On the floor, here. No Dorito stains, I'm pleased to report.

Every time I smell Murphy's Oil Soap, I recall the first few days of being in my old house and the scrubbing I did.

We had our house built and during that time we had sold our old house and lived for about 18 months in my parents lake house. It was about 30 miles from our work and new house location, so we stopped by almost every day to check progress. We had stored most of our things and basically lived in just a few rooms. I remember being so excited to finally have space, beautiful new space. And no more long drives.

The day before our closing, we met with the current owners and had an in-depth tutorial on different aspects of the house. After that, we went out for pizza and wine at a local Italian restaurant. In the past 18 months since we’ve lived here, we have gotten together with the former owners many times. In fact, they are our closest friends here.

I remember how much more space it had than the old home. Then we moved our stuff in, and well, turns out it was actually about the same size. The yard, however, was about three times bigger. :)

The neighborhood streets had been going through a major sewer project, and by our close date they were finally laying the asphalt. Two weeks before our move-in date, I worked out that our street would likely be paved around the same time, and started calling the municipal services to work things out. Sure enough, our BLOCK was due that day. We couldn’t change our move-in. They arranged to do our block, and the block approaching us, first thing in the morning, and our van arrived at 3. They unloaded quickly, then moved the van so as not to be on the fresh asphalt for long, and finished moving the stuff into the house.

I remember I was 9 months pregnant and had an 18 month old. She was running up and down the big,long hall knocking on the bedroom doors saying " this one is too big, this one is too little, this one is just right.

The moving van broke down so the movers had to transfer everything to a smaller truck in the middle of town and make multiple trips to the house to unload. They didn't finish unloading until about 2 a.m. It was a loooooooooong day.

It was dusk, we were sitting on the patio sharing pizza and beer with our weary friends, when we saw an animal walking across the yard. We assumed it was a cat but as it got closer we realized it was a skunk. We might have been physically tired but everyone jumped up and ran into the house.

The previous owners had a toddler. They had commissioned a hand-painted mural on one wall of her bedroom of the teddybears' picnic. They offered to paint over it before we moved in but we thought that would be sad for them so we said, no, we'll do it. So first thing my husband had to do was paint that wall, numerous coats. I still have the green carpet (i.e., grass) 21 years later.

We moved, just across town, during a January snowstorm.. The moving company arrived early, loaded the truck and by noon were unloading it at the new house. They worked at breakneck speed out of fear of getting the truck stuck in our driveway as the snow was accumulating quickly. I still remember one of the movers sayin, “We have to get this truck out of here unless you want us to stay till spring!”. They left the garage doors open, causing a pipe to freeze in the bathroom above. One child, age 4, was recovering from chicken pox and the baby, 10 months, was just getting them! Two cranky itchy babies and their stressed out nursing momma!

The smell of dog urine, which had been masked by heavily scented deodorizers when we were viewing the house. We replaced carpet where we could before we moved in, but my bedroom did not have hardwood under the carpet, and so I left it - huge mistake. To this day I am much less fond of dogs than I used to be, but then I've not had a dog since I was a child.

Every one of you has such a memorable story! What fun!

The first time I saw it. I was out with my DD when we passed by and saw the sign in the yard. It’s on a hill but I didn’t realize how steep the driveway was until we tried to lean forward in our seats and get out of the car. We were laughing hysterically and she thought I was nuts, but I knew before we ever looked inside that it was going to be the one.

At the closing table we learned that the house we were buying was part of the bail that the seller needed to stay out of federal custody. After receiving our check, he and his attorney had to leave the closing and go downtown to change whatever needed to be changed so that we could have the house. They did come back and but there were some anxious moments after we got over the shock.

Maddielee - Wow!

Wow is right. When we went to sign, we were presented with an ARM document instead of a Conventional. All through the process, the loan agent kept trying to talk us into an ARM, so much so that I was loosing my patience. He wouldn’t look at me when I caught it and said they had to be redone and why.

When we closed on our house in 1976, we had 3 children under the age of 3 1/2 years old. I recall unpacking the box that held the kids' essentials and my 15 month old falling down the stairs. She was the adventurous nimble child. She was not hurt, did not even cry. The teens next door baked cookies to welcome us to the neighborhood and become our babysitters. How great is that!

We have a slight (maybe 1/2”) bump up into the garage, and of course I managed to step halfway on it and sprained my ankle carrying in the first box. I spent the rest of the day with my foot propped up telling DH and our friends what to do. :)

We also had a closing issue. It was Good Friday and the lawyer’s office who did the builder’s paperwork was closed. Of course there were errors, but fortunately one of the lawyers was working and she both answered the phone when we called and was able to correct the paperwork. It was an issue because we’d already closed on our previous house and all our stuff was in the garage of the new house. If we hadn’t been able to close we and two cats would have had to live in our cars for the weekend (or a motel).

Donna

We moved into our new house the past September. It was supposed to be before 9/15 which was the latest date we could contractually vacate our old house.

Of course, it was late. It was only a few days but we still needed to scramble with pet care. The dogs went to their regular kennel. The cats came went to the new house where they were sequestered into a completed bedroom, and got 2x daily visits from mom and dad. We went to a hotel.

On 9/21 we planned to move it. Went to the house in the morning as usual and the cat room door was open. The window was open. There were no cats. Yard searched. One cat found. We moved in. A very teary evening ensued with a missing kitty. We left the garage man door open. We put out wet food. We laid a trail of smelly laundry. I lay in bed awake. At 3AM I saw the motion detector light go on. I peered out the window and saw a black and white flash- kitty or skunk- I have to risk it. I closed the garage man door locking it in. I awaken DH and DS. It is kitty. Saints be praised. The rest of the night is peaceful slumber. To this day my builder cannot really look me in the eye - I called him 'cat killer'

At our closing when we were signing the stacks of papers, there was realtor, broker, lender, us. My husband, who was short on patience at the best of times, was becoming annoyed. And then there was an additional small, but unexpected, fee for something. He exploded with a couple of F bombs. I thought someone was going to grab all the papers and say, No house for you! But the dust settled and we got the house.

We just moved into this house a year and a half ago, but what I remember most about moving into our last house is that I came down with chicken pox about a week after we moved! I got them from my 4 year old, and then my 9 month old got them from me. Good times. 😖

We moved into our house in October 1989 with a 6-week old and a toddler who had not yet turned two. The previous owners had left all the picture hooks on the walls, I sat on a couch with the baby and as the movers brought in pictures I directed them as to where to hang them. There they stayed until we repainted 6 years later. Those first six years are a blur and I remember nothing.

We bought our house from friends who were building in a nearby area. Because they still had workers in the new house, they asked us, and we agreed, to have them leave their extensive art collection while their house had workers in it. We had the use of lovely artwork on our walls for a good length of time, but we couldn't convince our friends that the collection looked better with our stuff than with theirs and should stay with us.

Our move was super easy when looking back on it. We hadn't been house shopping. This house belonged to a friend who had wanted to build new in the state where her sons were and move near them. DH said one day, we should buy her house (no stairs, much more square footage, large lot) - and we did. We only moved a few blocks. I didn't list our home for 6 months, wanting to enjoy the holidays and do some updating there before listing it for sale.

I moved things from closets, bathrooms some of the kitchen and garage a little at a time. We had movers bring the heavier pieces, books, and spent a night here about three weeks after closing.

The only thing hectic about it was that it was two days before Thanksgiving and DH was so excited about the house he couldn't wait until the weekend. We moved on a Tuesday, I cooked a complete holiday dinner in a mostly but not quite unpacked kitchen including desserts on Wednesday, drove 2 hours to mothers with dinner Thanksgiving day, heated and served it to her ;0)

We spent the better part of 2 1/2 years building our house in WA state, while still maintaining our house in MI. Most of the time we lived in a 450 sq. ft. "cabin" on the WA property. As the house was mostly completed, I asked that the laundry be completed first. I was so tired dragging dirty laundry 15 mi. to the nearest one. Also almost a year before the house was completed, our son & his long-time partner decided to get married. I said, "Stop everything and build a large deck." We were able to have a picnic on that deck as the "house" was a framed and roof shell with electricity. Everyone had a great time.

I moved into this house 45 years ago. It was supposed to be our starter house for five years or so, but life happens. What I remember is unlocking the back door while clamping my then two year old son again the door jamb with my knee so he wouldn’t escape while I figured out the lock. Lots of living has happened in here since that day. Now my 47 year old, six foot tall son could clamp me against the door , easily!

Omg, localeater! Just reading that made me tense up! I can well imagine the terror and then the sense of overwhelming relief you felt! I'm glad that had a happy ending!

We just finished moving yesterday, so we're surrounded by boxes. Nothing outstanding to report.

We built our last house, and closed the day before Thanksgiving. Of course we immediately went to the house and ... no power. It had been on temporary power. I don't remember the arrangements, but we made it clear that we WERE moving over the holiday weekend, and we WOULD have power (and heat). Our construction foreman pulled some strings and got it fixed.

So we spent the holiday weekend moving. On Saturday, we were exhausted and sore. We decided to test out the jacuzzi tub (1994 house). We had a couple of bottles of wine, and managed to consume most of it. We gave no thought to the fact that we hadn't eaten since pizza at lunch. We were both really drunk. We stumbled to bed, then both proceeded to get sick. A beeline to opposite bathrooms, and boy were those new fixtures cold! I was fine the next day, but DH had apparently picked up a stomach bug, because he was sick all of the next day, long after hangover stage. Welcome to the new house!🙄

Alone in a new city, I locked myself out of my house within hours of getting the keys and moving in.

Fortunately, there was a small dog door, partially blocked by a clothes dryer. I was able to squirm in the dog door and push the dryer out of the way. My hips barely made it through the opening.

We always taught our pets not to cross the threshold into our master bedroom. The evening our furniture was put in place in the new house we brought in our dog and cat. They stopped at the threshold of our new bedroom without a single prompt from us! I guess they ID'd the furniture.

We built our home and moved in Nov. 1. During the building period, we were on the property almost daily and met several neighbors before moving in. Two young boys behind us were worried if we would be there for Halloween. So, the night before our move, we came over with a big bowl of candy and sat on the front porch for the trick-or-treaters LOL.

We built 6 years ago. A friend who had always wanted our old house, bought it immediately when I offered it to her, but she wanted it right then. That meant we had to live in a rented townhouse for 8 months.

The builder, of course, went over his completion deadline. For some reason, the owner of the townhouse got antsy and substantially raised the rent if we weren’t out by March 1. Plus, we were taking DH’s grands to visit DC, Williamsburg, etc for Spring Break starting mid-March. We had a wild scramble to move into the house with workmen still doing some punch list items, unpacking things, and then packing for the trip. Mostly moving in is a blur.

I never did find out why the townhouse owner got so twitchy about us moving. It wasn’t like he had other tenants. The townhouse sat vacant for several months after we moved out.

I bought this house in December 1986. My very nice ex-hubby was with me, and he had told me to never act excited in any of the houses we looked at. This house looked like a little red schoolhouse from the front, and was built in 1937. The kitchen, which was the first room we walked into, had 24" of counter space, and a huge hearth with a wood burning fireplace. It had two large windows overlooking the back yard, and when I looked out and saw this view, my mouth dropped open and I loudly said, 'This is it!' The realtor broke out in a big grin, and hubby couldn't help but smile.

Similar thing happened to us, my3dogs. Owners weren't home when we arrived with our agent and two daughters. Agent suggested we see if there were any chairs in the back yard. As soon as we saw the yard we thought, Oh my, whatever is inside, we have to have this yard!

When we did get in, nine yo daughter squealed with delight and said, "Oh, Mommy! There's a pink bedroom!!!!"

We still love this place.

sheesh, I have told everyone that I will never leave this house while I'm alive. My two sisters have their own homes, so I am leaving this to my 'adopted son' (carpenter friend) who lives in my daylight basement. I've known him for 10 years, meeting him when I had work done on the house in 2010. He helps so much around the house and yard, and my 3 dogs adore him. I've told him that when I die, I want to be cremated and sprinkled around the yard.

When DD and DSIL were looking at houses within the last 6 months, their real estate agent told them not to talk excitedly about the house even if no one else was there. Many people have ”nanny cams” these days and can hear and see what is going on in their homes.

DH was born and raised around the oil fields of Oklahoma and wanted land around whatever future home we bought. We’d (or I’d) looked at over 100 homes and lots when a patient of his told him about a lot in a mountain community with incredible views AND gas lines and internet ( a VERY BIG BONUS out here!). He packed us a gourmet picnic lunch ( with chilled white wine, my fav) and drove us out here. Smart guy! As we dined, he has gave me his vision of our future dream home on this multi-acre lot, surrounded by thousands of acres of pine trees ( and other homes). As I was born and raised in the suburbs north of Detroit on a lake, he knew he'd have do for some serious sweet talking to get me out of the suburbs here! I caved. . . with one caveat: we had to have multiple covered portals (patios) so that I could sit and relax in the shade somewhere, no matter what time of day. We built our dream home on this very lot and 27 years later I’m still loving it! But, I am very thankful for the many shady portal we have . . . and our drop-dead gorgeous mountain views!

Closed escrow in 9 days....Move in day was Jan 1st....easy to remember our move in anniversary...and I always remember how sweet it was for family and friends to help move even though I'm sure a few were hungover after New Years Eve :-)