Done Deal

Ok, so we decided to sell our house.

This has been an endeavor, to say the least. It’s been a massive process and we haven’t even sold yet! I’ve had many reactions thrown at me that I have to process in addition to the stress of just buying a home and selling ours.

There are feelings flying all over the place! Landmines. Rocket launchers. Grenades. Who knew real estate was such a war zone?!

The first whammy in the market we’re in here is finding a place that will consider selling to you. People are clamoring for houses. Bid wars, inspection reports, open houses, school districts, contingencies, repairs, oh my!

We did the lightning round of bidding and getting accepted, now we had to prepare our chaotic disorganized heap of a house for listing pictures and showings. It was boot camp for days. My husband is able to help out more since he can get around without the knee scooter now, but he can’t carry anything up or down the stairs or reach and bend much.

So we pack our lives and our kids’ lives into boxes in the garage, and then the realtors bring in all the staging furniture.

It’s like living in a museum indefinitely. You have the items ready, but you may not use them. The white rugs in the bathroom? HA! Don’t even think about it. The pristine hand towels? Use your pants. The perfectly pouffed pillows on the sofa? Do not touch, lean or toss. The throws elegantly draped on the couch? Get a sweater.

It has been an emotional roller coaster. The staging was a total mind fuck. We aren’t leaving this house because it sucks. We genuinely love our house! The layout is not great. The house is old. Repairs are needed. Updating is necessary. The land is a lot of work we aren’t too keen on- to say the least. We have an opportunity to hopefully pocket some money after the sale and still have a larger, more updated house with space to live. That’s the plan. It’s hard to remember that when you see your home staged like a dream house. The kids changed their minds about moving the first night of staging.

There were tears and arguments. Wailing and hugs and kisses. I had to remind them this house as it is now is not how we live in it. It’s not real. I had to go through room by room and remind them what we’re trading this for. The house we are buying is not near us or on the way to anything. We never “just drive by” to remind ourselves why we’re doing this. It is a planned trip out to see it and the family is still there as well, so we can’t just pop in and check on it.

Now we’ve begun the showing process. I fight every hard earned urge to shut lights off as I leave rooms. I have to leave blinds open, ALL lights on, doors open, access access access. Dog beds hidden, dirty undies hidden, couch pillows fluffed, throws thrown, lysol sprayed. And then collect animals and disappear for 30 – 45 minutes and never know what anyone thought/saw/felt/figured about our house.

It’s all very alien. Our open house is this weekend, so I am desperately hoping we get an amazing offer (or three!) and we can just begin the next step. .. PACKING! Because who doesn’t absolutely love packing?!

Fingers crossed, wish us luck, and be kind to us during this process. Yes we chose to do it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t exceedingly difficult on all of us.