The Last Box

Until a couple of days ago, this is what was left of my real estate life:

I've had it sitting next to my desk for over a month,  intending to sort through it. Finally I seized an empty morning and dug in. Client files I scanned then shredded, and the rest I either scanned then trashed, or gave away.  I did keep a few office supplies.

So it's all over. Still feels strange.

There are vestiges left -- equipment I purchased for the real estate business that I am glad I invested in, as I would never have sprung for these items otherwise (being what Gretchen Rubin and others call an under buyer). At the top of this list of useful equipment is my scanner:

Note the small footprint. Deceptive, because this little guy scans fast and in quantity. Shortly after I purchased it at the beginning of my real estate venture, I took it for a spin by tackling the clutter in our office closet.

We had an entire shelving unit full of binders, which were stuffed with college papers, memorabilia, and photos. I trashed some papers, but what I couldn't part with, I scanned into  labeled folders on my laptop, then backed it all up to an external hard drive. The pictures went into iPhoto, and the actual photos went into photo boxes. We opened up a ton of space, and the scanning was so easy!

I would never have bought this piece of office equipment had I not done real estate. Just too expensive, and I could never have justified it to myself, but it's been worth every penny for its organizing and decluttering abilities.

So thank you Real Estate Venture, for giving me the opportunity to learn new things, make new friends, have different experiences, and own a zippy scanner.

Complications

Transitioning from real estate has become more complicated than I expected. I am currently working with a client, a very picky professional couple. They want to live in a better neighborhood and in a house with lower maintenance, but have no truly burning motivation for moving, so I've been wondering whether I should refer them. I kind of hate to, because I've spent several months showing them houses.

Well, guess what? Yep, we found the perfect house this past Friday, and they are now under contract. Woo hoo!

The complicated part is that they can afford to purchase before selling their current home, which is the path they have chosen. They'll have the luxury of moving out on their own timeline, then getting the house ready for market. We're looking at late October as the earliest the house would list, and I had hoped to be out of real estate by then.

Having a listing means, among other things, being on call 24/7.  I'm considering asking them if I could bring in another agent, but these clients happen to be close friends. I'll have to proceed carefully. I do know that if I list it, I would want to put 100% effort behind selling it. They don't need to be stuck with two houses.

I'm already planning to put back money from my fee earned from their purchased home toward staging and marketing their house. I would do my best, but fear my heart is no longer in it. Referring to a good, experienced agent may be the best thing for them. I'll have to think about this one. I want to do right by them, and also by me.

On another note, of my transition projects, the only one I've tackled with measurable success is cleaning up and organizing my home office. I've a long way to go, but I'm getting there. I need to work with budgets next. Having an unexpected commission check coming in October changes things. Nice income, but also unexpected expense as I will need to maintain monthly office fees and pay MLS dues for the fourth quarter.