happyone's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Not So Fast We are feeling slightly discouraged in the whole house selling process for my mom. The listing for my mom's house went up online on Monday. There were 3 showings on Monday and 3 yesterday. However, no one has put in an offer yet and in fact, my mom's realtor has shared some of the negative comments the potential buyers have said. Negatives have included the paint color on the inside (a good bit of the house is painted a serene turquoise color), uneven floors, and the soft spot in the downstairs bathroom floor (we think a past leak may have weakened the floorboards). The biggest complaint of all, though, is the neighbor's yard. Let me give you the back story on these neighbors. When my mom moved into her house in 1984, a man and his wife and daughter lived next door. My mom became close friends with the wife. The daughter was 10 years old at the time and she sometimes came over and played with my older sister, Angel, who was a baby at the time. However, this daughter - I'll call her P - became quite a handful as she got older. Getting into trouble at school, being defiant and disrespectful to her parents, that kind of thing. Sadly, the wife died of breast cancer in 1998 when P was in her late 20s. P was even wilder after that. Around that time, Angel was living with us (she had previously lived with her dad) and she was about 16 or so. For some reason, Angel saw P and her loser friends as ideal role models and her grades started tanking and she started getting into trouble too, so much so that my mom sent her back to Iowa to live with her dad. Not long after that, P got married and moved out, so it was just her dad living next door to my mom for many, many years, and P and her wild antics and bad influence were a distant memory. However, P's dad died a couple of years ago at age 75 and who inherited this paid-for house, you ask? P. Of course. So, P now lives next door to my mom again with her loser husband and their 4 children, including an adult son and daughter who are very much following in P's footsteps of getting into trouble. No one seems to work over there as they are always home, yelling at each other in the yard and revving the engines on their piece of junk cars. They are slobs and leave trash all over their yard and their dog keeps getting loose from their backyard. They have an old ugly truck in the driveway that doesn't run, as well as a boat that is piled with junk (including a mattress). My whole point about all of this is that the biggest complaint the potential buyers for my mom's house had is THEIR YARD! And I don't blame them! The neighbors obviously seem to be trashy people if they keep their yard in such a disgusting state. I'm just so upset that those LOSERS might ruin this chance for my mom to have the house she's always wanted! My mom even said her realtor doesn't seem as confident about selling her house now based on the feedback so far. My mom actually sent several messages to the people next door on Facebook and she left an actual note in their front door, asking if they could please clean up their yard as it is turning away potential buyers for her house. I hope they respond to her and actually DO IT. P's husband might pull through. He's not a total lost cause and has been somewhat useful to my mom, doing odd jobs for her here and there over the years, like mowing grass, fixing things, etc. Maybe he will straighten up their yard. I'm doubtful, though. What's even worse is that my mom is already under contract for that other house and I'm not even sure she can get out of it at this point. She says she still might be able to since she hasn't paid any earnest money yet, but I know she (and the rest of us) would be extremely disappointed if she had to back out of the contract and let that house go. She will not get that lucky again, having her offer accepted on a house that is just so perfect for her. If she can't get out of the contract for the other house, then she runs the risk of having to pay for 2 houses if hers doesn't sell. I just really hope someone comes through and buys it. We thought for sure that rich lake guy was going to buy it to use it as a rental property, but I'm not sure if he's even seen it or what happened with him. Sigh. I'm trying not to be discouraged as this is only day 3 of the house being up for sale. Okay, it didn't sell in 24 hours like all of the other houses, but it still might have a chance. My mom's realtor sent her a link to another house in her neighborhood that is also for sale for a similar price, aka "the competition". Yes, it has been freshly painted a neutral color on the inside. Yes, all the floors have been replaced with new carpet and wood-grained luxury vinyl plank flooring. Yes, the roof and HVAC were replaced in 2014. Yes, the kitchen is much bigger than my mom's. Depressingly, I just looked on Zillow, and this home has been viewed over 1300 times when it's only been listed for 1 day. My mom's house has been listed for 2 days and has under 500 views. :( My mom's house is unique, which is why she even bought it in the first place way back in the day - she's always liked odd or unusual things. The house's uniqueness probably isn't appealing to most buyers for the following reasons: 1. Her house is small at just under 1300 square feet. Those are the main negatives, but it's nothing unfixable or terrible. Things can be repainted and floors can be replaced. She did replace the roof, but it probably was about 20 years ago now. The HVAC is relatively new. The positive about having only 2 bedrooms is that they are huge with massive walk-in closets. The master bedroom is 12 feet by 16 feet - unheard of in most 3 bedroom houses as they have to make the bedrooms much smaller. The guest bedroom is just as long but not as wide. The backyard is also quite large (if only you couldn't see the losers next door). The backyard could benefit from a 6 ft. privacy fence. Sigh. I just want something to go right for my mom for ONCE. She deserves this! She's had so many bad things happen to her in life and it is high time that something goes well for her! If I could win the lottery and buy that other house for her, I would. I hope this all works out in the end, but right now, I'm feeling nervous. 9:48 a.m. - Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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