5 Things That Make You Feel like Sisyphus Pushing His Rock When Selling Your Home

You probably have a list of times in life when you felt like you were Sisyphus pushing a rock up a hill, only to see it roll right back down again and again.

If you’ve sold a house before, it’s probably already on your list, but if you haven’t sold one before and are planning on doing so, you might as well add it to your list now while you aren’t pushing a proverbial rock up a hill.

Just to make sure you’re prepared for the uphill battle it can be at times, let’s take a look at 5 things that might seem maddeningly repetitive while your house is on the market:

1) Keeping the house clean…

Even if you’re a neat freak, keeping your house constantly show-ready is a difficult task. You want your place not only tidy, but looking like a showroom. If you have kids who happen to own toys and like to occasionally play on a daily basis, well, you might as well just whip out the leaf blower before a showing and blow everything into a corner… of your neighbor’s yard.

2) Trying to maintain dinner time…

Do you like to go out to eat for dinner at random times everyday? Well, if so, you’re in luck! Dinner time is prime time for buyers who want to see houses, especially for buyers who work all day. While eating out sounds lovely, it gets old quicker than you think. While variety is the spice of life, it might get a little too spicy if your house is on the market for a while.

3) Keeping the litter box clean…

How pumped are you if you don’t have a cat?! You just bought yourself some time reading this article AND when selling your home! But for the rest of you, the thankless task of cleaning your cat’s litter box will be something you want to do more often than you already do. Like, literally right before you leave the house every time you go to work, run an errand, or otherwise enjoy life, just in case buyers come see the house while you’re out.

4) Taking the dog out of the house…

Can you leave your dog in the house while buyers come to see it? That’s a question only you can truly answer, but the best advice is probably to plan on taking your dog out whenever someone is coming to see the house — even if your pooch is the goodest boy around.

Dogs can be distracting, and even scary to some people, and you want buyers checking out your digs, not worrying about your dogs. Even dogs who lose their mind the minute they hear you spell the word “walk” will grow tired of how many walks you’re taking them on while your house is on the market.

5) Fixing or replacing things that break…

Considering this house is about to not be yours, spending time and money repairing or replacing things is super annoying. But it never fails: the minute your house is on the market, the smoke alarms start chirping, light bulbs burn out, and thermostats go on the fritz. Knock on wood it’s only those types of things and not a water heater, A/C, or roof issue!

Pro Tip:

An easy way to avoid these issues (or at least keep them to a bare minimum) is to price your house appropriately and make it as easy as possible for buyers to come see your house. If your house is priced competitively, you’ll most likely have buyers make a mad dash to your door and through your house for a few days or weeks, but it should sell as quickly as possible.