It's On!

OMG.  We are really going to do this.  Our house goes on the market today.  Dave and I have been working nonstop on the house for the last two weeks getting it ready.  Our efforts have really paid off.  The house is practically glistening.

Our agent is great.  She used to have a staging business on the side.  We didn't really stage our previous house in Mukilteo, just decluttered.  Our agent, Erica, has taken our house to an entirely new level.  If I didn't know we needed a larger house, it might be a little too easy to fall in love with it all over again.

I'm also ready to pass out from exhaustion.  Scrubbing walls, baseboards, and ceilings while trying to take care of three kids is hard.  Then telling them not to touch anything makes life nearly impossible.  My morning now consists of getting the house back into the staged look and running an entire load of laundry all before 9:30 am when Robin wakes up from his nap and we leave the house for the day until 8 pm.

It's amazing how much house buying and selling has changed in the 7 years since we bought our current house.  Redfin and Zillow allow us to no longer solely rely on the agent to find houses that interest us and we have lots of information about the houses at our fingertips.  No more big stacks of papers to sign.  Just an email inviting us to e-sign.  When we bought our first house in Mukilteo, we pulled over in a church parking lot to put together the offer and sign.  I prefer this technological advancement.

I'm interested to see how quickly our house sells.  I'm grateful I'm flying to Nebraska with the kids (minus Linus who is staying with grandparents in Tacoma) next week so I don't drive myself crazy trying to keep the house clean and children from touching everything.  I firmly believe in Dave's ability to not mess up the house too much in my absence.

In the meantime, I happen to know about an super cute house in the highly desirable Phinney Ridge/Ballard neighborhood of Seattle.  It has lots of storage, a workshop, three bedrooms with a large master suite. Built in hutches in the dining room.  You could not ask for a more walkable neighborhood or friendlier neighbors, neighbors who throw block parties.  Plenty of kids of the street.  Kids who literally hop over and through fences to play in each others' backyards.  I know I know.  It's an amazing house and will make someone very happy.  Sad to leave but excited for the next adventure.