Sold!

Our house has finally sold.

We put it on the market just after Easter, and here we are in September with confirmation that contracts will exchange next week.

Anyone who tells you that selling and moving house is stressful is right. Juggling full time work, three kids and now a dog, with open houses and inspections was hard work.

Before an inspection or open house, I would work like a banshee, juggling the craziness of the morning and attempting to make the house look like it hadn't just been ransacked by federal agents. There would be raised voices and the frantic searching for undiscovered nooks to hide random objects, and the occasional cursing that there wasn't another adult I could generally get help from (but I was lucky in that my wonderful partner helped me with the yard once a month which was a godsend). I would pack away, wipe down, turn on the mood lighting and wait. And every time there would be people who were 'just looking', or the house 'wasn't for them', or they liked it but made an offer that was not feasible for us. And so it began to feel a little like bad dating...opening up your home only to be effectively told "it's not you, it's me".

This was the home where we had bought together. During that time we brought home two more babies, had easter egg hunts and visits from the tooth fairy. Countless meals, cuddles and games of football in the back yard. Glasses of wine watching the sunset, and coffee in the morning sun.

It was also the place that my ex and I at different times fell out of love with each other, and in love with someone else. 

Thanks to a lot of renovation shows, I think there is a belief that selling real estate is like hitting the jackpot. For us it's far from that. However it allows me now to move on and choose the next home for our children and I.

So while I won't miss the stress of wondering when will the house sell, or of getting the house reasonably presentable, I will miss those short opportunities when I would arrive home an inspection and it felt so peaceful...for 5 minutes before  everything imploded...but for those short beautiful moments, there are uncluttered counters, clear floors and a carpet I can walk on without injury or crushing biscuits.