Advice?

Have you ever received advice from someone and at the time discounted it thinking they didn't know what they were talking about? This happened to me five years ago as we were in the midst of packing up our house to move from Colorado to Oregon. It was a stressful, chaotic time but our realtor said that every three to five years, we should "pretend" that we are going to put our house on the market. By doing this, we clean up, clean out and repair things just as we would to show it to prospective buyers.

Standing among boxes that we'd spent weeks packing up, I thought she was off her rocker. Why in the world would we intentionally do this to ourselves when not faced with having to move? She said it kept things from accumulating and repairs up to date so that your house isn't just fixed up for a sale but for every day living. She obviously needed a hobby if she thought preparing a house to be put on the market every few years was something to look forward to.

We've now been in our Oregon home five years and I'm finally starting to see she may have been on to something. We're in the middle of a kitchen remodel right now and after packing up everything up from the old cabinets, we found stuff in there that hadn't been touched since we moved in. Our realtor may have picked the worse time to offer her advice, but I never forgot it (because I thought it was so off the wall!) and I'll admit, it actually turned out to be pretty good advice. Now if I can just find the time to tackle the rest of the house!

Try to think of advice that you received but didn't realize until later that it was actually helpful. Say a silent thank you to the advice giver and be sure to pass along your knowledge! Others may benefit now or in the future.