When setting the tone for 2012, I decided that my word for the year would be leap. Abandon comfort zones. Propel myself into new terrain. Be nervous. All in an effort to prepare for the big changes I expected to set into motion.
Well, one of those adventures is officially on hold. Luke and I won't be putting our house on the market this spring.
It shouldn't have taken a preliminary analysis from our real estate agent to figure this out, but apparently I am that stupid. For instance: Did you know that homes these days are...selling less than what you paid for? By like, thousands of dollars? And there are no fairy godmothers to neatly make up the difference? Also, that you will possibly STILL be expected to do things like repair the roof and pony up closing costs? May I also inform you that the earth is round and revolves around the sun?
It's been an enlightening week for the Frema-Useless Clutter household.
Oh, Momma, but you are a fool! Let us join in a round of laughter at your expense.
All kidding aside, I am surprised I thought the concept of getting the house to market by April was more within our grasp than it actually was. We've known since tax time last year that our 2011 refund would be applied fully toward our credit card debt, our short-term savings is nil, and the dial on our mortgage (understandably) hasn't moved much since we bought this place a little more than three years ago. Of course we'll need to bring money to the table. I just never quantified the amount until Saturday.
Screw books and puzzles! No time like the present to learn DIY shingle.
Before leaving us yesterday, our agent promised to be in touch with more concrete numbers on what we can reasonably expect the house to sell for and how much we might be asked to pay out of pocket, but after comparing last year's list prices to sale prices for homes in our neighborhood, Luke and I already know that we can't afford to sell right now - maybe not even in this calendar year.
At first this was more than a little discouraging. We are so ready to move forward in other areas of our lives, but everything is contingent upon being free of this property (or at least will be made a million times easier). Renting is not an option, and we aren't interested in jumping through hoops for a short sale. Instead, we're choosing to view this setback as an opportunity.
Really, we should have been planning to go into this process with as little debt as possible, so now we can make that happen. Our tax refund will be used to pay off our credit card balance, and that better equips us to take care of our remaining medical bills (still looking at you, Liam, while also waiting to receive the invoice for my follow-up ERCP). Once that's done, we can make updates to paint, fixtures, and other random eyesores a little at a time instead of all at once. We can investigate other ways to save money (refinancing, budget cuts, etc.). Meanwhile, our mortgage will only get lower, and there is still plenty we can do to get ready for the changes that lie ahead. We are deep in the tunnel, but we can still see the light.
And what if, in the middle of all these preparations, the adventure of a lifetime falls into my (our) lap? I (we) may chase after it, anyway, easy be damned. This year, when pitted against leap, easy is going to lose, every time.
Oh dear I can't even begin to tell you how much we sympathize. We have the opportunity to go back to my home town ( back across the country) which we are taking - but it means we are going to be hit in a BIG way with the house. Luckily we did the roof and ac/furnace last year. But we felt like we needed to go home and be close to my in-laws (mil has bone cancer) and other family members. It's going to be an interesting year! Living with family until house sells eeek! Good luck with everything. I hope you have some great adventures!
Posted by: Maggie | February 05, 2012 at 05:33 PM
I totally feel your pain. We always said we would only live in this house for five years, max. It'll be 6 in April. We tried to sell, but the market is awful and we couldn't afford to take a huge loss on it. So instead, we refinanced. Sure, it set us back to a 30 yr mortgage all over again, but the extra monthly savings, the cash back we received, and the reduced interest rate are all well worth it. We still hope to be able to move in a couple of years (before our baby reaches Kindergarten) but we're going to make the most out of our current location while we can. It's like the Maya Angelou quote - if you can't change it, change your attitude. And that is what we've had to do. Good luck!
Posted by: Liz | February 06, 2012 at 11:27 AM
Good golly, do I hear ya. We recently found out we'd still owe close to $20,000 on our house if we sold. No thanks! I feel so "in flux" right now, which does not set well with me. I hope you guys are able to do whatever your hears desire, mortgages be damned!
Posted by: Jen L. | February 06, 2012 at 04:45 PM
Again, well thought out: that is good science to always be looking at what is and what could be. As Abe Lincoln said," I will study and get ready and then maybe my chance will come." (That quote is on a match book cover that I have had since my IU days of old.)
Posted by: daddyd | February 07, 2012 at 05:53 PM
Goole give the Lincoln quote in a different way:"I will prepare and my chance will come."
Posted by: daddyd | February 07, 2012 at 06:12 PM
We're talking moving closer to DH's job since he has a 45 min commute on a good day. Our next door neighbor's house is on the market for $400K something, 2 doors down is on the market for $1 million plus. Unfortunately our house is more likely to fall closer to the lower end.
The only good news is that the housing market closer to his job is equally as depressed as ours; so, if we can sell our house we won't be priced out of the area, and the cost of living should be less.
As an exercise in frustration, I'm trying to look at our house like a buyer and figure out what we're going to need to do (hiring a painter is high on the list since I don't do scaffolding!) to get it ready to sell, so like you it will be a little bit of effort here and there and not a lump out-of-pocket, gag-inducing expense.
It /is/ frustrating when one seemingly immovable item is holding you back from everything else. Any work-arounds?
Posted by: Blanche | February 08, 2012 at 10:22 PM