Houses, Moving, and the like...

Two absolutely wonderful things happened yesterday!


One, the landlord of the house we're renting told us that he accepted an offer on the house! Although they may continue to show the house until close (should the current contract fall through), the house being under contract will deter a lot of showing requests. It's one thing when it's your house that's being sold, but going out of our way to help someone else sell their house has been a pain. When Kyle's family was down, we had a showing Sunday afternoon between 1:30-3:30...so we just went for a late lunch and did a little shopping and returned around 3:35. At 4:30, a Realtor shows up to show the house. Kyle told them they couldn't see the house. It was both funny and infuriating at the same time. The other part of this that is great, is that because the house was sold as-is (nothing has to be fixed or replaced) we will get our full security deposit back!!
The second awesome thing was that the representative for our builder said that he would give us a hard close date next week, and that it is fully possible for us to be moved in by the end of April!! I'm so flippin' giddy...I can't even tell you! With the majority of our stuff still packed, moving shouldn't be a big deal either. Kyle was kind of worried about the time-frame we would have to move in, and I said "it's called throw your crap in a box and haul it eight miles". 


I realized last night that I will have moved four times in a little under five years, and been involved in the selling of two houses. I'll be so happy to be somewhere permanent!


Having done all of that (and having some friends going through the house-selling process) I thought I'd jot down what I learned, what I thought I did right, and the things I did wrong. 


- Realtor - First things first, find the right realtor. Find someone that knows your area, and someone who does not only have listings way above what your house will list for. They're going to focus on the homes that will get them the most commission, and if yours is at the bottom of the list, it will get the least attention. Once you've found a good one, trust them. If they think you need to lower the price or change something about the house, do it. Because I couldn't be in Tulsa to handle every little situation that came up with selling our house, I relied a lot on my realtor. I asked a ton of questions and for advice, and he never steered me wrong. I know for a fact that had I not done what he told me to, we would not have sold the house in three-weeks like we did. 


On that same note, if you start to feel like you're realtor isn't working for you, don't hesitate to shop around. It's too big of an undertaking and burden to have it handled improperly. By the way, my realtor in Tulsa was Frank Petrouskie. I highly recommend him!


- Landscaping/flowers - the entry to your house really does do a lot of the selling for you. If a person can imagine themselves making that walk up to the door everyday...they're 70% there. Nothing has to be elaborate, just tidy and aesthetically pleasing. You don't have to spend a lot, or any, money either. Just cleaning out the flower beds and shaping things up helps a lot. If you want to do a little planting or add some color, use yellows and oranges. It supposedly gives a happy/cheery vibe. Even just some containers of flowers by the door helps. What I did was make a game plan of the flowers I would need, and I went to the nursery and found some small yellow flowering plants that were on sale. Just enough for some color. The object is to get the buyer to think "man, if they've done this much work to the outside, they've almost surely done an awesome job of maintaining the house itself". A well maintained house equals a better investment. 

A side note to this...if you have an open house, get some fresh flowers to set on the dining table or on the kitchen counter.


- Cleaning - This is basic, but make sure things like baseboards, ceiling fans, and light fixtures are dusted. It's little things like that that can make a good or bad impression.


- De-Clutter - I'm sure you know this one, but people need to see space in the living areas and bedrooms. If you've collected a ton of stuff and/or furniture. Take some of the pieces out and put them neatly in your garage or a storage facility.


- Smell - When selling our house in Tulsa, before a showing, I would spray some Mrs. Meyer's lemon cleaner on a cloth and quickly wipe down the counter tops and cabinets. The smell is a light, lemony/herb-y scent that just smells fresh and clean (so fresh and so clean, clean...sorry couldn't help it). I actually learned this from our house mom during Rush...she would use a gardenia scented oil on the lamp bulbs. It makes you have fond memories/thoughts immediately. You want your home to do the same.


- Last minute showings - This is probably my best piece of advice, especially if you have kiddos. Keep a tub or laundry basket in your car/garage/somewhere inconspicuous, so that if you have a last minute showing, you can throw all of your crap that you can't put away quickly into the basket..and then hide the basket (I just put mine in my car). If you're really desperate, and not selling your washer and dryer with the house, you can hide things in there too. Just remember to check them before turning either one on ; )