Construction is finally finished!

WELCOME to Dave Murphy!  I'm sorry I haven't blogged since you became a Follower - don't take it personally. : )  I'll post more as I get closer to summer and start shopping in earnest for my RV, have my estate sale and...  start full-timing!   I didn't see a blog listed for you, let me know if you have one so I can follow along with you, too.

The roof has been repaired, the mold taken care of, the walls rebuilt and painted, and my bedroom is back to normal.  The construction crew painted all the walls and the ceiling, too.  The room looks really nice and it's sooooo nice to be back sleeping on a regular bed again.

 The Warning before entering into the contaminated area

Two partial walls were replaced

This is where the main leak was.

Drywalled, spackled, then textured.

Walls and ceilings painted, drop cloths and plastic walls removed, furniture moved back, and here we are, back to normal:

All the decorative items, photos, pictures on the walls were removed during the repairs and construction, and I'm not sure I want to drag them all out again, put new holes in the walls, etc., when I'll be renting the condo sometime this year.

We've had a couple of heavy rain storms since they repaired the roof, and I was so glad I didn't have to worry about the water coming in anymore.  Katie is pretty happy, too.  She can stay home and sleep during the day, now, instead of having to come to work with me and stay in the car or in her crate in my office.  She was getting real tired of that crate, and after lunch - which I eat in the car - she wouldn't come with me back to the office.  She wasn't getting her usual peaceful all-day-long sleep, and I think she's pretty happy getting back to normal, too. : )  Having my bedroom off limits had me more off-kilter than I realized until it was over. 

I've gotten the air quality report, and will recieve a final report this week.  I'm going to put all the reports and photos in a folder and forget about them until I need them for a sale.  So, now onward and upward!  

On Friday I started thinking about looking for RVs again.  I hope to get one after the summer and stopped by Camping World to see what they had.  They actually had one that I really liked - at least the floor plan.  It was a 2005 Fleetwood Jamboree 23 E with the kitchen in the back.  I keep going back and forth about what I think I want, and I'm back to my original floor plan.  I really liked the floor plan and the extras the Fleetwood had, but I didn't like the interior color, it was very well-used (lots of chips, etc.) and had a musty, uriney smell. 

 I love these rear kitchens

The salesman said it's easy to change out the colors and he could reduce the price to reflect what that would cost me, but the smell really bothered me.  He said it was probably from the tanks, but I haven't smelled that in other used RVs I've seen.   

It's $39,995, which seemed high for a 2005, but I don't know much about pricing yet.  Of course I know they would come down, but not to $30,000, which he said someone else had offered and the offer had been rejected.  Around $30K is the neighborhood I'd like to stay in. 

So, it's not the one for me, but I'll definitely be looking for that year and style.  If I found the perfect RV for the right price, I'd try to get it now.  I think I could swing it, and I'd just lease my condo sooner and stay in a local RV park while I'm still working.  That's the plan in the fall, but I could do it earlier.

Have you changed colors inside your RV?  Had the cushions recovered?  I wonder what that would cost me.  There's a local place, the salesman said, that they would refer me to, so I guess if I find the perfect rig with a color I don't like, I would look into it.  I could always paint, change out wallpaper borders, and change the flooring. Since I'll be buying used, that would probably all be a good idea, anyway unless I find a particularly clean unit.

On the way home, there was an estate sale going on a few streets from mine, so I stopped to talk the the owner of the company putting it on.  I wanted to know how they work, and what it costs to hire them.  It was pretty interesting.   I'd have to be moved out, then they come in on a Sunday, stage everything left in the place, price everything, and place ads in local papers and in lots of internet sites from here to Los Angeles.  He said most of the good stuff is sold through the ads on Wednesday and Thursday.  The serious shoppers drive to sales on Wednesday/Thursday while the best stuff is still available. 

The "Estate Sale" signs go up out at the main road and around the neighborhood on Thursday and the sale is on through Sunday.  At the end, everything not worth worrying about is left for Goodwill or similar companies that come out and pick them up and leave receipts for me for tax write-offs.  He has a warehouse that he uses to store things that are still worth selling, and he brings them to the next couple of sales and tries to sell them.

At the end, he keeps 35% of the funds earned.  I'd get 65%.  I love the idea of taking only what I need in the RV, what I want to store, and what I want to throw away, and leaving the rest for them to deal with.  That's worth 35% to me.  It's all done in a week, and they probably get more people to come that I'd ever get, and they know how to stage and price things, so they would probably sell more.  Like every job, there are tricks to the trade, and he knows them.

When everything is gone, I'd take the next week to vacuum, clean the patio, kitchen and both bathrooms, do a little painting where needed, and that would be it.  In two weeks or less it would be ready to lease.

One of the things I've been dreading is the "getting rid of everything" phase.  It seems like such hard work, takes so long, and is so emotionally draining in many of the blogs I've read.  I live in a really safe area, but after posting items in Craig's List, I worry about the peole who came in and looked around.  Although I did well and sold a lot of things, I don't think I want to do that again.  I've heard too many horror stories.  I like the idea of an Estate Sale, which eliminates all that.

So, that's the plan.  All I have to do is find the perfect little Class C and I'm on my way!

 Katie proudly walking around with both her chew toys in her mouth.

What a silly girl!

From me and my dog, Katie, have a great evening, everyone!  : )