticed one other bouquet…and one other one…and as I used to be questioning who’d despatched all me these sympathy bouquets, I spotted that Den was on one knee and proposing, proper in our lovely little front room. He later advised me he wasn’t nervous about me saying “sure,” however he was nervous about ensuring it regarded good – and boy, he did an awesome job. It was personal, a complete shock, and completely good. (I solely want I hadn’t mentioned “IS THIS REAL? THIS IS HAPPENING? IT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW?” time and again and over whereas he did it. SO EMBARRASSING.)
In order that’s the primary secret I’ve been protecting from you for the final 5 and a half months – I’M AN ENGAGED LADY! And I couldn’t be happier to spend the remainder of my life with Den. We’ve been via a number of “for worse” over the previous few years – the primary time I met his prolonged household, his grandmother handed away within the room; he moved cross-country for me earlier than instantly shifting again into my childhood residence; he awoke a number of occasions per night time to assist me raise and transfer my mother when she couldn’t do it herself; we’ve now cleaned out 5,000 sq. toes of stuff and bought a house collectively – and he’s simply made each expertise survivable and – dare I say it – even enjoyable. He’s genuinely type, he offers 100% effort, he steps as much as deal with issues after I can’t handle, and he at all times is aware of methods to put a smile on my face. (Den even cracked a joke that made me snort minutes after my mother handed. I believe I’ll at all times do not forget that one clearly, as a result of that second made me understand that I nonetheless had the capability for pleasure someplace inside, though I knew I used to be about to dive headfirst right into a horrible grief gap.) He’s the perfect teammate I’ve ever had; he’s held our world collectively like Atlas, and if we like hanging out with one another this a lot via all of the laborious stuff, I can’t wait to see how good our “for higher” can be. The universe has dealt me a justifiable share of gnarly blows up to now 34 years, but it surely did me an actual stable when it introduced Den into my life. HE’S A KEEPER, FOLKS! I believe he’s cute too 🙂
Our New Daughters
…they’re not human. (SORRY, I HAD TO.) However shock: we inherited two cats, which brings our grand feline complete as much as three. I’m solely telling you as context, but in addition as a result of I wished an excuse to point out you photos of those cutie patooties.
The black one (“Squeaky,” aka “Eeky,” “Eekers,” “Huge Black Cat,” “Fats Cat,” “Stunning Woman,” “Bean Dip”) confirmed up at Brenda’s home seven years in the past out of nowhere and wormed her method into being a full-time home cat. This was really my fault – my mother let her into the storage at some point when it was raining; I opened the door to the home, she sprinted inside and simply…stayed. She didn’t have a chip, and regardless of her feral beginnings, she’s since became an ABSOLUTE LOVE BUG, which is simply hampered by her monumental measurement (20 kilos!). She was at all times on prime of my mother, sitting chest to chest, one paw wrapped atop every shoulder like a hug, and I’m so grateful to be the brand new recipient of these cuddles. It seems like getting a hug from Brenda 🙂
And I’m really the second heir of this grey one (“Boots,” aka “Upstairs Cat,” “Upstairs,” “Janet Yellen”): she belonged to my nice aunt, who handed in 2022. Boots was a feral barn cat from Amish nation, and whereas Brenda was in a position to rehome the entire different cats that belonged to my nice aunt, this one was simply too skittish – my mother frightened she’d be put down in a shelter. 4 years later, the cat is simply as skittish, however I can lastly pet her after months of labor. (Did this cat additionally want surgical procedure earlier this 12 months? After all she did! As a result of what’s a bit extra bank card debt?)
However man, AREN’T THEY CUTE? Naturally, Dennis is very allergic to all of them. He’s a trooper.
…And Our New (Trip?) House
In the event you learn The Hyperlink Up each Sunday, you might need inferred this from my latest request for assist…however SURPRISE, I’M (technically) A HOMEOWNER! (I’m really simply the successor trustee of the belief that owns the house, however that’s semantics.) Brenda really had two properties in her belief – this one is an superior rental in Rehoboth Seashore, Delaware that she bought in 2012. It had as soon as been summer season worker housing for the international college students working at Funland (that’s a particularly particular element for my DE readers on the market), and she or he bought it after it’d been foreclosed when the market crashed.
I nonetheless bear in mind how she advised me: we have been at an ice skating competitors someplace within the Midwest (Michigan? Minnesota? Wisconsin? All I bear in mind is that it was freezing!) and she or he woke me up from a nap by standing above me, holding an enormous mermaid carving she’d picked up at an vintage mall. Once I requested the place she was going to place it, she mentioned it was going within the seashore rental she’d bought and that she’d be transforming. Once I requested for additional clarification – What seashore rental? Your seashore rental? Who’s transforming? YOU are transforming? – she confirmed that sure, she’d be enterprise this challenge…and man, she knocked it out of the park. I’m nonetheless happy with her!
I’ve been coming right here just a few occasions a 12 months since – each July 4th, on the finish of summer season, after which once more across the holidays, with a protracted keep throughout Covid – and it’s my favourite place on the earth. It’s additionally made an unbelievable staging floor for the entire bins, bins, and artwork I took out of my childhood residence. I’ve slowly been working my method via a second spherical of decluttering and donations, which is SO MUCH EASIER when the gadgets are in a brand new context. In the event you’re ever fighting sentimental stuff, I extremely suggest boxing it up and shifting it to a brand new location – I can not emphasize sufficient how the change of location and surroundings has made it a lot much less painful to make ruthless donation selections.
Dennis and I are planning to remain right here for some time – it’s an awesome place to remember ourselves whereas we work out what’s subsequent. (It additionally has air con and room for 3 cats, that are two issues our LA house doesn’t provide.) I nonetheless have a ton of bins to get via, and there are just a few tasks right here I’d like to get achieved to make it much less of a trip residence and extra of an on a regular basis residence. We need to flip our powder bathtub right into a pantry (there are 3 extra full baths, so we’re not shedding a lot), I’d like to improve the builder-grade wire closets with extra useful storage, and we’re each dreaming of including built-ins to the workplace to deal with the large guide assortment I saved from Brenda’s home (what can I say – I’m the daughter of two avid readers, and I like having the books their fingers touched :)).
Naturally, it’s not all roses – the 20-year-old washer kicked the bucket in June; I needed to get a brand new rubbish disposal and piping put in on Tuesday, throughout which the plumber found that every one my bathrooms are on their final legs; one of many sizzling water heaters is on the fritz – but it surely’s thrilling, too. It was enjoyable to choose a brand new washer! I’m having fun with taking a look at bathrooms! I’ve solely been a renter, so lastly having a house that I can modify to suit my wants is a dream come true. (I want it wasn’t underneath such shitty circumstances, however that’s life, I assume.) However keep tuned, as a result of I’m hoping to knock out a few of these lighter-lift tasks, just like the closets and pantry, later this 12 months – there’s a California Closets simply down the street, and I’ve a sense I’m about to grow to be their primary buyer.
What’s Subsequent?
AHH. That is the place I have to ask you guys: when you have been in my footwear, what would you do? The home is lastly bought, I’m wrapping up the probate course of now, and I’m virtually prepared to begin interested by the place we’ll stay subsequent. We each need to return to LA (the climate! The flea markets! The antiquing! My skating workforce! The job alternatives! Our mates! The range!), however we’re additionally tossing the concept of Philly round – it’d be nice to be nearer to Rehoboth, now that we have now a spot right here. We’ve additionally thought of simply staying in Rehoboth, however I believe I really feel most snug in a walkable metropolis. In any case, each possibility for our future entails a little bit of sacrifice – I’m curious the way you’d play these playing cards.
AND THAT’S WHERE I’LL LEAVE YOU. I advised you it’d be a cheerful ending, proper? We had loss! We had love! We had triumph! We had plot twists! However it all sort of labored out on the finish, I assume. Humorous how that occurs, huh? I really feel like I’m closing the guide on my childhood and about to kick off the second chapter of my life, and I’m lastly beginning to really feel a bit extra prepared to leap in. HERE’S TO THINGS LOOKING UP, FINALLY. Thanks for being right here with me via all of it!!! xxxxxxx
Opening Picture Credit: Design by Caitlin Higgins (me!) | Styled by Emily Bowser | Picture by Sara Ligorria-Tramp | From: The Reveal We’ve All Been Ready For! Caitlin’s Principally Thrifted, Postmodern Regency Deco Residing Room
