Now that our house has been on the market for about six weeks, friends are asking me if there has been any movement in selling it.

Well, yes there has been movement. Unfortunately, it’s the downward kind. We have lowered the price twice in the hope that it would generate an offer. So far that hasn’t happened so selling our house is still just a theoretical exercise.

This has caused me to ponder what the price of a house means in this squirrely real estate market when so many houses are short sales or foreclosures. It seems that the asking price of a property is more like a way to bracket the house with similar properties than a real number for a selling price.

I’ve been keeping my eye on the listing price for a couple of other houses in the same price range as ours which are also short sales (in keeping with the politically-correct time in which we live, I’m going to start referring to our house as equity-challenged) and I see them also dropping their price.

These houses were under water when they first went on the market. And now, like us, the difference between what they owe and what the house will probably sell for is increasing. Sometimes I feel like we’re all in a race to the bottom. By the time we actually get an offer, will the price be so low that we’re not just under water in the shallow end, we’re under water at the deep end of the pool? And how is that going to affect our negotiations with the bank?

While these are thoughts that roll around in my brain, it certainly does me no good to obsess about them. There is a phrase that I hear almost everywhere I go these days: “It is what it is.” That implies acceptance of a situation; a reminder to not get too worked up about whatever is going on because there are factors outside of our control.

The real estate market is what it is. And when our house does sell, it will be the same thing; all we can do is take it as it comes. We have our faith and a lot of good people to advise us.

So there’s no reason to panic; the house will eventually sell and then we will have the challenge and work of moving to deal with. In the meantime, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself but instead focus on appreciating living in a clutter-free, spacious house while it is still ours.