We let it go? Maybe it's time to go FISBO!

I am officially fed up with this real estate market, with it's lazy brokers and rude buyers. We knew putting the house on the market this spring would be a reach but our most recent feedback included the statement that we "let the place go and it would be a great deal if it was in better than average condition". WHAT!?

We bought this house brand new 5 years ago. It was a modular spec house for which nothing was done externally. It was a bare bones minimalist job with a heck of a lot of short cuts which we discovered and fixed. WE did all the work, including a 3 flued chimney, hard wood floors, and at least 3 gardens. We also repaired the stone walls, put paths in the woods, and put lawn back where the septic was installed. Were are they possibly talking about the quasi dirt road that we live on or the lack of a paved driveway? Maybe they were from down south somewhere and were expecting a pristine subdivision like the ones they have back where they came from.

I am the first to admit that we had just gotten back from vacation and having separated my shoulder two weeks ago, things were NOT spic and span around here, but we made this clear to our selling broker when they called with the last minute showing. We requested that this news be passed along. My guess was that it wasn't, just like the unanswered requests for open houses and ads in the local paper. Is this the tact that real estate brokers are now taking? Let it be a buyers market and do nothing to help sell? If I hear one more time that I should reduce the price of the house I think I will implode - it's already listed 20K below it's appraisal price and listed well below the money we have put into it over the years.

So my question is, should we just go FSBO (for sale by owner)? What do we need to do to do that? Maybe if we did, I could actually be a motivated selling broker who will attempt to sell the house for what it is - a score! Going FSBO we would save/earn us a lot of money and we would put great effort into being a good and motivated selling broker - that much I know is true. If you are reading this, I would really love some feedback, advice, or experience.

We put the house on the market today.

Our house went on the market today and I have been a melancholy little mama ever since. I am feeling rather ambivalent but that's not to say I am not feeling anything, but more so my emotions keep changing, like a pendulum, every feeling has a diametric opposite which seems to balance it out or else make it all the more confusing. I am terrified to have put the house on the market during such a market and economy, but I am absolutely giddy at the notion that we are getting ready to own our own small family farm. I am sick to my stomach about how barely we are eeking out a profit on the house (and honestly not sure how much of one our listing price is considering how much we put into this house), but I am also feeling really hopeful that some foreclosed farm is out there waiting for us to find it. I am sad that this is the house my young children have grown up in in such a short time, but I am happy to know the timing is right for the move since dear daughter will be entering kindergarten and the ten year old is bound for middle school. I am sad that I will leave my gardens and my beloved lilies, but excited to know I have new ground to discover, plants to nurture, and shrubs to key out and identify. I am excited to be in a new place where I can finally have the chickens, goats, and rabbits I have been wanting but am also sad that we have literally outgrown this house and have to say good bye to the rocks that the 10 year old once found impossible to climb. I am dead set against ever moving myself again but a nervous wreck about what the expenses of movers or even storage facilities will be. I am feeling incredibly stressed about the amount of work that needs to be done in such a little time before the house will start showing, but I am incredibly excited about downsizing our lives and reducing the amount of clutter that exists within the walls of a family of 5's home. I'm scared of the future, scared of this economy and scared of the unknown but comforted by the fact that we are a family of 5 and that is something we can draw strength from. I have to continue reciting the serenity prayer and remember my favorite mantras: "Everything happens for a reason", "Nothing but good can come out of this" and "Let go and let love lead the way". OK, dinner is up - Mom's favorite comfort food: grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup!