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Thanks RDLR, I've seen the map. I may still go for flood insurance if the cost is low just for peace of mind.
As for the crawl space, I wouldn't be storing anything that would attract termites or be affected by humidity. Although hopefully humidity won't be a problem for that will cause mold. We all dread mold, right? But having access to the HVAC unit, duct work registers and sump pump are important. The sump pump I have in my current home will seize if I don't run it occasionally. I've never had forced air heat so I won't know if it needs periodic maintenance until I read the manual and look over the system. And I will inspect the underside of the house from time to time looking for anything unusual. (leaks, rodent droppings, cat poop. Yup, we have a cat.) The extra height would have been nice.
Thanks RDLR, I've seen the map. I may still go for flood insurance if the cost is low just for peace of mind.
As for the crawl space, I wouldn't be storing anything that would attract termites or be affected by humidity. Although hopefully humidity won't be a problem for that will cause mold. We all dread mold, right? But having access to the HVAC unit, duct work registers and sump pump are important. The sump pump I have in my current home will seize if I don't run it occasionally. I've never had forced air heat so I won't know if it needs periodic maintenance until I read the manual and look over the system. And I will inspect the underside of the house from time to time looking for anything unusual. (leaks, rodent droppings, cat poop. Yup, we have a cat.) The extra height would have been nice.
You're welcome. Just throwing out some tid-bits that are second nature to us here. Mold and humidity are not oddities in Delaware. Plus, we see a lot of green mold build-up on vinyl siding and that needs to be pressure washed now and then. I've found you can get the extra crawl space height, you just have to pay more. You know how it is - everything's an "extra". If you get flood insurance, read the policy throughly, and better yet, ask questions. I bought flood insurance for one of our homes, and it didn't cover this, that, or the other. It was a total waste of money when we had a water problem. Good luck! I wish you the very best!
[quote=Hey Jude, na na na na;12963309]Thanks so much for your report, Serenity Writer, and congratulations on your successful sale.. especially in view of the terrible weather conditions! Fact is, I've been a chicken about putting the house on the market over this winter. All predictions had been for a lot of precip. and I simply didn't want to have to worry about the driveway, walkway and steps being pristine for visitors -- all the time. You offered some very good advice that I'll definitely take under consideration. (I particularly like the storage unit idea.)
I can't stand most of those HGTV shows and I have to wonder how so many incredibly young people became "experts" (has to do with being telegenic, I guess), but much of what they say does matter. I bristle when they say you need to remove your "stamp" on the house -- your mementos, family pictures, knick-knacks, etc., but unfortunately they may be right.
We looked at more than 200 new and resale homes over the last four years and were constantly struck by how crowded many of them were, including, honestly, many model homes in new home communities. Furniture today is often very large and tends to overpower rooms, but the sight of 1960s and 1970s era furniture (and sometimes even older) tended to turn us off and make us wonder how much maintenance and upkeep had been done if the owners were still using furniture from 50 years ago. We tried to understand that the owners may have simply loved the furniture or did not have the money to buy new. But, it still made us wonder what else they had not spent money on.
We toured a dozen or more homes that were estate sales and which had not been changed or, in some cases, even cleaned since the owner died. More than one home still had boxes of food in the cabinets and spices, herbs, etc. In one home, the owner had been dead for three years and yet the executor had not bothered to remove knick-knacks from table tops or clothes from drawers, much less dishes, pots and pans, and flatware from kitchen cupboards or drawers. The house was clean and was cleaned once a month by a professional, but if we had bought it, we wondered if we would arrive back from closing to find all that stuff still there. The listing agent had already asked us how much of the furniture we might want to have. Apparently there were no heirs at all.
I hated cleaning the bathrooms in our house every day, putting everything of ours away each morning, making the house look like it was ready for an open house each day, but it all helped. My wife is still working as a teacher, but I am not currently working for a salary. Once we wrote the contract on the new house, we agreed that my full-time job for the next 7 months would be in two parts: first, getting our house sold and then getting us moved to the new house. It has been a full-time job so far and anyone who looks at it as anything less than a full-time job needs to be prepared for a long road to a contract on your current house.
Getting the house ready to list took me three weeks and we are not messy or dirty people. Getting it ready each morning for any potential showings means housework above and beyond what any of us normally do, and it means doing it every day instead of maybe every few days. Selling the house even through a Realtor is a job. I wish everyone the best of luck as you put your houses on the market. We got lucky in finding a buyer so quickly, but the military market is still active here in the DC area.
Finally, a warning about our experience with moving companies. This is the first move which we will pay for. Our first move as newlyweds to a new home was paid for by my parents in exchange for handling everything to do with their move to another location at the same time. All the rest of our moves were paid for by the Air Force.
We have three quotes so far for an estimated weight of about 8000 pounds and a delivery of about 150 miles. The estimates range from about $1,500 to over $11,000 (although the $11,000 mover is offering a 66% discount, bringing the cost down to about $5,800). Labor rates range from $75 an hour for three men to $145 an hour for two men. None of these companies are the two college students and a truck operations. All are interstate movers with decent reputations. At this point we are throwing out the low and high estimates and asking for more estimates from other companies. All three companies we have talked to so far admit they are desparate for business in this economy. One mover expects us to cover the hardwood floors at the new house, the other two both said they would cover the floors there and the new carpet here. The least expensive company will not pick up the items we have in storage (we would need to bring them back here), while the middle company offered to pick them up at no cost and the most expensive company wants $245 to stop and pick them up. The storage location is one block off the main road leading from our neighborhood to the highway on which they will start their trip, so it is not out of their way. Everything to do with the moving seems to be a negotiation. Everyone we have talked to so far has said the same thing, though: any deals we are being offered are only for the winter and spring. All said that even though business is down, 80% of all their moves are still in the summer, so they are not offering any breaks then. Doesn't matter for us since we need to move in March anyway, but it could be an issue for those of you whose homes are just now getting started.
Serenity Writer - I have a great moving company located in Waldorf, MD that specializes in East Coast moves and we will be using them whenever we move to CC. I've recommended them to many of my real estate clients and everyone has been very pleased (and some of my clients have been, well let's just say "particular") I'm already getting my moving boxes from them as we've packed quite a lot of stuff in boxes that will be stored in our garages till the house sells then we'll start packing in earnest. Since I'm probably not supposed to say the name of the company on the forum I'll send it to you privately. They are a local family owned company and all the movers are employees of the company (i.e., they don't just pick up casual laborers at the 7-11!). We are packing ourselves and they will only move us. Our stuff will be on their trucks over one night. And some things we'll be moving ourselves. I've moved 24 times as an adult (many of mine were military also) so I've spent many hours watching the packers pack all my earthly goods. So I'm a great packer; especially dishes! Good luck with the moving part of your transition.
As usual, SO much information and SO much more to consider, especially since I'll be moving there on my own. New maintenance issues to think about. (Changing furnace filters in a crawl space? !!! I've never BEEN in a crawl space!) Groan... I guess I just assumed the furnace et al would be inside and the crawl space would allow for maintenance of more complicated things for which I would need to hire someone. Then, again, I'm used to having a bsement but won't really need one there. As for flood insurance, even more to consider. Oh well, thanks, everyone. Truly.
Mary2014, I don't know why that $259,990 price still shows up as the beginning price for that series on the CC web site. It is incorrect. The base price on the Austin is (as cant wait reported) $199,999. Now and then, I believe McKee still offers $ incentives which can be applied to options/upgrades or to the price of the house. These, when they come along, can apply to one or more series. When I'm there on Saturday, I'll try to get an answer to your sq. footage question on the base Austin which is the model of greatest interest to me as well.
Jude - McKee has different prices for the Americana Series in their Middletown, DE community (they are considerably higher) than the prices for the Americana Series in Magnolia.
Changing furnace filters in a crawl space? !!! I've never BEEN in a crawl space!
I'll have to look at it, but if I remember Ed's (Champions Club) conversation about this, the furnace is right at the beginning of the crawl space and changing the filter should be pretty easy. I'll be checking it out for myself when I visit next month.
Mary 2014
I spoke to Carrey at CC and the sq footage for the Austin is 1224 and the Charleston is 1324. I forgot to ask if that included the garage. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the information. The 1200 - 1300 sq ft size is very much in line with the condos I will be comparing them to at The Vineyards at Nassau Valley. Usually sq footage is quoted for heated living space only - so I would not expect it to include the garage space.
Since I now live in a home that is just under 1400 sq ft - downsizing is not a big deal for me. I imagine if you now live in a 2000 to 3000 sq foot house going down to 1200-1300 sq ft might be a big adjustment.
My bigger concern is a change from a stand alone home to condo living. The appeal of being able to walk to all the local stores rather than needing a car to go everywhere is high up on my list. It may turn out to be the deciding factor as to where I end up. One reason I chose to rent a condo in downtown Lewes for a week in May was to get a feel for condo living where the town is within a 5 minute walk.
The first building of The Vineyards at Nassau Valley is scheduled for occupancy next month. I will be excited to see the completed building when I go down in May. If anyone else has an opportunity to see the building and the model condo before then - I would love to hear your opinions pro or con.
FYI, The Vineyards at Nassau Valley is located near Lewes DE - Heading South, if you know where route 1 and route 9 cross, you make a right turn onto Route 9 as if you were going to head to Georgetown and the Vineyards is on the right hand side less than a mile from the Rt 1 and Rt 9 intersection.
Mary2014
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It was a total waste of money when we had a water problem. Good luck! I wish you the very best! 
Preparing Home for Sale
!!! I've never BEEN in a crawl space!) Groan... I guess I just assumed the furnace et al would be inside and the crawl space would allow for maintenance of more complicated things for which I would need to hire someone. Then, again, I'm used to having a bsement but won't really need one there. As for flood insurance, even more to consider. Oh well, thanks, everyone. Truly.
