I married a house!, Part 3

THE HARDEST thing about preparing my newly renovated house for sale was getting rid of things that I have accumulated through the years.

And all the stuff that my husband has hoarded throughout his lifetime.

***

Imagine me dealing with a 1960s black and white TV set, which my husband kept because it was bought with his first federal job salary.

The TV was working still, but of what use was that to me?

And he had this china collection, with the gold plating fading away — but which he inherited from his mother’s first wedding.

(I’m not sure if his mother married three times, but she sure died with a last name different from my husband’s, who is her son.)

***

And what about a stone from the original Selma bridge (remember that 2014 “Selma” movie about the voting rights marches with Martin Luther King Jr.!) that he pilfered when he was younger?

And what about a Mauser rifle from the American Civil War?

***

To date, I have sent 48 balikbayan boxes to Iloilo.

Mostly, they are my books and videos collections.

But I also sent other interesting stuff that would be great if I do build The Peter Solis Nery Museum.

Sometimes, I would stuff the boxes with trash like old towels so the breakables don’t move and break during shipment.

It was crazy.

But the experience was also cleansing.

***

I didn’t go with the barest minimum, I see that now.

But sometimes, it’s just easier to throw away things after a very careful consideration.

I don’t do well with regrets.

My idea: Just send to the Philippines everything in the limbo/undecided status.

Once repatriated, and with a better perspective, I can finally decide what to keep, and what to discard.

***

The first realtor I talked to projected I could sell the house at $235,000 to maybe $240,000.

But he didn’t seem to want to do much for me.

He won’t stage the house — which is to say, to decorate it to attract buyers, and give them a sense of how beautiful the house can be.

And I had to pay $300 out of my pocket for the photos that will be used for the listings online.

***

The second realtor I talked to said she could easily sell the house for $220,000 to $225,000.

I really liked her.

She seemed to know what she was talking about.

She has 15 years experience on the job she said.

I was hoping she would sell it for $225,000.

I mean, with all the renovations, by December 2020, I was already thinking of making a little profit.

***

But when she sent me the breakdown, something called like the seller’s net sheet, it showed that she was selling the house for only $220,000.

It made me think, she wants to sell this very fast and easy?

I didn’t want to argue for $225,000.

It’s so beneath me to argue for $5,000 more!

My friends told me to consider other realtors.

***

I remembered meeting a cute guy for coffee after my husband died.

I remembered he was working in real estate.

If you are following my body of literature, he is fictionalized as a character in my “Welcome to Grindr” play.

I’m not saying I met him off Grindr, but you have to read the play. 

(I have lived a very interesting life. So “My Life As Art.”)

***

Anyway, I called Jason. 

Would he be interested to work with me?

Listening to his plans and presentation, I felt a hunger in Jason.

I like his aggressiveness.

I told him someone has already offered me a 5% commission rate.

He said he still would charge me 6% but he assured me that he will work hard for every penny of it.

***

His first seduction move was to tell me he could sell the house for $235,000, maybe $239,000.

Again, I am not the type who would beg for a 1% seller’s agent commission discount.

So I signed up with Jason.

I tried to finish the renovations in December 2020.

Started to clean up and empty out the house in January 2021.

On the week before we listed online, he proposed something that I liked.

*

Jason had this idea of listing the house for $242,000 just to test the market.

He said, if nobody takes the bait, we can just lower the list price to $239,000 after a week.

The house was listed on the late night of Feb. 13, but it didn’t really register until the morning of Feb. 14, 2021.

In less than 12 hours after my house was listed in realty sites online, I got several schedules for viewings. (To be continued)/PN