Saturday, January 7, 2012

Keeping Our Underwear Off the Floor

The Mr. and I have been trying to sell our home for the last 15 months.  Yes, 15 months.  (okay, actually that is not true, because I got totally fed up last spring and we took the house off of the market for about 4 months and I enjoyed being able to leave my underwear on the floor, but if you look at the original listing date till now it's been 15 months). 

A lot (I mean A LOT) of folks assume that our house is on the market because we are 'over our heads' or 'underwater' or 'just avoiding forclosure'.  But actually, (just for reference those of you who are so nosey and in our business) we are above water, making our payments just fine, and we figure if we stuck it out for a few more years, we would actually be able to recoup what we have put into the house. 

So why are selling you ask?  Because I was stupid.  Pretty much.  When we bought this house, my kids were little (Girly Girl was 3 and Little Man was 18 months old).  The Nana and The Papa were watching the kids for us, I was working as a principal, and the Mr. had an engineering job with a consulting firm.  Life was good.  And I couldn't see past what life was AT THAT MOMENT.  So, we bought a house that was close to The Nana and The Papa, a house in a great neighborhood except there weren't very many kids (it didn't matter because our kids weren't really old enough to need friends), a house that was right then, just right.

Fast forward.  Kids are now 9 and 11.  The Nana and The Papa have closed up their daycare shop.  I've left the principalship (a great decision for our family) and work at the district office for a mid-sized school district.  Mr. has changed jobs and now works for 'the man' (General Electrics).  And here's the kicker... I take the kids with me to my district every day to go to school.  30 minutes one way.  Mr. and I wanted to ensure that our kids had a great education, and we also wanted them to be close to us, so we decided that having them in my district (their school is half a mile from my office) was the best decision.  And for the first few years, this was perfect.  But now Girly Girl is getting older.  Friendships are becoming more important.  And she's about to.... enter MIDDLE SCHOOL.  (shudder).

And now, now my perfect house that fit us so well... just doesn't seem to fit anymore.  Kids have homework and sports and such and we waste amazing amounts of time in the car every day (and I am SO sick of the drive, not to mention the MILES on my car..).  Kids have established great friendships... with kids at their school.  This means that they only way they can have 'playdates' is with lots of parental involvement, prearrangement, and LOTS and LOTS of driving.  In addition, the space in the house is all put into the living areas, rather than the bedrooms (which wasn't a big deal when they were little because they always wanted to be with us) and they have tiny bedrooms that don't allow them to spread out very much.

I didn't plan ahead.  So here we sit.  And wait.  And keep our house immculate.  And make our beds every day and pick up the laundry every day and wipe down the kitchen counters every morning and never leave a mess (never ever leave a mess because that will be the one time that they come to show the house...).  We get decent traffic through the house- as I am writing this we have already had two showings this weekend and there are two more scheduled.  This is also a pain in the tushie.  To schedule our Saturdays around the showings... both of which today happened at mealtimes.  So... do you eat out?  Just let them see the house while you are eating dinner?   I know that when we have gone house hunting, I always hate to see the people who live there.  It makes me feel uncomfortable, it makes me feel like I am intruding.  So usually, we try to be 'gone'.   Lately 'gone' has translated to us driving down the street and sitting in our car reading books.  How sad is that?  And I have to admit that because we have had SO MANY showings... you just start to feel like the whole thing is hopeless and one more person is just going to walk through the house and not like it.  (And it's a beautiful home.. it really is... it is clean and well kept and has a great layout.  We've remodeled the kitchen, kept up with the yard... I love this house.)

Anyway, we are patiently waiting for the right person to buy our house.  I know that it will happen.  Someday.  I just hope it happens BEFORE our situation changes again....

Have a great Saturday...
C

2 comments:

  1. ooo! I totally get this. My husband works a bit away and I can forsee how hard it will be for him to get home to help and participate in some of the afterschool activities. Good luck. Such a hard thing. Thanks for saying hi today!

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  2. We used to sit and read while people were looking at our house too! :-)
    I am enjoying your new blog!

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