A very good Monday to you! I hope your weekend was a great one. It has been beautiful weather in the Tampa Bay area and I have gotten to take a few breaks from all the family residence chores to spend some quality time with high school and college buddies.
I traveled home to Tampa to get my parent’s home and my childhood residence ready to put on the market for sale. It was a very difficult decision as most of you might imagine, as it is mine and my sisters last family tie to the area. With my sister living in Arizona and me living in Alabama it has been hard to get back down to check on the house which has been vacant since we moved my parents to Arizona in 2011. My parents bought the home when I was 8 years old.
I arrived in Tampa on Sunday and placed a couple “for sale by owner” signs in the front yard not knowing what else would be needed to get interest n the house. Little did I know that over the next few days, while removing items and getting the house cleaned for showing, that those two signs would be all the magic I needed. Calls and visitors started pouring in from individuals in the neighborhood that were interested in the house for family members. It was heartwarming to hear stories from those that knew my parents as well as the stories of why they wanted to purchase the house to move their parents or their children in to have them close by. By Thursday we had two offers on the house and with those two we asked for a best and final offer. A cash offer was made that was more than we had anticipated and just like that, the house was sold. Never did I imagine that I would be signing a contract 5 days after I arrived. I was so very thankful that there was so much interest from residents in our neighborhood.
I was extremely fortunate to been asked to stay with friends of mine in Tampa while I was here and even more fortunate that they both are in the housing industry. There are not enough words to thank Layton and Sandy Lynch for their very generous hospitality and advice in helping me through the process of selling my parents home. I am exceptionally grateful for all they did while offering me a place to stay while I worked through the emotional task of selling me childhood home. Their advice was invaluable.
While staying with them I had the rare opportunity of being close to downtown Tampa and one evening took advantage of my time away from the house to do a little photography and capture a striking view of the city. I must saying that Tampa is coming back in its own and I will miss the frequent visits to the city to check on the house but plan to return often to spend time with my dear friends. When one door closes they say another door opens. I look forward to seeing what’s behind that new door. Enjoy!
