gardencpa, See I can't imagine having just one party and then calling it quits. I hope to have several. But not all of them as big as I hope to have when we move in. That's a different thing and I think BIG works there. To do that often would take the fun out of it for me. So what colors are you looking at for your house? fishpants, Cooking, hummmm...... You know, DH did mention something about my new Wolf rangetop and cooking. I just don't remember if it was something "important" so it must not have been.....right? A wedding reception, now that would be a "fun" party! Oh Amy, your DH's rub sounds Gooood! Does he hire out? LOL! Soonermagic, football game parties are like the perfect size. Big enough for fun but there's no stress involved. What kind of menu do you do? Or, just easy stuff. Woodswell, I don't know - lots of reasons for me to NOT have a party... that's sad! I think your DH's idea of catering an open house would be a great idea. No Stress level. But I guess you'd better keep the music down! LOL Hoosiergirl, Just because you're in and haven't had the party doesn't mean you can't have one later. Look how many honeymoons are delayed in this world. Like mikeyvon and vancleaveterry said....It's NEVER to late to have a party and if you want one badly enough there's always a way to get her done! Having fun is the important thing! Bonelady, SMART! Plus having everyone do something like helping to BBQ in shifts makes some people feel good. Easy menu too. Parties like that just seem to turn out perfect. :)

In the two previous contracts, we did agree to pay for the warranty. I guess we'll go ahead and offer it up front. We just figured we'd deal with it if people asked for it. Yes..the house is empty because we had just moved everything out and then the first buyer walked. She was a single mom and wanted everything under the sun. We felt we were giving her enough..she didn't..so she walked. Looking back, I think we still probably wouldn't have offer anymore...I couldn't handle dealing with her anymore. The second buyers (which put the contract in the first day the house was back on the market after the first buyer) walked over the inspection. They didn't even give us a chance. The inspection report was almost 30 pages long. I freaked when I saw it. But once I went through it and read everything it wasn't as bad as it looked. He listed EVERYTHING about our house on those 30 pages. Each item had boxes next to them to check (needs further evaluation; needs repair; okay condition; excellent condition, etc.). I guess they didn't bother to go through each item to see what needed attention and what didn't. They just saw the 30 pages and freaked out and backed out of the contract. We didn't have a chance to ever work with them on anything. It ticks me off that their agent didn't go with them during the inspection nor did she discuss the inspection report with them. I don't think she could have...they walked not long after they received the fax copy of it. So there is no way they could've gone over everything. It took us a couple hours to go through each one to realize the inspector was acutally saying okay things about our house. The third offer was contingent on them sellig their home. We didn't reject it right away. We figured we work it and see what happened. They wanted very specific closing costs..down to the $. We weren't willing to give them all of that and countered with a lesser amount. They rejected it...which we were okay with. I don't need to stress over selling another house...one is enough!! saphire...that would be our luck too. We lucked into our new home and feel that we are paying for it now since our house won't sell. We knew two things couldn't work out for us like that. We are definitely getting close to being desperate. The idea that two is better than one does not apply to mortgages just in case anybody wanted to know! We knew we'd be comfortable until March/April (never thought it would take this long!) so we really are ready to lower it by quite a bit just to get rid of it. The carpet is probably 12 years old I guess. But it is still in great condition. There are a few areas that don't look all that great, but it is not in awful shape. I steam cleaned it myself every couple months and had a professional cleaner do it once a year. Our friends would say they couldn't believe how good it looked since we have a 120lb Rottie and three cats. Oh and there are no smells from the animals left in the house. We had the carpets treated and cleaned again right before we put it on the market and the animals were moved to our new house. Nobody has really given any negative feedback. The metal handrail and a crack in the foundation in the garage (which has never leaked and has no sign of leaking). The handrail is just not very exciting and is a little wobbley. So, we might just replace it with a nice solid oak handrail/spindles (something that we were going to do after we moved in and just never did!). We're going to have the cracks cleaned out (they were caulked by previous owner and have never leaked) and re-caulked and keep the receipt to show people that it was done. The few comps that are similar to our house had DOM of 32 - 194. There are a couple on the market now that are similar in size/layout but not updated as much (no vinyl siding, no 6-panel doors, no updated kitchen) that have DOM of 40 - 370. Those are priced right where we are or more so I can see why they're not selling. A few that were smaller with no updates sold for a lot less and DOM were 85+. There are three that went on the market this month and two have contracts pending. One is a lot smaller, no updates LP is $205K..one is similar to ours, a few updates but no vinyl siding LP is $215. The third one is still on the market..is probably the closest to our house..similar updates..DOM 38 LP $226900. Our agent gave me his username and password for MARIS so now I have become obsessed with going on there and running reports and checking the listings. Something that he did do for us, but now I can log on during the day and check it out for myself. I can't wait to try that sage idea...my DH will absolutely think I've lost my mind :o) That is too funny. I am willing to try anything at this point. Thanks again for the support!!

Schoolhouse, put the new bag unopened in the freezer and it will remain fresher. Our sewer line was rooted out between 11pm-1am and we have a 30 day guarantee it won't mess up during that time. However, the estimate due to some manual digging required to REPLACE the clay pipes is $2400, includes replacing to the city sewer line, don't know if the city charges to reconnect us or not. I cannot deal with backing up sewer lines! So our contractor is getting his plumber to give us an estimate, presumably less than Rotorooter, then we can get a cheaper homeowner's insurance rate. All gas, electrical, sewer, water lines renewed, plus the new roof. We essentially had a "whole house body transplant." It is chilly here today as well. Not cold, but chilly. Later this week, we will have a 40* and a 34* low. My HOSTAS are starting to poke noses up, some with beautiful unfurled leaves already. I received a new order from Naylor Creek Nursery in WA state today, so time to get out the pots and MiracleGro and my gloves. Let the gardening season begin! I'm behind on taking pictures of everything, including house and garden. Been throwing things out of the Teahouse right and left. At least the trash trailer and the GottaGo portable potty are out of the yard, so I can begin leveling that before grass (weeds actually) begin growing to cover it.

Your house looks lovely, clean, staged well, and light/bright. Sure, I don't care for the cabinets, but it's mostly the gargantuan reveals/face frames between the doors and drawer fronts. I don't think it's the finer details of decorating that are keeping people away. Your price is on the high end for your area, no? What's the current absorption rate? This is # houses on the market in your price range / # houses in that same price range that sell per month. Do you have a glut or a shortage? That will help tell you the expected DOM and whether you're a victim of oversupply or not. If there's not an oversupply, then it's price. On the photos, I would change them up. Start with a photo of the front: you need an initial "here's what the house is about" shot. And it should be better than the one you've got, as others have suggested. Then you should have more photos, and organize them in a good sequence: living area photos, then bedroom/bath area photos, then outside photos. You've only shown one bedroom and one bathroom in a 4000 sf house! More photos, more photos, more photos.