We have discussed this for several years now but the time has come. We are putting our Findlay home on the market. Yeah, I know, this is not the time to try to sell a house but it is time for us! Even though we have lived in Findlay for 47 years, our life is now on Sanibel. We have made many friends down there and of course we are very involved in volunteering for CROW. We became Florida residents a couple of years ago and finally made the decision to spend all of our time down there.
So, when we came back north a couple of weeks ago, I really kind of dreaded it. Not because it would be the last time (hopefully) that we would come north for this long but because of all that we have to do this summer. I spent all last week cleaning like crazy and going through drawers, cupboards, closets, bookshelves etc and either pitching stuff or lugging it to the barn for a garage sale. Now, we (well actually it's up to me since Mr. Snowbird doesn't really care) are trying to decide which real estate company to call. Do we go with a local company or with a national (but locally owned) company like ReMax or Century 21? I think we will go national hoping that they get the word out better. Anybody had any experience with this sort of thing?
I want to have an auction to get rid of most of the furniture and my collections of Hummels, Ruby Glass, bells, Cabbage Patch dolls, antiques etc. But, I am also having a garage sale to get rid of other stuff which would probably sell at an auction but I'm going to do the garage sale thing anyway. You can see what the garage now looks like. I don't think there is any way I will find room for all of it. Possibly two sales??
And on top of all that we have to do, we are leaving in a couple of weeks for a 12 day trip to Ireland. I know we will have a ball on the trip but the minute we get back, we will have to get back at cleaning, getting rid of stuff, scheduling an auction, hoping we get a buyer etc.
9 comments:
I have been downsizing and trying to sell my house. You have my best wishes.
Good luck with all these activities. I know it's hard to get rid of your "stuff" - feels like amputation every time I donate a load of books to Goodwill. Hang in there!
Tink *~*~*
Good luck with selling your house it sure looks like a very inviting home.
Ohhh my! I bet IT will sell better than any of the newer homes do! It's beautiful! And a house that old doesn't have the same market that the cookie cutter houses have! Best of luck with it!
What a neat home (and perfect grass!!). My only selling advice is don't get sucked into a long contract. I've known people trapped with a crappy agent because of a year contract. A house just around the corner burned to the ground the other day. This couple lost everything and they still joked about it. We live, we die. In the end the "stuff" doesn't matter as much as the people and the memories. I hope the house sells in a flash and you have to move back soon! :)
Wow - moving to Sanibel... what a wonderful problem to have!! Congrats to you. I hope everything sells quickly for you. The only advice I can give you is to price the house correctly the first time and don't let the agent talk you into too high of an initial asking price. We made that mistake a couple of years ago and ended up holding on to our house for way too long. It finally sold at the price my husband and I thought we should have listed it for the first time.
Thanks for the advice everyone. I really appreciate it. Getting rid of the "stuff" isn't really all that hard. The heirlooms, pictures etc will go to the kids--if they want them. If not, then to my nieces.
It's such a beautiful home! I love the older homes, but I'm stuck in a newer one. I wish you all the best of luck. I ditto the advice of a short contract... we were stuck with really bad agents on our last move. They even messed up the paper work and wrote the offer wrong. So glad to be rid of them! And yes, price right the first time. A reasonable asking price for your gem of a home should get you a quicker sale, even in this market. People are still buying...
And you are so lucky to be heading back to Sanibel for good!! We would love to have a second home there.... And I'd love to retire there!!
Hi Snowbird. Stop by my blog... I gave you an award!
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