House and Job Update
Jun 13, 2009 
Sun
After some delay, we finally put our house on the market.
This afternoon, we called one of the agents we talked with before and signed all the paperwork with him so we can get the process started. Originally, the plan was to list the house at the beginning of the month, but now it’s the middle of the month already. We can’t afford more delays if we want to sell the house before the new school year begins. We were told that June, July, and August are the best time to sell a house.
The realtor we hired seems to be quite easy-going (we didn’t use the realtor who helped us buy the house five years ago because she was a little pushy). He has been in this business for more than 12 years, bought his first house also in this community, so he’s very familiar with the market. After we mentioned to him that we prefer to sign a three-month first instead of six-month, he gladly agreed. As for the commission, the maximum we will pay is 5% under normal condition. If the agent finds a buyer himself, then the commission is reduced to 4%; if we can bring in a buyer, then we only need to pay him 2.5% commission.
Now let’s wait and see how it goes.
My job search, on the other hand, went much more smoothly than I thought. As expected, I got my first offer yesterday, from the second interview a couple of days ago, not the first one last week. Speaking of the job offer, it’s quite ironic that after more than 8 years, I may work for the same employer who offered me my first job after graduating from school. And more ironically, I finally could make more now from this job than from my first job 
That’s 8 years, back to where I started as a new graduate.
The job hunting could end very soon, given how it has gone so far. Next week, there will be another, maybe the last, interview with one of the 100 Best Companies To Work For. Since it’s a big company, I don’t expect it to be a quick process. So I guess my best bet is take the offer I just got, then see what will come out of the next interview.
Sun,
Somehow, I missed the big news. Good luck on the move and new job.
any clues on what you do for a living? (Finance? IT? Education? etc. etc.
I’m out of work for 1 year or so working on internet/marketing stuff. Looks like I need to get back to the real world soon. Don’t even know where to begin looking for a job. It feels like it’s been such a long time.
Mike
Good luck! We are also trying to sell the house now, and since it’s been on the market (and we are paying our agent 6% + $595 “admin fee”) in late April, we only have gotten one showing (no offer). If we get our listed price we might not even break even, *sigh*
How do you think the housing situation will affect your move? We’d like to move but because of the house it seems like we will be stuck for a while.