As your clients take eons to list their home, be patient and remember the living they have done there.
My parents moved into their dream house when I was 3. They chose the lot in a new development in Redmond Wa. (Timberline), the builder (John Buchan), and the house style (rambler/ranch). It was everything they wanted. At the time they bought it there were no other houses around the property only trees and roads that promised neighbors with the hope of good friends.
The house saw us through 30+ years of holidays, parties, new jobs, new friends, and tears of joy and sadness. Our house has been cherished by one family through the good times and the bad. Passed from a couple to a mother to a daughter and with a heavy heart I am preparing it for sale.
As I hire the contractors to seal the house against animals, remove and replace insulation, clean the roof, replace the walkways and patios, paint the exterior and interior and replace the original builder carpet. I see the ghosts of myself as a child playing in the house and yard, I remember the movements of my parents through the home and I hear my mother in my head telling me not to get rid of 'that', or see her tearing up as I read a letter my grandfather sent her in the early years of her marriage with advice for her marriage that spans generations.
How can I let go of this home??? If I had been stronger and done this work sooner, could I have kept it?
The roots my family put down at this home dug deep into my heart. As I throw away the junk, separate the things to donate and pack away the momentos, furniture and photos I feel those roots tearing away. I remind myself as the tears threaten to come that I do this for my family, I do this for my kids and for my husband. Because, this home won't fit my families needs.
"I am sorry," said the tree, "but I have no money."
"I have only leaves and apples.
Take my apples, Boy, and sell them
in the city. Then you will have money
and you will be happy."
~ Shel Sliverstien The Giving Tree
I will pack away the photos and memories, and I will sell my childhood home to provide the opportunity for my family to buy our dream home, and we will be happy. Because, in my heart I know that the next family who lives here will love, laugh and live in this home that will shelter their hopes and dreams just as it did for me and my parents.
Thank you to my agent(s) who have been so patient and supportive as I have taken, litteraly years to get this house ready to list. Barb and Elizabeth Avery you are gems. Thank you.
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