(OT) I'm not Moving to Arkansas (with some cat stuff intermingled)

Nothing to do with my SO, John. No, I love him dearly. But the thought of
moving 1000 miles away, to a completely unfamiliar area is simply too
daunting. He can look at houses for me, sure, and tell me which (if any) he
thinks I'd like. But I still have to fly there to look at them. And if I
don't like them, I fly back home and the process begins again. I'm trying
to save money by moving, not use what I have on air fare. It's just not a
practical idea. John is a little hurt, I think. And I believe he thinks I
may change my mind, but I won't.

I'm still selling this house, absolutely. I'll m looking for a house in the
immediate area of Beaufort. I'm familiar with this area. It's comfortable.
I know where the grocery stores are. I know Persia's vet, which is very
important. I like her a lot. Staying in this area also means I wouldn't
have to subject Persia to three to 4 days in the car and motel room stays.
It will be so much less stressful for her on moving day to simply ride 30-40
miles to our new home. She won't like being in the car, she'll probably
barf in her carrier. But it will be a short trip

USAA (an association for military personnel and their dependents) has a
program whereby they contract with real estate agents to help people sell
their homes. Discounted commissions. They had a guy call me and he's going
to come take a look and tell me what he thinks we can sell it for. He's
quite familiar with this HOA. He asked me, "Do you know why they don't
permit you to put a For Sale sign in your yard?" I replied I thought it had
always been that way; part of the covenants. He said it wasn't always, they
had to add it. Because there are a LOT of houses for sale there. People
want out. They're getting fed up."

A quick search on zillow.com shows on my street alone there are *four*
houses for sale. I knew the one right next door was, but I didn't realize
there were three more. And this isn't a very long street. LOL Also two
came up one street over. The realtor sounds saavy. So, here we go! He
suggested I have a maid service come out and do a thorough cleaning. I'd
been planning to do that anyway, now I have more incentive. And lord only
knows why, when my mother replaced the wall-to-wall 1987 mauve carpet, she
chose WHITE. I'll be getting estimates for carpet cleaning as well. And of
course making sure whatever they use is pet-friendly.

Jill