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March 18, 2008
Countdown to April Fools: T minus 14
Well, I am now seriously serious about getting the house on the market. I signed a listing contract and have to have it ready to be photographed on April Fools Day -- 14 days from today. The agent I'm working with hires a professional photographer to take the pictures, and they post them on the web + develop a virtual tour. I saw some of her work and was quite impressed. For a sample, go HERE to the agent's website, and click on "virtual tour" for one of the properties.
I've already had the staging consultant come through once -- that led to removal of all wall paper, fresh paint upstairs, new ceramic tile countertops, and the first stage of decluttering. I'll have her come through for one last pass after the POD is filled.
The proposed listing price is a Bear-Stearns bargain basement deal ... or at least, it feels that way. It breaks my heart to price it so low, but hopefully it will sell quickly. (It's a great house, if anyone out there is interested. Once it's listed, I'll post a link here.)
So now the scheduling begins.
Today - the guy comes from 2nd Wind to disassemble the elliptical. I will miss it for the next 2 months, but I'll be getting lots of exercise toting, moving, cleaning, bending, stretching, etc. -- and then I'll want to walk or bike outside as soon as the snow melts.
Tomorrow -- I deliver the cats to their new, temporary home. They know something is up. When the real estate agent was here, they kept climbing on the table so she couldn't write, and Sadie jumped on her shoulder. (Fortunately, she was cat-friendly ... but she strongly concurred that the cats had to go while the house is being shown. She said cats can do a great job of sabotaging a sale!)
Thursday - Merry Maids comes to bid on the "deep cleaning" job.
Then sort, pack, box --- more runs to Goodwill, more ads on Craigslist...
Friday the 28th, I'll have the PODS unit delivered and will fill it - to disappear Saturday, when Merry Maids will work their magic.
Then final touch-ups and hopefully I'll be ready on 4/1. The biggest dilemma now is whether to fill the hot tub. We have a 4 season porch with a hot tub on it. The hot tub has been turned off for about 3 years (long story, but not because it doesn't work). The agent said I had to remove it (would be extremely difficult and expensive and I'm not willing to do it) or have it up and running (a hassle to get it up and running again and keep maintaining it). I can understand the logic about having it up and running, but I would have to drain it when I leave (end of May) anyway because no one would be here to maintain it. So chances are the person who ultimately buys the house would not see it running anyway. I would be happy to guarantee that it would work or make some kind of assurances, but I'm resisting the hassle of getting it going again. Opinions??
I'll post the countdown progress periodically.
Posted by hgroteva at March 18, 2008 4:11 PM | Moving