Day 13 - Rejuvenation
Heeding our agent’s advice, we turned our attention to preparing our house for showings. When we first considered the steps needed to spruce up the house to help improve our asking price, we asked our agent for simple things we could do to up the value. Clearing things out and fresh paint were his words of advice so clearing and painting was our mission. Before that process began, we did ask for what he felt would be the listing price based on the current condition. That number helped us make the decision as to what we were willing to offer for the new house. Now that we knew our offer for the new property was accepted, we went in hyper mode to get our soon-to-be former house ready for sale.
With an already scheduled Disney trip on the horizon, we set a goal to have showings while we were thousands of miles away. Knowing the previously finished kitchen remodel opened up the entire first floor and would be a great selling point, we highlighted this area by clearing everything out and putting a fresh coat of neutral paint on the walls. The majority of the rest of the house included lots of cleaning and tinkering with odd jobs. In our complete and thorough sweep of the house, we found boxes we hadn't even opened up since our initial move. For more than a moment, we debated getting rid of the contents without even checking them out. Moving helped us really open up our mindset to the ideas of being more minimalist.
Rejuvenating the house was rejuvenating for us as well. Preparing for the move flooded us with memories of the house where we started our family. Simultaneously happy and sad, we would miss this neighborhood and the people we shared it with. The bike rides, The hikes at the preserve. The friendly fires, beverages and chats with the neighborhood crew.
Moving into this house coincided with the beginning of my teaching career and my engagement to my better half. While we were physically leaving, we’ll always have a place in our hearts for that place. For many years, this was our happiest place on Earth.
