Selling houses

I have decided that I HATE selling houses. I could never be one of those entreprenuerial type folks who flip houses because after putting blood, sweat and tears and LOTS of money into upgrades and repairs, selling a house is no longer a business deal, it's personal.

That being said, we have gotten the first offer on our house in Texas. A just barely-barely-short-of-insulting-lowball-type offer. To be fair, a lot of people think that all the gloom and doom over the economy in general and the housing market in specific as shown on T.V. is the gospel truth. It's funny how people really think that reporters are in the business of telling the truth. Note the word business. Reporting is a business, not the same as tender, unselfish service to humanity. They "report" what gets people to watch. Happy news is not on the program; it just doesn't sell like violence, terror, and falling markets.

That is the long way of saying many buyers feel like they have a seller over a barrel. And maybe they do, to some extent, but the real estate market in Texas doesn't seem to be experiencing the same "adjustment" pains as alot of other markets. Probably because houses don't sell for as much there to begin with. It is twice as much for everything, I think, in New York. Anyway, I am sure there are many people who feel, that after making their best effort at turning a 20 year old house into a show home, all they need is an offer that makes it look like a H.U.D. foreclosure! And it really wasn't that bad, but still, it really is worth our asking price. . .especially after many thousands of dollars of upgrades and few thousand more for new paint and flooring, and landscaping, and---well, as every seller knows, the list is endless. Our realtor did say that the effort was worth it. Only houses in move-in ready condition are getting any attention at all, even in Texas. Which brings me back to my original statement: I hate selling houses!