Moving to Colorado
With my impending retirement and my wife's increasing dissatisfaction with
her high-pressure job as medical office manager, we decided that we were going
to do something we both have wanted to do for a long time: move to the mountains
of Colorado in mid-June of 1998.
We had visited Colorado many times during our marriage. As an earth science
teacher, I took students to Colorado during summer field excursions back in
the '70s. But Colorado is a big state. Where to move to? We
visited Estes Park frequently. I still think it's the most picturesque
mountain town in the state. But it's really dead in the winter, and one
of our criteria was the availability of year-round employment.
Furthermore, we knew that if we were to eventually move to the mountains, we
had better find something active to do during the long, wonderful white winters.
A few years ago we took up skiing, and we were hooked, especially
after visiting Summit County. So that was it: we would move to Summit
County, Colorado. Easier said than done...
This is the chronicle of our move, beginning with the trip to find a place
to live, and ending whenever I get bored with this.
The Spring Trip: April 4 - 11.
We rented our final Colorado vacation condo, high up at 9700 feet in "Wildernest",
on the shoulders of Buffalo Mountain. Weather was beautiful on Saturday
and Sunday, and snowy for most of the rest of the week.
After we arrived on Saturday, we drove around in Wildernest,
looking (and drooling) at some of the beautiful log homes being built.
There were few For Sale signs, which only re-inforced our belief that the area
was very desireable, and people who live there don't as a rule sell and move
to warmer climates. (Update, August, 2001: we later found out that Wildernest
has strict rules about for sale signs, which effectively prohibit the majority
of "for sale" units from displaying signs except in windows.)
Our appointment for looking at properties was with Snow
Home on Sunday. We spent the entire day driving
around looking at what was available in our price range. Our realtor was Ken
Deshaies, whom I would recommend to anyone looking for property in Summit
County Colorado. He began our session by telling us that he was going
to show us properties which were both above and below (price-wise, not altitude-wise
<g>) what we were looking for, and that he wanted us mostly to get a feel
for what was available for what price. In retrospect, I think this is
a good idea for anyone looking in any area for property. In one day of
this, you can get a good feel for what a given type of property is going to
go for, and also get a feel for how your property (you know...the one you're
hoping to sell) is going to show to prospective buyers. You can adjust
your showing strategy accordingly.
Nevertheless, at the end of the day, while we had seen a couple of properties
that would suffice, we didn't see that "special" thing we were looking
for. I felt that I would know The One within one or two minutes of going
through the door.
A sleep-disturbed night followed. In retrospect, I realize that I was
hashing around the properties we saw, and something bothered me about each one.
On Monday, we returned to SnowHome and Ken took us back to
two of the potential sites we had found. We mentally settled on one of
them, a new place about to go on the market, but not quite finished (the end-of-construction
punch list had yet to be completed). But it was all dry wall/sheet rock,
and not at all what we were leaving at home. And only a one car garage,
meaning my soft-top Wrangler would have to sit out during the winter...not something
I wanted to do. During our travels today we also went past another condo
unit of post-and-beam construction, which looked very interesting, but which
had short-term renters in it (not at all unusual in Wildernest--remember
this is a HUGE world-class ski area!) and the rental agency would not let real
estate agents show the place until the following Saturday--the day we were supposed
to depart for home. Frustrating...we really wanted to see the inside of
this place.
Another bad night.
Tuesday saw us moping around the condo we had rented.
We hadn't found exactly what we were looking for. I needed a haircut and
new batteries for my watch, and while I left in search of those, Cora went through
most of the Silverthorne phone book looking for the number of the condo unit
we wanted to see. After several hours of searching, she found it, and
called the renters (a renter-to-renter conversation, by-passing all agents...I'm
surprised Qwest doesn't somehow charge more for these calls... <g>).
The renters were more-than-happy to show us around. After ten minutes
in the place, I knew this was The One. Time to talk to Ken.
On Wednesday we made an offer.
On Thursday we finally went skiing. Rented a couple
of pairs of Volant Power Karves. Great skis. Since it snowed from
Monday thru Wednesday, we had great snow and great conditions at Copper.
And, since we aren't really interested in steep-and-deep skiing (especially
since we had a rotten ski season on Ohio and hadn't skied since late January)
we got to ski free at Copper under their beginner K and L lifts (now
the Kokomo and Lumberjack lifts)...which are STILL a world apart from the short-and-shallow
skiing anywhere in Ohio!
Friday. A counter offer. We accepted. The
place was ours! Now...to sell our place at home. Meetings much of
the day. Arranged financing. Packed to go home.
Saturday. Uneventful flight home. Except that
we had the very rear-most seats in the plane...these suckers don't even recline.
Can't United Airlines even afford six more inches???? Still, it beats
driving...I guess....
Spring of '98: the emotional roller coaster
Selling a house is not such a simple matter. Especially when we discovered
that our septic system was not on our property! We were fortunate to have
one couple fall in love with the house and take it "as is".
Still, we had to wait while they acquired financing and made arrangements to
sell their own home. And no deal is made until the names are on the bottom
lines. After all was said and done, we packed up and moved out on June
12th.
June: The Move
Packing up everything you own and moving it 1300 miles across the country is
not a trivial undertaking. We had moved ourselves several times before
within the Columbus area, but a local move is not terribly difficult because
you can do it a little at a time. For the cross-country move, we needed
help. We hired a professional mover and even had them come in and pack
most of our stuff.
