House showings -- 10 things I have learned

Note to self:  In your next life, don't put your house on the market during the week leading up to your son's college graduation.  That is all.  Maybe.

10 things I have learned:

1.  It is impossible to have everything perfect, all at once.  It's OK.

2.  When the viewers show up 35 minutes ahead of schedule, you may not be able to dry the clean dishes and put them away.  You may be stuck leaving them in the dish drainer.  This is not the end of the world, and you do not need to cry about it.

3.  After a viewing, you will return home to find some lights turned off (because you turned ALL of them on), and often the shower curtains will be rumpled.

4.  After a viewing, you will not find any information or feedback on Facebook, as much as you might wish for it to be there.

5.  Even when you know a good length of time in advance that people will be viewing your home, it is hard to master those last 20 minutes before you leave: polishing every counter and mirror, wiping the last doggie nose smudges off the sidelights by the front door, straightening the bathroom towels and making sure that a pie is in the oven, baking away at 325 degrees to give a nice, warm, homey smell and feel to the kitchen.  And swiffing the floor behind you on the way out the back door.

6.  Getting ready to leave your house in the hands of a realtor and his client makes your heart pound and your armpits sweat.  It just does.  This is not because you are doing anything wrong.

7.  It stinks when you work for 2 hours, cleaning, polishing, arranging... and then your neighbor tells you that the people only stayed and looked for about 10 minutes.  But, at least they were not no-shows.  It really stinks when you spend 2 hours cleaning, polishing and arranging for a no-show.

8.  If you want fresh flowers in your vases, carnations last a lot longer than tulips.

9.  Everybody has different taste.  This is OK.  You are not a bad person if you like old fashioned things and your buyer likes ultra modern.  The converse is also true.

10.  God is in control.  The house will sell to the people he has designed to buy it, at the time he designated for them to make the purchase.  So... no worries.

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.  And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us...
                                             Acts 17:24-27