On Selling Your House

Life in a Nutshell
Matt Lickona writes in "Swimming with Scapulars":

"For three months, it felt like finding and buying a house was all we were doing. Other people were getting married, having children, reading books, living life. We were buying a house."

Amen, brother. Our house has been on the market since August 19(?). It has been shown about 6 times, one of those an impromptu by me, since the guy was peering into our enormous front windows, much to the alarm of my little ones watching tv. (don't worry, he was an older man, very grandfatherly, with a lovely wife....I think I'm a pretty good judge of character) We're so desperate to sell our house that I feel like flagging down every car that drives by and giving them the grand tour!

There's a cycle with selling your house. In the initial phase, you and your husband are running around like maniacs cleaning, painting, and fixing every little broken, cracked, or chipped surface you can see. You pack all of those "unnecessary" items into boxes, and store them in the storage closet. You clean the house everyday, waiting with bated breath for the phone to ring and that "special family" to walk through your house and fall in love with it just like you did when you first saw it and decided to buy it. Of course, they will also appreciate all the work you have put into it, seeing the garage conversion as a benefit (more space for kiddos) not a detraction (no garage) from the appeal of the house. You are a nazi-mama about keeping the house clean. I remember actually gloating with a friend who lives in Atlanta about how great it is that we "have" to keep our house clean...I love a clean house!

Weeks go by.

4 showings in a month.

You continuously "slip" in your resolution of keeping the house immaculate.

The boxes you packed are slowly being unpacked as you discover that those "unnecessaries" are becoming necessary.

The chips on the walls are mysteriously re-appearing, along with all the junk you cleared off the kitchen counters and stashed in the cupboards.

You actually begin to fall in love with your house all over again, what with the new carpets and fresh paint...and wonder if maybe you could squeeze 7 people into a 1700 sq. ft. home for just one more year.

And then the call comes....."can we show your house in 2 hours?".....

Hope springs eternal.