house week

OK, she's on the market. My house, that is. Two days after my listing hit the MLS, Craigslist and a number of other websites, I had an enquiry. Someone wanted to see my home. Wow, it's really happening. Can I do this myself?

Of course I can! To save $10,000+ on realtor commission I can do this myself. It was a bit nerve wracking I must admit. Having a teenager in the house was a wild card. I would have had to risk a new buyer seeing forgotten dirty underwear thrown in the corner of Christie's closet. At least she agreed to finally toss all the empty Vex bottles (teenage drinking trophies) from her closet shelf a few weeks before. But with a teenager, you just never know...

But on the brighter side of teenagedom, it was Christie who whipped the house into shape in the 3 hours notice I had for my first showing. I'd received the call while at work and they wanted to see the house 45 mins after the time I usually get home from work. Everything turned out just fine, thanks to Christie. I even had time to throw some Pillsbury crescent rolls into the oven to make the place smell yummy.

OK, so this woman wandered through my house for over a half hour. I thought that was a good sign. She was pleasant enough, and even seemed tickled to be exploring my house, each room like a treasure discovered. She obviously liked what she saw. We talked awhile and she asked a lot about the house.

I had a good feeling about her. Rob had told me before I listed that there's a 90% chance that the very first person interested is the one you end up selling to. I could definitely picture this woman living here. She lives in the same town and is splitting up with her husband, has 2 kids. The same as I was when I bought this house! I had a pretty strong inkling that my buyer would be a lot like me and I marketed it that way.

That was Tuesday. This Sunday will be my first Open House. So I pretty much have to keep my house clean all week. I am nervous, of course, but confident too. I would love to wrap up this sale before the end of April. Everything else seems to go my way, why wouldn't this?