There's a Fungus Among Us

The most difficult part about selling our first home is the hit our egos have taken during the process. We have spent nearly four years turning what was once a dated, problem pit into a beautiful, modern marvel (okay, so that is a bit of an exaggeration, but let's just say we put a lot of TLC into the place). So when we got the report back from our buyers' inspector my jaw nearly dropped to the floor when I heard the dirtiest four letter word in the world... MOLD.

We have WHAT?? I thought mold problems only existed in the homes of hoarders or those hideous fixer-uppers that first time flippers naively purchase. Perhaps they inspected the wrong house? Or maybe our house was so pristine that the inspector felt obligated to lie to justify his paycheck?

And not only did he find mold, the inspector also chose to judge our fuse box and mock our roof for missing two shingles. The missing shingles add character to our roof; how dare he call out our home's endearing flaws and put them down on paper. I can only imagine that my reaction to the inspection results would be similar to a mother being told her child isn't very bright - I was mad, indignant and immediately blamed my husband.

So after a few hours of crying... yes... I cried... sobbed, actually... I went through the natural stages of anger and then started to resent the home that once made me so proud. The hubby sneezed and I immediately yelled out, "the damn mold in the house is making us sick! We NEED to get out of here!"

And for the record, the so called "mold" in our estranged attic is so miniscule that the inspector wasn't too concerned and just suggested we have it spot treated, and our buyers weren't spooked by it either. But I'm pretty sure they were just playing it cool on the surface, and judging us behind closed doors wondering what kind of filthy people Adam and I are.

So here I am now. Two weeks post-inspection shock and coming to terms with the fact that no home is perfect and neither are we. And I've also realized that it wasn't just the unexpected inspection results that caused my meltdown... these past few weeks have been a whirlwind of stress and emotions that I just wasn't prepared for. From lenders to realtors to movers to stupid inspectors who clearly don't know a quality house when they see one, selling and buying a home simultaneously isn't as easy as HGTV makes it seem. And when it comes down to it, Adam and I are still doing a darn good job making things happen to get us into our dream house.

With my home selling emotions FINALLY in check, I have decided I need to chill out, take the next 4 weeks until close day-by-day and take a deep breath whenever I can... well, not TOO deep... we do have mold, afterall.