Well guys, we did it! We sold our new/old house! After weeks of renovations, preparations and staging, we finally listed our home for sale the last week of October. As we already know from selling our condo, I am a terrible seller. It didn't help that I sold our home myself and therefore did not have my own agent to insulate me from the roller coaster of showing feedback, mixed emotions and criticism, which only drove me more crazy. Poor Corey also wasn't sheltered from any of this... all the while, we stayed in a cramped hotel room with Rudy who wasn't sleeping... or letting us sleep.
It was an exhausting and stressful week but, in the end, our biggest fear that nobody would like our house (I actually voiced this paranoia to Corey several times throughout the week) was silly. In fact, SEVERAL people loved our house but many felt it would sell for over their budget. There was even a family with a son Rudy's age who fell in love with our family room but they couldn't afford to compete in multiple offers. We still ended up with two strong offers and we were thrilled to sell our home to a young couple who happen to remind us a lot of ourselves a few years ago.
It was appropriate that our sale occurred on Halloween, which was one day earlier than we had initially called for offers. Halloween is one of our favourite "holidays" but it also seems to often mark good career news for both of us so it has become a lucky night in our family. We reviewed offers, excusing ourselves occasionally to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. What a night!
We're thrilled to get back to our normal routine (the pets are finally home tonight!) and we are excited to take possession of our new house. Still, I must confess that our sale feels bittersweet because we've made so many happy memories in this home. We have put so much of ourselves into this space that it feels strange to leave it behind. I actually cried a little right after we sold just thinking about all the happy memories we've made in this house. Our consolation is that a new family will get a chance to make their own happy memories within these walls.
Before we leave this house behind, I'd love to share some photos with you. These were all taken by my talented real estate photographer and friend, Thea Menagh. When listing a home, it's really important for the rooms to look amazing but not stretched or unrealistic. You want to wow people with the photos but you don't want them to feel disappointed in person. Thea walks this fine line beautifully and her photos show the best (true) version of a home. I call her my ninja and my secret weapon because her photos are SO good!
So here I invite you to take a look at our home.
We love the new steps and door but if we had stayed, we would have eventually had the parking pad re-done and replaced the siding on the second floor.
We love that the mudroom gives us so much extra storage... and even space for Rudy to hang her own bag and coat!
Oooh, I'm going to miss that pretty glass door! If we had stayed, we might have knocked out the wall between the living room and hallway to create a little more open space on the main floor.
Remember when we made those built-in shelves? I still love them!
We were going to include that dining room chandelier with the house. We've had it since the condo though and have a weird attachment to it so we changed our minds at the last minute and excluded it from the sale. It may not work with the style of the new house but we're bringing it anyway!
I love those shelves with the lights that Corey built to cover our duct! I want display shelves like that in the new house!
Ahhh, the kitchen. I'm going to miss our beautiful kitchen. Sigh...
Aside from the kitchen, which obviously drew the most compliments, people seemed to like the family room almost as much. We'll try to replicate it in our next house but I think we're leaving the climbing wall for our buyers...
We were worried about not painting the nursery a lighter colour (we didn't want to change Rudy's world too much) but people actually really liked the dark navy walls. Our buyers said it was serene.
The bathroom at the new house needs work but Corey has promised me another soaker tub!
Our master bedroom was staged to sell. It never looks like this... but we sort of like the look and have decided to draw inspiration from it in the new house.
The office was also totally staged but it has given me some ideas for my office at the new house... I'm actually really excited to get it set up!
I'm not showing you the basement because it's filled with boxes and generally ugly. I did post a photo on MLS though because I wanted people to see that it had potential.
So that's our home... finally finished and sold within days. Onward and upward!
