Changing your mind is acceptable

To humor a friend I advertised my house for sale in our local paper. They were offering a special on ads $4.00-4 lines-4 times so I decided to see what would happen. I composed an ad which read: private sale-mobile home 3 BD, 2 BA, deck, new furnace, large lot. I could have said much more, but it wouldn’t have fit in four lines.

The first appearance of the ad was last Friday and as of this morning has produced about 8-10 phone calls. Since honesty is # one with me, I started out telling the callers that because it is not on a permanent foundation it could not be financed through FHA or a bank. My house has been sitting on the same piece of property since 1980 so I do not consider a lack of a foundation a problem; of course I am not trying to finance something I already own.

The first caller kept referring to what I was offering as a trailer. Each time he did that I responded, it is not a trailer it is a mobile home, more recently referred to as a manufactured home- you jerk! No, I didn’t add jerk, but I thought it! In all the years I have owned my home I have never referred to it as a trailer, which is something you pull behind a car.

The second caller was a bit smarter. After explaining about the financing he said, so I need cash. My response was, pretty much. I know there are other ways of getting around this problem, but I am not really interested in going in that direction. The third person asked if I would carry the note myself and I answered no. If I am going to sell it I want nothing more to do with it.

After the fourth call I began to realize that I don’t really want to sell it at all. Having recently checked out other living arrangements in my town I know I would not be happy living in a crappy apartment. Some people might say it is because I am afraid of letting go. I believe it is because I am finally getting the fact that I come first. What I have is not just a house, mobile or not, it is my home. It is also the only home my two cats have ever known and although they cannot speak words I know they would not be happy to leave.

The universe also gave me a little bonus about the time I placed the ad. I was able to find a handyman who doesn’t charge an arm and a leg and appears to know how to do about anything I would need to have done repair-wise. He already took care of my roof problem and installed a new bathroom faucet yesterday. The damage to my ceilings due to our recent snow will just have to wait until I can afford to tackle that problem. Since I am the only human living under my roof I don’t care. With my recently installed new furnace my cats and I are quite comfy in our home.

I cancelled the ad yesterday, but it is still running today. I am actually enjoying telling callers; the house is no longer available or that the ad has been cancelled.

Changing your mind is not only acceptable it can be a whole lot of cheap fun!

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