Sell This House!

Ok, I have tried really hard not to get too stressed about it, but we are getting down to the wire now - we need to sell this house!!

We have only had a handful of people come and look at the house (outside of open houses, which, as we all know, aren't populated by people who necessarily want to buy a house, but rather the curious and those that just tour open houses for fun). Each time, I had hope. To no avail. Some of the most promising lookers ended up "settling" (their words, not mine) for other houses. One decided to buy the house down the street - it was cheaper. And one decided to buy a house 30 minutes away, in Port Washington, after stating to my realtor that they wanted to be in Howards Grove only! They found their "dream house" which is half the size of mine, with half the amenities. So I ask, how can that be their dream house?! One family decided not to buy the house because we were on such a main street. Ok - that's ridiculous - this is Howards Grove, with a population of just over 2,000. And we live in a neighborhood! The latest looker came through on Thursday. She told the realtor that she just "wasn't feeling it" - whatever that means. She said the whole house would need to be repainted as the colors were hideous (I take serious offense to that!) which I think is stupid since everyone has to repaint when they move. And the two things she didn't like were my kitchen sink and master bathroom sinks. Let me tell you that those were two of the hefty upgrades we made. The kitchen sink happens to be my favorite - it is a beautiful sunlight yellow that matches the countertops and cabinets beautifully. The master bathroom sinks are a little more understandable since they are a funky light blue, but they are really cool shaped, and one of Kohler's hottest items right now. Not to mention that all three sinks are cast iron...

So I guess it's time to call in the big dogs. I am going to bury a St. Joseph statue in my yard upside-down, like a good Catholic. (It is St. Joseph, right?) Other than that, I don't know much else we can do (other than dramatically lower the price). The realtor said we are at a slight disadvantage because we almost certainly need a family who is relocating to buy since anyone in town who is ready to move up in the world has no buyers for their starter homes. (That, apparently is where our market is suffering the most - at the lower end homes for sale.)

Please pray for us!! I start work part-time in two weeks, which means half the paycheck. And we close on our new house at the end of August - which means two mortgages - and that we definitely can't afford!!

I would say that I need to contact HGTV to come and do a special on us, like "Designed to Sell," or "My House is Worth What?" but I think it already is designed to sell. Maybe not priced to sell, but doggone it, we paid a lot for this sucker and would like to at least come out even!

We have another open house this Sunday, so maybe something will happen there...