I’m totally bummed out. My agent had prepared me for a possible offer for Saturday. It was an elderly lady who was very interested in my home and had scheduled for a second showing on Saturday afternoon. I hung onto my phone every minute of the day from Thursday thru Saturday and jumped for it every time the phone rang from the guy standing or sitting next to me. The ring tone would be completely unfamiliar to me and I would still empty out my purse searching for that darn phone. “Be by your phone between 2:30 to 6:30. I should hear something from the buyer” said my agent. 6:24 the phone, MY phone, rang. Taken from the title of this entry, it was not good news. Turns out, the elderly had some reservations about the stairs in my home. I became more angry at the buyer than I was disappointed. It would have been better if her reservations were resulted of not-so-obvious-things such as a scratch on a wall which she did not see from the first visit. But the stairs? It’s one of the first things you see right when you walk through the front door! The stairs are certainly not a surprise and the fact that she is about 50 years old was not a surprise either. She had about fifty years to realize that fact. If she had any reservations about the stairs, she should have thought about it before putting everyone on alert armed with fully charged phones, supplying detail information regarding everything from home association fees to closing costs, and preparing legal contracts and files ready for signatures. As I heard the bad news from my agent, my heart dropped…no, it plunged. Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to go from excited, optimistic, and encouraged straight to depressed, hopeless, and dejected within an eighth of a second? It’s very exhausting on the spirit as well as the body. Not to be dramatic but I can still remember that very moment in slow motion, word by word and I could feel my smiling muscles relax to a frown. I saw a dark empty dingy elevator shaft and my heart zipping down with no emergency locking breaks. It landed in my stomach and bounced twice. What did she expect me to say about the stairs? “That’s ok ma’am, I’ll just remove them and install an elevator for you.”
I know, I know, your probably saying “there will be another offer”. If you were also wondering, my husband is not much of a condolence or a comforting support during these depressing times. (To be frank he can be a selfish jerk at some times… and now is one of those times, which can be a whole other entry). The Hispanic family hasn’t contacted us either. I have had 4 “second” showings in the row just this weekend. Incase you don’t know what a “second” showing is, it is when the clients are considering the home more seriously and would like to take a second look before making an offer. And like the time when I had my first house showing, then the second, third...even four visits in one day…I’m beginning to get use to these “second” showings. On the bright side, at least we’re making some sort of progress. No problem, I consoled myself with a 10 piece KFC bucket of chicken, two family-sized side dishes, and a half gallon bucket of fruit punch, all for $15.99.