Read Part one of the story
So, Monday morning, the 30th of May, the doorbell rings.....
A lady is peeking in my windows! She sees Max and I looking out at her, so I feel like I should probably answer the door.
I open it, and she tells me she is an agent and was driving past with her client. She knows we are military, posted out and we need to sell. Her client is military, here on her HHT (house hunting trip) and needs to buy. Can they come in and take a look around?
Ummm. She caught me totally off-guard. What would you do?
How did she even KNOW that information about us?!
I ended up letting her in. Even though my real estate agent told me not to do that. I was to have people call the number on the for sale sign in the yard. But, I know what it's like to be on HHT and in a rush. I could see just one person sitting in the car on the street. I knew my neighbours were home, (a few of which are police officers) so I quickly decided that I didn't want to risk losing a sale and told the agent I would let them in. (I KNOW!!)
The agent runs down to her car to get her client. Meanwhile I frantically throw some dishes in the dishwasher, we had just finished lunch and I hadn't completely cleaned up yet. Plus, toaster still out from breakfast. You know, normal stuff when people live in a house.
Now, in retrospect, what I *should" have done, was told them to call my agent so he would at least known someone was here. That extra 5-10 minutes would have bought me enough time to tidy the living room of toys and open some of the bedroom curtains. Buyers want to see a bright, well-lit home!
But, I didn't do that. So, a light tap on the door signaled that the buyer had no qualms about coming into someone's home without an appointment.
I made it out the the foyer after they were already inside, but not before hearing a delighted gasp, and "it's so pretty" and "these are ALL my colours". So, yay! She liked it the second she walked in.
If you've ever shopped for a house, you know how important that first impression is. If I don't like it the second I walk in, it rarely gets any better. That first impression SELLS a house. It has to scream home, or close enough to it, in order for me to want to buy it. I'm positive I'm not alone thinking this.
So, I meet the buyer and she's super nice. I take them on a tour of the house, and she's really positive about everything. By the time we got to the last room in the basement, she was feeling quite lost. It's a lot of house to take in in under 5 minutes!
I showed her the secret room we built, as well as the cubby playhouse area under the stairs we built for the boys. It has a built in bookcase and it's own light and light switch, right down at toddler level. She loved it and knew her children would as well. She could tell we had put a lot of thought into renovating the basement and made the comment that we must have been planning to stay here for a while (we were).
She asked about schools, which I gushed over. They are amazing here. Some of the best the boys have ever attended. I told her about the walking/biking paths all through town, and how there are never any line ups at the grocery store. Really, just all the things I love about living here.
They thanked me for letting them in, and I apologized for the messy, not show-ready appearance of the house. Having just been through it herself, the buyer understood. Lucky for us, we had only had a viewing the previous evening, so most of the rooms were still untouched and therefore clean and tidy!
The story continues in Part 3
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