Staging a house for a quick PCS Sale

Have you wondered how to stage your house so you can sell it quickly when you have to PCS on short notice? I am here to show you how I did it and received a full price offer within 48 hours of listing.

We had been slowly working on remodeling the house over the last few years but when we got Scott's training date for OTS about 3 weeks before he had to leave things really got bumped up! I had fractured the bones in my toes in lots of crazy places and was just really getting mobile by the time he left for training and I had to get a lot of the painting and things done without him around. Then we found out that we were moving overseas and Scott was supposed to report to Germany just 5 days after graduation without even coming home! (Things didn't go exactly like that, but that's a story for another post!)  It made for a crazy summer! BUT, we were able to get it all done with a lot of help from neighbors and our family who lived a few hours away and made lots of trips down to help us.

We rented a storage unit for some of the big things and de-cluttered like crazy before putting the house on the market. We took down almost all personal decoration on the walls and replaced them with generic decorations so that anyone would be able to picture the house as theirs. I know for me I have a hard time looking at someone's house and picturing it as mine when pictures of the family are looking down at me from every wall!

I stalked Tai Pan Trading, Hobby Lobby, Walmart and a few other local home decor places and bought almost everything on clearance. Most of the pictures for the walls I was able to get for less than $10 a piece, some for just $1. Do I love all of them with all my heart? Not necessarily but they are fairly generic and made the house look finished and decorated without distracting from the house itself. The one thing I splurged on was the large mirror in the living room over the fireplace since the fireplace was the big focal point in the room and the mirror needed to be a specific shape and color to tie in in with the sconces above the fireplace.

When painting I chose very generic colors, sands and dark creams that wouldn't turn off a potential buyer and I used the same color in multiple rooms so that things would flow nicely. I left all the extra paint in the basement for the new owners.

When I was choosing a realtor I interviewed several on the phone. I ended up choosing our realtor because I got a good vibe from him, he worked locally, had great recommendations from people I know, he wasn't intimidated by needing to sell in 5 weeks and he used a professional photographer. The photographer part was really important to me since I didn't want cell phone pictures used in our listing!

This is what our lovely historic home looked like after I stripped wallpaper for weeks and painted like there was no tomorrow (cause there really wasn't, we had a deadline). Borrowing a carpet cleaner from our neighbor and doing all the carpets myself saved us a ton of money and made a world of difference with our old carpets.

The view from the street

The Backyard/garage
(it's hard to see but there are 3 fruit trees growing back there). I bought a zillion mums to plant in the backyard and in the pots on the front porch. Flowers are an easy way to fill in empty areas, add color and interest to your yard and make it look finished.

The Entry Way 

Notice the very generic picture over the chair? Cost me only $7, it's huge and it tied in all the living room colors from the other side of the room.

 Living Room
We kept the mantle very simple and used the rule of odd numbers to be visually appealing.

Master Bedroom, just off of the living room
This room had the weirdest carpet (not quite as weird as it looks in the photo though!) and wallpaper but replacing carpet wasn't in the budget nor did we have the time. And there was no time to paint this room. So, we replaced the bedding with a solid color that appeals to a wide range of people and made that the focus along with a few black and white prints of Venice to tie in to the black and cream pillows on the bed.  The framed prints of Venice came from Tai Pan Trading at $3.50 each. There is another one on the wall to the right of the camera.

 The Girl's Room 
I do wish the photographer had let me move the items from under the bed before the photos but he was a speedy photographer! This is the same creamy sand paint from the living room with simple white curtains and solid colored bedding. There are cute, generic girls room pictures on the two walls that you cant see.

Bathroom 

We had already finished the bathroom a few months before all of this craziness, thank goodness. When we bought it the bathroom had the original pink tile and floral wallpaper and the tiniest bathtub. This was the biggest project as it had to be gutted and totally redone. All of the finishings are very neutral. This is the only bathroom so we had to make it look good.

The Kitchen

This was the other room that we didn't do as much to. I did paint all the trim and doors white since they were a strange almond color and very dingy looking. Did you know they sell wallpaper glue in little tubes so you can reseal wallpaper that is beginning to peel along the seams? Pretty cheap and it makes a huge difference. We cleaned and sealed the wallpaper, painted the trim and doors and just made sure everything else was squeaky clean and uncluttered.

Downstairs Bedroom 

We always used it as a playroom but staged it as a bedroom for the listing. Aside from the solid colored bedding and the pictures on the walls everything else we already owned and just re-purposed.

Downstairs Storage Area 

The basement is only half finished and this is the unfinished storage area. The laundry area is in the other half of the open space in the basement but wasn't really photo worthy. All the shelves are the same type and we tried to just made everything look neat and organized.

 No pictures were taken of the other massive bedroom in the basement. It was the final project that I finished the night before the house went on the market. It is twice the size of the other downstairs bedroom and we used it as a craft room/office. There is also a very large pantry in the basement that didn't get pictured along with an under the stairs storage area where Scott kept his tools. Not every room has to be pictured in the listing. It can create a desire to go see the house and see what else there is that wasn't in the pictures.


With a tight deadline we had to be selective about what things we were able to get done. I couldn't get it all done so I picked the things that I thought would have the biggest impact and made those my priority.  For example: I really wanted to take down the wallpaper in the kitchen but then I discovered that the ceiling had white wallpaper on it (who wallpapers the ceiling!?!?) that overlapped the wallpaper on the walls and I knew that was just too big of a project for our time frame. Would I have loved to have the whole house perfect? Yes, but if just wasn't possible with our time frame.

It was a super crazy process but getting that full priced offer within 48 hours made all the sleepless nights, paint splattered clothes, trips to the storage unit and fast food worth it.

Air Force Job

We finally heard back!!! Yay!! You might remember from some previous posts that over a year ago when Scott was accepted into the Delayed Entry Program he was initially offered a job that he was okay with, signed the 8 year contract and then when they realized he was colorblind they withdrew that job offer, understandably. They have been looking for a new job to offer him and we have been waiting patiently (well..mostly patiently!) for them to find one.

It had been so long since we had heard anything definite that we had started looking into other career options when Scott got THE PHONE CALL a couple weeks ago. They called on a Thursday afternoon with the new job offer and gave us until Monday to decide if we wanted it. It was a long weekend of introspection, research into the job and praying. Monday morning Scott sent off his acceptance letter and received his training date for O.T.S. at Maxwell A.F.B. Wahoo!!! This new job offer really opens up the options of where we could be stationed at, which is exhilarating!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. I'm still having a little trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that it is actually going to happen and that we are headed for an Air Force life. Overall we are very excited and looking forward to the opportunities this life will bring.

I've been busy trying to make a plan for getting the house de-cluttered, garage-saled (is that a word?) and ready to sell. I am a bit of a pack rat so this is rather time consuming! Also, I am trying to get all of our paperwork super organized and throw out anything I don't have to keep. I don't want to be moving things around with us that we don't need or use.

 I've also been doing some (okay, a lot of) reading about moving with the Air Force and looking into different bases. I think that Scott might secretly think my spreadsheet about the pros and cons of different bases is a bit silly, but it helps me remember, in all this chaos, what I've read and heard. I want us to be prepared to make good choices with Scott's dream sheet when the time comes. We would love to live overseas or near the coast in the U.S. Lets be honest, who wouldn't be excited about the idea of putting Hawaii, Florida, Washington, Germany, Italy etc.. on your dream list!  We will have to see what options he gets to choose from to make his list...  If we actually got one of the ones I'm leaning toward right now we would be overjoyed but we will be happy wherever we end up. Finding joy in the journey is something I am striving for. 

(It's more than that but still a bit crazy)

I have loved reading blogs by military spouses and getting their unique take on the Air Force life!

Which bases have been your favorite and which would you try to avoid?

Resolutions and Updates

I've been absent from the blog for far too long! Really there is no excuse. Everything with the Air Force has been more than up in the air and I just didn't want to even think about it, let alone write about it!

Here's a quick update (as part of my resolution to post once a week) of where we are and what we are up to.

We had applied for a waiver early in the summer for Scott's eyes, as he is partially colorblind and the post they had slated for him required full color vision. Early October we finally heard back that they wouldn't approve the waiver (understandably, I suppose) and they were going to put Scott's application back into circulation to see if other areas of the Air Force were going to have openings for the coming year that would be a good fit for him. The info about the waiver denial came in the first part of October and the end of December we finally heard back, sort of! The recruiter contacted Scott to say that the Air Force had some jobs they wanted to offer him but wanted to make sure he was still interested, after more than a year of hurry up and wait :) before they did all the paperwork of a formal offer. Umm, hello, yes! Yes, we are!!

So, we are still waiting, but with more of an idea of what's coming our way and perhaps a little more patiently. We had started to look into what else to do after graduation since we hadn't heard anything for so long but now we feel are back on track a bit.

Despite all the hurry up and wait we are still pretty excited about the Air Force and a little nervous to see what the job offers are. Who knows where we will end up?

B29 Superfortress

A week ago, the only B29 Superfortress with active flying status came to SLC and so OF COURSE I had to surprise Scott and take us all up to see it. It was incredible (and much bigger than it looks in the picture).

There are some moments in life where you get close to an object and can almost feel the life that was lived and lost in it and the stories that were made there seep into your bones and your emotions. This plane represents the thousands (3,970 to be exact) of B-29s that were built during WW2 and that were used to fight for us. Being so close to history made me a bit teary when I thought of all the men that put their lives on the line, and many that lost their lives, after climbing into a plane just like that one, for the purpose of saving others lives and bringing peace to a war torn world.

While driving up to see the Bomber we found out that Scott's grandfather helped build some of the B-29's in WW2. Knowing that made the day extra special, since I didn't have the opportunity to meet him and our children won't either.

Now that I've been sappy enough for one day I'll tell about standing in line for an hour an a half in hundred degree weather with a 3 year old and a 1 year old at lunch time.... enough said.

My bangs were definitely wind blown but wind in a desert, on top of the tarmac at an airport is HOT wind. We couldn't keep Thing Two confined to the stroller so we let her run free, which for her meant pushing around the stroller, which was fine with me, as long as she was happy!  

You can see that Thing One was super reluctant to get close to the big wheels. She told me that she didn't want to get run over! (At least we know that some of the things I tell her about why we don't run across people's driveways is sinking in....

After a l.o.n.g. wait in the sun we were finally able to go "inside" the plane. It felt like we were stepping back in time. I feel bad for the tour guides sitting inside the plane, wilting, because the temperature skyrocketed once you were inside!

 

It was pretty crazy to realize that a B-29 just like this one is the plane that dropped the atomic bombs. Looking at the technology that seems so archaic, but was cutting edge then, it almost doesn't seem possible.

Despite the heat and the cranky children it was a wonderful experience and I would definitely recommend going to see the Superfortress if it makes a stop near you. 

Many thanks to the Commemorative Air Force for making this plane and it's history available to the public.

Air Force Status (aka Rant)

Some of you may have wondered about our Air Force status since I haven't posted anything recently. We are currently just waiting for the Air Force to make some decisions which is why I haven't had anything exciting to post in that area.

Here is a quick review of our timeline so far:

Applied to the Air Force late last fall

Accepted to OTS and the DEP early in the spring(March)

Attended MEPS the first part of April (read about hubby's MEPS experience here)

Had background check completed about a month ago

Had another physical at Hill AFB last week

Why ANOTHER physical you ask? Let me explain, and by explain I mean rant! 

I would bet money that on the paperwork my hubby filled out as part of his A.F. application last fall he had to check a box on several forms that he is colorblind. That's the reason he hasn't pursued a pilot spot or a couple of other careers in the Air Force that he would have loved, they absolutely require color vision. Apparently they either overlooked that fact or my memory is totally out of whack about the paperwork. At MEPS he, of course, failed the colorblindness test. Apparently standard color vision is preferred for the job field that they had him slated to do. So, they had him drive up to the AFB and redo the entire physical and then some additional things they didn't do at MEPS. He partially failed the colorblindness test this time and now he has to apply for a waiver. They won't respond to a simple waiver request for 3 to 4 months. 

I like to be able to plan at least a little in advance and this is driving me nuts to have to wait to find out something so simple that could and should have been taken care of months ago! If this delays his date for OTS and he is able to go to another semester or two of school and get a double major we would like to know sooner rather than later so he can have enough time to register for the classes that he would need.

End of rant. Phew! I really am very excited about going into the Air Force and think it will be a good life for our family. I know that this kind of thing isn't unusual in the military but it is taking a little bit to adjust to.

Are you color blind? Take one of these color blindness tests to find out.

Moving With The Military

Recently a friend asked me how I felt about entering the Air Force and dealing with moving on a regular basis, especially with kids. This is something that I have thought a lot about and was one of the things that I had to reconcile in my mind before we decided on this new course for our life.

Something you may not know about me is that I moved quite a bit growing up and people always asked me if we were military and the answer is no. My dad has so many interests and things he wants to do in life that the next big opportunity was always somewhere else and so we moved frequently, chasing the dream. Making friends who had lived in one house their whole lives was always a bit surprising and seemed like the ideal to me when I was growing up and I envied them. I moved 11 times before I left for college, (lived in the same house twice) and lived in 5 states. Interestingly enough, I ended up marrying someone who had only lived in 3 houses before he left for college and two of those were in the same city. As I've grown older I've realized that moving a lot while growing up meant I was challenged and grew in many ways that my friends did not and I had opportunities that some of them never would have had. That being said, there were some pretty tough things about moving frequently and sometimes rather suddenly and unexpectedly as a kid.

The big moves growing up, my 5 mission moves and our 3 moves in one city since we've been married.

So, with all that being said, how am I okay with the Military lifestyle for my kids, you might ask?

 (get comfy as this might be a long post...)

Conundrum

If perhaps you've been wondering where I've been, I'm here to explain. I've had quite a conundrum going on in my mind. I have kept a family blog for the past several years and when I started this blog I thought I would keep it mostly Air Force/Military related to protect my family's privacy but now I'm not sure. I want people to be able to get to know me and connect on more levels than just Air Force information. How much do you feel comfortable sharing on your public blog and how do you know where to draw the line?

MEPS

This past Thursday hubby went to the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS). His experience was slightly different than it is described online for most people so I will try to relay to you what he relayed to me about how it went.

We found out last weekend that he would be going in on Thursday. What that really means is that he reports to the hotel the night before. He needed to be checked in by 6pm on Wednesday. Even though we live less than an hour from the MEPS station they asked him to stay at the hotel with all the other guys. This particular hotel handles a lot of MEPS guys and they had a lounge area set up with wifi, video game systems and games, snacks and meal vouchers. The wifi was great for my hubby so he could finish the homework he needed to get done since he missed class to pick me up from getting a root canal done and then he needed to meet with his recruiter to review the paperwork that he would be submitting the next day at MEPS. They share a room with a roommate who could be from any branch of the military.

Most of the people who go through MEPS are enlisting so they take the ASVAB test while they are there, to determine what area of the military they are suited for but since Scott is going in as an officer they don't use that. They will use AFOQT test that he took years ago in the AFROTC that measures aptitude. (you can only take it twice and the scores never expire) The AFQOT doesn't replace the ASVAB (they already know a lot more about the officer candidates by this time than they do about those enlisting) but it does give the Air Force a good glimpse of Scott's brain and how he thinks. If that doesn't all make sense, ask me and I can try to explain it better!

Hubby said that MEPS was similar to a VERY comprehensive physical. It also included a drug test, a blood test, hearing test, vision test, depth perception test and a range of motion test. The range of motion test was very specific and included things like rotating your ankles different directions, making different kinds of fists, walking like a duck, balancing on one foot, kicking front and back, standing from a squat in a fluid motion without using your hands, large and small arm circles, etc...

One thing that I thought was interesting was that their fingerprint is used extensively to help identify them and fingerprint scanners were used to sign in to different tests to ensure that they were the ones completing it. 

At the end of the day Hubby was sworn in as Air Force reserves and committed to 8 years with at least 4 years active duty. The fingerprint was also used to sign the papers at the end of the day.

For hubby it was a one day deal and he was done, some of the websites where I looked to find information about MEPS said it was a 2 day deal.

There is some waiting time between different sections but not as much as he expected. Hubby took a book but ended up chatting with people more than reading (he's way more social than I am in situations like that, plus I jump at every chance I get to read a book without little fingers covered in jam or other sticky things poking at my pages while little voices request a snack, or need help with something). He said that there are lots of magazines in each room and tv's with the news, animal planet, etc...so you definitely won't be staring at a white wall the whole time you are waiting.

Before you go I would check out the weight requirements so you don't fail that portion of the day. Hubby passed without any issues but some other guys were a little over or a little under and didn't pass.

It's a great feeling to have one more things checked off the list and now we are just waiting on a class date for next year! Wahoo!

(And of course, don't forget your ID, all forms of ID that the recruiter tells you to bring...)

And of course don't lock your keys in your car when your wife can't drive up to bring you a spare set.....

Birth Certificate

I think I'm starting to get a tiny glimpse of the famous phrase "hurry up and wait" that is used to describe the military at times. Night before last my hubby came and asked me where my birth certificate was and I told him that my parents have it. I've been trying to get it from them for a while now but whenever we are together we always forget to ask them for it. Upon hearing this news my hubby didn't look super thrilled and told me that his recruiting officer had just asked for a copy of it along with a bunch of other documents and they wanted it, like, yesterday. Sigh... Couldn't they have asked for it like a week before they absolutely needed it? At least my parents live in the state so we can get it fairly quickly :)
The  next morning we planned on heading out bright and early to make the 200 mile trip to get my birth certificate. Between my kids being up all night and my hubby needing to submit some homework before we left, it was closer to early-ish when we left.
After a beautiful drive, we made it to my parents house and picked up the oh so needed birth certificate and after giving our girls some time to play with their grandparents and get some wiggles out we headed home so I could make it to my dental appointment on time.

Since we got a late start and had a hard time prying our girls away from their grandparents (who can blame them?) we ended up all going to the dentist appointment! If you've never had a cranky 3 year old and 1 year old waiting in the reception area with your hubby while you have an exam and talk to the dentist about a root canal, you will just have to imagine the chaos!

The aftermath of a crazy morning without a normal schedule and normal naps....

(thing 1)

(thing 2)

The birth certificate has been submitted and now who knows how long it will before they get around to needing it :) I'm not quite sure how I managed to survive 9 years of living out on my own without needing my birth certificate but I imagine that now we are involved with the military it will be one of those things that will be used often so I plan to keep it close by!

Timeline questions for recruiter

Yesterday Scott met with his Recruiter to sign some paperwork and so I jumped at the chance to slip a few of the million questions I have into the meeting. I narrowed it down to 3 questions and Scott agreed to ask the Recruiter about them.

Question #1: what are the guidelines for having a blog about the Military? I would hate to do something that would jeopardize Scott's position or military operations in any way or anything else.
Answer: Having a blog is fine as long as you are very mindful of what to post and are careful about you say. You never know who will be reading your blog. Basically, if you are questioning if you should say something, then DON"T. I also found this guideline online: OPSEC rules

Questions #2: at what point during training will we know where and when our first PCS (Permanent Change of Station) will be?
Answer: The recruiter actually wasn't sure what the answer to this was. He is an enlisted airman and so when he went through training it was slightly different than it will be for an officer. But, never fear I will find that out one of these days and share what I learn. I just downloaded this guide which seems EXTREMELY extensive and I hope it can answer more questions about PCS.

Question#3:  If we sell our house, put our things in storage and I take my girls and go live with family either before or while Scott is gone for training will they still pay to move us to our first base? (I had heard that they will only move you from the address that is on the application for the Air Force).
Answer: If the things are in storage in the same town that we applied from then it shouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately I will have done all the work of packing up the house and moving everything into a storage unit. But, I won't have a load it onto a truck for a long haul, they will do that and unload it and move us in when it gets there.

One things that the recruiter did tell my hubby was that once they have moved you into your new housing and unpacked you, you need to remind them to come back the next day and pick up all the empty boxes and packing materials for you.

Overall, I've been impressed with the recruiters willingness and ability to answer my questions however trivial they may seem!

Selection

We submitted our application for OTS last fall and were told that the application would be included in the next round of reviews by the Selection Board which wasn't until Spring. The last few months have been nail biters to be sure!! They don't give you exact date to expect to hear back about whether or not you were selected. They give you a window of dates to expect to hear something, ours was about 4 weeks. Thankfully the recruiting officer called a little over a week into the 4 week time period to let us know that Scott had been selected for the Delayed Entry Program (DEP)! My hubby definitely rocks, he is AMAZING!! The selection process is pretty rigorous and they take a very select few of those who apply. The program that he was selected for has an even higher set of standards that applicants have to meet. It is such a great feeling to see that the United States Air Force recognizes what an awesome man I married! (I knew all along that I had great taste!) I have been super excited and super nervous at the same time as we contemplate this shift in our plans for the future of our family.
Soon we will know exactly what dates he will report for BOT(Basic Officer Training) which is a part of OTS. In the months before then I will be trying to get our house ready to sell, (which will be quite the project, for me mostly, with how busy Scott is with school and work) and become super organized so that when we move, eventually, it will be a smooth transition for everyone and I will be able to focus on settling into and adjusting to a new life and not worrying about where the popcorn popper is, or the girls immunization records, or my favorite books or anything else.

Application Process

The application process was long and a bit grueling for my husband. He needed more documents and information about his past than I thought even existed. Thankfully he had a good Recruiting Officer who walked him through the whole process, so I can't tell you much about that except that there were many long nights filling out paperwork. If you have any questions about what paperwork you will need and what testing your spouse will have to go through, my advice would be to keep in close contact with your recruiting officer and they can answer those questions for you.
One thing to know is that you can apply for OTS (Officer Training School) BEFORE you graduate from college. You have to graduate within 12 months of when your application goes in and you have to provide documentation from the school of what classes you have left, which semesters you will be taking them and the expected date of graduation. This is called the Delayed Entry Program (DEP). delayedentryprogram
As part of the application process my husband did change his major to have a better chance of being accepted into OTS. He only had one semester left before graduating with an accounting degree and on the advice of the recruiting officer he changed his major to a STEM degree. STEM_fields  I don't know if they would have accepted him with the accounting degree, and I guess we will never know. My husband really enjoys the classes for his new degree, so even though it added a few semesters I think it was probably a good switch in the long run.
My hubby did go through several phone interviews as part of the application process and yours will too. My husband made sure he dressed as though he were having the interview in person and went somewhere he could have peace and quiet and focus on the interview. (meaning he definitely couldn't do it at home with our two crazy fun kiddos)

Inspiration

After my hubby and I decided to apply for an officer spot in the Air Force I searched high and low online to find out more information for someone in my position and had no luck. I found some great information from and for wives of enlisted airmen but no luck finding someone who's husband applied to be an officer either toward the end of college or after graduation. I decided to start this blog and document our journey into the Air Force to help out others who find themselves in the same situation. For clarification purposes, I sometimes say we or you and usually I am referring to my husband. For example: "We submitted our application last fall..." I am not the one applying to the Air Force so "we" and "our" really refers my husband.