Ready to do this thing nonetheless

Well, the house goes on the market in like two hours. As I explained to Owen, that means our friendly real estate agents are going to come over, take a bunch of pictures, and start letting strangers poke through our medicine cabinet. Like a party, right. Only without warning and without any Parrot Bay (and hopefully without any nude picture-messaging).

Our storage unit is 9/10 full. I have every intention of going over there and taking a photo, but as I mentioned, the damn place has been closed for days for “floor refinishing,” which I suspect is code for either “drug bust” or “bug dust”.

The house gets cleaned every night after the tots go to bed, and every morning by 8:30 a.m. it looks like a team of wild donkeys has stormed through.

I can’t believe we’re selling this place. I have finally come to halfway enjoy it, what with all the work we’ve put in. Sometimes I think about when we bought it; it was 2004, and the Baltimore housing bubble was just about hitting its peak. People were throwing thousands of dollars over asking price at anyone with a For-Sale sign. Houses were getting contracts within minutes of listing. Our own sellers nonchalantly tossed a list of conditions at us when we made an offer — they wanted to sell it as is, purple bathroom and all, and they wanted to move fast. And of course we had no option but to accept. The only reason we got any sort of deal is because they’d already bought a bigger house across town and were counting on their 100k profit for a down payment. Bastards.

Sometimes I think Iain and I were born at just the wrong time. By the time we graduated college, the dot com bubble had burst and the economy was entering a recession. Then, when we got pregnant and were ready to buy a house, real estate was soaring. Now that we are ready to sell, prices are plummeting and sellers are laughed at left and right. Sigh. If only we had been born, say, two years earlier, how things could have been different.

Anyway. Things are not so bad now; we are still at the beginning of the race, when the course looks short and flat and breezy. Anything could happen. Theoretically, we could get an offer Friday and be ready to go. What? It could happen. You never know.

Meantime, I think I’ll just start crate-training the children and save myself a headache or two. And if you’re looking to buy in the County, do drop me a line.

More on our future living plans slightly later in the summer, ja?

June 19, 2008 | Filed Under auto-categorized

Comments

7 Responses to “Ready to do this thing nonetheless”

Jen on June 19th, 2008 1:49 pm

Ha ha! I feel the same way. We weren’t at a place in our lives to buy when real estate was affordable, then it went crazy … I graduated from grad school with an IT related degree, right after the dot com bust. Bad timing all around

What neighborhood is this? Are you moving out of state or just to a new neighbood?
Jess on June 19th, 2008 2:20 pm

Your house is super cute. What neighborhood is it? We are currently living by the Harbor.
Pam on June 19th, 2008 4:15 pm

Oh good luck! I hope you don’t have a really long wait. My husband and I want to sell this summer too, but my mom (who is also my real estate agent) keeps telling me to wait until next year. It’ll be better next year, she says. BAH! I say.
GranMatt on June 19th, 2008 7:30 pm

Look there are a lot of things I can be blamed for and some of them I can fix but you were born when you were born. I can’t change that now. Get used to it!
My parents birthed me before the internet, before color TV, we didn’t even have Pot Tarts, but you don’t hear me complaining.
If I could have seen your housing dilemma in advance I probably could have seen to buy Microsoft & Cisco back in the 80s too.
Oh well I got to go. Your mom says it’s time for my blood pressure medicine.
katie on June 19th, 2008 8:23 pm

dad there’s no such thing as pot tarts. and rejoice, sister! think of how bad it is for the five siblings that follow you.
GranMatt on June 19th, 2008 9:01 pm

POP Tarts! I meant to say POP TARTS!
supa on June 19th, 2008 9:36 pm

I’m sorry, I have to catch my breath from the pot tarts. Hoo. That is gold right there.

Dad, I forgive you for not buying into Microsoft (OR APPLE) back in the day. Hind sight is 20/20. I’m sure I’ll be kicking myself on Owen’s behalf for not getting in on this Facebook nonsense 30 years down the road.

The important thing is that you managed to save me from myself long enough to get to this point!