The Call

March 23, 2015. I spent the whole day cleaning and staging each room so that I could get some amazing pictures of our home. The kids were so helpful in picking up their toys and making everything look in tip-top shape. We scrubbed off all the crayon marks on the walls and dusted all the doors and frames. We cleaned all the windows and got some really amazing pictures taken. It took me from 9am until 3:30 to get every room clean, staged and photographed. I was so motivated that day. I remember having an extra pep to my step and just thinking how fun that was to see my house for what it truly can be (when there aren’t little people making creative memories all over the place). I remember praying over the rooms that day. Praying for the next family who has this house that they would love it as much as we do and that their family would be blessed in their new home.

Once I got the pictures done I did a quick edit and on March 31st I put the pictures up on Zillow. A few days had gone by and we got 2 calls and an email about the house. Nothing ever came of those and I was a little bummed. On Saturday, April 11th we got a call from a realtor who said he had a family of 5 who wanted to come check out our home on the following day. I’m pretty sure I freaked out and acted like a school-girl for a few minutes while telling Jonathan and the kids that someone wanted to come see our home. The time was set for 4:00 Sunday evening which was awesome because we had plenty of time to get the house to look similar to the photos I taken. 

We spent Saturday with our friends the Boyink’s who are also a full time RVing family. They were in town for a week and wanted to take us out to show us how to set up, take down, haul and park their 5th wheel! We had so much fun hanging out with them and  they were so patient with us trying to back up a 34’ trailer which neither of us had ever done before. Thanks for they help Ditching Suburbia!

That night we decided to not freak out in cleaning mode but to just hang with our kids for the evening. But then came Sunday! We woke up and got right to work. We cleaned and cleaned and organized and moped and scrubbed and I made the most amazing Chewy Ginger Cookies known to man and at 3:30 we were set. I asked Jon to take the kids out back so that I could mop the wood floors without kid prints all over it. Once that was done I went out on the back deck and Jonathan and the kids and I prayed. We prayed that if this was the family He wanted to buy our house that they would see something in the house that would just let them know that this was the one. I tried to remain calm while waiting for their realtor to show up...then he did. I met him outside and asked if he would like to see the house before the family got here. So I showed him around a bit and told him our plans of moving into a 5th wheel and traveling. He seemed mildly interested but I know he had a lot going on that day. The family finally made it here right at 4:00 and I went outside so the realtor could do his thing and so the family could look at it all. It was a quick walk through and it felt like they were only in the house for no more than 20 minutes. We talked with them for awhile and found out we have a few friends in common so that was neat. They seemed concerned about our yard because they need a fence for their dogs and we didn’t have one. We said our good byes and nothing much more happened that day. 

Monday morning, bright and early, I got a call. It was their realtor. He called to tell me that the family loved our home and wanted to make an offer and he would be emailing me the papers. WHAT?! Holy cow!! I remained calm on the phone and said, “ok” and hung up and FREAKED OUT! But then I told Jon, “What if it’s a crappy offer?” We waited nervously, got the papers late that night, looked it over and decided to counter offer Tuesday morning because their offer was lower than the figure we had in mind. 

It’s now Tuesday and 3:20 in the afternoon. We got word that they accepted our counter offer and we now have a closing date of May 28th! Can you believe it! This is happening! And it’s happening very soon. And you want to know the coolest part for me?? They loved all the art work on our walls and asked that it all stay and come with the house! We had planned on having a big open house sale for the artwork but now, it’s going with the house! How cool is it that someone liked how I designed our home so much that they wanted it to stay and be a part of their home?!?! I think that is the highest complement and I am so excited for this family to make this home their own.

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About the Author

Ashley Longnecker is the fiercely independent tattooed and dreaded half of Tiny Shiny Home. She's a woodworker, photographer and maker of delicious baked goods. She loathes schedules and makes every day an adventure.

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