Cherie Men

So you've sold. You've bought. You've survived the paperwork, the negotiations, the eight weekends of shoes-on-shoes-off. Surely the hard bit is done? Not quite.

The kids were not as delighted as I was. My husband was always quick to volunteer to mind the baby outside — like the three of them had a standing arrangement to cry on cue so dad didn't have to look at one more house. It's exhausting. Each place blurs into the next. You start forgetting which one had the good kitchen, which one had the dodgy bathroom, which one felt right the moment you walked in.

Despite working on the fringes of real estate in Corporate Relocation, I don't know much about buying and selling property. I needed someone to communicate with me simply and effectively so I would always be informed. No industry jargon, no making me feel stupid for asking questions — just straight talk about what was happening and what our options were.