Real Estate Madness

I have a very long list of things that annoy me--just ask my husband, he knows them well--but my top ten would not be complete without including the home selling process.  Aside from the obvious annoyance of having to constantly keep the house in 'show mode' at all times and the fact that the home seller is always at the buyer's beck and call, the buyer and his requisite realtor seem to be prone to thinking that you have no life at all beyond showing your house.  Take today, for instance, when we were supposed to have a showing.  On the plus side, my realtor's office called the night before to make the appointment.  On the minus side, the window given for their arrival was close to two hours long.  Without a lockbox, it puts my life on hold until they arrive.  We cannot start homework or a project lest we have books and papers out on the table to clean up once the potential buyers arrive plus, all of our dog's toys and beds must be put away and her huge crate must be carried into the garage.  I was told that some potential buyers might be dissuaded from purchasing a house if a dog lives there--seriously.

Now, we held up our end of the bargain--everything is in perfect order and unless the potential buyer sees us outside with our dog, no one will know we fraternize with a canine in the house.  As time ticked by, I got that sinking feeling so I called to find out a better approximation of when they might be arriving.  Well, it seems that we just didn't fit in their schedule anymore today.  Funny, I did not get a call saying that the plan had changed and that they would not be showing up.  I am so ticked that we wasted so much time for nothing when we could have accomplished a lot of work.  All it would have taken was a courtesy call to let us know they would not be coming but, apparently, that was too much to ask for.

I must admit that the double standard irks me despite knowing that there is nothing I can do to change the situation if I want to sell our house.  So, I grin and bear it but secretly wish I could not answer the door if they reschedule just to give them a dose of their own medicine.  Time to bring the crate back in and reassure our poor puppy that, yes, she really does live here.