Unlike most of our other posts where “there” is a literal destination, this time it is a figurative reference. Next week our house in Norton will officially go on the market. Woo-hoo! or is it Boo-hoo? Maybe a combination of both?

It has been a long 14 months and a lot has happened since we started our major push in May 2012 to get everything in the house shipshape for this event.

Our “3 month” major bath remodel was finally finished around the end of May after many interruptions and about a year of elapsed time.  I am happy to say though that we were right on budget with it (~$8K) and the house is now more or less uniformly “up to date”. We are very pleased with the results and there is no doubt this will add significantly to the value and appeal of the house.

While we had originally hoped that we could have listed months sooner, it appears that our self-inflicted delays in reaching this milestone have provided an unanticipated benefit. We seem to be hitting the market under significantly more favorable conditions for selling than even 6 months ago. In our area inventory is down, interest rates are rising and the economy is apparently on the mend. We are hearing of houses selling in just a few days with multiple offers and even some bidding wars. It remains to be seen if any of that will be the case for us but we are hopeful for a fairly quick transaction.

Our property is definitely unique, very private and the interior layout with its large great room and 27′ high ceiling apparently has a decent “wow factor”, so it should be a rare find for the right buyer.  “Right buyer” being the key factor of course. On the down side we are only two bedrooms so growing families need not apply, although with 2200 sqft and a 40×34 dry, high ceiling basement, there are several options for adding a third bed, plus the septic is already approved for it. No, our ideal buyer is probably like we were 17 years ago – relatively young professionals, working full time, no immediate plans for kids (or perhaps even an empty nester), seeking something a little out of the ordinary, surrounded by nature yet with all the creature comforts and close to civilization.

So anyway, all the pieces are falling into place. The septic passed the MA Title V, the well had a few issues but that’s now all straightened out. The massive quantity of our rather nice office furniture is now gone (sold to our RE agent). A good deal of the stuff we are keeping has been boxed and moved to storage. Most of the stuff we are not keeping is being sold, given away (Freecycle, friends, family), donated to charities or trashed if we are left with no other option.

I even just sold my 13′ 1964 classic Boston Whaler, which along with my Hobie Cat (long since sold) is a nostalgic favorite. The Whaler was sound but needed some serious cosmetic attention. I had always planned to restore it’s looks but never seemed to have the time. Funny, the Whaler has been out of the water so long Linda never even got a ride in it!

Meanwhile Dad is about to pull the trigger and put his house in Warwick, RI on the market too! He is going for “as-is” but at a substantially below market asking price. It will be an interesting contest, he may even beat us to a closing!

So Tuesday next week we have to be ready for the photos of the house inside and out, then the listing will go live Wednesday or Thursday and an open house is planned for Sunday July 28th.

We still have a lot of last minute small projects, cleaning and other preparations to make but I think having the date set somehow makes it much more real, if not a little (maybe a lot?) scary! Wish us luck!