Competition!

Wow, I feel really stressed thinking about trying to sell our home so that we can move to Belgium, and now I find out that 3 more houses on my street are going to be for sale too. The only reason I ever consider moving is for a career change that is necessary for our family, one of our neighbors is selling because they are transferring back to the Chicago area where they are from; the other two simply WANT to move to the other side of town! They are unhappy with the thoughts of their sons going to the Intermediate school that Elena attended here. I can understand that, but I just don't get why anyone would try to sell a home if they don't really have too. I would think that it would be more costly to sell, buy new and move than it would to put the children into a private school. How does this affect me? Well, I guess it really doesn't, except that I am nervous about the competition of having 4 homes on the same street for sale. I am also nervous that perspective buyers might hear about the two families choosing to move because of the school system. That is not going to be good for prospective buyers. I have been very careful about how I discuss our reasons for home schooling. Of course, we are absolutely home schooling because of the schools, I never considered home schooling when we lived in New Palestine. We have enjoyed trying something different and have made the best of our situation, but we are now looking forward to the changes that are to come with moving and going to the International School. Anyway, I guess I am just rambling, I was hoping that the other two families were just all talk and no action, but sure enough the For Sale sign went up across the street, so at least one of them is serious about selling and moving to another school district. The jury is still out on the other family, so we officially have 3 homes on our street For Sale.

I have been stressing about this situation today, I guess I have been trying to focus on something other than Katie having her surgery, which I have been praying about all day. I was actually on the sofa laying down in my jammies and praying for Katie when I heard the door bell ring. Of course, I am in my pj's still have on yesterday's make-up, so we have a drive by who wants to see the house! I said of course, he gave me 10 minutes while he went to see another house and the girls and I ran around and did the 10 second tidy. Was I ever glad that I have been very "anal" about keeping the house clean, so we were able to have the house looking like it was ready for HGTV in just 10 minutes! My girls were awesome, they pitched in and did a great job and didn't even complain. They seem to really understand the importance of keeping the house nice and trying to get it sold. So while we were doing the 10 second tidy my Realtor called to confirm having this guy come look and she said that he is actually interested in a Lease to Buy situation. We have mentioned this as a possibility to her, but she seems to think that she can get our house sold. Stig would love to do a lease to buy because then we can continue to accru equity while still getting the mortgage and utilities covered. Anyway, I called Stig to see if we would be in this guys monthly price range and he said yes, and the guy was thrilled with our home. He has a home in Atlanta that he is leasing because those people can't sell their home in St. Louis, so it is just a trickle down effect. He says that most of the paint would be move-in ready for them and he loves everything we have done in the house, there is nothing negative that he could find to say. He asked if he could call again and perhaps bring his wife over this weekend. So perhaps this will be it! I have been praying for the Lord to take care of our house situation and things are at least moving in a positive direction. I just can't wait to have everything behind us so that we can move on with our new life.