Movin' On Up: Week One

Well, we have had our house on the market now for eight days.  I feel like it’s been longer!  We never heard back from the couple who came and looked at our house.  I wish I knew what they didn’t like.  I have been wishing, hoping, dreaming, and praying that someone would be interested in buying our home.

I will be honest- it has consumed me this past week.  I have been thinking of nothing but getting this house sold.  I know, I need to not worry- but it is so hard.  I just want to know why these people didn’t like our house. 

I do have some good news to share…the house we fell in love with this past weekend accepted our offer.  It is contingent.  So this just adds to the stress of getting our house sold.  I feel like this new home is on the top shelf of a cabinet, and it’s just out of reach; and if I quit tippy toeing, and get a chair I’ll be able to get it.  It is the worst feeling.  (Yes, I have already mentally moved into this new house.  Yes, I know I shouldn’t have.  Yes, I know someone else could come and sweep it away from us.  Yes, I have gotten my hopes up and not followed my own advice.  I know all of this.)

I guess that’s the name of this game- stressfully waiting. 

Week One Advice:

Don’t try and beat another house in your neighborhood’s selling record. (We had a house sell within a week of it being put on the market in our neighborhood.  I thought our house could sell just as fast.  Nope.)

Don’t check all of the sites your house is listed on (Zillow, Realtor.com, etc.  It will drive you nuts seeing how many people have viewed your home and have not shown any interest in coming and seeing it in person.)

Try not and take it personally when someone isn't interested your house (I have had to let it go that this couple didn’t like our house, for whatever reason, and I need to move on and hope that the next couple will fall in love with this home…and appreciate all of the love that we have put into it.)

Movin' on Up: Day 3

Well, our first showing has come and gone.  It went really well!  We haven’t heard if the people are interested in purchasing our home, but they had great feedback!  Everything was positive, nothing negative- and that was a wonderful relief!

Up until we left for the showing my belly hurt.  I was really nervous about this viewing.  I told my Mom and sisters that I felt like judgment day was upon me.  I mean, complete strangers were coming into my home and looking to see if they could make it their new home.  That’s a lot of pressure as a homemaker.

I am hoping for the best…that these people saw how great this home is.  I am not trying to get my hopes up.  I’m just going to take it day by day.  I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Mr. and I did go look at a potential home for us- and we loved it!  We are going to put a contingency offer on it.  (This basically means- I will buy your house as soon as I sell mine.)  Hopefully these homeowners will see that we’re serious and take us up on our offer.  The house is awesome, has a lot of potential, and could be our forever home.

That’s where we stand for Day 3 of our house being on the market.  Hopefully I’ll have some exciting news to share within the next few days.  Until then, pray that God’s Will will be done.  We would appreciate it!

Day 3 Advice

Don’t get your hopes up

Be flexible

(Your schedule isn’t going to look normal when you’re trying to sell a house.)

Look for guidance

(Talk to your parents, friends that you trust, or someone who has just bought a home.  These people can see what the house is, since you may have some blinders on.)

Movin' on Up: Day 2

Well, we are looking at the second day of our house being on the market.  We had the For Sale sign delivered, and stuck into the front yard, yesterday afternoon.  Things are moving along according to plan.  We are excited!

This morning I received a text message from an App that the incredible Miles and Smith Group uses called: ShowingTime.  Basically (in a nutshell), someone sees your house- they want to come and look at- that information is sent to the app, the app sends you a text with the time they are wanting to come and view your home; and you either respond with a yes or no.  Simple.  Easy.  I love simple and easy.

With that being said, we have the first showing of our house tomorrow afternoon.  Yes, our house went up on Thursday, and we already have a showing for Saturday.  I know- that was fast!  I’m telling you, it works for the better to find a realtor that is willing to work for you.  Do your research!  J

We decided to use The Miles and Smith Group because a friend of mine from high school works for them.  (She’s out on maternity leave, so we ended up not working with her).  They have an incredible record of selling homes, getting (or close to) your asking price, and moving things along rapidly.  That was something that was important to us.  We didn’t want our house to sit and sit and sit.  We wanted to put it up on the market, and have it sold quickly.

I will let you know how the showing goes.  We are hoping for the best!  Here’s to Saturday!

Day Two Advice

Be sure your home has curb appeal

(Plant some flowers, cut the grass, and trim the trees.  The outside of your house is the first thing people are going to see.)

Make sure your home is ready for potential buyers

(Get rid of all personal pictures, move furniture around to create maximum space, dust in places you never knew existed.)

Look into staging your home
(We’re fortunate that Mr.’s sister is an interior designer.  We had her help us with de-cluttering our home; using furniture and artwork we already had to make our home still look homey, and telling us what things we needed to go ahead and pack up and put away in storage.  This was great because when the listing agent came to our home, she really didn’t have anything to say about what we needed to do to get our home ready for the market.  It had already been done.)

Movin' on Up: Day 1

Mr. and I have decided that we are going to sell our home.  Yes, our first home.  It is bittersweet, but with Little Boy growing (as well as his toy supply) we’ve decided that we need a little more space (a basement).  Our house is for sale.

This isn’t something that we just thought about doing in a day.  If you know Mr. or me, you know that when it comes to big decisions- we take our time.  We had originally thought about selling in Spring 2015, then thought hey- let’s try Summer 2014, and see what happens.  Our house is for sale.

So here we are.  We had a listing agent come and evaluate our home.  Had a photographer come and take professional pictures of our home.  We have broken the news to our beloved neighbors.  Our house is for sale.

We received the email (this morning) from our listing agent that our house can be found on the MLS listing site for other realtors to see- and that it should be available for public viewing on sites within the next 48 hours.  This ship is setting sail.  Our house is for sale.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE our home.  Love it!  We just need more space.  In a dream world, I would take our current home, set it on top of a basement, and have 5 acres of land surrounding it.  With that said, that’s the home we are currently searching for.  I haven’t been able to find it.  So, I teeter between buying a home and building our new home.

I feel like I need to document this journey.  I hope that you will come along beside me and help me get through this next phase of our life.  Honestly, I hope our house sells quickly.  I hope that we can get full asking price.  I hope that I can make up my mind with trying to find a home- or building one. 

I think what else I’m gonna do is give you a little bit of my advice on selling your home while I go through this process with my Mr.  Who knows, you might be sitting and reading this thinking, “Hey, I am ready to sell my home too!”

Day One Advice:

Find a good realtor 
(we are using  http://www.milessmithgroup.com)

De-clutter your home 

(anything that you can live without for the next few weeks, pack away)

Create a to-do list 

(things that you have been meaning to fix, fix it.  For example, we put in a new entry door to the garage and Mr. hadn’t gotten around the painting the trim.  Long story short- it’s painted now)