Matt + Janae

Our beautiful house may have finally sold! We finally received a contract from an interested couple to buy our home. It's only a contract but we are hopeful as the buyers seem serious and the agent representing them experienced and solid.

Last month has been a real estate disaster for Janae and I. After we didn't sell the house by ourselves, we hired a realtor to help finish the job when I left the country. Smooth talking agents were a plenty.

All of them claimed amazing statistics and why we should use them. I now believe the low key ones with lots of experience. Get the house looking wonderful. Put great pictures online and advertisements for people to see. Wait for the buyer. There's no real magic to the process. Just the basics done well.

For the last month we used a realtor that has never taken more than 30 days to sell a house. We're either the first that took longer or we were mislead. To her defense, there were other issues with her new partner who seemed to say a lot and do very little. We gave them 30 days on the contract as they apparently didn't need more. Good thing we didn't give them any more time and were able to switch realtors!

In looking back on the experience, I should have trusted the agent less and checked up more on what they were doing. I was leaving the country and we had too much going on to have to check on them but our false sense of security was costly. While listing ourselves, we got much more traffic than they did. Why? I think they were careless about the description and pictures of the place. I never checked and Janae could never find our house online. I simply assumed their great advertising skills were well deployed. Our new realtor showed us the old listing. It only had 5 pictures and a sloppy description listing the square footage before we finished our basement! No wonder nobody wanted to come by and take a look. The place was overpriced for the size.

Our new realtors are trusted friends from our ward, Jeff and Judy Willis. We tried being objective about the decision at first and put them on fair grounds with every other agent. We went with another claiming a stronger record. The approach was fine. I think we just got tricked. As we ran out of time with Janae moving here soon, we needed somebody we could trust taking care of the place with both of us out of the country. It was decided early on that if that time ever came and the house was still on the market, we wouldn't trust anyone else but the Willis's. Janae spoke to them and they went to work.

The new house listing has yet to hit the three day mark and we've already had tremendous traffic through the house. Judy has a great artistic eye for pictures and did a fabulous job with the description. On Saturday alone, Janae had seven realtors call to see the place! Seven in one day! For the last month, I don't think we had seven. In all fairness though, we did lower the price to just below $300k. I'm confident it was a combination of price and improved listing. Unfortunately, the previous realtor didn't have either down.

We received one contract at $5,000 below our asking price and asked for closing costs over $8,000. Judy successfully negotiated for the $8,000 to be added to the price which would bring the total price above our asking! Janae and I are ecstatic and hope this will actually work out! With the buyer's realtor and the Willis's having worked well with each other over the decades both have been in the business, I'm confident things will work out.

A trial of Faith

In the housing slump, the possibility of not being able to sell the house was a concerning reality for me. This scenario ate at me when we first started the process. Janae, for some reason, always knew that we would sell the place.

We fasted and prayed for the sale of our home. During the weekend of our fast, we also went to the temple. It was there, in the Celestial room, that I was comforted to know our house would sell. It was a clear and direct answer to my prayer. I knew it would be true because that's just the way prayer works. I took comfort in this answer the last few months knowing that it would happen; I just don't know when. The when part is the hardest part.

I believe the pattern of my life over the last months had something to do with the time it took to sell the house. Had it happened quickly, I would have never learned and experienced all that I have recently.

Moving to Singapore, especially by myself, to start a new job with a new company to work in a new field has been difficult for me. I've missed my family dearly and feel the stresses of learning how financial markets work in the disparate political landscapes throughout the region. Adjusting to a new temporary home and new company has its challenges as well. Fortunately I'm feeling much better as I'm more settled.

My feeling better has also been from my study of the Old Testament of late. In particular, I've been studying the story of Joseph being sold to Egypt, separating him from his family, friends, and country to be a slave in a strange land. It's just hitting me now that there are some parallels to my life here! The difference being my slavery to the bank is voluntary and the 20 pieces of silver are mine to keep.

I love Joseph's positive attitude throughout his challenges and rising to great positions of trust wherever he was placed: Potiphar's home, the prison, and ultimately in Pharaoh's court where all of Egypt was entrusted him. His ultimate forgiveness of his brothers was touching. He comforted their guilt by saying all he went through was a blessing from God so he could save the people of Egypt and his family. Now that's a positive attitude!

Yesterday I flipped back through Genesis and read the story of Jacob struggling through the night fighting with a spirit until dawn. Jacob didn't let the spirit go until he filled Jacob's demand for a blessing. This idea stayed with me through the day causing me to ponder its meaning. It inspired me to wrestle with God for the filling of the promise given me when I was in the temple that the house would sell. I didn't feel it appropriate to demand it but rather to be firm in my asking, having the faith to know He could grant it and the hope that He would.

Janae awoke me this morning with a phone call telling me of contract on the house. Of course not all is done and there could be more roadblocks ahead prior to settlement, but that doesn't change the promise I received in the temple. It's just a matter of time.

Posted by Matt Huang at 6:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It's amazing to think how many people you become close to and attached to through the years. Janae and I have been in Virginia most of our married life. It's really home for us now. Utah's the only place I've lived longer and though I have great friends still there, all my family has left.

All of our friends were so generous to want to and actually follow through with little parties and farewells for us. Thanks to Betty for getting all our neighbors together, Leonards, Palmers, Van Horns, Hsu, and Cheng-yu for having people gather in your homes. I truly do miss all of you!

I regret not having a camera with me at every one of these occasions but have put up the ones I did get below.

Posted by Matt Huang at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Every time I see a little girl here in Singapore I can't help but think of Verene. I fixate my eyes on the girl and take in everything she does. I'm sure the parents have thought me some sick pedophile but I can't help missing my little girl. I think of all the stuff I get to see her do when I see her again - all the stuff I see the girls here do like holding Daddy's hand while walking, only stepping on certain color tiles through the subway, going up steps one at a time - always with the same foot forward, laughing and running around the playground, tired and falling half asleep on Daddy's shoulder, and so much more.

I miss all the little things she did before I left and all the new things I hear about ...

Always happy

She's always happy and smiling. The best is her waking up in the morning. She sits in her crib and plays by herself until one of us comes in to get her. This is especially appreciated on Saturday mornings when Verene let Janae and I sleep in. She wouldn't make a fuss until she heard us up and moving about. We would walk into her room and find her playing with some toy in the crib, she'd look at us and smile real big extending her arms out for us to pick her up. Very considerate.

Blanky

Since I've left, Janae says she started doing something else really cute in the morning. Verene will hold out her blanky to give Janae when she gets her. Cute! She wants to share. Hopefully she doesn't outgrow this by the time I see her again.

The blanky thing is new too. Before I left she wasn't attached. Now she needs it everywhere she goes and can only sleep with it by her side. I've never felt a blanket so soft as hers before. Verene appreciates it too. She chose to fall in love with this one even though we used all the blankies we received and gave each a fair chance at being the chosen one. She chose the super soft pink one. Now that she's attached, I told Janae to go and get five more just in case we misplace it. If the blanket wasn't from Saks and cost so much, we would. Fortunately we have two of them.

Peek-A-Boo

One of the cutest things I saw before leaving was her initiating peek-a-boo by herself. I was driving somewhere and Janae and Verene were both in the back seat. Verene got hold of the sun deflector, hide behind it, and popped her face out smiling and laughing. She did it over and over hiding her face and popping it out hysterically laughing.

Growing bigger!

I'm sure she has grown bigger now. She was big enough to stand up and hold onto the crib before I left. It broke my heart one morning when Janae and I heard a thump from her room. She had fallen over the edge! Everything was fine and I quickly lowered the bed a notch in the crib.

I wonder how many teeth she has now. Before I left she was at three good sized ones on bottom and two on top with a few little buds growing on top and bottom. I always thought teething would be painful and she would by fussy through it but no fuss so far!

How do I get down?

Verene just started climbing up the stairs when I left. She could get up a couple without too much trouble. Coming down was the hard part. She would get up a few stairs and want to sit down to rest. She'd try to sit while facing the steps not thinking there was no step behind her. She'd catch the side of the step she was on but would still tumble down a few and cry. Janae says she still can't get down but is much faster getting up now. Verene will climb from our main level up three stories to the loft without her even noticing.

Sweaty like Daddy

I'll have to see how she adjusts to a new home and country. Singapore is not a cool country and Verene, like me, sweats a lot! I arrive at work sweaty after taking the air conditioned subway and walking underground in the A/C underpass all the way to my office building. It's just not cold enough! I remember Verene drenched in sweat in her car seat whenever we went out in the day - even with the A/C on. Once she fell asleep with the car parked in the shade and her head was wet with sweat as if she was taking a bath. Definitely picked up my sweating genes.

Will she still remember who I am?

Hopefully she recognizes me when I see her again. Before I left, she already started recognizing people. Mom says I was the same way and wouldn't let anyone but her hold me. Verene operates with a pecking order. Strangers can hold her only if she's well rested after nap for a while. She'll decide how much time to give them before starting to cry. Daddy can come to the rescue and hold her as long as he wants so long as she doesn't see Mommy. If she sees Mommy, she'll start crying and I'll have to hand her over to Janae.

Not only does she recognize people, she recognizes home, her room, and crib. We were at dinner at Cheng-Yu's before I left. She cried when we tried putting her to sleep there as place was unfamiliar. I held her to sleep until she was really floppy, a sure sign she was out. After floppy, I put her in the pack-and-play and she awoke crying immediately. Poor Verene. She was tired but couldn't sleep in the strange place. Poor Janae and I too! On the car ride home she was half awake and was alert when we got home and I put her down in her crib. As soon as I put her down, she knew she was home and fell asleep immediately.

Hopefully she will not miss home in Ashburn too much and will adjust to home here. Hopefully she misses me too and will remember who I am.

Posted by Matt Huang at 2:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Don't you want to buy our beautiful home?

Moving is so hard. For people that move every couple years, I certainly hope it becomes easier each time. I certainly hope it's easier the next time I move. We have a house to sell in the worst housing market the US has seen. This is definitely what's most stressful.

As soon as Janae and I knew we were going to Singapore, we immediately started preparing the home for sale. Mierelle Steed, who had just sold their home for their move to Denver, gave me a quick education on how to sell on your own as she had also done it for their move to Virginia. She came over and staged the home as hers was just profesionally done, she picked up a lot of the principles. In total, she had four pages of changes she recommended. Our new neighbor Mike, who works as a contractor, also came through and critiqued our home.

We painted the home to neutral colors, de-cluttered by selling or moving most of our belongings to Cheng-yu's basement, added a chandeleir to the dining area, changed light fixtures in two other places, changed all light bulbs to max wattage to show more light, re-chaulked everything, re-finished kitchen and bathroom cabinets, moved furniture all over the house, and much more. The principle is to make the home look like a model home with a lot of light and space creating a warm inviting environment where people can picture themselves and their stuff in the home. I do have to say, the home does look like a model home now. At least we get to enjoy it until we leave.

These touch up changes were in addition to the major renovation Janae's dad and I did at the end of last year. I took out a wall in the kitchen to open up the space which involved moving a light switch, a vent, and a telephone jack. We completely gutted the half bath, replaced the sink and vanity with a vessel sink, and replaced the toilet. Changing that one toilet required me to move or install 3 toilets. Janae thought it would be a good idea to replace the perfectly good functioning toilet in the half bath with a new white one, move the one currently in the half bath upstairs to the master bath, and throw away the toilet in the main bath.

Before Pictures (I took pics after I already made some holes in the wall. Almost forgot to take the pictures all together!)

After Pics

After spending the time and money for renovations we're going to have to leave it all and sell in a down housing environment. I tried selling on my own and through the process learned that at least in this environment it's not easy. I did all we knew how to do - making the home look immaculate, the pretty pictures and flyer, listing on the realtor database and all the internet sites, catered and hosted a brokers open house. There were some people interested before I left, but no hard contracts. Janae and I left it to a realtor to finish the job.

One thing I learned about realtors through the interview process is this: I will forever more use a different realtor to buy a house, to sell a house, and to manage a rental. Each requires a different skill and there are realtors out there that specialize in one particular market only. Our selling agent only sells houses. She has a very strong personality, is assertive, and has never had a house listed for more than 30 days on the market. It is her passion and track record that made us decide to go with her.

Posted by Matt Huang at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)