As you may recall from previous blogs (Our Business Failure, What We Gained from Our Business Failure), our family is in the midst of some pretty hefty financial difficulties.
Well, Friday was the big day. The notice was posted on our front door that our house is due to be auctioned off at the end of the month. Fortunately, we had already contacted a realtor regarding a short sell and had already begun showing the house. A short sell will buy us a few months more in the house while the bank is negotiating the sale with the buyer. Hopefully by the end of that time we will have found a new place to live.
So here’s my dilemma. Intellectually I know that we need people to look at the house if we want to sell it. And most people aren’t even home when buyers tromp through their doors. My problem is I work from home 75% of the time and Bud is homeschooled. So we pretty much have to be here when the house is being shown. And emotionally that is very difficult (head sense vs. heart sense).
The first day we had 4 showings scheduled, back to back, right after I got off work. Then 3 the next day, and so on. By Wednesday I was ready to break. Don’t get me wrong, everyone was very nice, and even though they felt “judgy” to me, they probably weren’t. The problem was I couldn’t get anything done. I felt like my whole life was consumed with making sure the house stayed clean for the showings. I started questioning whether we’d even made the right decision. After all, if we didn’t get an offer in time, we were going to lose the house at auction anyway and if things continued the way they were I wouldn’t even have time to pack the house! (You can see how my brain tends to jump to extremes).
Well, it just so happened that right about the time I started bawling, telling Art I just couldn’t do it anymore, our realtor called and asked if he could come over for a few minutes. I really didn’t want to see him in the state I was in, but I didn’t feel like I had a choice. He lives just down the block from us, so he walked up in about 5 minutes, just long enough for me to pull myself together a little.
Ray (our realtor) told us that our house was progressing at a rate he hadn’t seen in a long time and had not anticipated. We already had promises of two offers and he thought we would be submitting the best one to our bank by the end of the week. Once the house status changed to “sale pending” the showings would slow to a near stop. We could get our lives back again and we would buy the time we needed. I took a deep breath for the first time in a long time.
Then Ray did something marvelous. He asked if he could pray with us. We all huddled together and as he prayed I could feel myself tearing up again, but this time with tears of relief and peace. God sent us just the right help at just the right time so we would know we were doing just the right thing.
He sounds like a blessing in disguise. I agree with Nancy it is terrible when your house is on the market, you just cannot relax and feel it has to be tip top condition all the time which isnt the best thing with a family. Fingers crossed for you all xx
How wonderful you had a realtor who would pray with you! I know first hand what you mean about not being able to feel at home when you are at home and your house is on the market. The last time we listed a house I seriously considered getting a hotel room.