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Young House Love » Moving, Selling, & Buying » How We Sold Our Second House By Owner

| By John Petersik | May 13, 2013 | 622 Comments

How We Sold Our Second House By Owner

Holy cow, did we just sell our house?

(I’ll pause while Sherry flails around since that sentence is a trigger).

Now that we’re through the inspection & the appraisal (and the closing date is officially on the calendar), we’re finally at the point that we feel safe enough to shout it to the interwebs (we waited until this point to share the “we sold our house” news last time too). Of course nothing’s guaranteed until we’re all signing on the dotted line in early June, but so far, so good…

Selling Contract

First, some background: Sherry was set on selling our house FSBO (For Sale By Owner) again. She argued that we stood to save nearly ten grand – or even more – by not owing a Realtor the 6% commission. Even if we sold to a buyer with an agent (like we did last time) we’d only be out 3% instead of 6%… so the numbers were pretty compelling. But I still wasn’t so sure. I remembered the stress that we felt last time and was also curious to experience selling with an agent. We came to a compromise. We decided we’d try straight up FSBO for a week. If that didn’t work, we’d list it on MLS for a few hundred bucks ourselves (which is what got us a buyer last time) and if there still weren’t offers a few weeks later, we’d think about engaging a Realtor.

Now for the timeline details:

Friday, April 26: The Realtor who helped us buy our new house (Anne) checks in to see if our current house is on the market yet (she knew we were hoping to sell it sometime this spring). Turns out she has some buyers looking for a ranch and she thinks ours would be perfect. We tell her that we’ll be sharing the news/putting it on the market in four days. She says she’ll call us back if they want to see it then. This is a reenactment. And it makes Sherry cry laugh. 

Reenactment

Saturday & Sunday, April 27 & 28: We spend the weekend furiously getting last minute projects done, on the off chance that we get any quick interest (we’ll write up a whole post about what we did to “stage” our house for a showing soon).

Now here’s where the days become a bit more action-packed…

Monday, April 29

  • 2 pm: Anne the Realtor calls. Her buyers are very excited about seeing our house. She wants to bring them by the next day at 2pm. Yikes!
  • 2:30 pm: Come down from the high of our first scheduled showing to realize we haven’t made a flyer or decided on a sale price. Uhh…. better get on that.
  • 3 pm: Begin frantically cleaning the house. Since when did Clara have so many toys? And where would we be without storage ottomans?

Ottoman

  • 9:30 pm: After some scrambling and looking at comparable homes for sale, we pick a list price and throw together a flyer.
  • 12:30 am: Computer freezes while attempting to print flyer. File is lost. Too tired to recreate.

Tuesday, April 30

  • 7 am: Up early-ish to recreate flyer and proofread our post with the new house news.
  • 9 am: Flyer is printed. House still doesn’t look clean enough. More cleaning commences.
  • 10 am: Post is up and comments are rolling in faster than we can keep up with them, but the caulk around the tub is too grimy. Where’s the caulk gun?
  • 1:30 pm: House is looking presentable, but we’re a sweaty mess. Good thing Anne the Realtor will be doing the showing.

Dining Room Side

  • 1:45 pm: Anne arrives early (as planned) for us to show her some of the improvements since she last visited.
  • 1:55 pm: Buyers are early (not as planned) so we high-tail it out of there so they can look around without us hovering.
  • 2 pm: Since we have Burger with us as well as Clara, we kill time at a nearby dog-friendly walking mall. We have some fun browsing places like Banana Republic (where Clara and Burger try out the three way mirror) and Build-A-Bear (without actually building a bear, which is a parental coup if we’ve ever had one).

Banana Pic

  • 3 pm: It’s a full hour later – and Clara’s naptime – but we haven’t received a call from Anne that we’re clear to come home. We try giving her a ring but our call goes to voicemail.
  • 3:15 pm: Clara’s late for her nap and she’s getting tired of being at the mall. We assume Anne forgot to call us and drive home.
  • 3:30 pm: We turn onto our street to see Anne and the buyers just getting into their cars. Wow. An hour and a half at a first showing seems pretty good. Maybe they liked it!
  • 3:31 pm: Anne calls to say they really liked it and they were going to sleep on it, crunch some numbers, and get back to us.
  • 4 pm: We’re excited and relieved, but have tons of comments to catch up on. Plus, we’ve had a few other house-interest emails from locals. We’re a pretty even mix of grateful, tired, and nervous.
  • 8pm: We’ve sent out a few other flyers via email and have scheduled another showing for 11am the next morning. How did this house get so messy already? Oh yeah, our three year old…
  • Midnight: House is reasonably clean again. We crash for the day.

Wednesday, May 1

  • 5 am: Sherry can’t sleep thinking about all of the new house projects and potential buyer excitement. She begins drafting a Q&A post for you guys.
  • 5:30am: I get up to go to the gym before the girls wake up. Clearly I missed Sherry rolling out of bed already.
  • 7:30am: I’m back. Clara’s up. Time to get her fed and ready to go on an adventure with Grammy.
  • 10am: Post is up. Clara’s with Grammy. Counters need wiping down post-breakfast. House is ready for its second showing.
  • 11am: Potential buyers show up with their agent. Sherry, Burger, and I go for a walk (pretend this is a picture of Sherry, me, and Burger instead of a shot with Clara and no Sherry).

Walking Showing

  • 11:30am: Get a call from someone that we sent a flyer to last night while we’re out on our walk. They want to come see the house that afternoon. Woo hoo!
  • Noon: Second showing is done. Agent says they liked it a lot, and have to talk to their lender with some questions. I let the agent know there’s another interested buyer but that no offers have come in yet.
  • 2:30pm: Clara is back from Grammy’s and the third potential buyers show up. They don’t have an agent, so I show them around the house while the girls go walking with Burger. Sherry’s getting lots of exercise today!

Walking Again

  • 3pm: Third showing is done. They seem to like it, but don’t appear as interested as the other two families.
  • 3:30pm: Anne the Realtor calls. She’s sending us an offer from the first couple who walked through our house yesterday. It’s strong, but $5k below our asking price. “Thanks so much! We’ll get back to you soon!” is our response (while we sweat profusely).
  • 4pm: We think things through and discuss everything a few dozen times. I call the buyer’s agent from the morning showing just to let him know that we have an offer on the table. He asks me to hold tight, they’ll have one for us within a few hours. Whaaa?!!!
  • 7pm: Second offer comes in. It’s not as strong as the first. Bummer, but at least it helps make the decision clear. We call Anne back, tell her we have another offer, and ask if we can meet in the middle on the price ($3k above their offer, which is just $2k below our asking price).
  • 7:15pm: Anne calls to say that the buyers have agreed to the new price and she’ll be bringing over papers for us to sign in an hour!
  • 8:30pm: We sign about twenty papers with our minds spinning. Our house is officially under contract! And it’s less than 36 hours after our first showing. In our heads we’re doing a celebratory Elaine-from-Seinfeld dance, but in reality we’re too tired to move.

Now we just have a bunch of little things to check off of our list (a few inspection items, ordering a final termite inspection, and of course packing things up and getting moved into the new house). Should be a busy month!

Selling Making List

I can’t tell you how grateful and relieved we are at how quickly and smoothly this second FSBO process has been so far (just like last time we’ll pay 3% to the buyer’s agent, but we saved nearly 10K by marketing the house ourselves and acting as our own seller’s agent). We hear the market is really coming back and it’s a great time to sell, so for anyone wondering, many other homes in our area seem to be getting contracts within a week or even a few days of listing them assuming they’re priced right and show nicely. So hopefully that’s good news for everyone!

We assumed we might end up selling our house to a reader who came to us through the blog, but hilariously enough, just like when we sold our first house, our buyer isn’t a blog reader and didn’t find out about our house because of our site at all. It was just coincidence (serendipity?) that we kept our Realtor in the loop and she happened to have a buyer looking for an updated one-level ranch like ours. So it might also be nice to hear that you definitely don’t need a blog to sell your house, although I’m sure the updates that we did certainly helped us sell it.

Kitchen Corner

So far this experience feels like a stark contrast to our first time selling a home back in 2010. That took us 14 showings over more than 3 weeks, and a variety of promotional attempts (craigslist, forsalebyowner.com, MLS, a sign out front, etc). It was stressful, but even then we were grateful that it didn’t drag on for months. So we certainly are counting our lucky stars for the speed at which things happened with this house! As of right now we’re planning to move to our new house in around three weeks. Holy cow, we better start packing!

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Comments

  1. Plein Jane says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:29 am

    When we lived in Northern Virginia about 15 years ago, sellers traditionally conveyed appliances such as the refrigerator. So we moved from there to Texas without one. But in Texas, it turns out, people take their appliances with them! So we were on the hook for new ones. Ugh.

    Do you know if it’s still that way in Virginia? Will you be leaving your (almost) brand new kitchen appliances? Are the ones in your new house workable? Starting over is so expensive!

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 11:31 am

      We always convey them! Seems to be pretty standard, and we actually like stalking deals for a new set :)

      xo
      s

    • Catherine says

      May 13, 2013 at 12:36 pm

      So you’re leaving the washer/dryer you got for the amazing discount?! That seems a bit mad… Here in Ireland, generally speaking, you take all that stuff with you when you move. (If there’s stuff left, it’s usually rubbish lol) Though if you buy new electrical equipment here, the shop has to take back your old piece (thanks to WEEE regulations-Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment) so it’s not as much hassle trying to recycle broken-down equipment anymore

    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 2:05 pm

      Oh yes, it’s really standard here – those things sell with the house and they’re factored into the selling price and the appraisal. I think it’s much harder to sell a house if you say you’re taking all the appliances with you around here :)

      xo
      s

  2. DeeJay says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:31 am

    So glad that the market is working for the sellers in your area. It is a nightmare here. We have been in this drought for a while and it is killing the foundations for the homes up for sale. So if we think the sale will be a breeze then just wait for the inspections. It cost me $10,000 out of my profit to fix the foundation on an 1,100 square foot house. It was a total blindside. Our area is on the verge of stage 4 of water rationing so I see things only getting worse for the sellers.

    Wow, that was kind of a bummer. lol I am very happy for you guys and your blog gives me hope that when we move from this house that things may be better. Also am so excited to watch you both transform the new place! Will keep my fingers crossed that all of the paperwork and inspections go smoothly and to your advantage!

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 11:41 am

      Oh no! I’m so sorry DeeJay! All the best of luck with everything!

      xo
      s

    • DeeJay says

      May 13, 2013 at 4:25 pm

      Oh, we are staying put and it is really nice living in our new old home. We are saving up for a new floor for the kitchen! Woot! Can hardly wait!!

    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 5:34 pm

      That sounds awesome DeeJay!

      xo
      s

  3. Lauren L says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:31 am

    Congrats! I love reading about your home journey and am trying to learn what I can from you guys along the way. I’m SO curious about the price difference between what you bought and sold the house for (including all the costs of the upgrades you did along the way). I totally understand if you guys want to keep that private. Maybe you could do it using percentages or something. It just seems like you guys did SO MUCH to the house and I’m wondering if since you DIYed so much of it if your profit was greater than that of someone who contracted out all the upgrades.

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 11:41 am

      Oh yes, we wrote a post like that about our first house so we’ll do that again for the current one. It’s so interesting to see how much comes out vs. how much goes in!

      xo
      s

  4. Leigh Anne says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:32 am

    WOW! What a whirlwind few days for your guys. Congratulations on such a speedy sale. Will you be sharing packing posts and strategies?

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 11:40 am

      For sure!

      xo
      s

  5. Ashley M says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:33 am

    Congrats guys! Hope everything goes smoothly from here on out! We sold our house in Raleigh, NC to the first buyer that came and looked at it too! We were so blessed to sell it quickly and I know you guys are so thankful!

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 11:40 am

      That’s awesome Ashley! Congrats!

      xo
      s

  6. paintergal says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:33 am

    Whoa! Definitely was M.T.B. (meant to be- which is a takeoff from Sleepless in Seattle)

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 11:39 am

      Haha!

      xo
      s

  7. Barb says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:33 am

    Will you guys be moving “Bower style”/ a car load at a time?

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 11:40 am

      We have talked about doing a few smaller trips back and forth with the family for the little stuff, and then we’ll get a big ol’ truck for all of the big stuff :)

      xo
      s

  8. Beth A. says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:34 am

    Congratulations!! I got a little teary reading this post — I’m so happy for you guys!!!

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 11:39 am

      Aw thanks Beth! I’m teary a lot lately. Such an exciting/crazy/bittersweet time :)

      xo
      s

  9. Christie says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:37 am

    Congratulations!! I know you guys must be super excited. :-)

    I was wondering, are there any plans to House Crash your first home or this one now that it has sold?

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 11:38 am

      Yes, we’d love to crash both of them if the new owners will have us! We ain’t too proud to beg. Haha!

      xo
      s

  10. Sara says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:38 am

    Hey congrats! You guys are old pros at this house selling thing now. Maybe you’re going to add this as part of the staging post, but I’m intrigued to see what you put on the flyer you made. Could you show it to us? Thanks!

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 11:42 am

      Oh yes, that would be fun to share!

      xo
      s

  11. Amanda says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:38 am

    S&J,
    When I found out you were selling your house I went through a litany of emotions…Sadness (I LOOVE that house)… disbelief (how can you guys not LOOOVE it as much as I do?!)…excitement (OH EM GEE new projects!!!)
    I can’t wait to hear about the projects/designs you will be translating into the new house or if you will go with all new designs and color schemes.
    Congrats!!

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 11:42 am

      Aw thanks Amanda!

      xo
      s

  12. Karen says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:39 am

    Congrats!

    My 1 year old has that “spin spin a letter” ABC ball toy and loves it! It’s good to see that Clara still plays with hers at almost 3!

    On a side note, we are looking into getting a banquette for our kitchen, we really want something with storage. Any idea where to start? I figured I’d ask you since we are BFF’s and all!

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 11:43 am

      Hmm, I would check Pinterest since people have been using upper cabinets (like the ones that would hang over a fridge) to make seating with a wood top and cushion over them (they have nice storage under them since they’re cabinets). Hope it helps!

      xo
      s

    • Lesley says

      May 13, 2013 at 12:01 pm

      I have an upper cabinet banquet in my kitchen — if you don’t put a board on top they won’t hold up to people sitting on it. We had to repair it and add the top and make a cushion when we moved in. I’d also recommend building out from the wall — ours is the exact depth of the cabinets and it ‘s a little shallow. Not quite comfy– you have sit straight up at all times.

    • Nichole K says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:33 pm

      Cape 27 recently installed banquette seating in their dining room and I love it! http://www.cape27blog.com/2013/01/diy-built-in-banquette-seat/

    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 2:14 pm

      Oh yes I love that one!

      xo
      s

  13. Christine- 15 Minute Beauty says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:39 am

    Congratulations!!
    I knew you’d find a buyer that loved your house (yeah, your updates really ARE pretty amazing, that hallway!!) but I wasn’t expecting you to sell in 36 hours! Congratulations!!

    Reply
  14. Amy says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:42 am

    That’s awesome news! I had a feeling it would sell fast since it’s such a lovely home! My husband and I decided that we’re ready to try and sell ours in the next month or so! Lots of homes in our area have been selling within a week and we had friends that sold theirs in 2 days! Hoping the same for ours! I bet it’s a stress reliever to already have your new home! That’s something I keep going back on forth on. Sell first or find a new home first? It’s a tricky game!

    Reply
  15. erin says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:43 am

    This still feels VERY stressful! just reading about all of what happened in less than 36 hours! STRESS! but yay for selling!

    Reply
  16. Sue says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:43 am

    Your site has a problem with seeing the comments. If you try to go to another page after the first. The comment count drops to “70” and you can’t see ANY comments.

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:35 pm

      Anyone else having this issue? It’s the first we’ve heard and it could be an individual issue with how quickly your browser’s cache is, so I’d try clearing the data/cookies/cache to see if they pop up :)

      xo,
      s

    • Katie says

      May 13, 2013 at 5:16 pm

      I was having the issue constantly last week, I figured it was something to do with how quickly comments were rolling in vs. approval time?? Doesn’t seem to be an issue today.

    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 5:29 pm

      Yes sometimes it’s just an issue with your particular browser “catching up” so on ours as soon as we hit approve things are live, but if you browser only “refreshes” our page every 10 minutes, things can appear to be gone or held or disappear. So strange!

      xo
      s

  17. Hazel says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:44 am

    Awwwh congrats you guys! That’s great news… Even though I’m a little gutted my dream of win-the-lottery-move-entire-family-from-Ireland-to-America-to-buy-this-house won’t come true now… I am still delighted for ye! Can’t wait until ye get started on the new place! Exciting times ahead :)

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:34 pm

      Haha thanks Hazel!

      xo,
      s

  18. Ruth says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:45 am

    Wow, congratulations! Thanks for sharing all the details of selling your home! It’s really helpful as we finish projects on our home in order to sell it soon as well! We hope to sell by owner too…it doesn’t seem so hard really! Just a little nerve wracking. Haha!

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:37 pm

      Good luck Ruth!

      xo,
      s

  19. kimb says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:46 am

    Hope you gave the realtor her full percentage or a really nice expensive gift. Your house wouldn’t have sold that smoothly with out her.

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:39 pm

      She gets the full 3% that a buyer’s agent gets and a nice gift. Haha! She has also sold us two houses (current house and new house) so she has made a nice amount on the buying side as well :)

      xo,
      s

  20. Christina @ The Murrayed Life says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:47 am

    Congratulations!!! This market is CRAZY. We got ours ready to put on the market, and 4 days before it was even up we had 6 pre-showings, 3 offers, and sold for about $40k over what we were hoping for. We’re in Austin, which is totally outrageous right now, and we are just crossing our fingers until Wednesday night after closing!! I’ll keep them crossed for you guys too. :) I’m sure you’re ready to be done with the whole process.

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:33 pm

      Wow that’s crazy! Good luck!

      xo,
      s

  21. Cali says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:47 am

    Congratulations!

    Just curious, since you got two offers so quickly, have you second guessed your asking price at all? I mean, any second thoughts that maybe you could have listed a few thousand higher and made a bit more profit?

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:40 pm

      Since the buyer’s offer was so strong (a lot of cash down at closing) the peace of mind that nothing would fall through was great! No regrets :)

      xo,
      s

  22. Koliti says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:49 am

    Congrats to you for the final phase coming together so nicely!

    I’m curious…what’s the “few inspection items” that you need to take care of? Maybe they’re some things all of us home owners should keep an eye out for.

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:41 pm

      They’re little things like unclogging a gutter, replacing an outlet that’s not grounded, replacing the basement door jam because it’s rotten, etc. Just little things the inspector caught :)

      xo,
      s

  23. Peggy McKee says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:52 am

    Inspection items? What exactly?
    Congrats on the quick sale!

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:42 pm

      Just a few little things (I think I mentioned them a comment or two back :)

      xo,
      s

  24. Tabbitha @ Turnip Tootsie says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:52 am

    “Holy cow babe, they sold their house!” I said to my husband. I have him hooked on YHL, so he knew who “they” were right away. I read this post to him out-loud in my theatrical quick frantic voice, with him making comments on the side like “What, really, that is awesome!” So from the both of us CONGRATULATIONS! May you be filled with energy, during the next three weeks of your moving process.
    <3
    Tabbitha

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:33 pm

      So funny! Thanks Tabbitha!

      xo,
      s

  25. Angela says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:52 am

    I am so excited for you guys! I’m so glad people saw what a treasure your house is. Squee!

    Reply
  26. Mary | lemongroveblog says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:52 am

    SO exciting!! Selling your house and job offers. The two most exciting things in my book :) Very happy for you!!

    Reply
  27. AnnMarie says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:53 am

    Awesome…Congrats! I was curious if there would be an issue with “potential buyers” slash readers who actually just wanted the chance to snoop through your home in person. Not that I would ever come up with that idea on my own……haha okay – guilty!, but I’d never act on it! 0:)

    Thanks for taking us along and sharing the details!

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:43 pm

      Thankfully people were mostly contacting us through buyer’s agents so we knew they must be seriously looking to have an agent, etc :)

      xo,
      s

  28. Kiera says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:54 am

    Thats fantastic! I think you should add a clause in the contract that you will return in a year and do a blog post about what they have done with the place.

    Also- you guys should try and hang out at gas stations around LA– I watched the jay Leno karaoke couple and thought that the Petersiks could have had just as much fun with it… except rap instead of 80s music.

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:44 pm

      I LOVED that couple. Hilarious!!

      xo,
      s

  29. Jean (notsupermum) says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:58 am

    Wow, that’s an amazingly quick process! In England it’s much slower and seems to take FOREVER to get the papers signed. I moved house 18 mths ago and because we were swapping houses with another family (they bought mine and I bought theirs, very handy) it was really quick, which over here means 6 weeks. Yep, 6 weeks! Everyone was impressed at the speed, but that’s nothing compared to yours. Glad it’s gone so well, fingers crossed for a trouble-free move.

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:50 pm

      So cool that you switched! I love that.

      xo,
      s

  30. Kate says

    May 13, 2013 at 11:58 am

    Wow! Congratulations. Good for you guys on selling so fast. It does feel like the market is finally coming back a bit, but you never know and I can testify to the stress and financial burden of owning 2 homes. We gave the go ahead to start building a new house when we got our last house under contract–and then it fell through. We finally sold the old house this spring after 2 years, 7 months and 5 days on the market (my husband is very precise on this count) after a total of 2 agents, 4 contracts and 10 closing dates. If anyone can beat that…I am so sorry for you! But I was a little worried for you guys, so it’s good to know that it worked out well.

    For anyone else I may have scared about trying to sell, we had an HOA default rate above 25% that was our problem (our neighbors weren’t paying their bills). While people kept making offers on our house, they couldn’t get financing to close on it until we found a small bank in the area who was willing to provide a mortgage for our neighborhood. Really specific issue.

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:32 pm

      Oh no Kate! That sounds so stressful!

      xo,
      s

  31. Misty says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:02 pm

    You’re leaving behind the gorgeous Pottery Barn no longer available mercury light over the sink!! The new owners will hate it, my address is…. ;)

    So excited for you guys, congrats on the quick sell, hope everything goes smoothly!

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:50 pm

      Haha!

      xo,
      s

  32. Kyle says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:04 pm

    YAY! Congrats!

    Will you be UHAUL-ing again? Or will you get a professional moving company this time?

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:51 pm

      We might recruit some help carrying things but will still rent a big ol’ truck (and try to avoid ditches).

      xo,
      s

    • kyle says

      May 15, 2013 at 10:02 am

      HAHA, yes…the all important ditch-avoidance. Please do :).

  33. Kristen @ LoveK Blog says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:05 pm

    Congrats!! That’s so great that you were able to sell so quickly! It makes me want to put our house on the market…hmm..

    Reply
  34. rebeccasdelightfulhome says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:05 pm

    Wow! Congrats! You two are like Energizer bunnies! I can’t believe all you guys accomplish in a day. Such an inspiration! We bought a short sale home – waited for months on an answer. All of a sudden, we found out on a Thursday that we would be closing on Friday! We haphazardly threw everything in boxes and moved in less than a week – had to be out of our house for the renter (my sister inlaw). It was the week before school started for the kids. So, new home, new school within one week! PHEW!

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:47 pm

      Wow that sounds crazy! Good luck with everything!

      xo,
      s

  35. Monica B says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:05 pm

    Congratulations!! I’m not at all surprised with the quick sale of your house. It is FREAKIN’ AWESOME. The new owners are so lucky. Now on to the new house. I cannot wait to see what you have in store for this one.

    Reply
  36. Carley says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:07 pm

    Congratulations! Such exciting news! Good luck with packing. I can’t wait to see all that you’ll do with the new house.

    Yay!

    Reply
  37. Aubrey says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:07 pm

    aw, yay! congrats on selling the house! hooray for new house projects!

    Reply
  38. Ruthie says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:08 pm

    congrats! This encourages me to do FSBO too!
    If we’re keeping count…is this house #3 in 6 years?

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 1:46 pm

      We have lived in two houses over the course of 7 years. So house #3 once we move is in year 7 :)

      xo,
      s

  39. Traci C says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:10 pm

    Wow! – But I’m not surprised. Your house is beautiful. The Hubs and I are looking for a new house ourselves right now and I was wishing I could just buy yours and magically move it over here to the west coast! Oh well, Ha ha! Congratulations! Can’t wait to see all that you do with the new house. I know you guys will be inspiring me all the way when we finally find our next home!

    Reply
  40. Cat says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:11 pm

    congrats!!!!!! awesome news! my favorite part of packing up was getting to leave most of the toys “in a box somewhere” and the especially loud toys “must have gotten lost on the truck” (even though we moved ourselves). After 3 weeks, my little boys have stopped looking for them and have discovered how to play creatively again. And I’ve forgiven myself for the white lie- imaginations are the best toys anyway :) Hope packing and moving goes just as smoothly as selling did!! And that the truck doesn’t fall into the ditch this time ;)

    Reply
  41. Hillary says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:13 pm

    Congratulations! Fingers crossed for a smooth close! It’s funny, I was so excited about your move to the new house but now that you’re talking about packing up I am feeling nostalgic and a little sad that you’re leaving the old one. I bet you guys are ready, though, since you’ve been sitting on the new place for so long!

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 2:10 pm

      I completely feel nostalgic and sad to leave our current house, but the crazy excitement I have for the new house kicks in and I’m like “get me in there!!!! where are my painting clothes?!” Haha!

      xo
      s

  42. Mary Jo says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:13 pm

    Congratulations! My husband and I are considering a Sell By Owner to the current renter of our condo. How hard is the process/paperwork without the aid of realtor? It’s a bit daunting. Did you guys cover this process with your last house sale? Your blog is such a great resource. Thank you!

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 2:09 pm

      Between using a closing attorney (which is required by law, and not very expensive) and having a buyer who has a buyer’s agent (they draft up all the offers and we just sign them) it was really easy! Especially this time (the first time there was a lot more back and forth over little things like inspection stuff, etc).

      xo
      s

  43. Jyl says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:15 pm

    I just finished taking Kevin’s Weekly Photo in time to read this wonderful news and do a little Elaine dancing of my own. CONGRATULATIONS, YOU GUYS!!! WOO!!! Now please, go sit down and eat something awesome! (Happy Mother’s Day, Sherry!)

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 2:08 pm

      Haha, thanks Jyl!

      xo
      s

  44. Lissete says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:16 pm

    Congratulations you guys!!

    Did you stage your house to sell or just declutter? (NOT that your house was cluttered! My house is cluttered! ;)) Eventually we’ll be selling our first house (tear!) and would like your input on staging, if you can and when you have the time of course! :) I can’t wait for the projects to start on your new beautiful house!!

    XO
    L

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 2:08 pm

      We’re writing up a full post about that for you guys!

      o
      s

  45. Ashley says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:16 pm

    Will you show us photos of what the house looks like when you empty it out, like you did with your first house? Pretty pleeease? Hopefully this time it won’t be in a snowstorm! (Yup, I just outed myself as a long-time reader).

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 2:08 pm

      Yes, I loved that! Closure.

      xo
      s

  46. Wrenaria says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:18 pm

    CONGRATS! What a whirlwind. Very excited for you guys. Best of luck with the packing and moving part. Beware of ditches! ;)

    Reply
  47. Gabby says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:19 pm

    Wow, congrats you guys! We had to rent our little townhouse in Richmond when we moved to NoVa. We bought at the absolute worst time (2006) and our house is really under water; someday we’ll get to sell it…someday.

    Reply
  48. Candy from Candied Fabrics says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:21 pm

    Wooooooooooooooooooooot! Huge congrats! I know how relieved and excited you must be – fingers crossed things continue to go smoothly. And hopefully, John won’t back the moving truck into a ditch this time, LOL! :-)

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      May 13, 2013 at 2:07 pm

      Here’s hoping!

      xo
      s

  49. Cindy says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:22 pm

    Congratulations!! Again, you make me tired. ;) xo

    Reply
  50. Melissa says

    May 13, 2013 at 12:26 pm

    Congrats! I’m starting to feel separation anxiety now that the countdown is officially on for real. Making something so awesome and then moving on as soon as it’s (almost) done would not be for me – I sometimes still feel pangs for my ugly old law school apartment and drive by when I’m in town – but I can’t wait to watch you make over the new house!

    Reply
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John and Sherry Sitting On Woven ChairHey, we’re John & Sherry. We’ve fixed up 7 homes, written books, designed products, started a podcast, and then downsized & moved to the beach! Here you’ll find over 3,000 DIY projects & home updates. More about us…
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