I lost it on my realtor today

[pooh8402]

Omg sorry for the novel!

She had a realtor tour at my house today, where she invites a bunch of realtors to see the house and offer feedback. Most of it was positive, some things I cannot help (one person mentioned landscaping--it's January. Of course the landscaping looks like shit. We pulled dead bushes in the fall, and were intending to put new ones in the beds in the spring).

But one person said my house was dirty. I took that one personally. I stay up late every night cleaning to make sure the house is spotless. I clean behind my kid every morning, making myself late for work, so it is ready to show. This is not easy to me; I'm not a naturally tidy person. I've been pretty fucking proud of how clean my house has been. And this person wrote dirty on the feedback form.

So I kinda flipped.

I wrote a long email to my realtor about the dirty thing. Then mentioned all the other negative things people said. It was a long email. Lots of curse words involved. The only reason I didn't call my realtor is because I know she has 3 kids under 5 and she's really busy in the early evenings. I do have some restraint, ha.

I also called my mom, who talked me off the ledge a bit. I then wrote another, calmer email to my realtor apologizing and then calming discussing some of the points made.

We just texted a bit, I apologized again, she's like don't worry about it, you've got a lot going on right now, etc. Fortunately she's a very good friend (we went to Hawaii together last year, and she hosted my baby shower almost 2 years ago) so it's all good now.

But selling this house, buying the other one, starting school, resigning from my current job while not having another job lined up, and raising a very spirited toddler... it's stressing me out, man!

[estrellita]

You do have a lot on your plate right now! I'd be interested to know that one realtor's definition of "clean". They'd probably hyperventilate in my house, lol.

[pooh8402]

estrellita, apparently, that particular person was referring to the marks on the walls that we hadn't touched up with paint yet. So not even actual dirt. So maybe, ya know, don't write dirty if you don't mean dirty? Write "marks on the wall need to be painted over" or somesuch. Dirty has a very negative connotation.

[estrellita]

Oh, yeah that's not really dirty, lol.

[katespade]

Ugh. I can imagine how that would be really frustrating, especially with everything else you're dealing with, too.

[amaranth]

It's so dumb they didn't write what they meant because you otherwise may never have known to paint those areas and instead might have just uselessly mopped more.

I hope it all settles down soon. Your stress is totally understandable.

[awick14]

I have never sold a house but I can imagine how stressful it would be.

I hope in the future that realtor writes what they actually mean when giving feedback. That would be more helpful.

[wineandcheese]

I would of flipped out too. That was a poor choice of words on that realtor's part.

[wanderingenough]

I'm sorry, Pooh. A good friend told me before my first home buying experience that it was more stressful than nursing school, planning a wedding, and the first year of marriage had been for her. No way! Selling a house was much more stressful for me! Everything is hinging on other people's opinions.

I'd say just take it in stride. As obnoxious as it is, pull out the old magic eraser and knock out the marks cursing that bitchy realtor along the way. It'll be good stress relief. My other suggestions for a quick sell (my husband mocked these but they seemed to work -- once we got a full price cash offer day 1):
1- Pull down all family pics that you can. I know that's tough because sometimes it's more hassle to patch/repaint the holes if you don't have the color still, but people like to picture themselves in the house.
2. Put a plastic tub in your bathroom to quickly dump toiletries in before a showing. Put this into a closet with the lid on it. I always neatly folded a blanket or something on top so the closets still seemed organized. This cleans up the counters without much hassle.
3. Do the same as #2 with toys with a long tub you can shove under a bed
4. We had a tub for valuables we would keep in the car on showings, but I'm paranoid
5. I'd febreeze the curtains and carpet. I'm sensitive to smells myself, so I never wanted it to smell like FRAGRANCE when someone walked in, but wanted it to smell fresh. Especially important if you have a pet. I can immediately tell if someone has a pet even if the pet isn't there.

[MrsMB]

I almost think that's a comment she could have slid under the rug

I know we had software that allowed buyers to leave comments on our home, when we sold in 2014. So, I guess you could view them directly that way.

[pooh8402]

Jan 25, 2017 9:12:49 GMT -5 wanderingenough said:

I'm sorry, Pooh. A good friend told me before my first home buying experience that it was more stressful than nursing school, planning a wedding, and the first year of marriage had been for her. No way! Selling a house was much more stressful for me! Everything is hinging on other people's opinions.

I'd say just take it in stride. As obnoxious as it is, pull out the old magic eraser and knock out the marks cursing that bitchy realtor along the way. It'll be good stress relief. My other suggestions for a quick sell (my husband mocked these but they seemed to work -- once we got a full price cash offer day 1):
1- Pull down all family pics that you can. I know that's tough because sometimes it's more hassle to patch/repaint the holes if you don't have the color still, but people like to picture themselves in the house.
2. Put a plastic tub in your bathroom to quickly dump toiletries in before a showing. Put this into a closet with the lid on it. I always neatly folded a blanket or something on top so the closets still seemed organized. This cleans up the counters without much hassle.
3. Do the same as #2 with toys with a long tub you can shove under a bed
4. We had a tub for valuables we would keep in the car on showings, but I'm paranoid
5. I'd febreeze the curtains and carpet. I'm sensitive to smells myself, so I never wanted it to smell like FRAGRANCE when someone walked in, but wanted it to smell fresh. Especially important if you have a pet. I can immediately tell if someone has a pet even if the pet isn't there.

1. Done
2. Done.
3. Done, and contained to his playroom.
4. Done. I wear my wedding ring daily now, which is the main thing we're worried about.
5. Dogs have been living outside for a week and a half now. Couches have been cleaned. We don't have any rugs or carpet. I often diffuse some essential oils the night before so it's still faint in the morning.

[wanderingenough]

Awesome! Good luck!