Waiting... with Emotion

We had two showings the day after the house went on the market. Both turned out to be “tire-kickers” — checking out the market but not ready to buy. Not a peep from anyone yesterday, and it’s been quiet today as well. Of course, the weather hasn’t exactly been cooperating — cold, snow, rain, ice… just about everything in the past week. Today, we could get a couple inches of rain on top of the snow and frozen ground. Not exactly the kind of conditions that put people in the house buying mood.
While we wait, our senses are more receptive to anything that could impact the housing market… the stock market (it dropped like a rock the day after we put the house on the market), the number of homes for sale (our real-estate agent has listings coming our of her ears right now), and government reports on housing activity (January was down 16%). All this caused me to go for a walk yesterday. I found myself in the sub-division next to ours, and as I walked, started to count the number of homes for sale — 12! 12 homes for sale in Randall Square! That’s at least twice the number that I remember from last summer. Trudging back home, it was clear to me: we may never sell the house.
Get a grip! It’s only been 4 days. I remember similar feelings when we sold our last house 13 years ago… little, if any activity for a few weeks, and then, a contract! The emotions swung the other way at that point… it went too quick; we could have asked more; we left money on the table!. It was an emotional roller-coaster ride.
So, today’s a new day. It’s still raining, actually harder than before. The stock market’s still down. But I feel better. All the effort to get the house ready to sell was exhausting — but the waiting is harder.