Our home in Massachusetts received an offer for $100 over asking price within 26 hours of being listed. We have 29 days until the closing.
We have three homes in Georgia any of which we'd love to live in. We put a bid in on our top choice yesterday afternoon at 5PM. We receive confirmation of the offer being received and that the sellers will have an answer for us by 5PM today. But, the sellers' realtor indicated to our buyer's agent that the sellers were hoping for something close to asking price (we offered 6.5% less) and indicated that the sellers "are having a hard time finding a new place to live" and so our closing date may be a problem.
So I'm freaking out. So is my spouse. Irrationally - at this point - because the sellers haven't said 'no'; and there are two other properties we'd be happy to live in and haven't bid on yet. But we're still freaking out.
I keep telling myself that home is what you make of it. There are literally dozens of places for sale down there that we could buy that we'll be happy in. The reason why they're not on our list is because, considering that we're getting older, they're three-level homes and we like the idea of two-level homes with master on the ground floor. Most of these "vertical living" homes are much closer to my spouse's place of employment and we know how much cutting a 25 minute commute down to 10-15 minutes can enhance one's life. However, these homes trade off that commute time with time from home to church and church is a big part of our lives and will be more so the case down in Georgia.
And then of course there are the other two places on our top three list. One of them is empty and has been since May. It's a bit overpriced (like by about $5K) and it is a by owner sale and the owner seems content to just let it sit empty until he gets his price. So for $5K more than we should pay for it we can have a great home and the angst would be over.
Like I said - irrationally freaking out. Except I cannot help checking every few hours to see if someone else bought it.
So to make this relevant... all of this is part of our FIRE plan. We're moving from MA to GA and downsizing a bit. I was going to type downgrading too, but that's really not true and I need to stop thinking that way. We have done a great job maintaining and enhancing this home. We've made great decorating choices, paint colors, draperies, etc. Along with our personal belongings, that is most of what makes this place we're in now "better". It has a full unfinished basement (and none of these other places do), but these other places have 300-600 sq ft more finished living space. So which is "better" really? And each of these places is nestled in the middle of a community surrounded by homes in all directions. Where we live now we can throw a rock and hit I-95.
So, we're just downsizing in terms of trading off 1500 sq ft of unfinished basement for 300 sq ft of extra living space. You should see our basement right now. Fully 500 sq ft of it is junk - stuff we've had for who-knows-how-long that we staged over the past three days so as to go right out the bulkhead door into the junk truck tomorrow morning.
We're also downsizing in terms of trading off a really expensive home with a pretty big mortgage for a much more affordable home with no mortgage. If these sellers accept our current offer on the table (very unlikely) then we'd actually have $8000 profit on the exchange (not including the cost of getting rid of the junk). Even with our third choice at full price we'd only need to put in $25K. We make that back in just two years of not having a mortgage payment. (Yes property taxes would be less, as well, but state income tax in Georgia is significantly higher than in Massachusetts, so that's a wash.)
Still working hard to distract myself from thinking about the waiting-to-hear-back-from-the-offer-we-made... I never figured out how to determine the impact of this whole deal (with the worst-case scenario of paying $25K) would affect FIRE. As things were, a couple of tools (RIP, QLP) seemed to indicate that my spouse needed to work another six years and I another ten years. It isn't clear what impact the move will have on my continued employment. It seems very likely that it will have no impact for four years. After that, being a remote employee makes things a little cloudy. By the same token, I could just find another job. These are variables that we really cannot quantify reliably. So assuming the status quo continues, we have the lower cost of living to factor in, along with the lack of a mortgage payment (and accompanying loss of mortgage interest deduction). The numbers seem to point to us both being able to retire six years from now. In the probable worst case scenario (I lose my job four years from now) we're left with a two year gap in retirement-padding, which could hopefully be made up for by reemployment for two to four years (the upper end of that range reflecting a possible significant decrease in salary).
The torturous waiting for an answer about this first offer continues... We just did this to the young couple buying our home. And we kept them waiting 48 hours. I feel so guilty about that right now. I don't recall ever experiencing this specific brand of torture. We've been insulated from it two of the four times we've bought a home in the past, buying new and therefore just picking from plentiful inventory without haggling over price. I really don't remember how things went down the other two times. I think, having financed, the effect of the money was less direct. Here, if we pay $15K more (which is what we'd have to pay for our third choice, assuming the by owner owner won't take less) that's our money, coming right out of our bank account right now. Financing is a little like credit card spending in that way isn't it? We don't feel the impact of the extra money quite so directly.
By the way, that $15K more for our third choice isn't outrageous. That place is the one that is 600 sq ft larger than what we have now and 300 sq ft larger than the other homes on our list (and again, with the loss of the basement, we could probably use the extra 300 sq ft). And it is an end-unit while the others are not. A comparable unit sold for just about that amount back in July. It is a bit closer to the center of town and therefore more valuable and more likely to hold its value in a market downturn. The development doesn't have a pool club (which the place we bid on yesterday does) but of course that means that the monthly fee is $50 less. As we enter retirement that will make a difference I'm sure. But my spouse would love to live in a community with a pool, and making my spouse happy is a big part of why we want to move. (I'm not unhappy about moving. I'm somewhere between indifferent, at the higher price point, and mildly favorably inclined, at the lower price point. We have no real ties to MA that we wouldn't quickly reforge in GA. Neither of us have family in either metro area.)
Okay, well typing that got me through one of the twenty-four hours of waiting for a reply from the seller.
We have three homes in Georgia any of which we'd love to live in. We put a bid in on our top choice yesterday afternoon at 5PM. We receive confirmation of the offer being received and that the sellers will have an answer for us by 5PM today. But, the sellers' realtor indicated to our buyer's agent that the sellers were hoping for something close to asking price (we offered 6.5% less) and indicated that the sellers "are having a hard time finding a new place to live" and so our closing date may be a problem.
So I'm freaking out. So is my spouse. Irrationally - at this point - because the sellers haven't said 'no'; and there are two other properties we'd be happy to live in and haven't bid on yet. But we're still freaking out.
I keep telling myself that home is what you make of it. There are literally dozens of places for sale down there that we could buy that we'll be happy in. The reason why they're not on our list is because, considering that we're getting older, they're three-level homes and we like the idea of two-level homes with master on the ground floor. Most of these "vertical living" homes are much closer to my spouse's place of employment and we know how much cutting a 25 minute commute down to 10-15 minutes can enhance one's life. However, these homes trade off that commute time with time from home to church and church is a big part of our lives and will be more so the case down in Georgia.
And then of course there are the other two places on our top three list. One of them is empty and has been since May. It's a bit overpriced (like by about $5K) and it is a by owner sale and the owner seems content to just let it sit empty until he gets his price. So for $5K more than we should pay for it we can have a great home and the angst would be over.
Like I said - irrationally freaking out. Except I cannot help checking every few hours to see if someone else bought it.
So to make this relevant... all of this is part of our FIRE plan. We're moving from MA to GA and downsizing a bit. I was going to type downgrading too, but that's really not true and I need to stop thinking that way. We have done a great job maintaining and enhancing this home. We've made great decorating choices, paint colors, draperies, etc. Along with our personal belongings, that is most of what makes this place we're in now "better". It has a full unfinished basement (and none of these other places do), but these other places have 300-600 sq ft more finished living space. So which is "better" really? And each of these places is nestled in the middle of a community surrounded by homes in all directions. Where we live now we can throw a rock and hit I-95.
So, we're just downsizing in terms of trading off 1500 sq ft of unfinished basement for 300 sq ft of extra living space. You should see our basement right now. Fully 500 sq ft of it is junk - stuff we've had for who-knows-how-long that we staged over the past three days so as to go right out the bulkhead door into the junk truck tomorrow morning.
We're also downsizing in terms of trading off a really expensive home with a pretty big mortgage for a much more affordable home with no mortgage. If these sellers accept our current offer on the table (very unlikely) then we'd actually have $8000 profit on the exchange (not including the cost of getting rid of the junk). Even with our third choice at full price we'd only need to put in $25K. We make that back in just two years of not having a mortgage payment. (Yes property taxes would be less, as well, but state income tax in Georgia is significantly higher than in Massachusetts, so that's a wash.)
Still working hard to distract myself from thinking about the waiting-to-hear-back-from-the-offer-we-made... I never figured out how to determine the impact of this whole deal (with the worst-case scenario of paying $25K) would affect FIRE. As things were, a couple of tools (RIP, QLP) seemed to indicate that my spouse needed to work another six years and I another ten years. It isn't clear what impact the move will have on my continued employment. It seems very likely that it will have no impact for four years. After that, being a remote employee makes things a little cloudy. By the same token, I could just find another job. These are variables that we really cannot quantify reliably. So assuming the status quo continues, we have the lower cost of living to factor in, along with the lack of a mortgage payment (and accompanying loss of mortgage interest deduction). The numbers seem to point to us both being able to retire six years from now. In the probable worst case scenario (I lose my job four years from now) we're left with a two year gap in retirement-padding, which could hopefully be made up for by reemployment for two to four years (the upper end of that range reflecting a possible significant decrease in salary).
The torturous waiting for an answer about this first offer continues... We just did this to the young couple buying our home. And we kept them waiting 48 hours. I feel so guilty about that right now. I don't recall ever experiencing this specific brand of torture. We've been insulated from it two of the four times we've bought a home in the past, buying new and therefore just picking from plentiful inventory without haggling over price. I really don't remember how things went down the other two times. I think, having financed, the effect of the money was less direct. Here, if we pay $15K more (which is what we'd have to pay for our third choice, assuming the by owner owner won't take less) that's our money, coming right out of our bank account right now. Financing is a little like credit card spending in that way isn't it? We don't feel the impact of the extra money quite so directly.
By the way, that $15K more for our third choice isn't outrageous. That place is the one that is 600 sq ft larger than what we have now and 300 sq ft larger than the other homes on our list (and again, with the loss of the basement, we could probably use the extra 300 sq ft). And it is an end-unit while the others are not. A comparable unit sold for just about that amount back in July. It is a bit closer to the center of town and therefore more valuable and more likely to hold its value in a market downturn. The development doesn't have a pool club (which the place we bid on yesterday does) but of course that means that the monthly fee is $50 less. As we enter retirement that will make a difference I'm sure. But my spouse would love to live in a community with a pool, and making my spouse happy is a big part of why we want to move. (I'm not unhappy about moving. I'm somewhere between indifferent, at the higher price point, and mildly favorably inclined, at the lower price point. We have no real ties to MA that we wouldn't quickly reforge in GA. Neither of us have family in either metro area.)
Okay, well typing that got me through one of the twenty-four hours of waiting for a reply from the seller.
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But as soon as I got on the road, everything smoothed out. You will get through this just fine.
