Awesome

Hey Nadine, way to be a grown up. This isn't a "let's bash my neighbors" party. I didn't post that last post to try and fight with them. I honestly want help selling my house. I figured you guys that have seen my house could have some useful comments (like, I think the master bedroom will be better photographed from the doorway). And those of you that haven't seen my house could also helpful, since the pics are the only way you know what "our" house looks like. Seriously, the only difference between our houses is decor (and our basement being done). I was hoping you all could look at it from the point of view of someone looking for a house and tell me what the highs and lows of their ad are. Like, "I'd like a picture of the backyard." And "make sure you point out that your West facing driveway is much better than a North facing driveway." Or whatever.

And as for having 4 bedrooms...I think having our basement finished will help, but not as much as you'd think. I don't think anyone who needs the third and fourth bedrooms to function as bedrooms will want a house without a master bathroom. Or the bedrooms to be in the basement. I don't feel comfortable having my 3 and/or 5 year old sleeping that far away from me, hence the three kids in one room. This floor plan will be great for a young couple, maybe with a baby, or an older couple. But I don't think this house will work for people with children (which is why we need out!). I think this house attracts people that are trying to spend as little as possible. So the money we put into finishing the basement might not even pay off. I spoke to a realtor once who said that it doesn't, and it kind of makes sense. People see the possibility in an unfinished basement, and mentally assign about the same value as they would a finished basement. So all the hours and hours Dan spent down there have made it a nicer place to live, but won't necessarily help in selling it.

And the price thing...the value of a house is based entirely on what someone pays for it. So the more people lower their prices in an effort to get it sold, the more the value of our house drops. I guess the original price was more accurate of housing prices at the peak, about 1.5 years ago (last time we had our house on the market...should have stuck with it then!). I haven't looked at prices since, but I was told that in our price range they weren't changing much. We were still expecting to list around $209,000. But I don't think we can do that now, with the same house just across the street going for $20k less. Because they need to sell quickly (they have a reason beyond just "we don't fit"), they're going to keep dropping their price, thereby devaluing our house as well. I understand why they're doing it, but it does hurt us in the process. And if other people are lowering their prices as well, I'm frustrated with that, too!

Christine, I'll send you an email in a sec. My kids need some attention (I can hear them not doing what I've told them to do), then I'll get to it.