First and foremost, there was a huge (well not so huge... this is Chicago after all) piece of property weighing on my heart. I put our place on the market a couple of weeks before the holidays which as you can guess wasn't the best time. There wasn't a lot of activity and I quickly became very worried. After the new year, I tried new strategies of renting the place and the showings really picked up. To say I was stressed about this was an understatement. Trying to rent out the place quickly consumed all of my time as I found myself organizing, cleaning, and beautifying the condo on a daily basis. I believe that when you put your place on the market, you aren't just showing your unit... you are selling a life. Maybe I haven't been in the real estate market very long and I know you aren't really supposed to do this but how can you not walk through a potential property and judge the lives of the people living there currently? I remember when I was going through this on the other side and would try to gather hints about the inhabitants lives while I guess more importantly evaluated the property. As a seller or landlord you want people to walk through and think I want this life! As there were certainly financial ramifications tied to me renting out the condo, there was also a huge amount of emotional currency included in the monthly rent. I simply couldn't believe that people weren't walking through this place and jumping up and down saying "I want this, I want this life" because frankly I still want this life. I want the promise that it held for me only about four years ago.
I am happy to report that I successfully rented out the place and I did it on my own so I don't have to pay the finder's fee. Both of my guys; Matt and Pappy would be so proud of me. I had always talked about one day renting out this place and Matt would tease me about it. I believed it would be under much different circumstances which included us moving most likely to WI when we had kids but hey I accomplished this goal nonetheless.
After renting out my place, going to my last day of work, and packing... I realize this is really happening. I gave myself permission to be a crying mess as I realize that the next weeks is going to be full of lots of excitement and of course sadness. I know that I just need to feel this all out. I love this home very much but I think that moving to new surroundings will only do me well. I simply can't believe that I was married in this home and also lost my husband in this home. Bittersweet is really the only way to describe this move.
Our Condo taken by the Wedding Photographer on July 11, 2009
Namaste,
Melissa
