So I haven’t updated much on our big move, because, well, life and all that good stuff.  But there’s finally news!  I am so thrilled to report that we have finally entered escrow!

The path from deciding to sell to accepting an offer has been a ridiculous nightmare.  We “sort of knew” an agent (we found him randomly when we sold my dad’s place) and he was “sort of friendly” with my husband, but it remains true that you absolutely cannot mix business and friendship, not even the “sort of” kind!  This agent did absolutely no comp research in our area, had no idea what the fair market price was for our house, and as a result, advised us to list at the lowest market price and then “go from there”.  Um, no thank you?

We ended up finding another agent (again randomly) and decided just to interview him and get a second opinion.  If he agreed with the first agent then we would have to do some more decision making as the lower price was not an option.  If his direction seemed a little clearer, we would just go with him and get the ball rolling.  This agent gave us a little higher estimated value, did some comp research, and agreed to give us a cut of his fee if he sold the house within the 3 month contract period!  We were so excited and eager for him to jump in with marketing our home!  Well, red flags went up just a bit when he offered to photograph our house with his cell phone.  Um, really?  Your cell phone camera?  So, not knowing our options we took our own photos and listed with him.

Well, in the 3 months we were listed, we received less than 5 offers and all at much lower prices!   Very few open house showings were done, very little contact with the agent, and we were now headed to Europe for a month and the house would sit idle!  Taking in lots of deep breaths and letting out even more sighs, we decided just to sign on with him until the day we landed back in the states.  At least that way, the house would still be accessible to other agents wanting to show the house.

The day we arrived home from Europe, we went and retrieved our key from the agent and decided we would list the house as “For Sale By Owner”.  Yes, without having a single clue as to what we were doing or how to get things done! What a nightmare those few days were.   My phone (which apparently was the number listed on the previous contract) was ringing non-stop!  I had absolutely no idea who these people were that were calling me at all hours of the day and night or what they wanted!  I started asking questions and it turned out that once a house is taken “off the market” officially (whether by seller’s choice or by an agent’s contract expiring) an email or alert of some sort goes out to everybody and their brother in real estate!  My goodness the calls from folks asking to view the house and those that were wanting to swoop in and take on the listing were just crazy!  Then the snail mail and email offers started pouring in and it all became very overwhelming.  These ravenous vultures were circling and we realized quickly that we did not have the time or the capabilities to sell this house on our own.  

We started to read through some of the mailed in advertisements from brokers and thought about how we should go about choosing yet. another. new. agent.  We had been on the market for four months, had not made any progress and now we were looking at the last property tax bill being due for the year with no buyer in sight.

During this “For Sale By Owner” time period, we were approached by a gal that wanted to get in and show the house to her clients.  We arranged a showing and after several reschedules, she determined her client would not be interested after all.  I was a little put off by her approach, but she did share with me a sort of dossier she had worked up on our house.  This was no dog-eared collection of random internet information, but rather a bound, glossy-covered, 1/4 inch thick, color-copy history of our home and similar homes in our area!  We were totally impressed that she would do all of that for a client (that was not even present for the showing!) and then offer to let us keep it for reference.  We got to talking and she asked what the buyer feedback was on our home.  Um, buyer feedback? What in the world is that?!  Apparently agents can share what their prospective clients thought of the home (“It was too small.” “We didn’t like the floor plan.” “The yard was not landscaped.”  “We are looking for more ceiling fans.” “The neighbors were too ghetto.” Whatever.) and this in turn helps the seller to add improvements where they can! We.  were.  floored.  We had not heard a single thing from the previous agent.  Not one word on what folks thought of our home or if we could modify the house in an inexpensive way to get it sold faster!   She also shared with us that she thought the house had a lot of value for the area, but that the previous marketing (photos) made it less desirable. She also thought the house was listed way too low!  So, after a lot of back and forth we decided to go with this fast-talking, sparkly designer jean wearing, go-getter and hope for the best!  I mean, it really could not be any worse than our other experiences, right?!

She hired a professional photographer who also added a 360° view of  the entire property, had the house listed immediately, planned back-to-back open house showings, and promised to get us the highest price within her 2 month contract time!  We got an offer within a couple of weeks and at full asking price!  YAY!

And after a very late night and an even earlier morning filled with phone calls, text messages, emails, crossed-eyes from trying to decipher the offer agreement, and dealing with the buyer’s “playground” demands over an expensive home warranty and personal property (I have had the hardest time with this – how in the world are people so bold as to ask for personal property, of all things, to be included in the sale of a house?!) we counter offered and all parties have agreed.  We are now finally officially in escrow!  😀

All that’s left is to finish clearing out the junk in the garage (Hello month-long yard sale marathon!) and to begin the process of letting go of our home.  Please pray that we would have an uneventful and painless 30 days!