So the thing I have come to realize about selling a house is that the moment you list it, the house is no longer yours. It doesn’t matter if it takes 2 weeks or 2 years to sell, from the moment it goes on the market you can no longer live in the house as normal people. Because you have to keep it clean and neat and organized, and ready to show at a moment’s notice. You have to clear out all of your clutter–clutter that exists because you freaking USE IT on a regular basis and want it within easy reach. You haul things to storage, pack them up. You lose your ability to find ANYTHING because nothing is where it’s supposed to be anymore. No, it’s all been hidden away in an attempt to maintain the farce that your house is bigger than it really is and you’re moving for some other reason than you need more space. You feel utterly displaced in your own space, and every little thing that annoyed you for the first x number of years you lived there, now takes on piss off capacity of exponential levels.
As of next week, our house will have been on the market for two months. After being led to believe that the market was still fine for entry level homes, and that the house would sell FAST, to say that this is disappointing would be an understatement. Now the “season”, such as it is, is really just starting here. My rational brain knows that. It’s entirely likely that we will have an offer by the end of June (please dear GOD), as literally hundreds of houses change hands over the summer in a college town. But right now we’re so frustrated and discouraged we don’t even want to look at other houses. We’re in a “why bother if no one wants our house?” frame of mind. And we’re ready to bring all our stuff back from storage, because we wonder exactly why the hell we’re inconveniencing ourselves for people who track dog poo through our house (no, I’m still not over that from last week).
Of course our realtor maintains we should keep the faith. Anybody notice how part of a realtor’s job is as much cheerleader as negotiator? We love her. She is like having our own personal Paula Deen, a favorite southern aunt. She’s a lovely person. But at the moment even her amazing optimism hasn’t been enough to keep ours afloat.
The simple fact of the matter is that selling and buying real estate (oh, and MOVING) just plain sucks and is stressful.
However, on the plus side, despite the derailing or delay of relocation plans, I am STILL KICKING WORD COUNT TUSHY. So don’t mistake my foray into cranky-two-year-old-who-needs-a-nap status as complete depression on EVERYTHING. I’m just feeling morose and want this whole flipping thing OVER AND DONE WITH. I don’t do well in limbo. But I’m going to keep on moving forward with Red, and perhaps things will work out where I finish it right before my life gets turned upside down to move. Yes, there’s a positive thought. Finish book. THEN MOVE.
7 thoughts on “No Longer Yours”
I am with you! I put my house on the market the first week of March, because that was when the busy real estate season starts here in Denver. It actually slumps during the summer, so I need to sell in the next few weeks or my chances of selling will droop until fall.
The one thing that you forgot to mention is all the little things that you rush around to fix. Those things you knew were there before, but weren’t in a hurry to take care of—the wiggly doorknob, the faucet that drips occasionally or the scuffs on the paint in the hallway. In today’s market, the house must be in “like new” condition or people move on… because they can.
Now my house is in perfect condition; except the longer its on the market, the greater the likelihood that something will break. One of the potential buyers yanked too hard on an interior, decorative shutter and broke two of the hinges. Sigh. At least, that one I can repair myself. No one likes to spend money on repairs, but its worse when you are trying to leave. You feel like you are repairing someone else’s property.
Oh yes, Kait, I feel your pain. So far, no poo, though. Thank God.
{{hugs}} I’ve been there and done that and right now am so glad I’m not in a position to want or need to. Sending positive vibes your way.
Glad to hear you’re kick word count butt 🙂
I can’t say I understand how you feel because we went from 1) living with mom, 2) living in a double wide mobile home which we paid off, to 3) building a house. (Selling the double wide has it’s own horror story, but I won’t go into it on your blog, LOL.) But I can try to imagine how it feels. Frustrated would be the word, I think. Hang in there. It just HAS to happen eventually.
Yay on the awesome word count!
Our house was on the market for four months when we moved back in 2006. I was glad in the end, though, because the perfect house to move to popped up, and suddenly it all came together. It was very difficult, though, living in a showpiece I no longer felt was my own. Especially since the kids were young, and the cat was very old. I believe these things fall together as they should in the long run, and I believe they will for you, too. But I know it sure sucks while you’re having to deal with it. Good luck.
It’s good for the real estate agent to know the mindset of the client, this way we can try to keep the process as fluid as possible. Very Informative, thank you!
Good luck with the house Kait! How exciting though that you’re doing so well on the word count!
Patience is a virtue, yeah sure it is. Don’t you love how all the virtues are annoying things. While I can understand the need to keep things clean, I’d rather see what a house looks like “lived in” rather than one that is photo-shoot clean.
Still, Kait, truly awesome what you have accomplished on the writing front during this time, inspirational.