The House
So many of my friends and family have been asking us if we have had any "bites" on the house yet. The answer is, unfortunately, no, we haven't! We have went for long periods of time where we have no showings at all and then the showings seem to crop up in clusters.
So, I've been trying to ignore the fact that the house hasn't sold yet, and I'm trying to focus on other stuff. Stuff that I can have control over. One of those things has been Christmas shopping. It brightens everything to think about this special time of year that we have to celebrate our Savior and participate in giving to others.
Another thing I've been doing here and there is staging my house. Yes, we've had it decorated, etc... but some things I've just let be because of time and money (my excuse for almost anything!). So I've kind allowed myself some fun and time and expense lately of buying a few more things to stage our house.
One of those things was this little nightstand I got on Craigslist for $10. For the almost 15 years of our marriage, most of our furniture has been made up of stuff like
One of those things was this little nightstand I got on Craigslist for $10. For the almost 15 years of our marriage, most of our furniture has been made up of stuff like
this white dresser that we got that is basically junk furniture. But that is all we could afford at the time. And when we could start affording more, we got another vehicle, or moved into a bigger house or added another child to the family, instead of upgrading the furniture. Not all of the furniture we have is "junk" furniture. It's mainly just the dressers now.
And today, after some painting projects the past 2 days, I spent the morning and early afternoon baking cookies for our Card Group cookie exchange tonight. After I was done baking, I cleaned up my cookie mess. But I didn't bother with the aftermath of the hurricane that builds when you don't focus on cleaning the house for 2 days to paint furniture.
And this morning we awoke to a steady and accumulating snowfall. The first real one we've had so far this year in Denver. And I thought to myself that I really needed to clean my house, mainly taking care of all that laundry and vacuuming . But I decided after all my cookie work I would sit down and check my Facebook for a few minutes.
I did that and then my oldest daughter came home from school. We chatted and then I headed out to get my 3 middle children from school. The roads were slippery and the unshoveled sidewalks at the school made a quick trip into a lengthier one. We were all home and sitting in the family room. I was attempting to read some books to Tyler after assigning chores to those who didn't have homework and was receiving lots of backlash about it.
Just a few moments later the doorbell rang. Kyle went to get it and someone started to open the door. I heard a lady asking, "If your Mom is here, so I can show the house?" I put the books down and ran to the door. I told her that I was unaware a showing was scheduled and that I would be happy to show my house but that I needed some time. I asked if they had any other homes they wanted to see nearby so they could come back to ours.
She said, "No, that she didn't mind the mess." That was the "Looker," not the agent. I said if you could just give me five minutes to tidy up then they could come and see it. They finally agreed to wait in their cars for 5 minutes.
In the meantime I had all the kids but Tyler quick at work cleaning and bickering. After 5 minutes, the doorbell rang again. It was the "looker". She said they would look at a couple of other houses and come back. Relieved I closed the door. My kids and I spun through the house like we've never done before, placing all sorts of things in all the wrong places, like a pair of gloves in the kitchen cupboard. Desperate times call for desperate measures!
We didn't have it perfect, but it would have to do. The Agent and her Lookers came just as we were leaving. I'm sure that nothing will come of the showing, because that just seems to be the market right now. But I'm proud of the kids and the way they helped me in a pinch!
And as for why I didn't know about the showing sooner, I'm debating getting rid of T-mobile asap, because all of the showings go to my cell phone and it doesn't ring half the time in the house. And for the life of me, I cannot figure out why all the Lookers want to come on the days you least expect them, like the day after Thanksgiving, or the snowiest day of the year so far?
12 comments:
Well...I don't know if this will help or not, but when we were selling our last house, we had a keybox on the door so people could come through if we weren't home. But they were supposed to call first, of course. We kept our house as show-ready as we could (with a four-year-old undoing everything we did), but one night we had somewhere to be right after dinner, so we left everything on the table -- dirty dishes, leftover food, everything -- and raced out the door. We came home to find a realtor's card on the mantle. Someone had come to see the house, and not only was it not completely clean, but we had digusting crap all over the table. Guess who bought the house? Yep, that was the couple that came through.
I'm not saying the househunters today will buy your house, but it's not completely impossible, anyway!
Kari, I hope it happens like Denise's home! It only takes one! I couldn't beleive all those cookies! Whew, what a job, but they look so nice with the ribbon and all. Since you are done having kids and Laren is making a little more, hopefully once this house sells you can buy the nice dressers! I think your home looks fabulous!
We have moved several times and also have 5 children. My best advice is to keep a couple of laundry baskets handy. When those calls for last minute showings come up, gather up all the clutter in the baskets, throw them in the mini van and escape the house.
The people who bought our WI house came a day early. I noticed them as I was getting out of the shower. I told them to give me ten minutes. Of course, the rest of the showings the house was in perfect order. This day the house was a big mess. But they put in an offer a couple of days later. You never know!!
Of course that happens on the one day the house is messy... sounds like you did a great job under pressure. Your cookies look amazing, I wish I were still your neighbor :)
You know, I would almost prefer the last minute clean up to the "I cleaned for 3 hours, dragged 3 little kids out of the house to spend 2 hours at McD's, fought with them to get them out of there to go home and find that no one showed for the showing..." :( Still makes me angry 4 years later. LOL!
Hugs to you in the crazy time! The cookies and snow sound lovely, though. Signs of the season of giving and coziness. We are cold down here in TX (relatively), but a little snow would be fun (relatively). ;)
Hopefully you will get some bites very soon! I deep cleaned the house for a party yesterday and then followed the children around, picking up after them. I can't imagine having to keep it really clean all the time!
Oh I feel for you! No nibbles on my house either. I am doing the same as you and just plugging away with life. What else can you do right? Yum! Those cookies look so good. What kind are they?
How frustrating! We had people come at some odd times too. Hear is to a serious buyer! That would be a great Christmas gift.
Linda, those are called Oatmeal Carmelita's. Kind of a weird name for a cookie, but they were delish!! :)
While I've never had to "show my house", I can totally relate to putting things in the wrong cupboards in a hurry. LOL!! Your kids were great to help. I like the new nightstand.
This is sounding all too familiar! We're trying to sell also, so we can move into the house we are building :) I hope you get a bite soon! And, thanks for sending your blog! Mine is private, but I would love to invite you - email me at llcarroll6@yahoo.com
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