It has been a dream of ours for a few years to move out of our house. We like our house, but when we moved in we had two adults, a cat, and some mismatched silverware. A wedding (with 75 gifts from Crate and Barrel and Macys included), 2 kids, a dog, and career changes later: we've outgrown our house.
We decided it was time to really move when the real estate market in the Seattle area came to a point where inventory is sparse and demand is there. Thus, we hoped that someone would buy our house by default of no supply. We put a lot of work into shining it up: new paint, a few repairs, and a cleanout to compliment the updates we've put it over the past 7 years.
Selling a house is a difficult and emotional enough process without having to keep it sparkly clean and staged. With two kids and a hairy dog, this is no easy task. The obvious answer was to run off to Mexico for a few days, leaving our house empty for real estate agents to drop in for showings. So, we did. We even boarded the cat, a first in her 9 year life. Much to our dismay, this did not go well. It was probably more to the cattery manager's dismay, and after a few scratches and hisses Coco was relegated to her luxury cat condo for 5 days of torture (to the tune of $136 for us). But I digress.
Our fantasy of selling in the first weekend was not met, but we anticipated that as we were priced high. We had a minimum to break even which I think is really sad. After all, isn't it the American dream to own a home for 7 years, put thousands of dollars into remodel, gain equity, and pay it down? The result is walking away with a check to put down on your next home having gained both sweat and appreciation equity. Well, when you're approved for an interest only loan and a bubble bursts, you're considered lucky to break even after 7 years.
A month passed with LOTS of showings but no interest. Finally we held a renter's open house and invited strangers in to rent. We found that demand for a clean house like ours in a great location may not sell the house, but sure caused a lot of interest in the rental market. We chose a really nice young married couple, much like us when we moved into the house. They had great references and we are confident they will be the ideal renters. We high-fived our decision to rent our house until a more advantageous time and entered the world of landlordship. The closest thing to a royal title I'll ever achieve, and I will NOT trade in that title for slumlordship.
Just as we were about to cancel the sale, we got an offer. A low offer with a letter. To paraphrase: "We ask that you take a $15,000 bath because we really, really like your house, especially the basketball hoop and the dining room. We see ourselves bringing our babies home to this house". No offense, but I'm not interested in paying out of pocket to accommodate your bouncing baby boy and your bouncing basketball.
So, next month, if everything goes right-we move into a brand new, cootie free home with a walk in closet, 2 places to shower, and 3 places to pee. We become landlords. We beg our family to help us move our new giant couch. We unpack, transition Maya to a big girl bed, and enjoy some much needed space. Its not the way we envisioned it originally, but it is all starting to unfold quite nicely.
Ah the new American Dream- to own TWO homes.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
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