Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Is repainting all the trim a possibility?  Might be worth it in appealing to potential buyers.  Anyway, I feel your pain, we were going to sell our previous house and I did a lot of that work.  Then we decided to keep it and rent it out, and it showed very well and brought in a much better class of renters.

Also doesn't hurt that it's a block away from Apple's massive and ever-expanding campus in NW Austin.

Moving at my age was extremely difficult for me.  It obviously isn't like the old days of yore when we'd call a few friends and get a UHaul truck and some pizzas.

At least I had moved from my house a few years earlier and had to get rid of a lot of stuff then.  I dumped quite a bit on my daughter this time, the mower and fertilizer and garden stuff.

The moving in was a pain.  I rented a UHaul truck to carry my "valuables" down here, mostly wine and sound system and important documents.  I just got an email from Delta telling me it's almost time to go.  It's a week off.  We can upgrade to Delta One for something like $29,000.  Or so.

I like it here where we live, I don't much want to travel any more.

Not sure how old you are, but I agree moving at my age is difficult. So when I move last August I hired a moving company to move me for the first time. All other moves were u-haul with friends and family. I even had them take down the beds and put them back up. 

I hear ya on the "give 'em an inch, they'll take a mile."  We tried to keep our costs way down on the prep for turning our previous home into a rental.  Fortunately I'd already done a ton of renovation on it, including renter-friendly things like converting almost all of the carpet into laminate flooring (that I bought on the cheap and installed myself).  Overall we've kept it on a really tight budget and we're seeing fantastic ROI.

We just had some great tenants of about 5 years move out of our rental, and although they took very good care of it, it's now had 8 years of wear and tear since we move out.  I took the opportunity to have our painters come in and repaint all the walls (not the trim), and scrape all of the popcorn ceilings.  That would need to be done anyway, when we eventually sell the property way down the line, and we got a great deal from my painter/contractor since we were doing all the work at once. I have to say the house right now looks better than at any time when we lived in it, and I loved that house, it was our starter.  Our tenants are lucky, lucky people.

Early returns on self-employment are very encouraging.... Not much work yet, but what I've gotten is rather lucrative for the time it took, and it sounds like there's a lot in the pipeline from at least one of the entrepreneurs that I'm working with.... It's surreal but very empowering that I can wake up at 9, start working by 10 without having to get dressed and be done by 4 most of the time. I'm sure that'll change as I get busier, but for now it works well.... The main downside is that because I live in a somewhat inconvenient part of DC, it's not as convenient to get downtown for any evening events compared to if I were still working in the contract job. That's a minor complaint, of course, though.... Longer-term, it also won't be nearly as easy to get a mortgage to finally buy a place, either, since I understand most lenders want at least a year's worth of proven income for self-employed people.

Conversely, unfortunately the dating scene has been very disappointing. Of course, not wanting kids is a disadvantage for me, but I've still only had one date so far. Consequently, I'm refocusing my goals in my personal life into other areas....

I was in DC earlier this week (usually visit 2-3xs per year).  Place is teeming with activity.  Amazing to see some of these neighborhoods turn around so quickly.

For sure. The first time I lived in DC 3 years ago, I lived in the Navy Yard and rarely ventured too far past U St NW or H St NE. Now I realize how overpriced the neighborhoods near downtown are, and this time I live in an area that used to be considered dangerous on the northern side of the city, and now it's safe and surprisingly affordable compared to nicer areas. There's not much to do in the immediate neighborhood, but the bus system makes it easy enough to get downtown and the nearest Metro stops.... The only dangerous areas left are primarily just on the other side of the Anacostia, and even those are getting nicer.... Of course, Amazon moving into Arlington/Alexandria is only exacerbating concerns about gentrification, though....

dern!

must be some VERY tasty fish eggs

I've had caviar on someone else's tab.  Not bad, but not something I search out and pay a ton of $$$ for.