retro-inspired outfit featuring red gingham circle skirt and cherry cardigan

Why won’t someone just buy my house already?

retro-inspired outfit featuring red gingham circle skirt and cherry cardigan

retro-inspired outfit featuring red gingham circle skirt and cherry cardiganretro-inspired outfit featuring red gingham circle skirt and cherry cardigan

I’ve not been doing a great job of keeping the ol’ blog updated recently. I say this, not by way of apology, because I very much doubt you’re all sitting there hitting the “refresh” button over and over again while muttering, “How long do I have to wait before I see another photo of Amber in a 50s-style skirt?” but mostly to prepare you all for the fact that this is going to be YET ANOTHER post about my attempt to sell my house. GOD.

The House Thing, as I think of it, is the main reason I haven’t been blogging here so much recently. It’s not the only reason, of course: there’s also my complete lack of inspiration when it comes to deciding what to wear (No, it didn’t escape my notice that this outfit is exactly the same as this one, just with different colours…), and my upcoming holiday, which is currently requiring me to write almost a month’s worth of blog posts in advance. Let’s be honest, though: it’s mostly The House Thing. And on that subject…

WHY WON’T SOMEONE BUY MY HOUSE ALREADY?!

Since the last time I wrote about this (so, a few days, then…) we’ve actually had quite a lot of interest in the house. We’ve had more viewings in the past couple of weeks than we had in the first month combined, and, even more encouragingly, the people who’ve been coming to see the house have seemed to really like it. Some of them came back for second viewings. Some of them came back for thirds. (THIRDS!) Some of them ticked the box on the feedback form which says, “Yes, I would totally be interested in buying this house! Where do I sign?” They were even liking the shoe shelves, which made for a pleasant change.

Despite all of this, we weren’t getting our hopes up. After what happened last month, we learned that … well, we learned that The Others are every bit as inexplicable in the realm of property as they are in everything else they do. Possibly more so. And honestly, it’s a good thing we learned that, because otherwise we’d have really gotten excited about those second and third (THIRD!) viewings, and those encouraging noises everyone was making. We’d have spent hours and hours (and hours, and hours…) wondering if they were going to make an offer, and when they would make it, and how much it would be, and then we’d have felt totally crushed when it all came to ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Which is, of course, exactly what happened. Every time.

According to what I’ve been reading, we’re not the only ones in this position. Not only does the market just absolutely SUCK right now, the first time buyers (who are the people most likely to be interested in buying our place) are being super-cautious, and super-picky. They basically have so much choice that its seems to have paralysed them, and rather than picking the house they like most and buying it (LIKE WE DID.), they’re so terrified of making the wrong choice that they’re just circling endlessly around and around the same properties, doing second, third and sometimes more viewings, and never actually coming to a decision. There always seems to be one more house to see, then another, then another, and by the time they’re done, they’ve forgotten what the first set of houses were like, so they book second viewings with those, and the whole process starts again.

I have some amount of sympathy for this, obviously. I mean, I’m pretty indecisive myself. It sometimes takes me weeks of deliberating just to choose between two dresses, for God’s sake, and after all of that I’ll probably end up buying both, which you can’t really do with houses can you? So I get it. And I also get that it’s a huge decision, the most money you’ll ever spend on something, your happiness depends on it, blah, blah, blah. But even though on the outside I’m saying I understand, what I’m REALLY thinking here is, OH MY GOD, JUST MAKE A DECISION ALREADY. And also: BUY MY HOUSE. Because, seriously: as a buyer, I know that it’s a huge, huge decision, and not something to be taken lightly. But as a seller, there’s only so many times you can show the same set of people around the same house (We’re doing the viewings ourselves now, after someone turned up unexpectedly, and Terry managed to tap into a side of himself that has secretly always wanted to be a salesman, apparently…) before you start to wonder if they’re going to ask to move in next, “just to get a proper feel for the place”.

Just to add to the fun, that house we wanted? It’s still on the market. The seller let us know that the rental can be cancelled as long as he gives the tenants enough notice, so he’s still actively marketing it. This is good news for us, of course, but also bad news, because this week he started to market it even MORE actively than he’s been doing, which makes us worry that someone will come along and snap it up, while we’re still showing the same people around for the 15th time, only to have them decide that actually, they were never really that interested in the house after all.

Still: there are cherry shoes and there are gingham circle skirts. There’s also sunshine. Sunshine makes EVERYTHING seem better…

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COMMENTS
  • Sunshine does make everything seem a bit better, but I’m sad that your house woes still continue 🙁
    I love this skirt though!

    May 31, 2013
  • Yes, what’s with the sudden upswing? We had NO interest for a week and a half (WHY DOES EVERYBODY HATE US?!) and today I’ve had five phone calls (so far… *checks phone again*). I’m putting it down to our wonderful blogging on the subject. And at least yours makes me feel a little less alone (and victimised) during this whole thing…

    May 31, 2013
  • So much good luck! Also, thirds? Really? I would just think it was plain rude…I mean I might take HOURS to look at a house properly the first time, but after that, you must be daft not to know.

    May 31, 2013
  • beautiful <3

    May 31, 2013
  • Happy for your sunshine, circle skirt, AND yellow fields! At least they help seem to make it all better. 🙂

    May 31, 2013
  • Yes, sunshine DOES make everything better. Especially red hair.

    May 31, 2013
  • A similar outfit or not, you look stunning in this.

    Selling a house sounds super frustrating!

    May 31, 2013
  • Oh I wish that everything will turn out ok in the end. You should see the market in Greece… it’s terrible. No one’s buying.
    I haven’t read any blogs lately, because I’m still having PC problems, so it was really nice to see one of your outfits again, especially this one. Because I LOVE your cherry shoes, and gingham skirt. So pretty!

    May 31, 2013
  • Ohh, it is exciting news that you are getting more viewings and also that the house you want is on the market!!! Hopefully you can get a buyer soon!

    Love the skirt and shoes, how pretty! Enjoy your sunny Saturday =)

    Corinne x

    June 1, 2013
  • Don’t worry, the house will sell. They always do in the end. Great look – the future is gingham!

    June 1, 2013
  • You look so lovely!
    Love the whole outfit.

    darlingsophie.blogspot.co.uk

    June 1, 2013
  • How frustrating for you both! I really hope someone buys your house this week. I will think positive thoughts for you.

    June 2, 2013
  • You know what’s going to happen don’t you? The offer will come in while you’re on vacation!

    June 3, 2013
  • Amber I love your outfit – it looks perfect on you. I’m so sorry about the house woes. I would think the shoe room alone would be enough to get an offer! Have fun on your Florida vacation. We just got back from Palm Beach. Lovely.

    June 6, 2013
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