10 posts tagged “house for sale”
Slow but steady progress...
Yesterday...
Today...
After delay after delay after delay because of rain, the staining has FINALLY begun on my house. My little brown cabin will still be a little brown cabin, so it won't appeal to someone looking for a Cape Cod or Ranch house. But my oh my, it will look sooooooooooooooo much better.
Newly Stained Section
Cross View of Stained & Unstained Sections
Hello and Happy Saturday - or Caturday - to my wonderful Vox peeps.
Rather than write the same thing to each of the responses in my OMG post, I thought I'd just write one update.
The good news - my house is still a maybe.
The bad news - I need to be patient.
I found out through a series of conversations with my Realtor that the people who looked at my house on Tuesday are an elderly couple from Pennsylvania who are looking for a retirement home in my area. They are deciding between buying a small house (like mine) or a larger house. Their Realtor thinks they are leaning towards a smaller house and they really liked mine. Unfortunately, they have already gone back to PA for now. Their Realtor says they will come back down again at some point but will want to look at more houses before they make up their minds. So... it's still in the "good news"column but not a done deal by any stretch of the imagination.
This process has been very stressful and emotionally draining for me at times. For one thing, I've never sold a house
Some time last week I resolved that I may have to dig into retirement to pay the mortgage for a little while. Once I came to that conclusion I felt a little better. Thank God I actually have retirement to dig into - a big perk in working for the State. Without it I could easily be joining the ranks of the foreclosed.
So, that's my update. I am actively putting energy into sending out LOVE vibes to the couple from PA and everyone else who looks at the house. I'm still keeping it spotlessly clean every day in anticipation of the hordes of potential lookie-loos. And it is getting re-stained on the outside next week to give the curb appeal a bit of a boost. I'll post before
And now I am going to go get caught up on everyone else's lives. I will have more time after next week to get back into regular blogs and comments.
Someone looked at my house this morning.
In an email from my Realtor:
"From today's showing........
"The Showing went well; the home shows nicely. My folks are not quite ready to make a decision just yet. I will let you know if things change. Thanks!"
My response to him:
"Well, that sounds more promising than other showings. Should I be hopeful or stay realistic... Is that Realtor talk for "they're not really interested and I'm just being polite"?
His response back:
"Nope, not Realtor code. Sounds like a good prospect. I will be following up later in the week. "
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
My hopes are riiiiissssiiiinnnnggggggg..........
Please love my house!
Please dream about it tonight.
Please imagine your new deck furniture on the patio.
Please imagine sitting outside having coffee and watching deer.
Please think you can't live without it and must have it now.
Please oh please oh please love my house!
First....
I got into the PhD program at Penn State!
Yaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy! Just found out yesterday. As with UConn, I'm on the short list for funding, so I just need to keep breathing and be patient. I'll go visit soon to get a feel for the people and culture at Penn State then I will be able to make a good decision.
UConn and PState are my top two... so I am happy happy happy!
Nittany Lion or Huskie?
Huskie or Nittany Lion?
Second... my house is being shown again on Sunday. Please send ocean's of positive energy to the person/people who are coming to see it. I'm thinking a communal chant like "Cabins in the woods are the best thing ever" or perhaps "You want to live on a street called Casper more than anything on earth" or just simply "Buy Stevie's house, buy Stevie's house". I'm ok with them all. You pick your favorite... 11:30 EST on Sunday.
I will try to be better a better blogger soon. I have been trying to keep up with reading everyone's news but haven't had the energy to respond, comment, or write my own posts. It'll get better soon, I promise!
Monday night my house was number 54 in the top 100 on my Realtor's site. Tonight it's number 44. Yahoooooooo! Go ,little house, go!
A realtor brought someone else through my house today and they didn't call first to let me know. Not that I would have said no, of course, but it's still good to know in advance.
Things I did not do to put my house in showroom condition:
1) Hide the can of popcorn ceiling spray I will use to camo the blobby area in the bedroom.
2) Close the bedroom closet doors (my dirty clothes hamper is in there).
3) Put away the extra carpet pieces I put around the woodstove to prevent embers from urning holes in the new carpet.
Ok, so those are no big deal. I know. It's just that I am fighting all my natural instincts to keep the house neat and tidy EVERY SINGLE FRIGGIN DAY. It's not that I'm a slob, but I'm also not a neat freak. I'm just comfortable. There's always a little clutter lying around, I never make my bed, and usually a dish or two in the sink. Keeping the whole house picked up and cleaned up is tiring and stressful.
Come on people! Buy my house so I can go back to my old lifestyle!
Hee hee.
The first potential buyers came through to look at my house today. Woot! Hope they liked it.
It's funny, but this process has been an interesting experience for me because deep down I'm convinced that my house will sell fast. I think I said this in an earlier post, but there is a part of me that thought there would be bunches of people coming through last Wednesday who would then end up in a bidding war. Seriously.
I am the eternal rose-colored glasses person. Cock-eyed optimist. Flowers and sunshine. I have gotten much better as I have gotten older at seeing the world as it really is and not as I want it to be. I'm more realistic and practical now so I do understand that houses in my price range typically sell in an average of 6 months. There is a big difference between three days and six months. I get that. But I love my house and so I think every one else will too. [huge grin]
So, today my first potential new best friends came through. I sure hope they liked it.
Oh yeah! The title refers to my house's ranking through my realtor's website. They track the number of views each property gets and list the top 100. Mid-week last week mine wasn't even in the top 100, so it's shot up quite a bit! Yay!
At long last, I am excited to announce my house is finally on the market. The info from the Realtor's website:
Egads, I've been a slacker Voxer lately! Just lots of stuff going on, no excuses.
I'm in the final push towards getting my house on the market, so I've been working on lots of projects. Painting, staining, replacing light fixtures, a little electrical work (thanks, Joe!), arranging for new carpet, putting down new floors, getting a new closet built & equipped. Yeah, man. It's been a lot of work, but also fun.
Hopefully my house will be on the market in the first half of February. Then, fingers crossed, it will sell within six months. I am optimistic. Despite the housing crunch we've heard so much about, our part of Virginia is actually growing. Plus my house will be in the under 200K price range which are generally selling in approximately six months - or, as my Realtor puts it, there is a six month supply of homes under 200K.
He recently said that there are only 168 single family homes in the entire city/county area under 200K, that's gotta increase my odds a bit. There are tons of townhomes & duplexes in my price range, but not too many single family homes. Plus my house is darn cute. I would buy it! Oh yeah, I already did. Ha.
I'll post before and after pictures as projects are finished.
