It’s been an interesting few weeks around here, and this picture pretty much sums up what we’ve got in the works…
Yep. We’re putting our current cottage on the market and we’re hoping to start a new adventure a little closer to Kev’s family!
They live in the next town over (about 40 minutes from our current house), so we’re hoping to sell this place and start fixing up another one closer to their neck of the woods, soon!
There are still a few rooms left to finish/completely renovate over here (laundry, mudroom, home office/2nd bedroom), not to mention a bunch of things that could use fixing up outside, but we’re hoping someone will want to pick up where we’ve left off. It’s been a really fun/comfortable place to call home over the past 5 years, and if it doesn’t sell we won’t be heartbroken…we’ll just keep fixin’ it up and try again in a year or two. (But, man, would we love to take advantage of the low interest rates right now if we can!)
Who knows what’ll happen! We look forward to posting any house selling/buying updates here on our blog, and we’re excited to see what the future holds.
In the meantime, we’ve got a guest bathroom that’s finally ready for some finishing touches, so we’ll be back soon with all the before and afters!
PS: Looking to buy a cottage-style home in the 36067 zip code?
Drop us a line at TheLetteredCottage (at) gmail (dot) com for more info and to schedule a showing!
This might be a silly question, but is that your staircase? Im looking for the perfect white (not too bright, not too creamy) and I love that one. If it is your staircase, can you tell me what paint color it is? Thanks!
Oh my goodness…wow! well what ever you do will be just as lovely and satisfying as what you have done . Just a little concern; before showings ,make sure prospective buyers are PREqualified BEFORE showing. What a drag it is to have looky loos, then they dont qualify for financing.! grrr
Your house will sell in a heartbeat. I just sold our second FSBO, the first one we sold in a week and our last house sold in 2 weeks.
The only advice I can give is even though your house is beautifully done, declutter it a lot. Both our houses almost looked empty but that’s what the buyers liked.
When doing FSBO you’re also going to get tons of realtors calling you wanting to represent you and basically telling you that you’re stupid for trying to sell by owner in this market. I had so many scumbag realtors offering ‘advice’ and second guessing my price and in the end we sold for $3000 less than asking price and they buyers asked for nothing after the inspection either.
Stick to your guns and don’t let realtors scare you into signing with them. Market locally on bulletin boards around town, Zillow and Craigslits before paying to list on the MLS. I sold our first house that way and the second I sold the day after I put it on the MLS before it even went live. $200 wasted.
Good luck!
I’m sure your next home will be just as beautiful—and hopefully have 2 additional little feet joining you.
PS
The dog painting over your sofa—-it’s in my son’s bedroom. We had to smile when we saw it. I told him he could take it to his next home when he gets married and leaves me…because I’m not letting them leave me unless they are married…and even then have a strong case for free in home childcare to offer their wives! ; 0 )
Oh, how I would LOVE to get my hands on that cottage of yours! It is gorgeous and I am sure you will have no problem selling that beauty! Someone will seriously hit the jackpot with that home! Have fun on this new adventure! : )
Good luck and whomever buys it will be very lucky.
The new owners may want you to finish the rooms. You might want to offer your consulting services for a reduced rate after the close. Just a thought! Good Luck
Truly wishing you the best. I’m sure it will sell quickly. {I would buy it in a heartbeat if your neck of the woods was in our future}
Good luck!! Your home is beautiful and you’re very house savy, so I’m sure you’ll have a quick time with it. My wife and I sold our first home ourselves two years ago and we were able to find a buyer very quickly (~2 days). As long as it hits the MLS, you’ll be good. Congrats on your decision!
If I were moving to your area, I would buy your cottage in a heartbeat. Your home is a gem and whomever buys it will be one extremely fortunate person! Wishing you the very best and looking forward to your next adventure.
I never realized that you are in Prattville. I lived there for several years and have many fond memories of the area. Now I’m wishing I still lived there so I could take that beautiful cottage off your hands. Best of luck to you as you start this new chapter in your lives.
That is such great news!! I don’t think you will have any problems selling your lovely cottage…. It looks stunning already, even if there is some little fixing up to do. Why can’t we buy the property? 🙂 Wishing I lived there with my family, it looks so fab!
We’re still looking around to move, but can’t find anything that is reasonably priced… Anyway, I wish you all the luck in the world in finding a new house to call home and I’m sure you will make it even more lovely than this one – you guys work magic in homes!!
Inge x
Have to ask…. are you going East or West of where you are now????
East. 🙂
Should I say that “War Eagle” is in your near future??
Please post the listing when you can. I’d love to see that and may know of someone who’d like to see it.
Here you go! 🙂
http://www.forsalebyowner.com/listing/EUSHO
Oh man, i’m sad to see you leave your pretty cottage, but I can’t wait to see what you do with the next one!
It’s so exciting forging ahead on a new adventure! (And a new house to renovate.) I’m sure you’ll find someone who will cherish your lovely home. Best of luck!
What a great adventure! Best wishes with selling and buying. Yay for us who get to follow it all on The Lettered Cottage : )
Wow…here you go again! You guys have done such a gorgeous job renovating your home. I’m sure it will sell quickly! 🙂
I think I’m going to cry! If I could pick this house up and move it to Georgia, I’d buy it today. Good luck to you guys, can’t wait to see what’s in store for you next!
Your home and the work you have done in it is excellent. Good luck on the sale and when it happens I can’t wait to see what you’ll do next! You two are a real team!
Goodness, how could I have not realized how close you guys are to us? We’re just north of you in Birmingham! Good luck selling your current place. I’d buy it in a heartbeat if I was in that area!
Good luck!! I’m sure you guys won’t have any problems selling. 🙂
Your home is lovely and I’m sure you will have a quick sale. Good luck with the move. I look forward to seeing your new home!
Thank you, Brenda! 🙂
Good luck! I’m sure some lovely person will come and scoop it right up.
We’ve got our first showing scheduled for tomorrow night, so we’ll see what happens! 😉
Yea! We just finished up our house and are selling it by owner also.
I guess we’ll both be looking for new ugly houses 🙂
Yours is so beautiful. I’m sure it will go quickly! Best of luck.
–Katie
Thanks, Katie! And we wish you lots of good luck selling your house, too! 🙂
I so wish we could buy it! Not only is it lovely, but what a great thing to buy a house from such a lovely couple. Unfortunately we’re a little far from your zip code (like Arizona far). But I agree with someone else who said they’d want to buy it furnished!
Ooh! My nephew is moving to AZ in December! We look forward to visiting him while he and his (military) family live there!
Really?! Well, when you’re in town, if you feel the need to try your decorating magic in the desert, come to my house! I love it, but there are a couple of rooms I just can’t figure out. Or maybe more than a couple. : )
How wonderful! Good luck!
Thank you, Jenna! 🙂
best of luck, how exciting, I am sure your sweet cottage will sell quickly!!!
Thank you, Claudia! 😀
Well Layla I am sure you will not have a problem selling your gorgeous home it looks so cosy good luck with it all. 🙂
Thank you for the kind comment! 🙂
Oh wow! Good luck! If I lived in the area, I’d snatch it up in a heartbeat. It’s a beautiful home. Very much looking forward to the work you put in on your next home, but I can’t help but be sad you’re having to walk away from a house you just put so much time and effort into. I don’t think I’d ever be able to leave after all that!
Thank you, Nicole! 🙂 We’re actually really excited about the potential opportunity to move to our friends and family’s neighborhood…and to fix up another fixer upper, of course! 😀
Congratulations, friends!!! SUCH a big time in your lives! Hope to see you guys soon!
🙂
shaunna
Whoa, didn’t see that one coming! You should have no trouble selling your beautiful home! 🙂
How fun guys!! I wish you a quick sale on your ADORABLE cottage. You sure have created a beauty! xoxo
Love your place. It will sell fast, I’m sure. We bought By Owner for the first time a couple years ago and it went very smoothly. Be encouraged.
We had such a great experience, that when we are ready to sell this place, we will go By Owner as well!
Looking forward to what the future holds for you. 🙂
What big news! Your blog is the first I had ever read and I’m constantly inspired by your projects and room transformation. I totally get moving closer to family and I don’t think you’ll have any problems selling your current home. Looking forward to sharing this new journey on the blog with you!
It will be one lucky buyer who lands this deal! Best of luck with your new adventure. I look forward to seeing your hard work and creativity turn another house into a beautify home.
Aw guys! What a fantastic journey for y’all to start but I gotta say, I’m sad. I REALLY REALLY want your home for my own. Sadly, I live by Davis Monthan AF base here in AZ. (No such luck of purchasing in my immediate future.) I know whomever does get the blessing though, will appreciate it as much as y’all have.
GOOD LUCK & many more blessings!
Beautiful home. Am sure you will have a SOLD sign up in no time. Can you tell me where you got your patchwork quilt? I saw something similar on HOUZZ and have searched high and low for it with no luck. If you don’t mind sharing I would appreciate it very much!!
Praying the showing tomorrow evening will be all it takes! Your cottage is so beautiful- how fortunate the new owners will be! 🙂
Good luck with your sale. I know it will go quickly, and you are so right about the interest rates right now. We really should see about refinancing. I have an 8 acre tract of land in Prattville that I have not even seen that I would like to sale (to pay for college costs). Too bad we couldn’t get your house together with our land!
Congrats on this exciting adventure! I had a feeling you guys were getting ready to call it quits at the Cottage..you were posting less and less about projects completed there. No doubt you guys will be considering MANY buyers prices…so many folks will be in competition just to have bragging rights and say “Yup, we now own the original THE LETTERED COTTAGE!”
You guys are practically blogging royalty! :->
Thanks Erika! 🙂 It actually wasn’t on our minds until a few weeks ago, but if it does sell, we’ll be looking forward to documenting our renoventures at the next place, too! 😀
The master bath freshen-up got me wondering 😉
I’ve LOVED watching the progress on your cottage over the years and look forward to seeing your next one develop.
Praying all goes well in the sale and that you are led easily to your next home. x
Looking forward to seeing what you do with the next one!
Best of luck to you! It is such a cute place I am sure you won’t have a problem selling! We just put our house on the market last week to see what would happen (we don’t have to move til next June), but so far we’ve had showings, but no offers. I don’t always like the unknown, but I’m just trying to be patient! :). Keep us informed! I got so much inspiration from your blog in doing projects around here, as yours was one of the first blogs I stumbled upon, so thank you!!!
Cute house and I love the way that you carried pops of red throughout. Good luck! 🙂
My husband and I are moving to Macon Ga soon, I wish your cottage was in that area I would buy it!
price it real high because it will sell in a heartbeat.
Lol, Claire! 😀 We’re actually pricing it lower than our appraisal in hopes of a quick and low-stress sale! 🙂
I am not sure if it’s the same when selling a house, but we have several rental properties and we quit doing individual showings after our first house. I believe you work from home, so you might be around and able to fit in last-minute showings, but for our rental properties paired our very full and busy day jobs, it was killing us to run over there all the time (me and DH always, no solo showings, Layla! Not safe!) for lunchtime appts, after work, at all hours. It was SO disruptive.
After that first round and with our other properties, we now do an extensive website (basic wordpress template, nothing custom, but it gets the job done), more pictures than you would think anyone would ever care about (because they do, they seriously do!) of all the details (faucets, tiles, closets, etc) organized by room. We post on all the usual places, local paper, Craigslist (that is most popular in our area for rentals) about 5-6 days in advance. We get emails and questions and requests for “previews” all week long, and we will answer any questions but don’t do previews, just send lease applications back (also available on our website!) and say to show up at the open house with them filled out for first consideration. Then we have an open house, 2-4pm on Sunday. Two hours, short and sweet. We have never had to have more than two open houses in a row, usually close the deal with the first one. We always have good traffic and often we have multiple applicants competing submit at that open house. The one time we had bad turnout we only gave two days’ notice of the open house – that was not enough time and we ended up having to have a second one the next weekend. People fall in love with the pictures on the site and are already practically sold by the time they show up.
I know it’s likely somewhat different for a sale rather than rent, but keep in mind the competition seems to make people more likely to move on a property, and factor in the time suck of all the showings. Good luck to you and can’t wait to see what happens!
Hmmm…that’s only about 16 hours from home!? I do looove it though!! Good luck!
Best of luck you two! Hope your next journey is as much fun as this one! Cant wait to hear/see what happens! 🙂