It happened! It really happened! Last night I closed on Catalfa.

I visited the property earlier today to see how much the seller left behind. I was expecting the worst, but was pleasantly surprised to find only a couple sofas, dressers and one bed.

I also discovered the original hardwood floors under all the carpeting and was shocked to see that someone covered - likely in the 80's - the hardwoods with plywood and vinyl and then more recently luxury vinyl flooring.

I was excited at this discovery as it dramatically affects the budget because I don't need to purchase and install 1500 square feet of flooring!

With a key secured in a lockbox on the front door, my contractor can go and start right away with clearing out the place, removing the existing flooring and getting final measurements for all the material we'll need.

We are looking at a 4 week project timeline which gets me back on the market in the first or second week of May.

I searched for Active comparable homes today and found 1 -- exactly 1 -- home on the market under $450,000 within 2 miles of this house. Now, I know a lot can happen between now and then, but the on-going lack of inventory should help me push the value on this property in a market starved of inventory in an affordable price range.

I need to give a huge shout out to my guy at GPN Title. George Glekas and his team (Linda and Meg and Bonnie and Elleni) were all-stars with this transaction. The seller and I gave them a run for their money and they knocked this one out of the park.

Time to pop open that bottle I've had on ice, relax and watch some NCAA basketball!