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Maine Bound!

Well, just got home from the bank. Wire transfer has been sent. By close of business today we officially own it.

Our agent did the final walk thru this morning and said the house looks great. All the POs stuff is out and the whole house has been professionally cleaned per the contract. Apparently, the owner never had a key for the house. So the agent locked all the doors from the inside and took the garage door opener for access to the house. She said everything is growing and it should look fantastic when we arrive.

next step next week is to schedule the installation of the whole home water filter system and the radon mitigation system.
 
92 Green YJ said:
next step next week is to schedule the installation of the whole home water filter system and the radon mitigation system.
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Unless you're set on spending money, I'd wait and live there a few months and get everything tested again. If the place has been vacant and closed up, the radon levels are likely to be higher than when someone's living in it. If they were only a little over the limits, they'll probably drop when you move in and start living in it and moving air around again. The two houses I just bought were both moderately high, but both houses were also vacant for several months. The radon guy recommended doing 90 day tests after I moved in to see what the real levels were.

Same with the water. If you were barely over on just arsenic, flush the well and see what the levels are like while you're regularly using water.
 
bgaidan said:
Unless you're set on spending money, I'd wait and live there a few months and get everything tested again. If the place has been vacant and closed up, the radon levels are likely to be higher than when someone's living in it. If they were only a little over the limits, they'll probably drop when you move in and start living in it and moving air around again. The two houses I just bought were both moderately high, but both houses were also vacant for several months. The radon guy recommended doing 90 day tests after I moved in to see what the real levels were.

Same with the water. If you were barely over on just arsenic, flush the well and see what the levels are like while you're regularly using water.
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The POs elderly parents have been living there for a while, so it has been occupied.

the well tests were good except Arsenic, which came in at a level of 0.0115 mg/l. EPA max allowed is 0.010
and fluoride which was 4.58 mg/l Maine maximum exposure guide on that is 2.0. mg/l
sodium levels were also high at 44 mg/l. Maine guideline is 20mg/l

radon levels were 6.2 and the standard is 4.0 on that.
 
Well sweet. Title is being processed by the title company today.
yesterday I called and set up our electric account with the new power company. Wife got the homeowners insurance taken care of.

Best part was an email this morning that my Starlink kit is ready to ship. Having it shipped here to San Diego. I wasn’t sure what the release timeframe would be so I went ahead and put a preorder in for it hoping it would be ready by the time we make the move. I’ll toss the kit in the RV to take with us so I can set it up and we will have internet right away when we get there. Based on my research, Starlink is by far the best option for the area we are moving to.

now we have 2 days to finish cleaning up the house here (no easy task with two small kids) to get ready for the photographer to come Monday afternoon to take pics and a virtual tour of the house so we can get it on the market at the end of the week.
 
bgaidan said:
Unless you're set on spending money, I'd wait and live there a few months and get everything tested again. If the place has been vacant and closed up, the radon levels are likely to be higher than when someone's living in it. If they were only a little over the limits, they'll probably drop when you move in and start living in it and moving air around again. The two houses I just bought were both moderately high, but both houses were also vacant for several months. The radon guy recommended doing 90 day tests after I moved in to see what the real levels were.

Same with the water. If you were barely over on just arsenic, flush the well and see what the levels are like while you're regularly using water.
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Well I tell ya what, today I sat down and was all set to get in touch with the company that gave us the lower bids on the water filter and radon system, then I decided to do a bit of research. Spent a fair bit of time on google reading up on various systems and options and found I can save myself a good $3,500 by just doing this stuff myself.

the lowest bid we got for the whole house filter system was about $6,500
i found a really nice system that can easily handle our needs and will remove everything and then some for $3,670. They also offer an add on 12GPM UV filter for about $500
so buying those two pieces together and doing it myself saves me about $2,300 over the lowest priced system bid.

radon system was quoted at a little over $1,600
radon fans are $120 or less on Amazon and I can’t see needing more than a couple hundred bucks worth of 4” PVC and fittings to set it up.

so yeah, I think I’m gonna do this stuff myself and save a chunk of change. Just won’t drink the water from the tap the first week or so we are at the new house.
 
In other move related news, we had the photographer here on Monday for about an hour taking pics of the house. Should be going on the market here in the next day or two. We’ve kind of hit a wall on packing. Down to the stuff we really can’t or don’t want to start packing yet. In the meantime I have been busying myself with planning out the route cross country and organizing for that. Got our tickets purchased for Hershey Park and made the reservation for that, scoping out and roughly planning fuel stops, etc. I’m thinking ideally we should stop for fuel around every 250 miles or so. That should be about 4 hours of driving and about the time I’m going to want to get out and stretch my legs for a bit. Due to size and length of my rig I’m aiming to hit mostly truck stops for ease of maneuvering and parking.
 
92 Green YJ said:
Well I tell ya what, today I sat down and was all set to get in touch with the company that gave us the lower bids on the water filter and radon system, then I decided to do a bit of research. Spent a fair bit of time on google reading up on various systems and options and found I can save myself a good $3,500 by just doing this stuff myself.

the lowest bid we got for the whole house filter system was about $6,500
i found a really nice system that can easily handle our needs and will remove everything and then some for $3,670. They also offer an add on 12GPM UV filter for about $500
so buying those two pieces together and doing it myself saves me about $2,300 over the lowest priced system bid.

radon system was quoted at a little over $1,600
radon fans are $120 or less on Amazon and I can’t see needing more than a couple hundred bucks worth of 4” PVC and fittings to set it up.

so yeah, I think I’m gonna do this stuff myself and save a chunk of change. Just won’t drink the water from the tap the first week or so we are at the new house.
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Neither the water or radon really pose any significant health risks immediately. Nominal radon levels are the equivalent to getting a couple x-rays per year. Definitely not going to kill you to wait a few months until you're settled in to do them.

The radon vents - pretty much as easy as coring a ~4" hole in the slab and sealing a piece of SCH40 in it. Rout it outside and preferably above the roof line and away from any windows. Fan goes outside....just in case the PVC fails somewhere you don't want the pressurized portion of the pipe inside. Sticking the fan outside leaves everything inside under vacuum.
 
Well the CA house is now live and on the market. Guy just finished putting the sign up out front. 159 vies and 9 saves on Zillow since going live this morning.

also my Starlink kit was delivered today as we will have internet immediately upon arrival in Maine.

waiting for the realtor to come by and grab a key and set up her lockbox.
 
92 Green YJ said:
Well the CA house is now live and on the market. Guy just finished putting the sign up out front. 159 vies and 9 saves on Zillow since going live this morning.

also my Starlink kit was delivered today as we will have internet immediately upon arrival in Maine.

waiting for the realtor to come by and grab a key and set up her lockbox.
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We just had the mobile notary leave after signing all our docs to close on the house in Idaho. Good luck on a fast sale of your house.
 
SanDiegoCJ said:
We just had the mobile notary leave after signing all our docs to close on the house in Idaho. Good luck on a fast sale of your house.
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Nice!

well our agent just stopped by to put the lock box on and we have 2 showings scheduled already. One for tomorrow at 3:30 and Wednesday at 12:30!
 
92 Green YJ said:
Nice!

well our agent just stopped by to put the lock box on and we have 2 showings scheduled already. One for tomorrow at 3:30 and Wednesday at 12:30!
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We never had a lock box because of the dogs. We needed to be home to corral them outside at first and after they looked at the inside we had to move them inside so the buyers could access the backyard.
 
SanDiegoCJ said:
We never had a lock box because of the dogs. We needed to be home to corral them outside at first and after they looked at the inside we had to move them inside so the buyers could access the backyard.
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Yeah I already put a note on the door asking viewers to plead close the doors behind them so the cats don’t get out. Just have to worry about disappearing for a bit with the kids.
 
Well that was fast. House went live on the market Monday morning. We had 2 showings Tuesday and two showings yesterday. Turns out the second showing yesterday loved it and gave us a full price offer. We have accepted it and are under contract just 3 days after going on the market.
 
Well we are less than a month away now. Sale of the CA place is moving right along. Buyers had their inspection and appraisal last week. So far it’s been all quiet on that front.

Dropped the Ram 1500 off at the stealership this morning. It’s got 95k on it and I want it gone thru top to bottom before it tows across the country. So doing the 100k service on it, transmission fluid change (it’s got the 8 speed and I just don’t want to fuck with it myself right now) getting the recalls taken care of and such. Last week I went ahead and upgraded the brakes on it with a full set of Powerstop drilled and slotted rotors and truck performance pads. dealership put me in a loaner Ram 1500 express for a day or two while they take care of my Truck.

Spent some time in the RV today going thru it, organizing it, cleaning it out from the last desert trip. Also figured out where the cats litter box and food and water dish will go and got those ordered up. Should probably do an oil change on it too before we make the drive.

still hoping and praying Carson gives me a call soon to let me know the trailer I ordered is in and ready to go. When I ordered it they told me it should be ready the week before we are set to leave.

kind of at a stand still on packing stuff. We’ve pretty much boxed up as much as we can for now. Everything else is stuff we are still using or need regularly. I’ll also admit that it’s a daily occurrence now where I feel like I just want to hit the road and get this party started. But we are almost there. I’ve been biding the time doing a more detailed plan for the route and the drive. I’ve also been researching and building out my plan for the new home network and smart home build out we will be doing at the new place.
 
Well one more piece of the puzzle arrived yesterday. Got the call from Carson that my car hauler had arrived.

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I also am getting ready to do an oil change and tune up the generator in the RV for the first time since we bought it.

We are really coming down to the wire. My daughters last week of school is next week and the week after that the moving trailer is being delivered. Getting real close to finally hitting the road!
 
Weasel said:
No one on the east side knows what that is. Don't ruin the secret..
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Sure they do, you just nose up to a Tree and floor it in 2wd and swing the ass end around!! No idea who atlas is or why he's important... :flipoff2:
 
Or my personal favorite, hook a tree into your wheel well and pivot. Never failed for me. Every time out, I'd get hung up on a tree on the inside of my tire. I'd have to get winched out sideways to get out of it. Happened, every. freaking. time. :laughing:
 
Getting down to the wire here!
Buyers stopped by today to take some measurements and estimate age how much paint they need. ABF trailer is being delivered on Friday. We have pretty much the whole family coming over Saturday and Sunday to help us load it up and empty out the place. Will likely spend nights in the RV in the driveway as of Saturday night as the beds will be blown apart.

Monday the plan is to hitch the new Carson trailer to the truck for one last dump run. Get rid of our old mattresses (they are due to be replaced anyway) and anything else we aren’t taking with us. Clean the house for the new owners and get prepped to hit the road on Tuesday morning!
 
92 Green YJ said:
Getting down to the wire here!
Buyers stopped by today to take some measurements and estimate age how much paint they need. ABF trailer is being delivered on Friday. We have pretty much the whole family coming over Saturday and Sunday to help us load it up and empty out the place. Will likely spend nights in the RV in the driveway as of Saturday night as the beds will be blown apart.

Monday the plan is to hitch the new Carson trailer to the truck for one last dump run. Get rid of our old mattresses (they are due to be replaced anyway) and anything else we aren’t taking with us. Clean the house for the new owners and get prepped to hit the road on Tuesday morning!
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Sounds eerily familiar to us about a month ago. Safe travels.
 
92 Green YJ said:
Well one more piece of the puzzle arrived yesterday. Got the call from Carson that my car hauler had arrived.

3E20B1E8-28A9-4FEE-9F2A-41627A813BE0.jpeg


I also am getting ready to do an oil change and tune up the generator in the RV for the first time since we bought it.

We are really coming down to the wire. My daughters last week of school is next week and the week after that the moving trailer is being delivered. Getting real close to finally hitting the road!
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Just be happy you will be driving the I80/I70 stretch in the summer. So theres not chances of them shutting the roads down due to weather.

When i did the move this winter, I80 got shut down past cheyenne. Thankfully i had friends in Denver so we diverted and got hammered for a night.
 
IEATRKS84 said:
Just be happy you will be driving the I80/I70 stretch in the summer. So theres not chances of them shutting the roads down due to weather.

When i did the move this winter, I80 got shut down past cheyenne. Thankfully i had friends in Denver so we diverted and got hammered for a night.
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We aren’t doing I80. Running thru the Rockies with my RV and Jeep trailer did not sound fun at all. We are taking I-40 most of the way. Switch to 81 in Tennessee.
 
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