Ball "Exits" Blackburn

Tuesday's early game featured a battle between the corporate sell-outs. Recently renamed Mr. Electric and Exit Realty battled hard to jockey for some key points before the playoffs.

In a game that saw Exit Realty go down early and hard, Exit's bats came alive on Tuesday night. After giving up a 3-run homerun in the top of the 1st to the hot hitting Steve "My wife loves my swollen finger" Walman, Denis "Pickle" McNicol seemed to settle into a pitching groove. Unfortunately, Exit's defense didn't get into the same groove until about the 3rd.

Thankfully, Exit had the long ball working. With 3 homeruns, a couple of balls off the fence, and a handful of other base hits, Exit made Mr. Electric's ace look old (he's only about 20, so it's hard to do). Will "I am a cartoon" Mood hit 2 dingers while "Pickle" had 1 single dinger. Eric "Pedro" Sanchez had a hard line drive off the fence in right center. Of Sanchez' hit I commented, "Hey Pedro, trouble getting it up, eh? They've got drugs for that now."

Later, Pedro had a chance to respond after I hit a ball to the warning track. "Nice hit Chugger, but it looks like you're a typical young guy. You can get it up, but not for long enough."

It's fun when we are hitting.

Nothing much to report.

My house is still listed and I am still getting quite a few showings. It certainly does appear as if my place is overpriced as I am not really getting many offers. It probably has more to do with the condition of the house, and not the "true" value of the home. However, it likely means that I will be definetely moving in in September. This was my original plan, and I am not losing out as a result.

Secondly, I have given a deadline to sell the house. I am going to go and visit my sister in Thunder Bay in a couple of days, for a few days. When I return, I will begin showing the house for renters. I need to get some people before September actually arrives. I have no doubt that I will be able to find some people to rent, but I will not be seeking any buyers for the home. The deadline will probably be about a week from tonight.

More showings...

The other night I made the decision to remain firm on my price, and every day I become more and more confident that I made the right decision. Each day I receive a phone call from Remax about showing the house again. I feel bad for my current tenants for all of the intrusions, but business is business, and I need to sell my house.

Well, I don't need to sell my house. I need to sell my house at a price that I will be very comfortable accepting. When I listed the house, I was not expecting to sell it. I was merely trying to help establish a solid base for which my house is worth. With the neighbors house on the market, I want him to sell his place to set a new precedent for the value of a house in the neighborhood. Given that I am directly next door, his house is the most relevant comparable, so I need for him to sell at a premium.

Little did I know, our houses weren't priced out of the market. We have had showings left, right and centre. I've gotten a couple of offers, but nothing worthwhile at this point. It gives me a lot of hope that my neighbor will be able to sell his home very soon and establish that new threshold that I am looking for.

The biggest problem that I have is the fact that I know that, if my house was fixed up, I could draw an offer closer to $300,000, if not more. A similar house went on the market recently for that amount, and given a little bit of market appreciation, I could stand to make even more money. That being said, mo' money, mo' problems is the rationale for trying to sell the house now. If I can make a quick buck without the headaches and hassle, I plan on doing so. It will free up a lot of cash for me, and I will have many other options in which to invest in.

Up the ante...

The offer of $224,500 has increased. It's up to $231,000. Jeff and I wanted some more movement on their part before negotiations got serious. Verbally, Jeff and I agreed that we would counter with $257,000. I have 2 more showings, so I feel no pressure to have many significant deviations from my original asking price.

The neighbor's house should sell before any deal on my part. His is listed at a lower price, but I am not planning to undercut my competition. I want to set a new precedent for my house. When his house is sold, I will have that much more leverage and will be able to make that much more money.

Another offer...

I got an offer last night while I was playing some ball. $224,500. This offer is better than the first offer and its in writing this time. Again, I am very doubtful that this will turn into anything as the neighbor's house is still listed. I am going to remain firm on my price, but we'll see if things do pan out.

Jeff still needs to get back to me about what our course of action should be because I trust his experience. I know what I want to do with the house, and Jeff has been great about trying to achieve that goal, but I'd like to use his experience to see how we should react given this particular situation.

I want to remind people that I am under no duress to sell this place. If I don't get close to my asking price of $259,000, I do not plan to sell the house.

Blackburn tournament

Exit Realty finished the weekend with a 3-2 record. This meant a trip to the semi-finals in a game which we lost to the eventual victors, Mr. Electric.

Despite some really close games on the weekend, the game between Mr. Electric and Exit Realty must have been the most dramatic. Keanu Reeves could not have even provided for that much drama. In a close 1-0 game going into the bottom of the 7th, Mr. Electric scored the tying run with only one out remaining. To them, it would be like picking up a hot chick at closing, nearly impossible, but an amazing finish.

Exit Realty opened the scoring in the 4th inning. While pitching a perfect game until that point, Nick Bowmann walked the first batter of the inning (me). I advanced on a beautiful sacrifice bunt by Terry Jones. I later scored on a ground ball that went through the infield.

Will Lowe, Exit's pitcher, was pitching an equal gem of a game. After pitching 7 innings in the quarters, Will never looked tired in the semis. With two outs already in the 7th inning, Exit Realty looked poised to win the game. Unfortunately, the defence behind him got unlucky.

With Nick Bowmann running for Steve Walman, Shannon Borho hit a slow grounder towards emergency 2nd baseman, Will Mood. Mood, waiting for the grounder, positioned his body directly behind the ball, but the ball hit a divot and the game became tied as it rolled past him. Exit would get out of the inning without any further damage.

With international base running rule in effect for the 8th inning, Exit Realty was able to score Al Tomlinson from 2nd base. This was no easy task. Terry Jones mentioned that he was going to time Al's speed from 2nd to 3rd, but he didn't bring his calendar. Regardless, Wayne Hunter was able to single him in. Exit Realty, however, could not provide any more offence in the inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, Mr. Electric didn't waste any time. On an attempted sacrifice bunt, the runner was able to make it to first before the throw. The runner from 2nd made it safely to third as well. Exit Realty was in a big hole. Will Lowe could not stop the bleeding and Mr. Electric would eventually score 2 in the inning on some clutch hits. They got advance to the finals.

It was a great game for the fans to watch. There was some classic small ball, and Mr. Electric were deserving champions. They eventually beat the Good ol' Boys in another tight 3-2 game.