SELL SELL SELL!

My house has been on the market for 208 days. For the past 60, I have been in a deep-seated panic that it will not sell.

It is priced right for the condition & area, and is a lovely home that shows well. My friends & family are mystified that it hasn’t sold. So am I, honestly. Unfortunately, it is a buyer’s market, all across the nation. In our small town, in our price range alone, there are currently 30+ homes on the market. To make matters worse, our area’s real estate market has taken a hit due to the economic situation in our region. Not only am I surrounded by competition, very few buyers are able to obtain adequate financing. Since my house has been on the market, only 10 properties have sold in our area in our price range, compared to 25 in the same time frame last year. Of the 16 prospects that have viewed my house, only 2 of them have actually purchased a property, in any community.

As you may have guessed, working in the real estate field has only increased my obsession with selling my house. I check the MLS for “hits” on our house daily, sometimes hourly. I am constantly thinking about what I can do to make our house more attractive to prospective buyers. The answer: nothing. I am offering a home warranty & inspection, plus a bonus to the selling agent. I am marketing the house in various forms of print media, online & on television. Everyone who’s been through it has been very complimentary. The drawbacks that have been mentioned (small yard, “shared” driveway) cannot be changed. It is priced as low as possible; as it is, we will end up taking a loss on it.

There are two things that make the situation especially difficult. The first is that we are under a deadline; the house has to sell within the next few months. When my ex found out that I was getting remarried, he decided to reopen our dissolution agreement. Since this does not in any way benefit him, I can only assume that this is just another attempt to control me. The magistrate has all but called him an idiot, but legally his hands are tied & if the house doesn't sell within the next few months, the magistrate will be forced to send it to sheriff's sale. If that happens, I will be responsible for what is left on the mortgage, which could be as much as $60,000.

The second thing is my job. For several convoluted reasons, I can’t change jobs until my house is sold. And my work environment is, in a word, toxic. I spend virtually the entire work day in varying degrees of tension and irritation. Most days, I am physically & emotionally drained by the time I get home. (Thank God I have Chris to come home to!) I also don't have medical insurance there, which means Chris & I are delaying our plans to have children indefinitely. Since my (gasp!) 34th birthday is around the corner, this delay is not insignificant. I've also had some health problems this year, and feel like I'm teetering on the edge of a cliff every day that I don't have insurance.

Hence, the obsession, and the panic. I've already established that I am a worrier. It is a long-established tradition in my family. I don't think any of the women in my family have had a full night's sleep in decades. I am really working on patience (the lack thereof is another long-established tradition in my family) & faith. I'm trying to trust that things will happen in their own time, the way they are supposed to, which may not be when or how I would like. I was a lot better at it a few months ago.

Note: Everything is all snuggly & catnip-coated in Lemieux's world again. Another crisis averted!