The blue house was a labor of love but when we finished it we loved it. We saw a lot of the benefits and updates that it offered that our house (let's call it the brown house for the sake of clarity) didn't offer.
The brown house still needed a lot of the expensive updates that we didn't feel like we'd see a return on when we decided to sell. The brown house needed a new HVAC and windows, the floors were getting really worn out (I got a splinter walking in our bedroom!), the oven and dishwasher were on their last legs and I really wanted a deck in the backyard.
So, after a lot of discussion, advice from friends and family, lists of pro's and con's and prayer, we decided to list the brown house (OUR HOUSE!) on the market and see if it sold. If it did, we'd move into the blue house if it didn't we'd try our luck at selling the blue house and see if that went any better.
We decided to sell 'by owner' so I cleaned, organized and staged our house. Then I took pictures, edited and narrowed them down to enough to leave you wanting more so potential buyers would schedule a showing. I was so nervous that:
a) no one would like our house and come look at it and
b) people would come and be really disappointed and not buy it
It was a humbling process for me, but we nervously posted the house and within hours had several showings lined up. It was in our favor that the housing market in Edwardsville was on fire! We posted the house on Zillow on Tuesday and had three full price offers by Friday and were under contract on Saturday.
All of the inspections and appraisals went well, we had a few updates and changes to make but then closed without a hitch on November 2, 2017.
That gave us 30 days to finish all of the little details at the blue house and move in. Somehow, with a broken foot, several Trailhead Students events (including the fall retreat weekend away) and an upcoming vacation we got everything done and settled just in the nick of time.
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