A light whiff of spring in the air motivates me to decide it’s
time to try and launch our house for sale again and hope we encounter a more
buoyant property market.
The smiling, bubbly agents are always so enthusiastic and
listen carefully as I issue strict instructions about not to open any cupboards
for fear of causing an avalanche. My new
collective noun for a group of Estate Agents is ‘ An Exaggeration’, that sums it up!
I think a Psychology study should be made into mood swings
and personality changes during the house buying process. A few weeks in to the process and we have
calmly dealt with some of the strangest people I have ever encountered, add to
this the fact that they are tramping through my home, which has been spruced up
for their benefit and there are still some who escape the filter of the Agent
and turn out to be utter time wasters or totally socially inept.
We’ve had the couple who wanted to view immediately on a
Saturday morning, I managed to bargain an hour to do a quick whizz around, only
to discover their house wasn’t even on the market and then they had the cheek
to search us on LinkedIn! Then there was a mother who turned up with her two
children and a friend along with her child, fair enough that wasn’t a major problem,
but when her child was violently sick all over mother, the Estate Agent and our
Chinese carpet, that tested my patience!
After a massive clean up operation, the highly embarrassed group aborted
the viewing and I thought that was the last we would see of them. Surprisingly they did return without
children, but with a very kind offering of a bunch of flowers! However they weren’t sufficiently embarrassed
to feel they had to buy the house!
My rusty mothering skills have been put to use on numerous
occasions and I’m always amazed that these adorable babies are quite happy to
sit in a strange persons arms, listening to me babble on about colours and
sounds and anything that comes to mind! I began to wonder whether the last couple were going to leave their daughter, when the parents opened the front door and
stepped outside, if I hadn’t suggested they had forgotten something, would I
have been left holding the baby!
The cobwebs have been cleared and I constantly strive to achieve the recommended clear spaces
to give a feeling of space, however this means that we are all constantly in a state
of ‘search’ for items which have been tidied away. The other week I decided to make sure all the
work surfaces in the kitchen were clear and put the fruit bowl, a couple of
candles and the newspaper in the oven, only to hear someone open the
oven! They must have thought I was a complete nutter, just as well they didn't look in the
dishwasher as I had just hung up washing when they asked to come around, so I
folded it and put it in the empty dishwasher - couldn't put it in the washing
machine because several pairs of shoes had been shoved in there!!!
To be continued ........
