Someone came to take a look at our house today!! We're mostly relieved to know that at least one person was interested enough to come take a look at it. After sitting in our "museum quality" home for 2 days without a call, we were getting tired of being this neat and tidy. It didn't take long, did it?
We are not what I'd call messy people. However, we do need a bit of clutter to live. I have a round end table next to where I sit. At this moment, laying on top of it, is an open can of Fresca (sitting on a coaster), a notebook which contains various lists - what we have promised to whom, what needs to be done around the house before we show it, etc. - my DayTimer calendar (my life!), and a remote control for the TV/DVR, etc. Naturally, there is also a table lamp. There isn't much real estate left. All those things have to be picked up and tucked away somewhere if someone wants to see our house. Oh, I forgot to mention that I have my laptop pc in my lap, and I have a cat who's dying for me to make room for her. She's making irritated cat noises, and jumping from place to place in a threatening way. She apparently believes that if she is naughty enough, she'll either get more lunch or a place in my lap.
Back to the showing ... We got the call from the realtor about 9:00 this morning. She was very nice to give us 3 hours notice, but we were both nervous enough (do we have everything looking beautiful enough?!) that we couldn't relax. We just kept cleaning things. I found slight fingerprints on various door moldings, and tucked down the edge of the carpet in two rooms where sliding glass doors are. It just looked neater tucked in. Wouldn't want someone to think the carpet was laid imperfectly! Steve did the floors - then touched up the floors again after Parsley tracked cat litter on it. I dusted again. I've dusted every single day since we listed the house. That's close to a month's amount of dusting, unless I'm expecting company. No wonder we're tired.
The silliest thing we are to do to prepare for a showing is make sure the lids on the toilets are closed. I get that. It just looks nicer to see a toilet than to look into one. I wonder if I've ever gone to see a house and noticed they were not closed?
Steve and I each warmed up some leftover soup for lunch. We ate early, so the cinnamon candle would mask the scent of our lunches. We had to be careful though. We were told that if you spray a scent in the air too soon before a showing, they might wonder what you are try to mask. Mold? Mildew?
This house showing thing can really make you crazy. What if they look in the refrigerator? Will it look like we eat healthy enough? What if they see the Goldfish crackers in the pantry? Will they notice they are the "whole grain" variety? It feels like my housekeeping, decorating, and even my eating habits are on display for total strangers who are judging me, even though I get no report about what they think. Reminder to self: Try to worry less about what others think of me.
When it was finally time for us to leave the house, I sat in the back seat of the car with Parsley, the cat. She had her carrier, with a nice soft pillow in it, and a blanket over the top to help her feel like she could hide. She is a great little traveler. She's happy as long as she's with me. I removed the door from her carrier, so she could get out into my lap if she wanted. She did, but then decided it was safer inside, where the world did not constantly move. She's concerned about things that move - unless it's a squirrel, a bird, or a leaf blowing in the wind. It's a nice thing for me that she doesn't cry and complain in the car. It helps me stay more calm. I need all the help I can get today.
Steve drove us to put more gas in the car ($4.09 a gallon!), then drove to Wendy's for a small frosty treat. We decided then to go see if they were gone yet. We dared drive by, even though there were 3 cars in front of our house. We had to remind ourselves that they know neither us, or our vehicle. We are just people driving by. Total strangers. We waited a few minutes longer on the next street, and I saw one of the 3 cars drive past us. We went back and verified they were gone! We could go home! For some reason, Steve drove by our house one more time before turning back to open the garage. He said he wasn't sure why - perhaps just wanted to make double sure they were gone.
Our realtor says if someone stays an hour, then they must be very interested. If these viewers arrived on time, then they were here for 50 minutes. That sounds encouraging! I wonder how many will view our house before we get an offer? How many days/weeks/months will we have to live in such a clean house? The Lord only knows. We're just going along for the ride.
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