My husband, Matt, and I are building our new home. This is the seventh in a series of who-knows-how-many. I’m writing from the perspective of a buyer, and an agent, since I am both in this case.
Welcome back! Happy New Year to you and yours!
This post is about the selling aspect of buying a new house. If you have an existing home, and are not incredibly wealthy, you’re going to have to sell the one home before you can buy the other. That’s the position we’re in.
At the end of last year, we re-carpeted, re-floored, added new kitchen counter tops and a tile back splash, and painted the entire interior (read more about that here). Matt and I ran around town the week between Christmas and New Year’s buying new towels and shower curtains and bedding and decorative accessories. We took huge amounts of furniture to storage. We bought fresh flowers (okay, Matt moved the furniture and I bought the fresh flowers!). Finally, on Friday the 6th, we were ready. I listed the house in the MLS and – boom! We were live!
And nothing happened. No calls, or texts, or vast hordes of inquiries.
It’s not that I honestly expected that to happen, but I had considered how fun it would be if it did happen. My husband, when I would mention the knots in my stomach, or the bad dreams I kept having, reminded me he wasn’t worried. He had confidence in his Realtor. I, however, did not hold her in as high esteem.
Finally, after our first showing, I called the agent who had shown it to ask what his clients thought. I always do this. Some agents have an e-mail they auto-send when someone shows their listings, or they don’t bother getting feedback at all. I like to call people to ask because the voice carries so much more information than simply the words used. I tried to play it cool – I waited several hours, then asked in my “agent” voice what did his clients think of the house. My heart was in my mouth! I found it MATTERED to me, a great deal! He said “they really liked it”. Nothing negative, only good stuff. Oh my gosh! I was positively giddy! What a relief!
Now, allow me to state this for the record to all my sellers…past, present and future…YOU ARE AMAZING! To function and keep your house clean and not come unhinged at every minute of the day – you are rock stars, and I thank you for allowing me to help you sell your home. I had vastly underestimated the stress and low thrum of pressure hovering under the surface.
So, now there is nothing to do but wait for an offer. And blog. See you soon!
Oh, check out our house’s web site if you’d like – 5044blueheron.com.
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