CafeChatNoir

Yesterday, the townhouse officially listed for sale - it’s out on the intarwebs and everything! Though it’s not over until it’s sold, my heavy lifting is DONE. The last two houses in the neighborhood w/the same layout as mine had contracts in 2 weeks and were closed in 6 weeks from listing - and those were this month. Here’s to keeping up that trend.

This has easily been the largest, most difficult, pain in the ass project I have attempted in my life. However, I feel like I have reached friggin’ expert status on prepping a townhouse for sale. Let me share a few things…

- Buying a house is MUCH easier than selling one. Sure, there might be more paperwork to buy, but there is no painting involved.
- Don’t wait 13 years to clean out your closets. Seriously. You’ll find sheet sets for bed sizes you haven’t owned since college.
- Every time you think you are “almost there” you will discover another project. This will slowly make you insane.
- No matter how much you get done beforehand, your realtor will still find something else for you to do. If you are lucky, they will be small things and you will be able to maintain your composure and not burst into tears saying, “Nooooooo! No more projects!”
- There are no minor projects. They may sound minor when you say them, but when you actually start to do them, they will not remain minor.
- When it comes to the various & sundry projects, having a brother is VERY helpful. So is a list of dependable contractors.
- If you have an improvement project you’d like to do, scrape together the cash if you can and DO IT NOW so you can enjoy it rather than looking at it and thinking, “well, I hope the new owners like it.”
- Watching the realtor put the lockbox on your door can take the weight of the world off your shoulders.
- Painting really seriously sucks - possibly because I really seriously suck at painting, despite my Mom’s best efforts to teach me over the years.
- Painting also uses muscles that you never, EVER use anywhere else. 4 hours of painting over 2 days will make you hurt - it really doesn’t sound like much, but you will feel like someone beat you with a large stick. (And no, it’s not me getting old, I double checked w/little bro and he felt just as beat up.)
- A good local hardware store is essential. God help me if Fischer’s Hardware ever closes.
- If anyone says to you, “It’s still not ready?”, you have my permission to pop them in the mouth.
- Craigslist is great for getting rid of things you don’t want to move.
- 1-800-Got-Junk? is excellent for getting rid of all the things you can’t unload on craigslist.
- For the most part, everything you really need to live can fit in one carload. Start a kickin’ bonfire with the rest of it.
- I’m quite sure I am much better suited to life in a very small condo.