How We Sold Our House in Five Days

I promised you I had plenty to update you on! Now that I am feeling a little more human, I can’t wait to share some of our biggest news. We finally sold our first house! Praise the Lord! We no longer own two homes and I am thrilled to share that with you.

I think the shock that it finally happened is beginning to wear off a bit. The last week of July was an emotional roller coaster. You can read about our week {HERE}. My husband’s grandfather was laid to rest and then we turned around to close on our old house in the same day. It’s an emotional storm just thinking about it. We currently live in Ryan’s grandparents’ old home. One of the people who helped give us our dream was laid to rest on the day that all of the details of owning our dream home all worked out. It was a tough day. I was crying for so many reasons.

When Ryan and I sat down at the closing table, we were just so amazed. We met the wonderful buyers and had time to talk about their dreams for our old house. I actually got to walk away knowing they would love and care for the house that contained so many of my memories. What a blessing! When I listed my home, that was one of my concerns. I felt like I had poured so much blood, sweat, and tears into it. It broke my heart to imagine someone coming in that wouldn’t love it. I worried for nothing and I am so thankful for that.

Now, I have to brag on the people who made this all happen.

On Instagram many months ago, I posted something about moving. One of the guys I went to high school commented that I should let him sell my house. I just kinda laughed to myself and thought, “Sure.” Doug Edrington was always kind in high school and that stuck out in my mind. Over the course of several weeks, I researched Chattanooga Realtors like crazy. Seriously, I research everything to death. Ask my husband.

I came across some great reviews and spoke with several potential agents. I really thought I had narrowed it down to two agents in Chattanooga. One I knew personally, one I did not. I went to Zillow and just happened to notice a top rated company on their site: The Edrington Team. I read review after review and something deep inside of me knew that I had to at least meet with Doug.

Doug came over to the house one afternoon. We had everything torn apart and I was slightly embarrassed about our mess. My five year old was running wild and dirty in the yard. I smelled. My husband was covered in who knows what. But I was desperate. If there was any chance this man could sell our home, it did not matter that my child interrupted our meeting forty-seven times and I was ready to cry.

Doug walked through our house quietly. I was afraid he would actually walk away from us because we weren’t a million dollar listing (he had really amazing Zillow reviews, y’all). Instead, he kindly made suggestions about changing some key items in the house. Ryan and I thought we were done with all of the projects and here he was making more changes?!? In all honesty, I was mad for a full twenty-four hours. How dare he???? Did he not know how much we did to the house and then he comes in asking for more? We were soooo done!

In all reality, he didn’t ask us anything unreasonable or major. He didn’t ask for anything I didn’t deep down know I needed to do to make it more appealing after my countless hours of research (I told you….). But still, I was angry. It hurt to know that someone came in and found anything undesirable about the home I had so many memories in. But, he did his job. And he broke it to us gently. Want to know what else???

He was one hundred and ten percent correct! Once we saw the changes, Ryan and I both agreed that Doug knew exactly what he was talking about. He has an eye for that stuff, y’all! I told Ryan that we should have done those things years ago and our home would have worked so much better for us. I could have kicked myself.

Our home was on the market for five whole days. That’s it. We had a full price offer after five days. The underwriting process was the only thing that slowed us down. The whole team was amazing to us. From Doug (best agent ever), to Darren (the professional photographer), to Amanda (our go-to info girl), each member of the team helped us, informed us, and gave us peace of mind every step of the way. You can honestly tell when people work well together, and Doug is part of an amazing team. They communicate well with each other as well as with us. I couldn’t ask for a smoother process (except for the underwriting, but it was totally out of all of our hands!). If you need people that go above and beyond, value you and your home no matter how large or small, and actually get your home sold, I would recommend Doug and The Edrington Team any day. They are good, down to Earth people who truly do want to help find the right home for the right family. They brought us someone who would love and care for the home we left behind.

My Top Tips For Selling Your Home Quick

1. Find the right agent. This is absolutely the key to it all. You must do your research for your area. Start with Zillow. If you enter your own address into the search bar you will notice on the right hand side the top three recommended agents. Look for the one with the most and highest reviews. You want someone who sells many homes, but also someone who has great reviews. Take the time to actually read the reviews. They will point out key sellers if it is a group of agents. 
2. Prep your home. You must detach yourself from your home. Take down personal belongings and box them up. You will not only be thankful that those items are already packed when it is time to move, but you also allow potential buyers to imagine their own belongings in the space. 
3. Make sure your home is in nice condition. Most people do not want to move into a place that needs a lot of work. If you have a leaky faucet, repair it (you’ll have to do it after an inspection more than likely anyways). If you have bright walls, paint them a neutral shade. A lot of people hate painting (my husband especially). Many people will pay for a home inspection prior to listing so that they can repair necessary items before listing. 
4. Clean your home! Take time to clean up your home, friends. No one wants to walk through a smelly, cluttered home. Remember: Your idea of clutter may drastically differ from mine. When in doubt, clear it out. You’re not selling your stuff. You are selling countertops, appliances, and storage space. 
5. Put your pets away. Do not leave animals at home for showings or for listing photographs. 
6. Use the right photos. Do not let an amateur photographer list photos of your home. No offense, but I did that the first time three years ago and got zero real offers. The photos make or break your home. Most of us start looking for potential homes on the internet. If you use poorly lit, cluttered, narrow photos on your listing, you will scare off many potential customers. 

Ryan and I went through a lot to get this house ready for the market and then we did some more. We had the best real estate agent anyone could ask for. And we ended up with fabulous buyers who will care for the place we called home for many years. We are blessed and praise God for orchestrating it all. We could not have done any of this without Him!