Saturday, March 17, 2007

Not Buying It

The sale of our home fell through already. To all of you who told me from the beginning to be positive and upbeat about the whole process, and for those who tried to convince me that negativity does not sell houses, I respond with a hearty I told you so.

Looks like optimism doesn't cut checks, either.

I am just glad I only wasted about two weeks thinking things were actually going well.

On the buying side, we actually put an offer in on another house right before our own sale fell through. There was a Hubbard clause on the bid and we are still waiting to hear if the owners will entertain such an uncertain prospect. I have to keep reminding myself that I don't care anymore. Que sera, sera. We have a roof over our heads and solid walls surrounding. Everything else will eventually fall into place around us.

But there is something I can be upbeat about. Almost a month into the game, I am still managing to keep a clean house. It's all about momentum--that's what a friend/commenter once told me. "Cleaning - and the maintenance thereafter - is a product of momentum, not motivation," he said. "Once you have cleaned, you need to leverage that sense of accomplishment to another chore relatively soon."

And so, I'm off to fold the laundry. Happy St. Patrick's Day.

9 comments:

S said...

Whether you were optimistic or pessimistic, it still sucks.

Sorry.

Jerri Ann said...

Don't get down. I have a friend who tried to sell their house w/o a realtor for almost 2 years. They hired and fired a realtor and within days, the house was sold and they didn't have a place to live. She said she would never do that again, that she would always have a bid waiting in the wings whens he put hers up again and she had endured that crazy 2 year wait. Keep your head up..

I'm whoring my new site, www.lifeinreality.com that I have started to put my payperpost ads on so I can make a little money and keep staying at home with my kids. Right now I have them on my old blog www.acracknlife.squarespace.com and they are cluttering it up. I've even moved them to their own page but still, I need as much linky love as possible. Would you consider adding my 2 links to your blog roll? I will beg, over bribes and even lick you in the face like a happy puppy if you would do this for me.

Maria said...

It is a pain in the ass to sell a house. When we moved five years ago, I swear I tried everything from baking chocolate chip cookies to leaving little personal notes.

It finally sold. On the closing day, I found out that they didn't have the down payment! They had spent it on furniture.

I was terrified. I had already bought a new house and the idea of paying two mortgages seemed overwhelming.

It sold for good three days later.

Hang in there.

Anonymous said...

Ha ha! I win the messier person award! Yessssssssssssssssssssssss.

You'll find the perfect house. I'm happy you're not moving far far away.

Girlplustwo said...

sorry friend. i know you had an eye on this one.

mamatulip said...

The unpredictability is what makes me the most nervous about the real estate market.

Sorry to hear it fell though...keep your chin up. You're right, what will be will be.

Anonymous said...

That friend/commentator you mentioned sounds like a genius! Seriously, though, don't give the missed opportunity a second thought. If we had bought the first house we put a bid in on we would not be nearly as happy as we are now in the palace on the hill (with hot tub!).

You'll look back one day and say, "Thank God those first few fell through!"

Trust me.

Anonymous said...

Mamatulip just sold her house and had some advice about buying a statue of St. Joseph the Worker. Literally, within 2 days, her house sold. Apparently there is an untold number of stories about this very phenomenon. Many people have said that they are not superstitious by any means, but they'll swear by the statue. Worth looking into, if you're interested in that sort of thing.
Here is the link if you're curious.

TSM Oregon said...

The clean house thing is definately a positive, and it's great that you can pull a positive out of this.

Rooting for you!