Traditional house hunting is a frustrating thing. The endless walk-throughs, trying to find the perfect house. The house that you can picture living for the next 20 (or more) years.
This one is too bright.
That one is too gloomy.
This one smells like cat pee.
That one has a 90 degree driveway.
And seriously, pick the dirty diapers off the floor during the showing unless you are not wanting to sell the house because…ummmm…ewwww.
House hunting when you are a special needs family is different.
First off, when moving across the country, transient or temporary housing will not work well.
Faith does not handle change well. Little changes are huge to her. She once wore the same shirt 76 days in a row. (Yes, I washed it!) She will often go days eating the exact same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner…because change is bad.
Change = not good.
Moving = huge change
Leaving the safe embrace of her home is going to turn her entire world upside down. Staying in temporary housing would make it even worse. Renting a home or apartment for 3-6 months would just mean that she has to deal with “new place” two times.
So we are house hunting from 2000-ish miles away in the hopes that we can find someplace “close enough to perfect” that we can try to make it ours without actually being there. We will try to time the closing with our arrival in hopes of minimizing the number of times that we must uproot and then attempt to resettle Faith.
We need to get her in “home” and begin helping her feel safe again.
Where is this post going?
Here:
People, if you are trying to sell your house…..at least pick the dirty clothes up off the floor on the day your Realtor is coming to take pictures.
And hide the overflowing garbage cans.
For reals.
Okay, first? I had to laugh at the decorating comment on the facebook post. Second, I hope ours doesn’t fall into that category. Third, I canNOT imagine moving across town at this point, much less across the country. You are a rock star, my friend. And last. Seriously. What is wrong with people? When we were househunting, we visited a home that would have made a hoarder shake her head. And the asking price was insanely high for the market. Bless her heart. Hope the real estate fairies drop a beautiful treasure right in your lap!