CREEKSIDE MINISTRIES: The Getting-the-House-Ready-to-Sell Whirlwind

Whew!

It's been some ride.

The endless conversations, the whispered praying-without-ceasing, the confirmation in our hearts that YES, we always said we'd know when it was time to go and now it is. The straight out, exhausting non-stop nuts and bolts of our month long side-by-side work to get the house to its absolute Sunday best.

And then all those endless hours of watching HGTV finally paid off as we staged each room 'just so,' a warm and homey {but not too personal} invitation to prospective buyers to imagine making themselves at home in this place. Followed by the act of signing papers as we put our home out there for all the world to see. And then our You Tube debut! {Be sure to click on the gizmo on the bottom right to get the big picture!}

video

It's all been a real trip. In the best sense of the word. Really.

And you guys, well you've been the BEST cheerleaders ever! As I began to share our transition journey, you surrounded me with the sweetest encouragements and virtual hugs, heaven-sent prayers and emails as I put my heart right out there on the table. And I quickly realized that you were coming with me and I wouldn't need to say any online good-byes.

Can I tell you that this is an immense gift since there are so many difficult in-person farewells going on?

In a nutshell, here's a few things I learned in the whirlwind of getting the house ready to sell.

1. If you ever made a list, now's the time.
He had a list, I had a list, we had a list together. If anything or anybody had to be contacted / bought / accomplished / scheduled / checked out in some way, shape or form, it needed to be written down. Period.

2. If you ever stuffed a folder, this is it.
Every scrap of paper, every receipt, every estimate, every bit of information was kept in one easy-to-grab location. I lost count how many times I flipped that folder open to dig some kind of much-needed paper out. I blessed the day we thought of consolidating every bit of info into one place.

3. If you ever underestimated your abilities, forget about it.
I've always been a coach potato and never knew a screwdriver from a hammer{well, almost}. But it was all hands on deck to get everything done in the very small window of time we had set for ourselves, so I had no choice but to climb ladders and strip wallpaper and spackle a million nail holes and haul garbage and make big decisions much more quickly than I would have preferred.

4. If you ever bought supplies, buy more than you think you need.
You think you won't, but you WILL run out of paint or caulking stuff or paper towels or mulch. Always. So we bought more than we needed, no matter what it was, and we were able to return the leftovers easily.

5. If you ever said 'thanks' right and left, this is the opportunity.
To our realtor team and the photographer they sent our way to capture the beautiful pictures for the listing ... we hit it off with them all right from the first minute.

To the guys at Home Depot and the hardware store and the garden center. They know their stuff.

The flooring installers and the appliance delivery men deserve some kind of medal. They didn't get bored with our questions and observations or irritated by our obsessive insistence on details and minutia. We tipped them well and called their bosses and sang their praises. I hope they get big fat raises.

And then there was the patience and grace we had to keep extending back and forth to each other, husband and wife, as we got under each other's skin on more than a few occasions. And the great relief in knowing that God was right in the midst of all the craziness as we forged together 'round the next corner.

Literally.

Let's talk houses.

Updating, staging, listing, selling.