This Little House

Last time I ranted about my house it was because it wasn't even on the market yet and I had an offer. That offer fell through for no explicable reason since the inspection didn't turn up major issues with the house - the person just changed their mind - I suspect it was the inflluence of her son who didn't like the location. So the For Sale sign went up in the yard and there it sat. Of course I got a little lazy about keeping the house up to 'Showing' snuff and it rained and rained so I couldn't mow the lawn. A week after the sign went up someone knocked on my door wanting to know if it was still for sale. I said yes and they gave me some information, wanted to arrange a viewing, I contacted my realtor Giovanna, she contacted them and they said 'Oh, we have a couple other places in mind, we'll let you know'. Pardon my language but, what the frig? Who goes out of their way to ask about a house and then the very next day changes their mind? If this is what listing the house will be like it was going to be a long haul.

A couple weeks pass and nothing. Giovanna emailed to tell me a couple people had called about it, she had one walk-in but no requests for showings yet. So we waited. Four weeks from the day the sign went up Giovanna emails me for a showing at 10am. It means I have to take the dogs to work with me but okay, I can take them home at lunch. They just sat in the truck looking bewildered for a couple hours. After work I got an email from my realtor asking if the potential buyer could return that night at 7:30pm. Wait, what? Okay! So I load the dogs up again and we head to the beach while the house is viewed by the potential buyer and her relatives.

That night at 9:30pm Giovanna emails to ask if I'm home and if she can come present an offer. Wait, what? Okay! It's low so I counter offer and she leaves just after 10pm. She said she'd let me know tomorrow. I wake up in the morning, check my email and there it is ... counter offer accepted. Subject to inspection and financing but it's there in black and white with a closing of August 30 and conditions to be met by June 22. I don't hold my breath or get stressed because I've been through this before.

The inspection is set up for Tuesday at 1pm which is slightly inconvenient because I had to have the dogs at work with me again and it was a hot day. We survived though and I got the dogs home to a house that was maybe not mine anymore. I didn't stress about the inspection since there was nothing I could do about it and that night Giovanna emailed to say there were no major issues and the sale appeared to be going ahead but the buyer wanted to change the closing date to July 16. Um, that's in 4 weeks. Holy crap.

The next day we did a little additional paperwork and said she was going to try and get the buyer to sign off on all conditions on Thursday. Wait, what? Okay! So Thursday morning, Cora's birthday, Giovanna comes into the store mid-morning with the signature of the buyer waiving all other conditions, I sign on the dotted line and house is officially sold.

Wow.

Four weeks on the market and this little house that I love is no longer my own. I worry and wonder what someone else will do with it or to it. Will they love it as I have? Will they take care of it? It's the house that allowed me to live in quiet comfort with my dogs in Nova Scotia. It raised Leeloo's two litters of puppies and it's been a better first home than I could imagine. It suited me perfectly when I moved here and although it's required some work, my Dad and I have put a lot of loving hours into its care (probably more my Dad than me!).

My next house is in the works, more on that later, when things have actually happened. For now though we are looking at starting to pack, I have a dog show next weekend and if the house I want to buy doesn't pan out I can start to panic!