we received an email yesterday from our landlords. the house we are currently in will be on the market as of 1/23. THAT IS THIS SATURDAY. craptastic. we didn't want to be in a house that was on the market. i have lived in a house that is on the market 3 different times. twice they were our own homes we were trying to sell, once was a rental. the first time we only had {l} and she was all of maybe 6 months. keeping a clean house was NO problem. the second time we had {l} and {r}. both girls were relatively young, it was a small house and my sister-in-law lived across the street. keeping it clean/finding a place to go was no problem. the third time {l} was in school all day, {r} was in preschool 2 or 3 days/week for a few hours and {j} was a baby. i loved that house and pretty much always kept it clean. plus, it was our house and we were motivated to sell. having it on the market was no problem.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
on the market
NOW we have 4 kids who can all make messes who are home all the time. keeping it clean is a problem. keeping it 'show ready' is a HUGE problem. i have noticed that this area of the country doesn't seem to care as much about a house being super clean when it is on the market. very odd! the landlords aren't even planning on painting this home before putting it on the market (per realtor recommendation).
luckily we think we have found a new place to live. it is close to where we are, it is big enough, it has a big backyard and they will let us keep the dog. we are going to try to be in as of next friday so i can clean it up. tug will be out of town the first week of february so we won't actually be living there, but i will move whatever little things i can while he is gone.
we found it on craigslist so i am a bit skeptical still. i really hope it works out! hopefully we will find out today.
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6 people are laughing with me:
I'm totally sympathetic. If the landlord cared about having it ready to show, he should have given you a lot more warning or waited for you to move. I wouldn't kill myself trying to keep it spotless. I'd just start packing up to move, which makes it a whole lot easier to keep clean and let the chips fall where they may!
Oh yikes, Regina. That's a lot of stress. And yeah-- whenever I mention to people that I'm painting my whole house to get it ready to rent, they look stumped. But I wouldn't rent a house that wasn't clean/freshly painted, so I can't figure out why people think we're crazy. I didn't realize it was just this part of the country! Praying you all the way through this hectic time. Hang in there!
Wow, that's a lot of work. Tell Tug he can't leave you and go out of town. ;) Good luck.
Wish we lived closer and could take the kids for a while.
oh that is awful. I remember living in a house on the market when we were renting. I started to hate the phone ringing because 3/5 times it was the Realtor wanting to show someone through.
Prayers for your new house.
any new news?
We've had three or four tours of our home, and I did not stress out about having a clean/neat home. Perhaps I might have been more concerned, but the first couple they sent over with absolutely no warning and without a realtor to accompany them. The house was a disaster. The couple didn't seem to mind.
I think most poeple see kid stuff and realize that keeping things neat is impossible. Also, it is your home and you are being nice to allow people to view it before you vacate it, unless your lease says otherwise. I can't find my lease to here, but the lease I have with my home in NJ says that we have the right to advertise the house and put a sign on the property, but does not specify that we will allow people to come in and look around.
I was surprised when the realtor asked if the house needed paint. NJ law requires new paint between tenants. We've been here 18 months, and I told him that it does need paint, especially on high traffic areas. He seemed surprised. Forgot the guy doesn't have kids, doesn't know they can't walk down the hall without touching the wall the whole way.
We scheduled a walk through and he told me I didn't have to be present. I insisted that I would be. I want to see what they're going to get me for. I haven't rented from a civilian since 2000, but that guy charged an arm and a leg to spackle nail holes. Bill will be spackling today. And painting, especially toddler art work.
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