Educating the Wheelers

Clutter is bad enough when you have to look at it, but it’s a killer when you have to pack it all up so you can get your house ready to list.

I think I’ve packed 80 boxes so far. Probably more.

I’ve been arranging sitters to come over and play with/hold the kids while I pack. Owen has decided that these few days would be an excellent time to have a growth spurt and need multiple hour+ long nursing sessions. And then another one. And then another one. But in between those, I’ve been a packing FIEND!

I offhandedly mentioned in an email on a different subject to the HOA mailing list that we were putting the house up for sale on Friday and within an hour I received several emails from people who wanted to know more for their friends and family. [There is a large contingent of folks who grew up in this neighborhood who try to move back in.] I sent back a quick barebones email to the list, even mentioning that we didn’t have the price quite hammered out yet because there have been lots of comps just this week, even, but hey, call my realtor! My realtor reported that she has received several calls already. And this is five days before we list.

We got lucky when we bought this house — this is a high-demand, unique neighborhood. If you want to live in this part of town, you aren’t going to find much else with one acre lots and large amounts of mature trees, plus turnover has always been very, very low. My realtor has looked to see what else is currently available and suspects we’ll get offers quickly.

That sure would be nice. Anybody who peeks around the financial nooks and crannies of the internet has probably noticed that now is generally not the best time to be a seller, house-wise. It seems, at the moment, that Austin is currently dodging that bullet. But I guess we’ll see for sure when we list.

On the upside, where we will be buying — Mpls/St. Paul — looks like it’s in the thick of foreclosure central, and inventory is about twice what it was this time last year. Hopefully this all will work out in our favor.

If you’re a praying type, please keep us in mind.