#173: The Money Question We Keep Getting Asked: a house log

If you’ve wondered about the money side of selling three houses and downsizing to one smaller home, today we are answering some of your most asked questions. We are also sharing the weird renovation hiccups that have delayed our move in date (including a series of weird toilet-related follies that we never saw coming). Plus the surprising reaction we had to our own house tour video and why everyone is crying over one particular part of homeownership.

You can also find this episode on your go-to podcast listening app, like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, Stitcher, and Spotify.

**Here is a transcript of this episode if you are unable to listen or would rather read 8,000 words**

What is New

• Below you can see our hardwood floors in the Florida house after they had been sanded down. See that big stripe-looking discoloration through the middle of this photo? That is the patch of distinct wood that was used a while back. Blerg.

• In retrospect, we realized the differently patched areas were in fact visible in the before photos, but I think we were all too focused on the damage and the missing boards to realize that sanding would not solve the problem. Even our floor guy was surprised!

• And here is a look at some of our toilet drama. It is the same go-to toilet that we consistently order, but all 3 pieces they sent were mismatched – the seat was not correct for an elongated bowl (see that pic on the left), and the bowl was a slightly cream/off white color that none of us noticed until after it was installed (from the pics we got it simply looked like the lighting and our contractor did not realize it until he was adding the correct toilet seat, which looked a lot lighter and tipped him off). Luckily we were able to uninstall the wrong one and get a new one in there ASAP, and as of right now there is a correct toilet that in fact flushes! Which is a large accomplishment for this house that has not had running water in ages. Hallelujah!

• Also if you missed the journal post last week with those video house tours that we mentioned, check that out to see what we mean about the final “after” tour looking so full compared to the current tour of everything packed away.

Crying During Homeselling

• Here is a link to the full story on Zillow’s survey that revealed more than 1/3rd of Americans say they cried during the process of selling their home
• And if you want to hear more about the process of selling our first house by owner, check out this post or some of the earlier posts in our Moving, Selling, And Buying archive.
• We also did a podcast episode a few years ago about The Big Mistake We Made Selling Our House By Owner (Episode #56).

The Money Question

• We have gotten plenty of questions lately about how selling 3 houses in Virginia adds up to buying 1 smaller house in Florida, so we answered a bunch of the most commonly asked money questions in today’s episode. Here is a transcript of the episode if you are unable to listen.
• You can hear our discussion of How We Paid Off The Mortgage On Our House in Episode #64 and check out the full discussion with Tanja Hester in Episode #157, How To Achieve Even Your Biggest Financial Goals.

We are Digging

• Here is the vitamin organizer that has made Sherry’s mornings much more efficient (and made me much better about reliably taking my vitamins). Seems weird, but there is simply something about not having to unscrew a few distinct bottle caps every day that is a game changer!
• And here is a link to the Some Good News YouTube series hosted by John Krasinski, and below is one of our go-to episodes – where he threw a virtual prom for all of the high schoolers who were missing theirs this year.

If you are looking for something we have dug in a past episode, but do not remember which show notes to click into, here is a master list of everything we have been digging from all of our past episodes. You can also see all the books we have recommended on our Book Club page.

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