8....0

Well, our house has now been on the market for 8 days and we have had 8 showings - 0 offers  :(.  We have limited time to sell due to the seller of the house we have under contract requiring that we close on that house by March 2nd or lose the contract.  Looking like we are not going to move after all.  It makes me sad, because I really like that house and it does seem perfect for what we want and how we want to raise the kiddos, but I truly do like our house and neighborhood and school (even if it seems that we are the only ones) so I have to keep telling myself that everything will work out as it should.  The feedback on the house has been brutal.  Yesterday, when I came home, the towel on the oven had been trapped in the door making it obvious that someone had opened the oven.  I didn't think anything of it until Lance talked to the agent later and was told that he thought it looked like we didn't really want to sell the house.  When Lance asked for specifics the agent said things like - the inside of the oven is dirty, there is a garden hose under the deck, and there were men's clothes in the closet of the room that looked like it was for a little girl.  REALLY, really?!?  Some of the other feedback we have taken to heart and some there is nothing we can do about it - lookers/potential buyers have said the floorplan is too open AND others said not open enough, one wanted a master bedroom downstairs and another wanted a bigger yard, one said that it was too "Pottery Barn," and another said we should remove personal pictures (we did that one).  The most common feedback has been buyers desire to be in a bigger neighborhood with more amenities (we love our neighborhood and there really are lots of kids, the school park in walking distance, and is really convenient without feeling like you are in a big neighborhood - but we don't have a pool and park and walking trails like the others on the market).  The fact is that besides the things we cannot change, I find it hard to believe that even if the oven had been clean, or if all trace of children living in the home had been removed - that would have made this the house for any of these buyers.  We know that if we were able to move out and "stage" the house it would sell better, but that isn't really an option.  We could definitely paint to freshen things up a bit - but guaranteed that the first feedback after painting would be negative about the paint colors or fumes - ha!  Fingers crossed that someone comes along soon that understands that a family does live here, can overlook the toys arranged on the shelves or stashed in closets, wants to be in our neighborhood and likes the house, and knows that this isn't HGTV!

Basketball season has started for both kids!  I will try to get pictures this weekend.  We are having fun, but we definitely aren't the best two teams.  I have seen improvement just in the last two games, though, with my girls and I think it will be a great season!