So far, I have had two showings for my place. One came in from craigslist, and the other came in from the MLS. We cleaned the place spotless for both, and it really looked like a brand-new unit, with the exception of our furniture being there. The first couple that came through (the craigslist couple), I could tell immediately that they were not ready to buy. He was a recent graduate, and his girlfriend said that she worked three jobs. They sounded like they were on limited means, and even admitted that they had not gone through the pre-approval process for a loan.

I was a bit disheartened, since we burned 2 hours of our precious Sunday afternoon cleaning for them. I guess that’s part of the whole process though. I have a friend who told me that his parents are trying to sell their home, and they have had 77 showings in 100 days, and no takers. Scheeesh! At least they don’t have kids at home!

The second group came in with a realtor. I left the place (as you’re supposed to do) but I saw them drive up. They were two guys, and they just didn’t seem too excited. They went in and left within about 10 minutes. They did eat some of the cookies I left out. Amazingly, they did not close the front door. When I got home, it was unlocked and wide open. I have an indoor cat, and if she got out she would disappear, so I was a bit miffed at this.

The realtor submitted her report later that night about our place. It said that her clients were not interested in buying our place, since it was overpriced compared to other units in the area. What? Ours is the lowest priced unit in the complex! They also said that should look better. What again? It looked like a professional had cleaned it. The only problem is that there’s not much furniture in our place right now, and not many pictures on the wall. If their lack of imagination is why they didn’t like it, then that’s another story.

I am starting to get anxious about our condo sitting on the market forever. The market in general is really bad right now, and I read something this morning that it is probably going to get worse. And, my sister reminded me that July and August are really soft months as well, since it is hot, and many people are on vacation, and not thinking about real estate.

So I am now starting to think of my contingency plan if I don’t get any offers in the next month or so. The only one that is logical is to rent it out for a while while the market recovers. I am not in the mood, and I don’t have time to be a landlord right now, so this is not the most favorable option for me. I’ll also take a loss on the place if I do that, since with the going rental rates around here, adding the HOA dues, I’ll be paying more than I’ll be making with a renter.

My wife and I both agreed that it is still early, and it has only been on the market for a few weeks. We plan on riding this out for about 3 months to see what happens.