Update 05/28/2022: We have postponed our move indefinitely due to the virility of the current housing market. 

Update 01/08/2022: We are postponing our move possibly to either later in 2022 or even as far off as 2023. We decided we want to add another human pup to our family! We also found it to be the best decision with concern to Monet, who we will be breeding for the first time this spring! We will be using an outside stud and we know so many great breeders here in the PNW, we would be doing her a disservice to move and not be able to find the perfect stud for her!

In September of 2021 we decided that we would be selling our home in Tacoma, WA and moving East. We researched a ton of different states and the taxes, climate, local economy, amenities, and available properties and finally decided that we would like to move to West Virginia. We chose WV because of it's low property taxes, available land, and extremely affordable properties. We decided we need a bigger home, and more land, to fulfill our dreams of having a farm, raising animals and expanding our family.

Unfortunately WA is in a state of turmoil and the housing prices are astronomical, driving up property taxes and essentially making living there unaffordable, especially for a 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, which is what we currently have.

Since October 2021, we have been packing nonstop everyday, as well as trying to get our home in order for listing. We had been renovating the kitchen, bathroom and adding an additional laundry area as well as expanding the office to turn it into a second bedroom, but the project never got done and now we have to do it ourselves. We have been looking at hiring a plumber, electrician and a roof specialist to work on the things we have no skills in, but essentially we will be working on the siding, drywall and interior finishing all by ourselves.

So far we, my husband on his two days off, and I, have added Tyvek to the addition, cleaned up the majority of the side yard, including the wood, trash, glass and all our shed storage bins. What's left, is landscaping and trash disposal for the outside. The renovation is another beast entirely and is proving to be a daunting task. For obvious reasons, we'd like to save money getting the house in order so that we can use every penny on our move and our new home. We talked to our realtor who has a group that works for them, doing renovations, and they wanted $50,000 to finish what we have remaining, and $15,000 for landscaping. $65,0000! We figured it was a conflict of interest when our realtors asked us to leave the vicinity so they could talk to their fellow coworkers (the reno people) about how much it was gonna cost, and then came and told us afterwards. So we decided to go a different way, which is when we decided to hire individual companies to do different projects.

My father is the one who started the renovation for us, while he lived here back in 2019-2020, but was injured at his regular job shortly after finishing the rough structural job of our addition. Since then, he has been unable to work and so the renovation has been sitting, untouched, for a year. A very stressful turn of events, to be honest. We've offered to take out a loan and pay him, and he refuses to take money from us so it's a continuous circle of,

"I'll pay you to finish the job, so you can focus on my renovation!"

"I don't want to take money from family, but I need to work to survive and pay bills, so I HAVE to work on other people's renovations!"

"Then I'll pay you less, and consider it me stiffing you and call it even!"

"I don't want to take money from you, but can't survive without money."

Ughhhh. So we are going with the quotes from companies

We have packed about 75% of our home now, at the end of October, and most of what remains is large appliances and furniture that won't be coming with us. Our couch, TV, TV stand, bed, tables, refrigerator, and other large stuff will not be coming with us. We still need to go through the kitchen and decide what is worth packing and what should be donated, as well as the bathroom. The majority of our clothes is packed, all our books, most of our hobbies, and even the pictures from our walls have been put into storage for the big move. We are aiming to be out of the house come January, but may have to postpone until February if we can't get the renovation projects finished.

Wish us luck on our journey, we will keep you updated here!

PS: Yes, we are taking our animals <3