I have worked for the Johnson Team for over a year and a half now and in that time, buying and selling homes has become quite normal to me. In the everyday business of this house pending, that one closing and this new one on the market, I started to forget that for the average person who does not work in real estate, there is nothing “normal” about buying or selling a home. However, I recently had the opportunity to be reminded.

My husband and I recently sold our home in Sumas and bought one in Ferndale. We always knew that our house in Sumas was just a starter and that when our two years were up, we would sell. Our house went under contract in March, and several days later we found our new dream home. And then the fun began….

Normally when a house pends, I change a bunch of marketing materials, maybe help Fawn prepare the pending folder, and generally just wait for it to close. However, since this was my home, the situation was SO DIFFERENT! We had to arrange financing, insurance, and moving details. And to make matters even more stressful, our closing was far from smooth.

In spite of our financing and details being all lined up and ready to go, some issues came up with our buyers and as a result, we were delayed for 3 weeks. This meant that more negotiating had to be done to make sure that both deals (the sale of our old house, purchase of the new one) all came together. I was certainly happy to have the incredible team of agents that I work with by my side for this one because their expertise was definitely needed! (I am the marketing manager here, not a licensed agent).

When our transactions finally closed, we scrambled to pack, move and clean within a matter of a few days. This is the other part about buying/selling a home that I had forgotten about. I had gotten so used to our clients coming in, handing them the keys, waving good bye and saying congratulations, then going back to work. I had forgotten that as they walked out that door, they were making a mental checklist of boxes that had been packed, where the furniture would go in the new home, address changes, insurance, moving truck, cleaning…. the list goes on.

So after the past few weeks, I now remember what the view is like from the other side of the real estate transaction.