Today as I finally got to start cleaning one room in the rental part of our property, I ran across another C word, Closet. The person who designed closet doors like these had to be someone who had never had to clean or paint them. What were they thinking?!

C is for Contracts and Closings

There are all kinds of contracts I have learned about while getting ready to sell our house. There was the contract with the pest control company before they tented our two houses. Yes, there are tents that big in the south where termites are constantly looking for wood and water – houses are perfect for both.

Then there was the contract with the company that put new windows in our rental house. Windows are a special item in hurricane country. One small one in the laundry room cost over $700. It seems that all really expensive things require contracts, probably because there is a lot to put in writing about the guarantees, warranties, and disclaimers designed to protect everyone involved.

But the contract that we really care about is the one that comes at the end of the sale – that sweet agreement between buyer and seller that seals the deal. There is always a tentative sigh of relief when the house is “under contract”. I say tentative because until the final papers are signed at closing, the deal can fall apart and the process has to start all over again with the next prospective buyer. This last year we sold another property that was under contract twice before we found a buyer who could meet the financial stipulations of the contract.

The closing is always a mysterious thing to me. The husband and I sit at a table with the title company lawyer with our pens in hand. He hands us one paper at a time to initial or sign, and it goes on forever until the tall stack of papers is finished. I could not begin to tell you what all those papers are about, even though they are quickly explained to us as they go whisking by. I kind of glaze over, all the time pretending to be an astute seller, nodding and putting on my “knowing” look.  I’m not recommending this method, just saying it happens.

Okay, I need to be silly (it’s a mental health tactic). I started noticing signs this winter and collecting pictures of them thinking that “Signs of the Times” would be an interesting theme for the A to Z. So as  not to waste them, even though my theme has changed, I’m putting them in when I have them. They’re fun.