We ended up getting the word at around five that the sellers were out and the house was ours!! Pretty cool!
I drove home to get a carload of cleaning supplies, the vacuum, the stereo, some folding chairs, and some tools. I got back to the house to meet Kevin a bit after 6, and we just wandered room to room for almost an hour. A bit overwhelming! I’d forgotten how echoing and dark an empty house can be.
We went to buy light bulbs, and then promptly ran out of steam and retreated to the apartment for dinner. I’m planning to get out of work early tomorrow and take a vacation day on Wednesday, so there will be plenty of time in the next few days to start cleaning.
The house was in pretty good shape – surfaces were surprisingly clean, and it didn’t look like there was much moving-out damage other than about a million hooks and anchors in the walls. The garage still had a LOT of stuff in it – no good – and the carpets are more stained than I remembered (but in line with what Kevin thought) – but on the whole, really not bad.