Lament in a buyer's market.

As we were walking out the door to church last Sunday we got a call from a realtor wanting to show our house that day at noon (right as we would be getting out of church). The house was a disaster. Yes, I know the primary song "Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday", but it simply had not happened. We turned the realtor down. I was not about to stay home from sacrament meeting to clean my house from top to bottom. I need the blessings.

Yesterday we had another realtor call to schedule a showing for the wife of a husband who had seen it two weeks before. We were encouraged, though second showings in the past have not turned up any actual offers for us. So Tim and I worked harder than we would for a regular showing to prepare the house. Then this morning, amid packing for a July 4th trip to visit my parents, I continued the drudgery, leaving the house 15 minutes ahead of time completely spotless with a beautiful vase of lilies from my garden resting on the kitchen table.

They were half an hour late, but my neighbor was kind enough to let us eat lunch and play at her house until it was safe to go back inside. When it was all said and done, I called the realtor to see how it went to which she responded, "Thanks for being available, but she doesn't want power lines." They didn't even set foot in the house!

I realize that this is a buyer's market, and that people have every right to be picky, but I was pretty ticked at having spent hours so that someone could turn up her nose at the power lines that run behind our property line. If she had walked in, she would have noticed what a non-issue the power lines are. You can't even see them from inside the house. And, if she had gone to the back yard, she might have discovered that the common area that houses these power lines is the very reason we have a gorgeous, unobstructed view of the Boise foothills. Not to mention the host of attributes the inside and outside of our house have to offer.

I know, I'm a biased homeowner. But we've had people come view our house who agree that the power lines are unobtrusive and pale in comparison to the view and the openness that having no backyard neighbors affords. I'm just put out, that's all. Put out that the lady whose husband ranked our house as one of his top three couldn't even muster the energy to give it a chance. She didn't even set foot in the house...