The Status of Things
At this time, right now, our house has been listed for 3.5 months with no active offers. I'm getting impatient. This journey began nearly a year ago when I went back to work at the same time that Dylan's flying schedule became really busy. Managing kids and life and work for all those weeks by myself made me nearly crack. Really. Fall of 2016 was not the easiest season of my life, but it was a necessary one.
We slowly starting fixing things up, cleaning out closets and getting organized. After about six months, we finally felt ready to put the house on the market. Way out here in the boonies, the real estate market is quite different than closer into town. The inventory is high, the prices are low...and the interest is also low. We knew that and fully expected that selling this house would be a lengthy process.
In the meantime, we've visited several potential houses to buy. Most of those have been a hard pass, but a few have felt right. I had heard from so many people that when you found the right house while shopping for real estate that you'd "just know." I'm not so sure I believe that. We've come across a few very good options. Two old homes that had already been renovated, both in great locations. And both have since been sold. One old house that needed a complete renovation. We even had a contractor friend come give us an estimate for the renovation and then prepared an offer. But a cash buyer beat us to it. The last one is still on the market and a little different than the others. It's in McCormick Ranch, while the others were in non-HOA neighborhoods on large lots. It needs some cosmetic renovations, but I'm really, really drawn to it.
Technically we could buy a house before we sell ours. But we are afraid of signing up for that kind of financial obligation with no way of knowing when our house will sell. I'm more in the camp of "take a risk, be aggressive, do what needs to be done." While Dylan is the voice of reason and runs spreadsheets and calculations with every idea that we entertain to assess the financial feasibility of it. It has caused some tension. Overall, though, it's good that we balance each other out.
We've lowered the price of our house a few times since listing it, and we've finally reached a price point that has drawn a lot of attention. We had four showings this past Sunday! A lot of people have been turned off by the horses on nearby properties, which is really discouraging. We just forgot to realize that this would be a problem, and we can literally do nothing about it. People who are shopping for homes out here can afford to be picky. I suppose it's just a matter of finding the right buyer.
For the most part, I've remained patient and positive. After all, it's not like we're up against some serious hurdle in life. Everyone's healthy and everything's fine. Really, a person could not ask for more than that. However, I honestly don't think I've ever wanted anything in my life more than I've wanted to move away from here. It makes every day so freaking hard. And it's just taking so damn long for anything to happen.
As Dylan says, "It's good to do hard things." It makes you stronger and better. I've found inspiration in the strangest places for toughing out the wait. Having very little control and no way of knowing the progression or timeline of things is so hard. But, doing hard things makes us better, right? Just the other day, after my hour and a half commute home from work with the boys, I was just so frustrated. It was blazing hot outside with barely a cloud in sight, but as we drove the last half mile to our house, I saw a rainbow way out over the mountains. I'm usually not so corny when it comes to looking for signs, but seeing that rainbow really did lift me up and give me the stamina to stay on this journey just a little bit longer.
We will get out of this house. It may take a long time, and we might not get much for it, but that doesn't matter. If we have to end up in a tiny tract home with ugly pink roof tile from the 90's, then it is what it is. I have a feeling, though, that if we can remain patient and grateful for all that is good in life, that we will end up in the perfect house before too long.
We slowly starting fixing things up, cleaning out closets and getting organized. After about six months, we finally felt ready to put the house on the market. Way out here in the boonies, the real estate market is quite different than closer into town. The inventory is high, the prices are low...and the interest is also low. We knew that and fully expected that selling this house would be a lengthy process.
In the meantime, we've visited several potential houses to buy. Most of those have been a hard pass, but a few have felt right. I had heard from so many people that when you found the right house while shopping for real estate that you'd "just know." I'm not so sure I believe that. We've come across a few very good options. Two old homes that had already been renovated, both in great locations. And both have since been sold. One old house that needed a complete renovation. We even had a contractor friend come give us an estimate for the renovation and then prepared an offer. But a cash buyer beat us to it. The last one is still on the market and a little different than the others. It's in McCormick Ranch, while the others were in non-HOA neighborhoods on large lots. It needs some cosmetic renovations, but I'm really, really drawn to it.
Technically we could buy a house before we sell ours. But we are afraid of signing up for that kind of financial obligation with no way of knowing when our house will sell. I'm more in the camp of "take a risk, be aggressive, do what needs to be done." While Dylan is the voice of reason and runs spreadsheets and calculations with every idea that we entertain to assess the financial feasibility of it. It has caused some tension. Overall, though, it's good that we balance each other out.
We've lowered the price of our house a few times since listing it, and we've finally reached a price point that has drawn a lot of attention. We had four showings this past Sunday! A lot of people have been turned off by the horses on nearby properties, which is really discouraging. We just forgot to realize that this would be a problem, and we can literally do nothing about it. People who are shopping for homes out here can afford to be picky. I suppose it's just a matter of finding the right buyer.
For the most part, I've remained patient and positive. After all, it's not like we're up against some serious hurdle in life. Everyone's healthy and everything's fine. Really, a person could not ask for more than that. However, I honestly don't think I've ever wanted anything in my life more than I've wanted to move away from here. It makes every day so freaking hard. And it's just taking so damn long for anything to happen.
As Dylan says, "It's good to do hard things." It makes you stronger and better. I've found inspiration in the strangest places for toughing out the wait. Having very little control and no way of knowing the progression or timeline of things is so hard. But, doing hard things makes us better, right? Just the other day, after my hour and a half commute home from work with the boys, I was just so frustrated. It was blazing hot outside with barely a cloud in sight, but as we drove the last half mile to our house, I saw a rainbow way out over the mountains. I'm usually not so corny when it comes to looking for signs, but seeing that rainbow really did lift me up and give me the stamina to stay on this journey just a little bit longer.
We will get out of this house. It may take a long time, and we might not get much for it, but that doesn't matter. If we have to end up in a tiny tract home with ugly pink roof tile from the 90's, then it is what it is. I have a feeling, though, that if we can remain patient and grateful for all that is good in life, that we will end up in the perfect house before too long.
Comments
Post a Comment