Another day of finding it hard to breathe! It was my first day back to work and Jim had to go into school also. So we were faced with two contracts that expired at 5:00 and we were in two different places supposedly concentrating on other things.
Jim went through the contract that the realtor brought over and emailed me some comments and words to address the door issue. I called the realtor and told her I was emailing this list to her. She talked to the couple and then called me back. She said they were okay with not having the new basement doors in the contract but would still like to have Jim make them at some point. The other main point was the time to get out - end of the month. We said we would try but it was going to be difficult given that we still had things to finish up, plus pack and move out of state. Doug said that we could store some things in the shop if we needed to after closing, so that might be helpful, although I also looked into some self-storage options here too.
But once we decided that we were proceeding with their offer, I had to do the task of letting the other couple's realtor know that we were going with the other offer. I left a voice mail but was a little uncomfortable not talking to her. I called her a little later and she answered...said she had gotten my message but had been busy -said she hadn't even told the couple yet! I told her we were sorry, we really liked them but the other offer was stronger. She obviously didn't offer to counter and just said it wasn't personal. I told her it was to us.
The realtor said that the couple wanted to come back one more time to just look things over before she had to return to Florida in the morning. So she was bringing the papers over for us to sign and they were coming along. They got to our house about 5:30 and we signed the papers! CRAZY!! We sold our house!! Even the realtor said - only on the market for 7 days - unbelievable! That's how long it was on the MLS and less than a month after the sign went in the yard.
But then the couple stayed and were talking and looking at the house. The realtor was looking at her watch and wanting to escape, I'm sure, so they finally moved cars around and the couple remained. For over 3 hours! We have so much in common - it was almost kind of scary! We joked that we wished we could be neighbors! But we truly feel like we are turning over our home to people who will love and treasure it like we do. It was nice hearing the comments they made about other homes they saw and what kept drawing them back to ours.
Now the craziness really begins - the clock is ticking!!
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Sunday, August 4, 2013
A red letter day!!
Wow...it's hard to even catch my breath enough to write tonight but I'll try to capture some of the craziness of the last 24 hours or so.
So the last I wrote, we had gotten one offer and the Florida couple came through on Friday night. We thought maybe we would hear something late Saturday night if they were going to make an offer. Well, Saturday night came and went and nothing. So Sunday morning we thought we would hear...and nothing. So at this point we're thinking we will press on with the first bid and of course we were thrilled to have that. But at the same time, after all the different occasions that we had them here, we had thought we'd hear something one way or another, especially because they knew we had another offer.
We finally decided that we would call their realtor just to get some feedback at about 11:00. She said they were still out looking at houses! She said she would get back to us soon. So Jim and I were still going crazy with the stress. Probably an hour later she calls and said that she can't find our disclosure paperwork on line and she usually includes that in the offer paperwork. Then we figured that an offer was coming! I faxed the paperwork to her and then we waited yet again.
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking and we know we have to tell the other couple something. So Jim finally emailed their realtor and explained that we had another offer and we were hoping to get an extension. We then got a call from the FL couple's realtor saying she would like to come over and present the offer to us! We were going crazy - beyond excited but still in that mode of not knowing what's coming or what's going to happen.
When the realtor came, the first thing she did was to give us a sealed letter that they had written to us..totally unbelievable and truly brought tears to our eyes. This is such an abnormal situation...to have totally built this house ourselves and then to sell it - it feels like letting go of your baby! So to hear that someone loved and appreciated it means the world to us.
So the last I wrote, we had gotten one offer and the Florida couple came through on Friday night. We thought maybe we would hear something late Saturday night if they were going to make an offer. Well, Saturday night came and went and nothing. So Sunday morning we thought we would hear...and nothing. So at this point we're thinking we will press on with the first bid and of course we were thrilled to have that. But at the same time, after all the different occasions that we had them here, we had thought we'd hear something one way or another, especially because they knew we had another offer.
We finally decided that we would call their realtor just to get some feedback at about 11:00. She said they were still out looking at houses! She said she would get back to us soon. So Jim and I were still going crazy with the stress. Probably an hour later she calls and said that she can't find our disclosure paperwork on line and she usually includes that in the offer paperwork. Then we figured that an offer was coming! I faxed the paperwork to her and then we waited yet again.
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking and we know we have to tell the other couple something. So Jim finally emailed their realtor and explained that we had another offer and we were hoping to get an extension. We then got a call from the FL couple's realtor saying she would like to come over and present the offer to us! We were going crazy - beyond excited but still in that mode of not knowing what's coming or what's going to happen.
When the realtor came, the first thing she did was to give us a sealed letter that they had written to us..totally unbelievable and truly brought tears to our eyes. This is such an abnormal situation...to have totally built this house ourselves and then to sell it - it feels like letting go of your baby! So to hear that someone loved and appreciated it means the world to us.
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| A letter to treasure forever
The offer was wonderful too...plus it included none of the contingencies of the first offer. The only big issue is the time factor...they want us to be out by the end of the month! And that means having all the work that still needs to be done finished, packed up, and out of here. So that's kind of crazy to even contemplate. We have to respond to both offers by 5:00 tomorrow so tomorrow will be stressful too.
After she left and we screamed to each other for awhile, we called Kyle and my mom to share the good news. They were both so happy for us.
Then it was back to the reality of what has to be done. My heart goes out toot Jim because all this work falls on his shoulders. He spent the rest of the afternoon working on doors.
We did meet Mike and Ann for dinner to share our good news and have a celebration beer tonight, so that felt good to take a break. Tomorrow I have to go back to work and Jim has to go to school...and then we have those calls to make and offers to clarify.
We're on our way forward with all our hopes and dreams!
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Saturday, August 3, 2013
A Wild Ride!
Yesterday was an absolutely crazy - in a good way - kind of day! And very surreal!
The young couple's realtor came over yesterday at 10:30 to present us with their offer. First, she goes through pages and pages of comparables that she pulled to justify their bid. Really fire hoses you with all this information which isn't quite as comparable as she would lead you to believe. That's been our issue with everything from Zillow to this...the quality and features of our house don't compare to others with the same square footage, which is basically all they look at. Anyway, to their credit, they took the highest price per square foot that she could find in her comparables and upped it to come up with their bid - she said that's proof of how bad they want the house.
We thanked her, took the bid, and she left. After a few minutes of celebrating/screaming (that would be me!), we had to come up with our next game plan - namely, telling the realtor of the guy from Florida that we had another bid. We came up with notes and I called her. I basically reminded her who we were, that she had brought him through our house last Sunday, and that he had come back afterwards by himself (which she didn't know). I also told her that he called us Monday saying he was flying his wife up from Florida and they wanted to look at the house this weekend. She said that she was putting the schedule together now and they would come to our house on Sunday afternoon. Then I told her that we weren't trying to play games and she didn't even need to let the couple know if she didn't want to, but that we had just received an offer for the house and had to let the other people know by Sunday afternoon. She thanked me and said she would definitely tell the couple.
Not too long afterwards, I got a call from the Florida guy. He said he understood we had received an offer and told us congratulations. Then he said that his wife was coming in at 5:00 and wanted to know if they could come see the house as soon as she landed. He said that the realtor had a few houses for them to revisit/look at and he was afraid his wife wouldn't have enough time to look it over thoroughly. So we took a deep breath and said sure, come on over.
Then it was crazy time...Jim had been working on some duct work downstairs so he had stuff all taken apart. Plus he had been working on getting the doors up so that they would be done when they visited on Sunday as planned. Quick change of plans and poor Jim had to try and finish up the duct work and then put everything back together. He had been busy in the workshop making doors so it wasn't as clean as he liked, so then he had to clean it all up. And of course, I got busy cleaning the house yet again.
The young couple's realtor came over yesterday at 10:30 to present us with their offer. First, she goes through pages and pages of comparables that she pulled to justify their bid. Really fire hoses you with all this information which isn't quite as comparable as she would lead you to believe. That's been our issue with everything from Zillow to this...the quality and features of our house don't compare to others with the same square footage, which is basically all they look at. Anyway, to their credit, they took the highest price per square foot that she could find in her comparables and upped it to come up with their bid - she said that's proof of how bad they want the house.
We thanked her, took the bid, and she left. After a few minutes of celebrating/screaming (that would be me!), we had to come up with our next game plan - namely, telling the realtor of the guy from Florida that we had another bid. We came up with notes and I called her. I basically reminded her who we were, that she had brought him through our house last Sunday, and that he had come back afterwards by himself (which she didn't know). I also told her that he called us Monday saying he was flying his wife up from Florida and they wanted to look at the house this weekend. She said that she was putting the schedule together now and they would come to our house on Sunday afternoon. Then I told her that we weren't trying to play games and she didn't even need to let the couple know if she didn't want to, but that we had just received an offer for the house and had to let the other people know by Sunday afternoon. She thanked me and said she would definitely tell the couple.
Not too long afterwards, I got a call from the Florida guy. He said he understood we had received an offer and told us congratulations. Then he said that his wife was coming in at 5:00 and wanted to know if they could come see the house as soon as she landed. He said that the realtor had a few houses for them to revisit/look at and he was afraid his wife wouldn't have enough time to look it over thoroughly. So we took a deep breath and said sure, come on over.
Then it was crazy time...Jim had been working on some duct work downstairs so he had stuff all taken apart. Plus he had been working on getting the doors up so that they would be done when they visited on Sunday as planned. Quick change of plans and poor Jim had to try and finish up the duct work and then put everything back together. He had been busy in the workshop making doors so it wasn't as clean as he liked, so then he had to clean it all up. And of course, I got busy cleaning the house yet again.
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| Duct work work |
Linen closet access door installed
Thumb pull put in linen closet
Jim's closet doors temporarily installed
After a slight delay because of her flight, they arrived and spent over an hour here again. His wife was very nice and seemed to like the house. The young couple who bid were naive enough to be so outwardly exuberant and fussed over every part of the house; this couple is older and wiser and not as bubbly. However, I pointed out to Jim that he told her every detail of the house from his visits here, right down to the blinds because she would say, he told me about this, or, I want to see this because he told me about it. They left asking again when we had to respond to the other offer.
So...it is possible that we will have two offers this weekend - how unbelievably crazy is that? So we are thinking today will be a quiet day and we might hear something this evening or tomorrow morning. Until then, we'll press on while our emotions are bubbling like crazy under the surface.
This morning, Jim went over (in his lawyer brain mode) the contract from the young couple. Although it appears to be boilerpoint, there are some things in there that he has serious questions about - especially the contingency notes. It may be time to talk to an attorney. This brings back bad memories of all the Millersburg covenant nightmares.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Oh my gosh!!!!!!
I'm having trouble breathing writing this! Today is Thursday...so it's been 2 days since the young couple came through that seemed so excited about the house. Of course, those have been long 2 days. As much as we tell ourselves to not let our minds wander ahead, you can't help it. You think you'll get a call the next day with an offer - although we say with such a big decision we would certainly need time. But then more time goes by and we start thinking...maybe it won't work for them or it's too expensive.
So today I went down and visited my mom. I kept the phone next to me all day but it never rang. Although I had told Jim that part of me hated to be there if we got an offer. But no worries because the phone stayed quiet. Meanwhile, it was great to be able to spend a little time with my mom and we had a wonderful visit. I had wanted to be home to make dinner so I got home a little after 7:30.
While dinner was in the oven Jim showed me all that he had been doing...and it was a ton! He got the little door in the bathroom put on - it looks so good. And he got the thumb pull in the linen closet door with a new latch at the top - very cool. In his office, he has the thumb pulls in both of the doors and just needs another pair of hands to help hold one of them in place to be able to mark positions in the door frame. Most importantly, he figured out the complex problem of venting the stove outside and got tons of work done to make that happen. Amazing the amount of work he gets done in a day! I'll attach pictures tomorrow when I'm thinking more clearly.
So we had just gotten done eating and my cellphone rings...it's the young couple's realtor! She apologized for it being late. She said she had just left their house and they wrote up an offer!!! She wanted to arrange a time to come present it to us tomorrow so she'll be here at 10:30.
We went crazy! It's really hard to believe...this weekend will be 4 weeks since we put the sign out front. So for this price range and doing it ourselves to have an offer in less than a month is really unbelievable! All our nightly prayers to St Joseph for his help and intercession really helped. Plus I am so grateful that I was home when the call came so that Jim and I could be here together to get the news. This is an adventure that we are undertaking together so it's only fitting.
We have no clue what the offer will be but it's an offer! Plus then we will have to call the other guy's realtor who is supposed to bring his wife back this weekend and tell her that we've gotten an offer. Crazy!
Jim texted Kyle right away - he called back and was screaming and just couldn't believe it. But like Kyle had said before...after all the work, blood, away and tears, this is the paycheck. And validation of all the hard work. It was so good for him to be able to share the happy news with Kyle. And of course I had to call my mom and share with her. She was so excited for us too.
Unfortunately, Jim had scheduled a salesman to come here tomorrow to talk to him about the product he wants to use for the forms for the basement of the carriage house. So he's going to call and reschedule...our brains are going to be on overload tomorrow!
So fasten your seatbelts...the ride continues! I don't think we'll get much sleep tonight!
So today I went down and visited my mom. I kept the phone next to me all day but it never rang. Although I had told Jim that part of me hated to be there if we got an offer. But no worries because the phone stayed quiet. Meanwhile, it was great to be able to spend a little time with my mom and we had a wonderful visit. I had wanted to be home to make dinner so I got home a little after 7:30.
While dinner was in the oven Jim showed me all that he had been doing...and it was a ton! He got the little door in the bathroom put on - it looks so good. And he got the thumb pull in the linen closet door with a new latch at the top - very cool. In his office, he has the thumb pulls in both of the doors and just needs another pair of hands to help hold one of them in place to be able to mark positions in the door frame. Most importantly, he figured out the complex problem of venting the stove outside and got tons of work done to make that happen. Amazing the amount of work he gets done in a day! I'll attach pictures tomorrow when I'm thinking more clearly.
So we had just gotten done eating and my cellphone rings...it's the young couple's realtor! She apologized for it being late. She said she had just left their house and they wrote up an offer!!! She wanted to arrange a time to come present it to us tomorrow so she'll be here at 10:30.
We went crazy! It's really hard to believe...this weekend will be 4 weeks since we put the sign out front. So for this price range and doing it ourselves to have an offer in less than a month is really unbelievable! All our nightly prayers to St Joseph for his help and intercession really helped. Plus I am so grateful that I was home when the call came so that Jim and I could be here together to get the news. This is an adventure that we are undertaking together so it's only fitting.
We have no clue what the offer will be but it's an offer! Plus then we will have to call the other guy's realtor who is supposed to bring his wife back this weekend and tell her that we've gotten an offer. Crazy!
Jim texted Kyle right away - he called back and was screaming and just couldn't believe it. But like Kyle had said before...after all the work, blood, away and tears, this is the paycheck. And validation of all the hard work. It was so good for him to be able to share the happy news with Kyle. And of course I had to call my mom and share with her. She was so excited for us too.
Unfortunately, Jim had scheduled a salesman to come here tomorrow to talk to him about the product he wants to use for the forms for the basement of the carriage house. So he's going to call and reschedule...our brains are going to be on overload tomorrow!
So fasten your seatbelts...the ride continues! I don't think we'll get much sleep tonight!
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Another good showing...
Well...it was another good showing last night! Jim and I were a little apprehensive about this one - this realtor has sold some of the million dollar homes behind us and we were afraid she might have a snobby-type attitude about our humble home. But...she brought in a young couple, no kids, and they all loved it! The guy was funny - he kept saying, "I'm having heart palpitations!" when he was looking at things. They seemed to love all the quality and details in the house, loved the kitchen and library, and seemed very excited. Not sure if it will lead to anything, but it seemed a good fit and we were happy to have yet another good showing. Really, we've had 3 serious people come through and all 3 have said nothing but glowing things.
They were here well over an hour last night - it was after 8:30 by the time they left. So Jim and I headed to what is becoming our traditional debriefing place - the Mexican restaurant on the hill.
Never did hear back from the guy who called and was going to have his realtor call. And we're waiting to hear back from the guy who was here this weekend about when he wants to bring his wife through. I'm assuming the realtor will call to set that up but not sure.
Meanwhile...door factory continues to be in full operation. This is the little access door to the linen closet from the main bathroom. Jim put this thumb pull in which I really like - plus it matches the pulls in the kitchen too. His closet doors are all made and assembled - I just picked up some new hinges; he'll get those all mortised in and then start the staining process.
They were here well over an hour last night - it was after 8:30 by the time they left. So Jim and I headed to what is becoming our traditional debriefing place - the Mexican restaurant on the hill.
Never did hear back from the guy who called and was going to have his realtor call. And we're waiting to hear back from the guy who was here this weekend about when he wants to bring his wife through. I'm assuming the realtor will call to set that up but not sure.
Meanwhile...door factory continues to be in full operation. This is the little access door to the linen closet from the main bathroom. Jim put this thumb pull in which I really like - plus it matches the pulls in the kitchen too. His closet doors are all made and assembled - I just picked up some new hinges; he'll get those all mortised in and then start the staining process.
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| Bathroom access door - check out cool thumb pull! |
Monday, July 29, 2013
Weekend update...
It was a busy weekend. We had no choice but to regroup after the "no" on our house Thursday night, and regroup we did. Jim is heavy into the door making business again - these are the closet doors for his office.
Then Friday night I got a call that a realtor wanted to bring someone through on Sunday morning from 9:30-10:30. After inwardly groaning at that time frame, I said sure. I like to have everything spiffy before people come and Sunday morning is our down time - pecan pancakes, classical music, reading the paper, Jim works on his computer. But this is business! So I made sure that the house was clean Saturday and we kept with our routines as much as possible...spaghetti on Saturday night and pancakes in the morning. Just maybe a little earlier and then scurrying to get everything cleaned up!
The potential buyer was a gentleman who was relocating from Florida. After our last interest, I told Jim that I thought the perfect buyer would have one high school student. And that's what he has! Well...he has an older one on his own and a daughter in college, but then a 16 year old. Perfect! The realtor told us ahead of time that they were kind of on a tight time schedule - in fact, she canceled one appointment while she was here. But they still spent over a half hour here and both seemed to love it. Said very nice things all the way through the tour. The guy works on cars so was especially interested in the pole barn.
We felt encouraged after he left. I told Jim to savor all the wonderful comments people say about his craftsmanship, attention to detail, and what a gorgeous home this is.
About an hour later, I got a phone call from this guy that he was done with the realtor and wanted to know if he could come back and spend a little more time going through the house - sure! This time, he looked at everything and Jim went over lots of details. He opened every closet, went up in all the attics, asked lots of questions. He told us that his wife had been up before and they hadn't found anything they like, so she wasn't coming until he found something good. He said his wife was a quilter and told him she wanted a sewing room. He also said that she didn't have as many books as I did but not too far off. (Hmm...check and check!) He stayed about an hour and a half.
Then it was back to work - Jim was back working on doors and getting the wood ready to start making the bi fold closet doors in my room. I spent a little time in the afternoon power washing more of the driveway. We're about 100' short of hose to finish the rest so we may have to hit up a neighbor to get the rest done. This weekend felt more like fall...temps were in the high 60s. Strange for late July but okay by me! Maybe we can recoup some of the air conditioning bills back in June when it was 90 for days on end!
This morning, I got another call from the guy who came through the house yesterday. He said his wife was coming up this weekend and he wanted to know if we would be available for them to see the house again. Yes! So that's exciting news. We feel like he must be serious about the house in order to bring her up so we are cautiously optimistic.
While I was running errands today, I got a call from a guy who picked up a brochure. He asked the price and then wanted to know if we would work with a realtor. I told him yes and he said his realtor would call to make an appointment. No one has called yet but still, that's encouraging also.
We have another realtor bringing someone through tomorrow evening, so tomorrow I'll spend more time cleaning and getting things ready. Fingers crossed!
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| Door factory |
Then Friday night I got a call that a realtor wanted to bring someone through on Sunday morning from 9:30-10:30. After inwardly groaning at that time frame, I said sure. I like to have everything spiffy before people come and Sunday morning is our down time - pecan pancakes, classical music, reading the paper, Jim works on his computer. But this is business! So I made sure that the house was clean Saturday and we kept with our routines as much as possible...spaghetti on Saturday night and pancakes in the morning. Just maybe a little earlier and then scurrying to get everything cleaned up!
The potential buyer was a gentleman who was relocating from Florida. After our last interest, I told Jim that I thought the perfect buyer would have one high school student. And that's what he has! Well...he has an older one on his own and a daughter in college, but then a 16 year old. Perfect! The realtor told us ahead of time that they were kind of on a tight time schedule - in fact, she canceled one appointment while she was here. But they still spent over a half hour here and both seemed to love it. Said very nice things all the way through the tour. The guy works on cars so was especially interested in the pole barn.
We felt encouraged after he left. I told Jim to savor all the wonderful comments people say about his craftsmanship, attention to detail, and what a gorgeous home this is.
About an hour later, I got a phone call from this guy that he was done with the realtor and wanted to know if he could come back and spend a little more time going through the house - sure! This time, he looked at everything and Jim went over lots of details. He opened every closet, went up in all the attics, asked lots of questions. He told us that his wife had been up before and they hadn't found anything they like, so she wasn't coming until he found something good. He said his wife was a quilter and told him she wanted a sewing room. He also said that she didn't have as many books as I did but not too far off. (Hmm...check and check!) He stayed about an hour and a half.
Then it was back to work - Jim was back working on doors and getting the wood ready to start making the bi fold closet doors in my room. I spent a little time in the afternoon power washing more of the driveway. We're about 100' short of hose to finish the rest so we may have to hit up a neighbor to get the rest done. This weekend felt more like fall...temps were in the high 60s. Strange for late July but okay by me! Maybe we can recoup some of the air conditioning bills back in June when it was 90 for days on end!
This morning, I got another call from the guy who came through the house yesterday. He said his wife was coming up this weekend and he wanted to know if we would be available for them to see the house again. Yes! So that's exciting news. We feel like he must be serious about the house in order to bring her up so we are cautiously optimistic.
While I was running errands today, I got a call from a guy who picked up a brochure. He asked the price and then wanted to know if we would work with a realtor. I told him yes and he said his realtor would call to make an appointment. No one has called yet but still, that's encouraging also.
We have another realtor bringing someone through tomorrow evening, so tomorrow I'll spend more time cleaning and getting things ready. Fingers crossed!
Friday, July 26, 2013
Disappointment...
Life continues as normal around here...trying to work on that to do list, although it is getting smaller which is encouraging. Yesterday, Jim got all the ductwork finished and all insulated in the attic for the venting he did a couple weeks ago. Thankfully, the weather has been cooler these past couple days but still gets warm in the attic.
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| Ductwork for venting
Then in the afternoon, I got a voice mail on my cell phone about 5:00 from the couple that came through our house on Tuesday. He didn't leave a message other than to say to call him back. When Jim did (I was too nervous!), he just got his voice mail so then we had to play the waiting game. We had convinced ourselves that he was calling to make an offer so our minds couldn't help but wander to even the next steps after that. Waiting was torture...he didn't call back until after 7:00. But then he said that as much as they liked it, with three kids they felt they needed more room. So disappointing. And I feel so bad for Jim - so much more so than with a normal house, this feels so much like rejection. But as in everything else, we have no choice but to take a deep breath and move on.
This morning, I emailed the Akron Beacon Journal writer who came here and did the story about the building of this house a few years ago. At that time, she had told me to let her know if we ever sold the house so I figured I would. She was very kind and actually put a story about it up on her blog...you can read it here - http://www.ohio.com/blogs/mary-beth. Or...here's the article...at this point, any publicity is good publicity and you never know where it may lead.
Extreme DIY house for saleYou'd think building one house by yourself would be an accomplishment to last a lifetime. Not for Jim May. Back in 2010, I wrote about the house May built almost singlehandedly, right down to milling the woodwork and building the doors. The project took him more than a decade. Now he's ready to do it again. The four-bedroom saltbox house May built in Sharon Township is on the market for $395,000. You can see the listing here. May and his wife, Sharon, have purchased property in upstate New York, where he plans to build again. The couple intends to blog about the process, which could make for some interesting reading.
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