I have started to think more carefully about selling my house and decided it was time to list what I would like to address before doing so. You see, given the fact that after purchasing this home I replaced the roof, plumbing, electrical, mechanicals, and all the appliances. I also painted, papered, and refinished the wooden floors. Oh, yes, I finished the basement adding a closet, a full bath, a utility closet, and an enclosed laundry area. so, I plan to sell the house in as-is condition, after attending to a couple of items. However,I am a bit dismayed that the list is now larger than my two original items.


1. I would like to replace the floor in the basement. The split and swollen laminate flooring looks bad. I have contemplated putting in a new laminate floor, but have also considered using the Armstrong tiles that I used at my writing student's house. I just cannot settle on a color. In doing so, I would also need to replace the quarter round. Though, I must admit that I should have done this earlier, but the work load is a bit overwhelming to contemplate. And I hate the thought of charging the floor.

2. The basement closet doors need to be repaired. They are too short and no longer really work. I am hoping I could get them repaired rather than replaced. I asked my writing student's father if he would help, but he has not had the time yet.

3. The blasted kitchen faucet has broken for the fourth time. I need to call Kohler and ask for more than just another part.

4. The grout on the kitchen floor has crumbled for the second time. I paid one man to lay it and another to lay it a second time. I am wondering if I could just mix some up myself and slap it on, since professional help twice was fruitless.

5. I need to touch up the walls in several places and think I should do the same for the window sills and the shelves by the couch (the greatest place of wear in the house).

6. The light above the table has always been about a foot off. I hung my chandelier anyway and just had the table pulled forward, slightly blocking the path to the kitchen. I think that for best showing purposes, I should take down my chandelier and medallion and put up a ceiling mount light.

7. Of course, I also need to give the house a good scrubbing from top to bottom, getting to those dust bunnies I usually ignore.


I know that it this is really a modest sort of list for getting ready to sell a house. I know that it is practical and manageable, as frugally as possible for trying to leverage the investment return on this home as best as possible. I know this.

However, I took a pair of scissors to my hair again tonight just thinking about getting all the work done by myself and additional debt it represents. Remembering the last rather disastrous haircut I gave myself the eve before my grandmother's funeral fifteen months ago, I worked hard to restrain the impulse to just hack away. I guess that I was actively displacing my anxieties, eh? Perhaps I should attach a photo from that time to my bathroom mirror...