No fairy tales

So by now you can guess we thought we would be sitting pretty come listing day. The house we loved was clean (relatively), housed a super-modern-and-cool bathroom (which set us back more than I'd care to admit) and all the perks that had held us in place for 14 years.

And by now you can guess we were wrong.

That first day, offers didn't come flying in through the door. On the bright side, we had two showings within two days. That sounded exciting! People were going to see the house through our rose-colored glasses, see the potential, the great character, the charm. Surely they would see the result of three months of grueling work re-painting, cleaning, installing new fixtures, fixing small fixes, all that stuff that you never have time for but make time for after you move. Surely they would swoon at the Florida room, now bathed in a coat of caramel paint that looked so inviting you migh just want to lick it. Not so fast.

In fact, they saw the broken window in the back, the result of an errant baseball. Wouldn't you know that we'd never had a broken window in 14 years, but the month before the house goes up for sale, my sons decide to hit a long ball into the Florida room? And wouldn't you know that the special glass not only cost upwards of $500, but takes 10 days to construct in some glass factory far far away. So while we have paid for the new glass and await only its arrival on the scene, it still proved off-putting.

First feedback was baffling. Great neighborhood, but where was the central air? Where was the first-floor bath? Mind you, both of those items were nowhere on the listing, and in fact, a cursory glance at the specs would have shown otherwise. Still, those were the questions from the first walk-throughs.

Those and the biggest surprise of all--the side brick wall and chimneys. Tuckpointing and grouting and scaffolds, oh my! Turns out that what we never knew can hurt us, not to mention pull the rug out from under the value and attractiveness of our home.

And that was just the beginning!