House for Sale

I'm reinstating the Word in the Woods to tell the story of how I sold my house. Today my realtor came over to take photos and tomorrow he will plant the sign at the end of my driveway, we'll sign all the paperwork and I will have to be more of a neatnik than ever.

I've been purging and cleaning and decluttering for weeks now. Today I had to Architectural Digest a house that accentuates the personal and quirky, not an everyperson home sweet home. The first thing I did when we moved here was get rid of the beige. On the advice of my realtor I took away common items, such as the bread basket and refrigerator magnets and stuffed them into the oven, closets and places that now elude me. This could be dangerous. I am slowly restoring what I can find, since although these items can make a photo distracting, they make the house look homey to prospective buyers.

March 8th the house goes on the market. There will be an open house in a couple of weeks. Then the curious and the serious will traipse through and hopefully we'll have a sale in no time. I am totally spoiled when it comes to selling homes. The first we sold privately to the first person who came along. The second sale we weren't even in the country for. My tenants showed the house and our friend Scott served as our attorney. The third nearly put me in an insane asylum but that's because the sale was in a foreign country where real estate is a bureaucratic nightmare that tends to keep property in the family forever. Selling house #4 will be an average kind of deal. The market is creeping up; there's not a lot for sale at our price point; we are motivated but not desperate.

Come have a look.