Holy Cow! What a week. Bear with me while I have a major freak out moment.
Ok, here’s the deal. We have had our house for sale since January. January!!! WTF??? We have never had these types of issues with selling a house before (and we’ve sold 14 in 20 years… So I think we have an idea of what we are doing. Problem is, we’ve never had to deal with this type of economy before). Anyway, ten months! In those ten months we have come in second to other houses five times. FIVE TIMES! We know this because the people who did sell their houses were friends of ours and each of the things that sold their houses were things ours did not have (pool, full acre lot, hardwood throughout the house, larger bedrooms, larger dining room – all stuff we couldn’t change).

After six months our contract was up with our realtor. So we took it off that market and decided to do a For Sale by Owner thing. This would allow us to drop the price the amount of the realtor’s commission. That put us in a whole new price bracket. Problem was, we didn’t have the money to list it on the realtor sites (almost $400). So, we printed fliers, watched them disappear, printed more fliers. We also advertised it on Craig’s list and in our bank newsletter. We did get a few calls but mostly from people wanting to lease. Uh, no.
Fast forward to this week. FINALLY, we had the money saved to list the house on a realtor website. Holy macaroni! Our phone has been ringing off the hook. Not a bad position to be in, really.
So, we’ve cleaned the house from top to bottom, replaced four light bulbs, repaired a stuck handle on a toilet (why in the heck do these things pop up during the worst times? Couldn’t this have happened last week before people actually wanted to look at the house?), recleaned the house for the second round of showings (this wouldn’t have been such a huge deal but The Kid had a sleepover – nuff said) and now we wait.
You see, one of the couples REALLY liked the house. They’ve called back twice and have mentioned needing to talk to their banker about financing. And we wait. Why oh why did this week have to have a Monday holiday? Sure, I love having the day off, but seriously… Couldn’t we have moved it to next week? That way we might have an idea if they are serious or not.
I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up. I know we might not make their cut. I know. Really I do. But of course I can’t let myself accept that.
So, while I wait, I’ll curse the fact that it is raining and that every time Princess Bella needs to go out, she tracks in muddy paw prints. On top of that, the running schedule I set up for myself was supposed to start today (I know the rain shouldn’t affect that but I’m finding out I will come up with any excuse to avoid running), I’m out of milk and orange juice for the week (did I mention we had spent all our money on cleaning supplies and air fresheners???), I have five more pages to type for my portion of the Petit Fours and Hot Tamales group novel, my short story to format for publication next weekend (stay tuned for more on that…:) ), my vampire story to finish AND edit (before it’s publication debut on Halloween (more on that too 🙂 ), and I’m out of coffee. GRRRRRR….
Ok. Breath… Enough whining. I’ve had my gripe session. I’m ready to tackle the rest of this chapter and I feel like I’m back in control.
Wait, was that the phone????
12 Comments
Um… yes, you are under stress.
I’m going to one up you here just to take your mind off your waiting problem — back in the 80’s, when the economy tanked in LA & the government’s paychecks bounced(guess who worked for the Historical Preservation Board in BatonRouge?) we put our house on the market & drove up here to ATL.
It took us 5 years, 5 different leasors, 1 new roof, 1 new water heater, 1 new coat of paint, and taking down one 100+yo oak tree (hence the new roof) before it finally HallelujahPraiseJesus!
sold.
We paid the mortgage & lost $30,000+ on it.
Now… go answer that phone!!
This is why I will be in this house until I die and let my kids sell it! Never again. Good luck!
Oh man, Pamela!!! You totally win and I will gladly let you keep that title. I hope we don’t have to wait that long… 🙁
At this point we stand to lose about $10,000 but thankfully that was all money we’ve put into it ourselves over the last three years and not something we would have to take with us to closing.
Thanks a ton for cheering me up (or scaring the crap out of me… Not quite sure which yet 🙂 ).
Tami
LOL Michelle! Thanks a ton. I honestly have never stayed in one house more than about five years. Not even when I was growing up. Funny thing is that I like to remodel/decorate while hubby likes to build. I also like the idea of moving because it is the best way to be forced to do that dreaded spring cleaning.
Thanks so much for stopping over here today. I really appreciate your support!!!
Tami
You and Pam are freaking me out. At some point, I will want to sell my house. What if it never sells? Yikes!
Good luck to you. Keep the faith. Someone will come along and realize what a lovely home you have and have to own it for themselves.
You did cover the picture with a prominent monkey’s butt in the kid’s room, right? 🙂
Got my fingers, toes, and eyes crossed for your sale.
Please let us know as soon as it happens. Mom always said if I kept my eyes like this too long they’d get stuck that way.
LOL Tammy! Yes, I did take down that wall paper and paint over the bright green. Was the first step. But I do miss that monkey. Just have no idea WHY a company would print out a mural with the monkey’s butt so visible. Don’t they know that these are for kids rooms?
It did start a lot of funny conversations though. With both adults and kids. 🙂
Your house will definitely sell if you need it too. After all, you have one of the best real-estate attorneys around. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!!!!
Tami
LOL LD! Thanks so much. I feel like I’ve been crossed for a week now. Good news is that we did get an offer. Woohoo!!! We had to counter offer because of the closing costs and are now waiting for them to get back to us. Keep everything crossed. I’ll let you know when they call. I’ll make sure they know our eyes are at their mercy.
Thanks a ton for stopping by and supporting me during this crazy week. 🙂
Tami
Hey, things could be worse. MY subdivision made the news last week because Gwinnett County’s Finest busted a METH HOUSE in my neighborhood. Yep. As if the property values could go any lower. Good luck!
Selling a house is SO stressful! Good luck. I hope this time is the charm.
OMG Pam! Scary. Especially with teens still living at home. I’m praying for ya girl. 🙂
Thank you Carol!!!!