My street. Three houses for row for sale and the house across the street from them is for sale as well.Final Thoughts...
Over the past few weeks Remodeling Guy and I have discussed all sorts of ideas for staging your home for sale. We've barely scratched the surface. I could write for hours on the importance of the drive by {keep your porch and interior lights on in the evening please!} and optimal furniture placement and the importance of decluttering.I could remind you that if you have pets of any kind make sure you invite your most honest, out spoken, gifted-smeller friend over and force her to tell you the cold hard truth about how your house smells.
Remodeling Guy could preach for hours on maintenance and upkeep for the paint, pluming and other man related stuff. He would surely remind you that changing out an old fixture could instantly update a room. He could tell you what is and isn't worth spending your time and money on. And he has. And he has another message as well.
We could go on forever and the information would all be great and worth while and you should obey us because your house will have a better chance of selling if that's what you need to do.
Waiting for the Sale...
But there are some of you out there I want to talk to. You know who you are. You desperately want your house to sell. Or maybe, you desperately need your house to sell.
Even if you follow every jot and tittle that we write your house may just sit. Because house selling is something that you have little control over.
To all of you right now who feel like the world will end if your house doesn't sell, let me tell you, it will not. I promise. So please don't do what I did 10 years ago when our house sat on the market for 2 and a half years. Don't fret, worry, cry and try to control your situation. You can have a great life even if that house is sitting there empty. You can have a great life if you cannot afford to pay your mortgage. You can even have a great life if you are facing foreclosure.
Don't ever forget, Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful.
Related Posts:
Staging: Intro
Staging: The Exterior
Staging: Stepping Inside
Staging: Remodeling Guy's Perspective
50 comments:
I think so many people find themselves in this situation right now. 1/4 of the homes in my neighborhood are for sale right now. Not ours...thankfully. I think what women need to hear in teh midst of the stress is encouragement. You have done that. I hope many find solace in your words and peace in the One who can provide it. -blessings, M
This was a great series! I enjoyed it, even though I have no plans to move any time soon. Thanks! :-)
This was a perfect message today for so many. Thank you for sharing! What a blessing!
Great post! I believe that the last sentence was the best! "Life doesn't doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful!" Amen, Nestor, amen!
Hugs,
Susan
Thanks for your post. It was exactly what I needed to read this morning..we moved to Orlando about 9 months ago b/c God opened up a door for my husband to take another job. We're in full time ministry so I KNOW that we were supposed to move here and THANK GOD we live in a parsonage and don't have 2 mortgages. But, our wonderful home in North Georgia hasn't sold and April 1st it will be 1 year that we have waited. If I take my eyes off of the truth of God for just one second, then all of the anxiety and worry come to sit on top of my shoulders. We have had a wonderful year...full of growth for us and for our 3 children. We are closer to the Lord and to eachother because of this move. It is true that you can have a wonderful life even if you have a house that isn't selling. If we come to your mind, please pray for continued trust in God over this housing situation. He is good and he is trustworthy even when his plans aren't ours.
You are a wise woman indeed. Your words are so well spoken and heart felt. My prayer that those that find themselves in this situation will heed your wise advice.
Blessing to all.
Hugs,
Sue
Wonderful advice. I pray that people do the latter first and then take off buzzing around trying to fix the other stuff. Great series - thanks to you & Tim.
Hey Nester! Awesome closing words! Very poignant and very encouraging to those of us with houses STILL for sale! The same thoughts would apply to any challenge, be it a house that won't sell, or a money squeeze, or something even more difficult. Thanks for the encouragement.
Great title too, people are going to think we figured that out ahead of time.
Great minds....
Tim
As someone in the situation you describe at the end, I'm here to agree - you CAN still have a great life. It is all about trust. I did the fret, worry, cry, and control - and you know what, the house STILL has not sold. And we're still here, hanging on LONG after I thought the bottom would fall out. We're also facing foreclosure on our other house; it will be okay.
We're still living a great life!
What a great, relevant, beautiful way to wrap it all up. Spoken like the expert you are. You've lived it, and now you can speak to it.
Great post!
So true.
It isn't a sign of failure if the house doesn't sell, if you can't move on to what you have planned...
We have to learn to find peace even in bad situations! Otherwise material things will continue to have their hold over us!
Amen; I am so glad than when I've done all I can he doesn't tell me to make the impossible happen...he tells me to simply stand firm and trust him.
Thank you Nester! This might be one of my favorite messages of yours. I needed to read this today. Blessings!
Just loved this post. You are indeed wise. If God brings you to it, He'll bring you through it!
Great series, I'm sad that it is already over :( but i'm sure that you have something else equally as wonderful for us to read. Thanks for the great series and I love the message taht life doesnt have to be perfect to be wonderul!
I really like visiting your blog a lot. I have so enjoyed these posts about staging your home. This last one I especially enjoyed. We do need to realize that there's so much we have to enjoy with the lives God has blessed us with regardless of whether our home sells or whatever else we have going on. We can trust Him completely. Like you said, "Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful." Which is a good thing since life never really is perfect, is it?! Great thought to keep in mind daily.
I'm not selling anytime soon, but I just wanted to tell you how much I loved this series on staging. You had so many wonderful points about getting things ready for the sale, or doing them now while you can enjoy them yourself if you aren't selling! We just re-did our front porch and are about 2/3 of the way through (pics on my blog). All weekend I was thinking in my head what you and Tim said in your post! Thanks again Nester for all your great advice!
You are SO sweet! I'm not selling right now but thank you for your post, so many people needed to hear/read this today.
hugs, L
Dear Nester,
Thank you for those poignant words. My husband is seriously considering retiring from the Air Force in a few months(sometimes I can't believe he's ready to walk away from job security!). If that's what God needs him to do, then I guess it'll happen. The point is, we don't know where and when he'll get a job and whether he can count on not being laid off in the future.
We live in Dayton, OH and it definitely has a sluggish housing market so I'm being a realist. I'm not counting on our house selling because most houses are not. I've started to get worried but I'm trying to get a grip. We have money in the bank and right now I'm starting to realize that God may have been preparing us for something. We sold a house in 2005 in Northern Virginia for A LOT of money. God blessed us tremendously and we have been pretty good stewards.
I've been reminding my husband that we need to make a conscious effort to live beneath our means until we get this house sold. Our cars are not new and don't look too pretty but we don't owe anything on them. I make it a point to ask God to please keep our cars safe and in good working condition. We don't have debt other than the house. We pay our credit card off each month (we only have 1). So we are okay.
I visit your blog because I know you've been through financial difficulty, yet you've worked through it and made the most of any house you've had. I've told my husband that if we are to have a mortgage payment for the OH house then we'll downsize and live in a simpler home and it'll be okay. I tell myself if Nester has made every house she's lived in beautiful, I can to. I'll learn to curb grocery expenses and other things. All that matters is that my family is together, that we are healthy and we rely on God.
Our upcoming challenge - getting the house sold - is nothing compared to what some people are going through so I'm not going to whine about anything. Overall, we are blessed.
This Sunday, the sermon was Secrets in Scary Places. The pastor talked about how we sometimes find ourselves in a scary place in our life - financially, healthwise, relationship-wise... He talked about how God may mean to use that situation to put us in a better place. He mentioned that we shouldn't stray from the path (relationship with God) and we shouldn't disobey. We just need to trust in God and I felt that message was for me. Being a military wife, when a move is coming up, I have no idea what's ahead...exactly when or where we are moving. It tends to drive me a little crazy. I also felt is was a message for my husband as I know he needs to make this decision. So, I'm telling everyone out there, take Nester's words to heart! Hang in there, hang on to God.
Thank you for your blog Nester, it's a beautiful place for me to find refuge in when I let my thoughts get the better of me or when I'm just tired and I want to relax. I've looked at your pretty pictures over and over again. I've noticed your different homes have a common thread. The decor all looks soothing and welcoming. I'm hoping to inject that same aesthetic to my home, maybe it will result in a sale!
Blessings and Best Regards - P
Thank you for your words. My family of 5 is now in a tiny (1600 sq. ft. is tiny nowadays, right?) cottage that we love. But we have been in that, "holy cow when will this house sell? what do we do?" situation. You're absolutely right that you can have a great life no matter what if that's what you choose. God always provides the solution, even if it's not the one we thought we wanted.
Thanks for the inspiration and the eye candy.
*Tricia
Great post! Sometimes you just have to do the best you can and then just let it go. Easier said than done but it's so much better to spend my time enjoying my life than worrying about it. You are right and very wise.
Now imagine trying to sell RENTAL properties. I have absolutely ZERO control over whether or not my tenants clean, change their cat boxes, and put away their shoes!
Thank you for that post, I needed to ready it. I have linked to your blog from mind and copied a section on your post.
Thanks again.
They say like attracts like...you'll have to pop over ot my blog to understand...enjoyed your posts! I'll be back!
Beautiful final post to the series! Loved it.
Oh Nester,
You just have such a way with words.
Best post ever. My personal favorite. Hits so close to home. Our house has been on the market for 13 months and counting. We trust HIM and know it is for the appointed time. Some days are harder than others. :) Thank you for speaking the truth in love. I know that this post will touch the hearts of many today. Be blessed beautiful friend!
Such timely words of wisdom for me today. I've done all I can and the waiting begins. God is in control and regardless of the outcome that doesn't change.
"Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful!" I LOVE IT!!!! What a wonderful reminder...life is what we make of it. Thanks! :)
Great series, and great words of wisdom.
We just sold our house in one months time, and although we didn't get asking price, we didn't lose our shirts, either. Bottom line- God is good, and He will move us when He wants us somewhere else.
Our prayer was to move or stay, whatever was His best plan for us. I'd rather live in a shack in His will than a mansion outside it. Thanks for brining this all back to His truth... your words are sure to reassure many:-)
Thanks for sharing such an important message, we have several friends in that situation. It's hard, but they learned (like you) to abandom themselves to God and cast thier cares on him. That's the key!
Thanks for sharing all those great tips too-even though we aren't selling we've learned a few thins about enjoying our home now!
great wrap up.
great final tips.
and great reminder!!!!! no, life does not have to be perfect to be beautiful. good thing, too.
I've been following this series and am just now emailing the links to each post to my hubby! We'll be listing our house for sale in a week or two and we're both sitting on pins and needles, hoping we've done everything right! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for this series!
Those are the largest for sale signs I have ever seen.
simply and beautifuly stated!
Thanks for the encouraging words. Our house has only been on the market 2 short months, but with another baby on the way in two more months it would be nice if it would sell. Of course I daily remind myself that it's not what I want or plan that matters and it definitely helps me feel His peace!
I so miss falling leaves and green grass.
Wow...what a great series. Our house just became quite crowded over the past month. My MIL moved in because she is being forced to sell her home or risk foreclosure. So that has forced us to look at the possibility of selling/remodeling/building. We will definately refer back should we decide to put our home on the market. Thanks again!!
Fantastic post, Nester! I'm glad you addressed the waiting and making a choice and turning it over to God. We have a house on the market that we're in the waiting game on and God has been so faithful in helping me have PEACE! Life doesn't have to be perfect in order to be absolutely wonderful! Kelly
Our street looks the same. There is a gorgeous house that has been vacant and for sale for almost 3 years now a block from me.
A close friend of mine recently foreclosed and she thought it would destroy her. But in reality, for her, it was a great turning point and her life has gone on.
Thanks for the encouraging words that so many people need to hear right now.
As a side note, staging your home is a great thing to do even if you plan to stay! You learn to appreciate it's function and beauty as you declutter, simplify and beautify!
It is *so* hard to sell a home because we invest so much of ourselves in them. The waiting to sell can be horribly stressful, especially when we need the money badly.
By the way, we're househunting at the moment and I think some of the places I've visited *really* need some staging advice. Even someone to get rid of the smells would help!
Kate
Good words for many, including me! Yes, my husband and I seem to be caught in the "perfect storm" these days--can't find a job, no health insurance now, can't sell our home either, savings are kaput, foreclosure is a very real possiblity now. But we are keeping on our eyes on our Lord! In the midst of all this, we know that He still knows all our needs. Remember everyone out there in this situation--"Those who wait on the Lord will not be put to shame." It brings so much peace to put our trust in the One who will never fail or forsake us. Thanks for keeping it real again, Nester!
Love your blog tagline--it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful! Sure describes out little country cottage--warts and all!
I am new to blogging and I really enjoy your blog!! Continue to grow in grace and wisdom!
Happy spring,
Debbykay at Rose Cottage Gardens and Farm
I would totally vote for you, lady!
I'm forwarding this on to my friend...THANKS!
Amen, Sister! We were so blessed to have our house sell, and it took selling it $20K under our mortgage to do it. God blessed us abundantly and we didn't have to repay any of the difference. If it's His will, it will be done. Without trials? Sometimes, no. Smoothly? Nope, not always according to our earthly definition of that word. But at the perfect time? YES! Always.
Great post.
What a wonderful way to wrap up your series. And a wonderful encouragement to me--we are trying to sell our house so that my 4 kids and I can move with my husband when he PCS's this summer with the Army.
Our house has been on the market for 11 months. I have only scanned most of your series. See, we moved out. The house is empty. It was time for us to move.
We are in a basement apartment at my in-laws where I can not decorate/paint/change kitchen. It is freshly painted and we recently cleaned, but it is empty. I have my good times and bad times...and I pray...for strength...for forgiveness for complaining...for the house to sell so we can go on. What I want next has changed in these 11 months...I have changed. I'm trying to keep trusting the Lord to do what's best for me.
thank you. i had to leave the country to remember i have absolutely no control. i need to be reminded all.the.time.
Lovely ending comments and so very true Thank you
Thank you for your words of wisdom!
I am not trying to sell my house, but I am looking for a job. And I have been doing exactly what you said---worrying, fretting, crying and trying to control the uncontrolable! Which feels terrible! Really, really terrible!
I'm going to stop doing it right now! Thank you again.
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