Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Selling a House


I didn’t post yesterday, sorry. We’re in the process of selling out house and I’m finding it very stressful. Have you sold a house lately?
We’ve been sorting, shredding, donating and packing. Finally we got a real estate agent, who I think is good, and we listed the house. Now it’s staging and keeping it looking like no one lives here. It’s really stressful, for all of us, including my two older dogs. They have no idea what’s going on.  And we have to be ready to leave the house at any time. Our agent tries to give us twenty-four hours notice, but Monday we got two and a half hours notice. And then Tuesday they made a ridiculously low offer with and wanted us to sit and wait until he put his house up for sale and sold it in September. Plus we weren’t supposed to talk to anyone about it – we weren’t supposed to say we have an offer and what the offer was. We rejected it.  And we had six hours notice for the next showing. It was last night, Tuesday night during the dinner hour.  
Apparently it went well because they’ve requested a second showing tonight, again during the dinner hour. We’re eating out more.

I’m also trying to get the first one hundred pages of my WIP and a synopsis to an agent by this weekend – due date – no extensions.

Anyway that’s my excuse for not blogging.  Anyone have selling experience they want to share?

12 comments:

  1. Oh Bev, I feel for you! I have a family member going through it now too... and looking to move to your area :) ...but the dogs, the leaving for a half hour hear and there... the elderly dog doesn't get being forced to go out for so many walks! :)

    Hang in there :D

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    1. Thanks Kathryn. It's like suddenly it's not your home, but a show home you can stay in but very carefully.

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  2. Good luck! My dad is doing the same thing. I have ended up with most of the stuff!

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    1. Lucky you. We just had the Salvation Army pick up our older chesterfield, loveseat, chair , ottoman, coffee table and end tables.. It looks like a lot of people are going through this.

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  3. We went through this 6 years ago when we sold our house. It was the usual stuff - agents who wanted to price the house really low for a quick commission, last-minute showings, buyers who never showed up, insultingly low offers, trying to make the place presentable despite cardboard cartons lining the walls, a showoff dog who thought he was there to entertain the buyers, overhearing snarky comments about things like the color of the walls and trying hard to keep my mouth shut and not boot them the hell out.

    The only thing I can say is, this, too, shall pass. Good luck!

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    1. A lot of that sounds soo familiar, except we were kicked out anytime anyone came through so we never saw or heard anything. Loved the low-ball agents.

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  4. It's been a few years since I've sold a house. At that time, we were gone for most of the day and it worked out well for showings. We got some ridiculous offers we passed up but eventually got something we could live with. Still, buying or selling a house is stressful.

    We recently purchased a home and in today's market, it a normal transaction but I thought it was definitely more stressful than it needed to be. Especially, when we lost one home and purchased the same model two doors down for a much lower price.

    Hang in there...it will all end up well...hugs.

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    1. Thanks for the hugs. The story seems to be pretty standard. Why does it have to be so stressful?

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  5. When we sold our last house (way back in 1997), the real estate agent wanted me to take down the country goose wall paper border in the kitchen. (Remember when that was a "thing?") I said no, and that border was what sold the house. No joke. The lady told me she adored country geese and she knew as soon as she saw it that ours was the house God wanted her to have. No argument from me. :)

    Follow your gut, whether about staging, changing things, or which offer to accept or reject. RE agents don't know everything.

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    1. Love your story and I remember country goose wallpaper border. Borders were big then.
      And I agree with go with your gut, Some RE agents are good. Others...

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  6. Selling a house on a competitive real estate marketplace can surely be frustrating. When I listed my property for sale, I always found it very stressful to prepare for showings that were scheduled on a relatively short notice. However, I was absolutely thrilled to endure all of the inconveniences of showings once my house was finally sold to some buyers who gave a fair offer. But good luck with selling that house!

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  7. I really feel for you; it can be such hard work. At least you feel your real estate agent is good, which I guess is half the battle. But I know it feels like it goes on and on and on. It'll all be over soon, though, and you'll get your reasonable offer. And then the joy of moving!

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