Our house is officially off of the real estate market. We have had zero showings since October, in great part thanks to the holidays, so we decided to take it off of the market until the spring. Oddly enough, I have gotten two calls in the past week on the house. I tell you, it is has been so weird! Two days after I took it off, a real estate agent called to see if she could preview the house. I said “uh, sure” and promptly rushed home and did the world’s fastest cleaning. She said she thought her client would love it, even going so far as to ask how fast we could move. Well, after rescheduling THREE times, she ended up canceling the showing after driving her client by the house. Apparently, he did not want a two-story house. Shouldn’t she have known that from the beginning?? I can tell you that Trevor and I were less than enthused at this news, especially since we had been working our tails off to keep the house spotless for over a week while she rescheduled continuously. Because keeping a house that clean with two little boys is a near-impossible task!
Anyway, that cancellation happened Saturday evening, and Trevor and I got over our disappointment and just decided that when it’s time, it will be time, and there’s really nothing we can do about it. We just needed to hand over our expectations and anxieties to God and trust that He will accomplish all things in His time. Yesterday afternoon, the phone rang while I was at TJ Maxx. A man and his son were apparently driving by our house and saw our sign (we only have the post up with the “for sale” rider at the top, the actual sign is down). He looked it up online and called me. They had been looking at a house down the street and wondered if they could come by and see ours. Since I had been cleaning for a week straight, the house was show-ready so I said “sure!” and hurried home. It was just so random! The guy looking was in his mid-twenties and the lease on his apartment is up in six weeks.
He and Trevor bonded over his car (an FJ… Trevor traded his in last summer for a more family-friendly truck with a full backseat), and he ended up showing them the house (afterwards he told me I was the worst real estate agent ever, ha ha) himself. Who knows if anything will actually come out of this random showing, but I have to say, I was really happy that someone saw the house after we spent so much time getting it ready to show! I’ll keep you guys updated on anything else that happens. Otherwise, the sign is coming down today and we will put it back on the market in late February or March as a “for sale by owner.”
Anyone else have their houses on the market right now? Or is this market driving you crazy, too?
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
We put our condo on the short sale market and with two boys, getting ready for showings is a NIGHTmare, so I know your pain!! SO annoying and frustrating. We have some potential interest but at this point I just want to get it over and done with!
Feeling your pain
Good luck, Samantha!!
We had our house on the market from August until December. We had a buyer and everything…. until the appraisal came in. The house appraised for $12,000 less than the selling price and I guess my house shrunk by about 300 sq ft somehow. Our deal fell through, so we took it off the market and decided to stay in our house. It sucked. I hope you get a buyer in the spring.
Oh, how frustrating!! This market stinks!
I will say a prayer that the last guy will make you an awesome offer! Your house is so pretty. I find it shocking that is hasn’t sold. We aren’t selling our house but we did sell before and it is such a pain in the butt! We built our current house and that isn’t a walk in the park either. Good luck to you & your family. I am dying for you to start your dream house!
Thank you so much, Elizabeth! I really hope it works out. I am so excited to start building our house, too, especially since we recently met with a friend of ours and found out he could build a nicer house for WAY less than the previous builder we were going to use. Can’t wait!
We were in the same boat, been on the market since October, and nothing was happening. We were ready to take it off the market last week, when we got a call, showed it, and the woman is buying! We have the inspection tomorrow, so if all goes well we will be homeless soon. Hang in there, something will happen!
Michelle, best of luck in the inspection! That is awesome!
So frustrating! Just to encourage you – my husband (before we met & he was my husband) was one of those random, drive-by, see-a-for-sale-sign & call the owner, prospective buyers. He saw our home, had a showing ten minutes later and put an offer in the next day. Not saying this guy is for sure the ONE, but you never know how these things can shake out!
Sorry about the ongoing frustration, must be incredibly tough to keep optimistic!
Julia, that would be amazing if it worked out. At this point, I can’t get excited about anything because I start obsessing over it and then get SO disappointed when it doesn’t work out.
We put our house on the market mid December, have had 9 showings and 5 parties through at an Open House this weekend, and good feedback, but zero 2nd showings or offers. Urgh! That’s a lot of house cleaning with 2 two year olds! My husband accepted a job and has been working 5 hours away, so we NEED to sell asap so I can stop being a single mom Monday-Friday and move our family to his new job location. I feel your pain!
Wow, five hours is quite a commute for him! I pray you sell soon!
We are putting our place in the market the second week of Feb. The DC market is pretty good, so we are hopeful it will be quick and painless. We have put hours upon hours of work prepping to sell it and even though we get movers and packers just about every belonging we own we packed ourselves to put in storage to stage our place. I’m planning to just live at the indoor play place and gym once it’s listed. The less the baby and I are there the less messing up we can do. On the flip side the housing market where we are moving is terrible, nothing worth considering. Hope everyone will be listing in the next few weeks there so we’ll have a place to live!
If it makes you feel better we were on the other end of the spectrum this week. These people had their home on the market a long time and I knew they were building a new place out of state. I emailed and asked if they may consider renting if it turned out they HAD to go to the new place, while we saved a down payment to eventually buy. She asked if we would consider doing owner financing instead and to get an offer ready. Heck yes!
We spent a day getting our offer ready and just before I hit send she emailed me and told me they were going to list with a realtor for 6 months. I was so bummed ..it really felt like it was our forever house. My dream house, on the historical register .. An old plantation house. Still crossing my fingers
Oh man, that is awful! I hope you guys can figure out something and still get the place of your dreams!
Ours has been on the market since December… not too long.. but long enough as we are moving and are in the process of buying another house in a new town… I REALLY don’t want to have 2 mortgages! Praying someone likes our house soon!