An hour. One hour to pick up our patchwork quilt of blankets in the living room and the tarp that is underneath, because the babies are STILL spitting up All. The. Time! And I can't just throw them in the closet because our closets have to look presentable and somewhat empty so that people can envision their stuff in them. I have two totes to throw blankets in and hide them in the garage. Then I have to vacuum the living room. You'd think that being covered with blankets all the time, that wouldn't be necessary. Not so. It's amazing how much stuff gets tracked in anyway.
It's funny how our one little tiny square of a baby blanket we used to have, now has turned into several big blankets covering our entire living room! Mobile babies means more carpet to protect!
Then I have to wipe down the trails of slobber and spit up that the babies leave on the linoleum kitchen floor, in addition to the sliding glass back door. Ayden LOVES to "eat" the window and then play in his spit. It's gross, but also kind of funny.
Hide the dirty laundry, throw the toys in a neat pile, make sure nothing is left on the bathroom or kitchen counters.... Oh, and then pack up two almost 11 month old babies and load them in the car.
That's my routine just to get out the door should I get that phone call I'm desperately wanting, saying someone is interested in buying our house and wants to take a look at it. In addition, I have to do this every time I leave the house. If I'm not home, I won't have time to GO home and get it all done before someone comes to look, so I leave the house ready, just in case.
By the time I get me and the babies out the door, I am a sweaty mess! haha! It's super hard work doing all that in addition to constantly moving the babies out of the way of the vacuum cleaner (which they are fascinated with) and making sure they aren't into anything else they shouldn't be.
All day long, I am making sure there are no dishes in the sink, the house is dusted, bathrooms are clean, floors are mopped, windows wiped down, bedrooms are vacuumed, diaper bag is packed... you get the idea. Our house is cleaner than it ever has been!
I am exhausted. And it's only been a week and a half.
I'm exhausted reading that! I thought it was bad with my infants when we were selling our house but you have me beat my friend!! Good luck- praying for a sale soon!!
ReplyDeleteI think selling your house and moving is challenging no matter what, but add in two mobile babies on the move and it's a lot of work!
DeleteI work for a Realtor. A couple of things - please have your pictures redone on the Real Estate web site. They just aren't good, there is an odd picture of a cabinet above the toilet and no backyard pictures. An hour window is nice, but not fair to you. Request a 4 hour window. 24 hour notice isn't unheard of, so I don't think 4 hours should be a problem.
ReplyDeleteI know you are in a hurry to sell, so make sure you are priced well for the market. This is a tough time to sell, but buyers looking now are usually pretty serious. Another option is could you rent your house for a little more than your house payment to give you a little income since you are going to rent your next house and don't need the money from it to buy? Good luck!
Thank you for your feedback! I agree, the pictures aren't that great. Not sure the bathroom pic could be improved much. It's a tiny bathroom and there's not much option for a different view of it. I did ask for a bigger time window to depart the house. Thank you for that suggestion. My MIL is actually our Realtor, so we do trust her explicitly as she's done this for a super long time and been very successful, and of course she has our best interest at heart, but that doesn't mean there can't be things to help make the process even better! We knew the house was listed a little high to begin with, but not by much, in comparison to other similar houses. She thought that would give us some wiggle room for offers. We actually were already in the process of lowering the price prior to this post.
DeleteIt's crazy how you were able to look up our house without me ever posting the address! Although I know I've shared where we live and did post a pic of our house the other day, so I shouldn't be too surprised. Thank you so much for taking the time to look up our house and offer your advice. It truly is appreciated :)
Wow how are you able to keep that up everyday? I'd go crazy! When we had our house on the market we asked for 3 hours notice. 1 is nothing! I hope you sell your house soon so life gets easier for all of you.
ReplyDeleteAt Lydia's advice and the fact that you had a 3 hour window of time, I have asked for more time. I only asked to extend it to 2 hours, but I think that will be much more reasonable for us and more doable.
DeleteWow that certainly complicates an already difficult to maintain situation. I really hope your house sells super quickly!
ReplyDeleteThanks Melissa!
DeleteYikes, that sounds exhausting. Also it sounds like I should put my house on the market and maybe I would manage to keep it clean every day - and get a good workout in! I hope it sells fast!
ReplyDeletehaha! Yes, our house is definitely cleaner than it ever has been! It's a great motivating factor :)
DeleteMoving is so. Much. Work. We moved across the country when my oldest was 4 months old. I thought selling with on immobile infant was tough but you have me beat. I agree that it's a tough time of the year to be selling, but the buyers out there are serious ones. Sending you some home selling vibes.
ReplyDeleteI imagine moving across country withOUT kids would be stressful! Kudos to you for doing it with a little one. I wish we had been able to get our house ready sooner, but we had too much to do in order to be able to put it on the market. Thank you for the good vibes!
DeleteGood luck! I will be sending good vibes your way. We recently went through something similar (listed in July, sold in September, lived with family for six weeks, and finally moved in our new home Halloween). It was beyond exhausting, but very well worth it. Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty good turn around for your house! When we first bought this house, we had to move in temporarily with my in laws. I'm hoping we can avoid that this time around, but who knows! Congrats on your new home!
DeleteI can't even imagine. I just can't. And who are these people that need to see a house IMMEDIATELY? They can't have their realtor schedule some places to look at the day before?
ReplyDeleteanyway, hope you sell the house soon so you don't have to go through this for too long. Nice to have a clean house, but so exhausting on top of everything else.
Oh my gosh. I can't imagine. What a pain is right! So sorry you have to deal with this. I really, really hope it pays off soon.
ReplyDeleteI've done my fair share of house hunting, and I've never needed to get into a house on an hour's notice. I'm glad you've asked for a bit of a bigger window! On the plus side, my house has never been so clean as when I've been in the process of selling. Agreed, it is absolutely exhausting, and I've only ever had cat hair to deal with!
ReplyDeleteSelling a home is one of my least favorite things in life and you really have a down side to it all!! But on the other hand, I love looking at real estate and it will be a VERY HAPPY moment when it does sell and all of those papers are signed. And then the work begins, moving with such young twins will be a challenge also. I hope you find yourselves with lots of helping hands then!!! Prayers are with you for a quick sale and this to be a wonderful move in life!! Lots of love, Auntie
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