So, I have recently listed my house for sale. I haven’t lived in it for half a year already, as I’ve moved due to work. My wife has been living in the house while going to school and work. She rented out some rooms to people in order to help make ends meet. I’ve been paying for two of everything, and it has been a strain on everything: my mood, our relationship, my work, finances and my energy levels.

It was a difficult decision to put our house up for sale in such a market. The city we live in is still dealing with the effects of the downturn, and housing prices are still on the decline, despite news reports that try to make everyone feel happy and positive about the next half a year. Did I mention that it is still around the middle of a mild Canadian winter?

My wife, more than myself, has a strong emotional attachment to the house. Early in our relationship, she started trying to find ways to make her dream of home ownership a reality, and by the time we were married, we had purchased a plot of land in a new subdivision, and had a company building one of their homes for us. My wife got to pick out the pain, flooring, and other upgrades on top of the stock design and loved every minute of it. There is a lot of her in the house, and so it was with a sad heart that we ended up listing it for sale.

I contemplated many different ways of starting the home sale process including selling it myself, using an inexpensive non-MLS route, or contacting a real estate agent. In the end, we ended up contacting a local real estate agent.

I haven’t yet met the woman, but she has definitely been on the ball. In the first week, she collected our details, got it listed on MLS, put it in the newspaper, and showed it to two people. Having two people already see our house was very surprising to us as we knew the state of the market.

We’ve had to list our house for in the high level for its size and features, mostly because we bought a few years ago, just before the whole market crash. The price was determined in part by our agent, and in part by us. We want to make sure that when we sell the house, we get out of it without losing our shirts. This means making sure it pays not only the mortgage off, but also the potential lawyer fees, and real estate agent fees.

If and when I buy a house again, I probably will build again, even if it means that I might get a smaller house that I have some difficulty selling due to lot size or house size because I really had next to no problems with this first house, and I am not very handy with a hammer or wrench.

Currently, I am working on a website that will, if it takes more than a few months to sell, hopefully help market the sale a bit better and connect us with the right type of buyer willing to pay closer to our listing price.

I will also be working on updating this blog from time to time with progress, issues, thoughts, and ideas regarding selling a house and I hope you all find this series interesting.

Do you have any house sale stories, tips or tricks? Please leave them in the comments below. I look forward to understanding the whole house selling process better, and making it through this process the best that I can.