Where to begin… this year has been one for the records, for everyone. We went from the wide open world to no one can do anything in a matter of 3 months. Welcome 2020…I am certainly not here to dig into 2020 as for me and my household 2020 was amazing. This challenge is for a home that had been on the market for a year before I was asked to take on the listing. This home well situated in a mountain area needed the right price and a new family.
As January marched in the snow covered the ground. Laughter was heard throughout the mountain as children and their parents had snow days during winter break. Things would then get interesting.
February hits and the world had not yet fully shut down. To gather all those wonderful snow day families I was planning a Mega Open House. There were so many homes for sale and agents willing to do open houses to draw in the crowds! It was going to be great!
Then the world shut down. We were told no more Open Houses. Well there goes grabbing the attention of the snow day families. People listened and hunkered in their homes to be safe. How do you sell a home when no one wants to come out and no open houses? …challenge accepted
You turn to social media!
In light of most of my blog posts, you may have come to love the #realestateproblems I encounter. This home had those too. First up…as the Open Houses were cancelled my giant flag did not need to be up any more. I decide that it needed to come in and meanwhile what better way to explain the area then to go for an adventure. My son and his wife are with me, thankfully, and as we drove to the hiking spot called Big Horn Mine a rock hit my tire just right and popped it! There we sit on the side of the road, no spare, no cell service, no AAA and people not out to lend a helping hand. My son starts digging through my trunk and finds a weird “fix a flat” that neither of us has seen before. He figures out the crazy system and we limp all the way down the mountain to get a new tire. …challenge accepted
Showings happen with the home and have two buyers who want to purchase the home. One agent discovered a couple dead mice. #realestateproblems To that end a wonderful neighbor came to the rescue and dealt with the issue. I promptly bought pest deterrents to help field any other issues.
Finally, rounding the end of the year we have a buyer, we are in escrow and I go to visit and meet with the septic inspector and install pest deterrents. This home has artificial turf covering the septic tank. (Note: if you have septic and want to put in artificial turf, do your agent, the inspector and anyone else a solid and put the artificial turf AROUND the man holes to the tank, please.) Due to this and the lack of being able to locate it (even though we had a map of where the tank was) the appointment had to be rescheduled. While there I decide to do a few things such as take down the staging items, put away my flag that I had for Open House, etc. That’s when things got interesting. If you have read my nightmare house blog you know my true feelings about certain pests that can be found in a home. (Go read it!) Below is a list of things found in today’s adventure. …challenge accepted
Found:
1. Spider (ALIVE) on my giant flag
2. Spider (ALIVE) in hall closet
3. Dead mouse on front porch
4. Mouse nest
5. Large fluffy grey squirrel in tree
Good news, I didn’t scream with the spiders…or the mouse. It was dead after all. Also not a fan of rodents of any kind. Yes they can be cute, grey squirrels are cute, but I still prefer them alive and not near me. #realestateproblems #ididntscream #biggirlpanties
The last challenge of the day was my flag pole piece in the ground. Silly me, didn’t bring my normal tool bag in the car (although I thought it was there). …challenge accepted
As I tried to engineer my way into successfully removing my flag pole piece I kept coming up unsuccessful. It went a bit like this…

Challenge A: get a piece of wood and a rock and see if I can get the pole out of the ground … FAIL
Challenge B: get a chain from the fence and use it to pull the pole out of the ground. Chain doesn’t reach and is padlocked to the fence with no key. …FAIL
Challenge C: this surely will work by stacking two wood boards together and leverage it over the paver at an angle … FAIL
Challenge D: when all else fails you…you dig! You dig in this wonderfully odd loose but not dirt. You dig until a foott of the post is exposed, you squat like you are doing dead lifts and you pull! …challenge accepted and WON!
Finds

Spider who loved my flag

Grey Squirrel

Winning and feeling like She-Ra