The Good, the Bad, and What I Would Have Done Differently

After my husband and I had our daughter, we knew that we wanted to raise her elsewhere. The crime in San Antonio was only increasing, with an uptick in violent crimes and gang activity. We wanted a better future for her, surrounded by a community and peers that had a good influence on her.

In June, we took a trip to Arizona and Utah and fell in love with Utah. We decided to list our house in Texas in early August. The market at that time (summer 2024) was a bit stagnant. There were very few houses available, interest rates were high, and not that many buyers were looking. Spring is the most busy time for the housing market. Most buyers prefer to be settled into their homes for the summer, school year, and the holidays.

Unfortunately for us, when we decided to list we had missed many of those windows. Also, if you’ve ever been to San Antonio in August it is dreadfully hot and humid and just unbearable. So to sum it up, the timing or market conditions were just not ideal. Alas, we listed our house anyways. You know how they say you should never live in a house you’re renovating? Well you should also never live in one you’re selling.

When selling a home, you and the agent will discuss the availability for the home to be shown. It is usually recommended that the seller not be present in the home during showings. Because we were living in our home at the time, a lot of preparation was in order for each showing. I needed to clean, remove our personal items, and vacate myself, our baby, and our two dogs. Because of this, our agent requested that showings be booked with at least one hour notice. Often times, we would only get one hour notice.

We sold or donated most of our furniture before we listed our home. This allowed buyers to envision their own furniture and style in the space. Often times very cluttered homes sit longer. We also chose to virtually stage it because statistically staged homes sell 88% faster than unstaged homes. I used an app called Gepetto – Virtual Staging AI, but there are many to choose from out there. The downside to virtually staging your home is that it may create unrealistic expectations followed by disappointment.

We priced our house competitively because we were eager to sell before fall and the holidays. We listed it lower than the comps in hopes to get more bites. A couple weeks after we listed our home, we received an offer from a buyer and went under contract. Texas real estate contracts have what is called an “option period”. The option period where the buyer has the “option” to back out. The only penalty of backing out during this period is losing their option money, which is usually $10/day. We also submitted a couple of offers on houses in Utah during this time. Because our offers were contingent on our home selling, only one seller accepted an offer from us.

On the last day of our 10 day option period, our buyer decided to back out. We were on the verge of celebration and were absolutely crushed. To add salt to our wound, the sellers of the home in Utah refused to extend our “due diligence period”. The due diligence period is the equivalent of a Texas “option” period. Because they refused, by default the contract was terminated. We were back to square one.

Weeks went by with showings but no offers. The market was steadily declining and week after week we made price cuts to stay competitive. I felt like I was going insane and I also drove my agent insane. It felt like everyday I was asking if we should reduce the price. During that time, I also wondered if we should take a loss for a quick sale. Companies like Zillow or Redfin often advertise an easy, quick sale. They buy your home at a discount in exchange for the convenience. Our agent, Jennifer, quickly talked me off that ledge and just encouraged me to be patient. I am so glad we chose an agent that was experienced, market savvy, and quick to respond to any inquiries. It truly made all of the difference. In late September we finally received another offer and we accepted it.

If I had to do the process over again I would do a few things differently. I would have had us do a short term rental (maybe for a month) and set the availability to go and show. Go and show is typically used for vacant homes. It means that the house can be shown at any time without the seller’s agent’s approval. I think that would have alleviated a lot of the stress, the constant cleaning and preparation, and we may have sold our house sooner due to agents having more flexibility in scheduling last minute showings. Another challenging part of listing our house was the lack of punctuality with agents. They often would have multiple houses on their roster and not all of them had the best time management. We had agents show up a day early, hours early, or sometimes hours late.

We ended up closing on October 27th which was much later than we anticipated. Originally we were supposed to close early September with our first buyer. Despite it being much later, we were relieved and overjoyed. Key takeaways – get a good and punctual agent that will get things done in a timely manner. Price your house competitively for the market (don’t price it too high). If you can stay elsewhere during the showing process (Airbnb, family or friend’s house) – do it! De-clutter your home and/or stage it for a greater appeal. And lastly, trust the process that you agree on with your agent!