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Saturday, August 6, 2011

Sometimes the Government is Too Efficient

We're in heaven, down here in South Carolina watching our two grandsons this weekend while their parents are away.  We've done all kinds of fun things with them, including letting them stay up past their bedtimes while enjoying Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.  (Don't tell their parents!).

One thing I've been working on getting all my retirement paperwork filed is my application to the Veterans Administration (VA) for follow on medical care post retirement for some issues and injuries I attained while on active duty.

I filled out the required paperwork, sent them a certified copy of my medical record and was told they'd contact me via letter in a month or two.  One place on the form required an alternate address, so I put down our daughter's address here in South Carolina.  We have not yet obtained our South Dakota address, we're waiting until the house is sold.  I used our Virgina home as my present abode and mailing address.

Today, Marti got the mail from our daughter's mailbox and lo and behold there were two letters addressed to me from the VA.  The first told me my claim was being processed and I had to send them various documents withing 30 days proving my injuries and medical issues, as well as my discharge document, known as the DD-214.  I have not yet received the DD-214 because I have not yet been discharged until the end of this month.  The second letter was telling me I now have two medical appointments of the several I'll need at the VA hospital right here in Columbia, South Carolina, instead of near my present home in Virginia!  Oops! 

I have to admire how well the VA has acted on my application, but I'll be making some phone calls next week to straighten things out.  I'm not used to a government agency working this quickly, it's a refreshing change. :c)

On the house sale front, we've had six or seven realtors bringing buyers through the house, but no offers yet.  We are getting really peeved at our own realtors whom we have not heard anything from in over a week.  We had sent them an email early last week listing what we were expecting of them.  They have installed a lock box on our front door that requires a showing realtor to swipe a card that automatically sends their name and email address to our realtors, who then send them an email (with a copy to us) of what their impression of our home was.

We've not received any emails like they are supposed to send, so come Monday there will be some serious conversations between us and the realtors.  They are not performing like they promised and we are going to see about firing them.  For all we know, there could have been an offer on the house, sent to them as the listing realtor and we'd not have known anything.

Such is life, we're in a holding pattern and are still optimistic that all things will work out at the proper time.  We're counting our blessing and looking forward to fulltiming and visiting the grandsons (and granddaughters) whenever and for as long as we want.

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.

11 comments:

  1. Realtors drive us nuts! They really do not do much for the amount of money they take at point of sale!

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  2. Agree with Nan. I hope you get results and if NOT fire them. lol

    Jim had the same thing happen with the VA in Fla. He signed up and within a few days the appointments were made and he was there getting things done.

    You're getting 'er done. Good luck!

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  3. Our job as a grandparent is to do everything with them their parents don't allow. Isn't that it? Well, according to them it is.

    The VA is easy to work with and change from one location to another. It's a piece of cake so don't sweat it.

    Believe me ... you will know if there is an offer on your home. Your realtor will come alive. Their job is to represent you when that offer comes. Again, don't sweat it. It will happen.

    Good luck and the best years of your life are just ahead of you!!

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  4. Glad to hear the VA is disproving the inefficient government theory. Obviously there are no congresspersons working there.

    Go get em' Paul. With your background you should be able to make short work of lazy realtors.
    But glad to hear other realtors than yours are doing a good job of showing your house. Still crossing my fingers for you!

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  5. We have been enjoying shark week as well...but not with the grandkids;o(( Lucky you!!

    We have had 11 viewing since we hired our new realtor and still no offer. Two homes in neighborhood sold last week. Only thing our realtor has to say is, "How about we lower the price??" Our house is underpriced per square foot as compared to the 2 houses that just sold. So Bill told him we would lower our price if he would lower his commission!! Well, you can imagine that didn't fly;o))

    Hopefully, the recent sales are a good sign that home sales are improving and we both can get on with our retirement plans!!

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  6. Awww shark week! Mum's the word ;)
    So much to think about when you retire from the military. Yikes.
    My realtor used a comment e-mail as well. When someone would view the house, they would fill out a comment form stating things such as 'would you like a second showing', 'priced right?'..etc. All it did was give me false hopes when it was positive :)
    Keep being patient, I know it's hard. I wasn't either! It'll happen!

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  7. Too efficient? That's an oxymoron. Enjoy the time with the grands.
    Syl

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  8. Waiting is the hard part. Hope it's over soon for you..

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  9. Have to love bbsitting the grands..its our god given right to allow them to break the rules lol....we do the same with ours...hope you hear news on the house soon ~ how very frustrating...realtors drive me crazy they're being paid to do a job and it seems they never do it..they figure some other hungry realtor will sell the house and they will still get their cut...
    good luck
    Elaine

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  10. Realtors are a "pain in the ars"..nuff said!!

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  11. Keep track of which realtors are showing your house, and they may be the ones you want to choose from if you have to switch. We still feel certain it'll happen soon for you.

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