Seventh Time is a Charm!?

Happy Friday, friends and fam!  ❤  It is done... I am officially *not* a homeowner (for the next two months, then we're jumping right into the new home decorating + Christmas decor)!

And now, I'll present this patented 77-step process for selling one's home. ;-)  It's been so much crazier than I ever expected, and as per usual, I'm glad I kept a record of it...

1. The very day after I call to tell him I got the job in Cleveland County (toward the end of March), Chet has a client come look at my house.  I get excited about the thought of selling it without even having to list it! #pipedream
2. They decide it isn't right for them, so we move forward with the usual listing process...
3. I meet with Monica, who gives me a 4-page list of things to change, then Mom and I work hard and fast to stage my home!
4. They take professional photos.  I pray for a quick and smooth sale process.  It goes live for sale on Friday, April 8, 2022, list price $265,000.
5. While touring possible homes in Norman before I decided to build, my realtor here tells me you need to offer at least $10,000 over asking price to be a serious contender in this market.  That's rough as a buyer, but it makes me happy in thinking about the sale of my home.
6. Chet decides an open house isn't necessary that first weekend based on the number of showings we had booked.
7. We get negative feedback about the two large vans next door (an eyesore and creepy-kidnapper vibe that likely factored into a number of people's decisions here, certainly including those who were too polite to mention it).
8. Even so, by Monday, I receive two full price offers and one offer for $282,500 with a 15K appraisal gap... which means they pay $15,000 above what it appraises for if it appraises under $282,500.  For example, a 265k appraisal would mean a 280k sale!
9. I celebrate how quick and easy this all was and accept the highest offer (obviously), signing my very first contract as a seller with them on April 11, 2022.  And just like that, 522 is listed as a pending sale - hoorah and huzzah! (ONE)
10. Two days later, that buyer thinks it over and decides it is actually too small for his family and backs out of the contract. #lamesauce
    
    
11. Back on the market.
    
12. Disappointed but still very hopeful, I accept the first full price offer that came in... but that buyer is already under contract on another home.
13. I then accept the second full price offer (this was from a grandma of a child at Jenks schools who wrote me a lovely letter about how much she adored my house and felt very at home there).  We sign documents on 4-13-22 and go under contract set to close on Friday, May 20th -- yay! (TWO)
14. The buyer will not agree to any appraisal gap, but my house appraises well (meaning it appraised for at least 265k, but I was not allowed to know the actual number at that point because the buyer paid for it).
15. The inspections showed nothing wrong except for my roof being old, so they ask me to replace it.
16. I file a claim with State Farm.  They say the roof needs around $2100 worth of small repairs, but they will not replace it as there is no major damage.
17. I hire All My Sons and move all my stuff into storage on the weekend of May 15th... when I think about how much longer I could've kept it there and skipped the storage payments and had my very own home to go stay in on weekends, it makes me kinda sad, but we were acting on the information we had at the time.
18. The buyer insists that I fully replace the roof, paying around $13,000 out of pocket to her son's roofing company.  At the time, that request seemed completely absurd.
19. After several conversations with Mom and Dad and Chet, I say a hard no to that, but offer her a $3500 closing credit to go toward any future repairs.
20. She declines and busts the whole deal four days before our closing.
21. I did not get her earnest $$ because we "couldn't agree on repairs."  (And the fact that it was an insurable roof and I offered her over $1000 more than the needed repairs would cost was irrelevant - awesome.)
    
    
22. Back on the market.
23. Only now, my online listing says "Pending Sale -- Back on Market -- Pending Sale -- Back on Market."
24. Chet says every realtor calling him wants to know, "What's wrong with the house!?"  Special.  After he explains the situation, everyone is very concerned over the roof (with very minor damage that I was happy to fix or cover).
25. After all of that, Chet's roofer says we should probably challenge the claim with State Farm, so he comes out and meets with their claims people.
26. This changes nothing, and they still turn it down and say no.
27. I ask about taking my house off the market and then relisting it to avoid some of this drama.  Chet says he will look into how to do that and let me know...
28. In the meantime, we get an offer for 260k from a restaurant owner who is working with Chet...
29. Then another offer comes in for 270 with a $5,000 appraisal gap.  
30. The restaurant woman who offered 260 moves her offer up to 265. Another realtor considers making a cash offer herself, but eventually changes her mind.
31. So I gladly accept and sign a contract on the $270,000 offer.  I felt good about signing this contract for 522 on 5-22, and yay for $5,000 over with an appraisal gap coverage.  Alert the media -- we have a pending sale! (THREE)
32. A couple days later, we learn that this buyer cannot get financing, despite having submitted a pre-approval letter.  Chet says he'd had a bad feeling about that one.
33. That buyer never paid a dime of earnest $$, so of course I got nothing then either.  (One lesson learned here is that the earnest money basically means nothing for the seller, so if you're a buyer, might as well throw out a crazy high number there and rest assured you'll get that $$ back if you change your mind for any reason whatsoever.)
    
    
34. Back on the market again.
35. Chet calls his restaurant-owner client back saying I would take the 265 offer, but she was "just really tired" of the whole home-buying process and decided to wait, eventually backing out altogether.
36. *I pray over all of this repeatedly throughout this process -- for God's grace and favor, against spiritual warfare, etc.  
37. I receive a new offer for $260,000 from a couple who have been looking for well over a year. #redflag  They say they are very excited and hopeful that they'll get this home!
38. On May 31st, I accept and sign on that offer (FOUR) without even countering, wanting a very smooth sale.  Chet said they knew all about the roof and this would give us leverage if they asked for anything on repairs.
39. I went under contract with them set to close on July 1st.
40. Chet jokes that if this contract busts, he will just buy the house from me as a rental property.
41. They come back after inspections asking for $1,000 worth of small repairs, as well as a $5000 closing credit to go toward getting a new roof later... ugh!
42. We eventually agree to rework that as a $262,500 offer with a $5000 credit at closing.
43. And the buyer's agent (who was understandably tired of dealing with those clients) paid for the $1,000 worth of other small repairs in a strong attempt to help things close smoothly!
44. So all the repairs are settled and we have a number everyone is comfortable with.  Then... less than a month after my home had appraised for 265k... this new appraisal comes back at $244,000.  Wow.
45. Chet challenges it, but they say they've already factored in all of my upgrades, and although mine is the nicest home in the neighborhood, 244 is a fair value for it in this market, which has clearly spiraled a bit since the time I first listed my home three months ago.
46. After taking a minute to process this insanity and talking it all over with Mom and Dad, I say fine -- let's move forward with the closing because I want to be DONE with all of this.
47. At the buyer's insistence, I agree to the far lower price with me still gifting her a $5000 credit at closing.
48. *So this is now $42,000 less than I would have gotten with the first offer I accepted -- but to avoid yet another month of unnecessary storage payments + mortgage and utilities on a house I am no longer living in, I go along with it.
49. And after aaaaall of that, the buyer, who I'd assumed was doing cartwheels about this new price, decides to completely back out and cancel our contract. ???
50. (Once again, she gets to keep her earnest $$ because they have three days to back out if the appraisal comes back low, even when I agree to all their terms and to the lowered price.)
51. Exhausted, I re-enroll in the monthly auto-pay for my mortgage, and we fully take my house off the market!
52. My neighbors are now texting me with questions and prayers.  I am getting letters and calls from other realtors offering their services.  Chet gets a call from another agent saying she is so surprised that it's taking this long since homes in my neighborhood usually just fly off the market.  Mmmhmm.
53. We get estimates, and I eventually pay $11,091 out of pocket to have my entire (barely-damaged) roof fully replaced so everyone will freaking calm down about it.  Good times.
    
    
54. In hopes of a quick closing and avoiding another painful appraisal, we call back and try again with the original grandma buyer who still hasn't found anything, now offering her $10,000 off of her original offer, along with a fully replaced roof.  She goes back and forth for a couple days, but eventually says no... Insanity.
55. *Another key lesson here is that anyone who has been looking for a home for over a year = a buyer way too indecisive or attached to their current home to be trusted.  They are great at feigning interest, but terrible at following through.  People who are serious about buying a home would have already bought one.
56. Another agent calls Chet while it was still off market asking to go see it before he relists.  She comes back with a 240k offer (*insert eyeroll*).  I say to just relist it... she ups her offer to 247.5... I counter with 252... and she says never mind.  I am so tired and over all of this.
57. Israel's crew finally goes out to repair and paint a small spot on the master bedroom ceiling.  All the freaking repairs are now officially completed -- huzzah!
58. Zillow estimates that my home is worth $271,500 in this market.  My loan officer estimates the current value at $262,000.  And our last appraisal (prior to the full roof replacement) says $244,000.  The varying values are decidedly unhelpful to me.  It's a very subjective thing, and the appraisers, who can so obviously sway things in the favor of the buyer who hires them, have way too much power in this whole process!
    
    
59. Back on the market... 
60. I pray over it all again, confused by what God is up to here.  We relist it at 255,000 on Friday July 15th.
61. The first couple to look at it that day (a coach and his wife) immediately make a 265k offer -- this is delightful news!
62. We have multiple showings and get two more offers on day two, including another offer for $10,000 over AND a 257k cash offer where they are asking for zero repairs, no appraisal, and a 10-day closing time.  That's three offers in two days!
63. Going with the lowest risk and the fastest closing date, I accept and sign a contract on the cash offer (FIVE), ready to get this thing done and set to close on August 2nd.  (This one comes from a doctor and his wife who are planning to rent it out.)
64. Chet calls me on his birthday to let me know they are wavering, and by the end of that day, they decide to back out of the contract.  Chet tells me I have officially broken the record for the most busted contract deals of any client he's ever had.  This makes me feel very special. lol
65. (Learning from past experience, he never marked that one as a pending sale, so I'm grateful for that!)
66. We try again with our coach buyer friend -- they are looking at one other house and will get back to us.  Chet calls back a few others who had scheduled showings that he canceled because we were "under contract."  *We get another full-price offer from someone who hasn't even seen the house in person yet.*
67. Turns out the coach and his wife still want it -- hooray!  On July 20th, I sign a contract with them for 260k with a 5k appraisal gap. (SIX)  Mom loves that this buyer is a coach, and I feel super confident that this is the one since they had looked at it multiple times and made an offer the very first day it was back on the market, seeming really excited about moving closer to the school where he coaches!  Chet marks it as a pending sale, and we are set to close on August 16th!
68. The very next day, the buyers back out without giving any reason at all.  ??  Their agent is stunned and confused and verrrry apologetic.  Chet and I are mostly numb and unfazed after this many rounds of this game.  I'm now cringing when I see him calling and having to cross my fingers that it's not more bad news.
69. Preferring not to put it back on the market yet again, we check back with the other 265k offer that was contingent on their home sale.  Turns out she signed a contract on another home the day before... of course she did.
70. We get two new offers, one for 245 and one for 225 -- yikes.  We then go back to the 255 blind offer and we ask them to go look at it just to be sure.
71. They tour the house and their offer still stands, so I sign a contract for 255 with them, contingent on the sale of their home, set to close on August 22nd.  (SEVEN)
72. The inspections go well and no repairs are requested -- music to my ears.  My home appraises for at least $255,000 -- more happy news.
73. The buyers ask to move our closing date up to August 15th - yes, please.  Dad meets me during my lunch hour last week so that I can sign the closing papers.  Charlene notarizes them, then we overnight them back to the closing company.  
74. I drive up to Tulsa on Saturday to drop off my keys, garage door opener, and fan remote (we accidentally packed the one for the living room fan, so I bought them a new one).  I'm super excited to close on Monday the 15th!
75. Their agent fails to communicate that they were unable to close on their home sale last Friday, so that one was moved to Monday.  And now my closing date is pushed back to Friday... deep breaths...
76. Their home sale goes through smoothly on Monday, thank God, and this buyer does not randomly choose to back out for any other reason.  Signed contract #7 for the win!
77. To sum up, it's been quite the journey!  But at long last... over four months and 13 offers later, after approximately one million conversations with Chet and with my parents, after $12,000+ spent on repairs for buyers who backed out and still lowering my asking price by $10,000, and after me literally accepting offers and e-signing contracts with SIX different buyers who did not follow through to closing... as of 11:30 a.m. on this glorious Friday, August 19th, 2022, my first home is officially SOLD!! ❤ #HALLELUJAH #FINALLY

Helpful Things to Remember:

1. In spite of the past few months of real estate drama and frustration, 522 was a beautiful and FANTASTIC first home for me, and I will not let this spoil or tarnish that.  I am thankful for that season of my life and all the fun times and personal growth I experienced through my years living there!!  (I originally bought that home in 2007 for $161,500, and I owed around 47k on the remaining mortgage, so I still made a good profit in the end, and it's good to keep that perspective.)
2. What Stasi Eldredge posted on the day I got the job offer was something I kept coming back to here -- about taking risks and stepping out in faith and staying the course with Jesus, knowing that even if it doesn't all go smoothly, that doesn't mean you didn't go exactly where God told you to go! ❤  Seriously, thank God for the Eldredges and the many ways they have served as guides along my life's journey.
3. I am very grateful that God led me toward building a home and living with my family in this season rather than buying one right off and having to pay two mortgages at once for several months!!
4. I honestly never expected this part to be difficult or slow.  This was an unexpected learning experience and a faith-strengthening exercise.  Sometimes you pray over something repeatedly and seek wise counsel and do all the things you believe to be right/wise, and things still don't work out the way you hoped.  But God is wise and kind, and His plans are good for me and higher than mine!
5. I already miss that 2.5% interest rate! lol  My currently locked-in 5.5% rate for the new home feels a bit painful to think about, and I'll be ready to refinance as soon as they have a significant drop.
6. I feel EXTRA thankful now that this part of the process is really complete, and I'm very much looking forward to moving into my new place in a couple months!!
7. Fare thee well, 522, and thanks for the memories!  It was a wonderful place to live, and I hope the new owners will care for it well, make great memories, and enjoy the home as much as I did!! ❤

"May the Lord richly bless both you and your children.

May you be blessed by the Lord who made heaven and earth."

~Psalm 115:14-15