House Sale Closed

[Katsmeow]

As of Monday, we closed on the sale of our house. We originally listed last April knowing that we would be OK if we could sell within 2 years. Houses where we live are custom on acreage and it tends to take a while even when things are good to sell.

We didn't sell last year and took the house off the market right after Thanksgiving. We relisted the first week of this month, had 4 showings in 2 days and sold to one of those. The buyers were cash buyers so we closed 19 days after getting the contract. Yes, we reduced our price when we put it back on because we really just wanted to sell and priced it to make it attractive.

Now, we can move forward on building our downsized house. More importantly, with selling the house our required expenses are much, much lower. We have a rental right now and expenses will go up some when we get the new house built but that house will be much smaller and much less expensive to maintain and so much less expensive.

 

[Dimsumkid]

Congrats on your closing! DW has been complaining that I need to nap now since I don't have to visit our other house since we closed last week. It's a good feeling isn't it? Much less stress and I like the fact the assets are now liquid.

 

[W2R]

Congratulations!!! This is wonderful news. Now you can move on with the rest of your ER plans, build the new house, and so on. That has to be a HUGE load off your mind.

As for me, I keep following the real estate market here and then telling myself, "Wait! You're not moving, so you can stay in your present home forever if you want." It's a nice feeling.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Recession's over!

Congrats, Kats--keep us posted on the joys of demolition and building a new house.

 

[walkinwood]

Congratulations!

 

[KB]

Congratulations. On to the next phase. Building on your existing property sounds like a lot of work but you'll get what you want.

 

[davemartin88]

Great news, our place goes on the market in a couple of weeks so hoping for good news too!

 

[Moemg]

Congratulations !

 

[Ally]

Yay! That must feel great.

 

[Katsmeow]

Congrats on your closing! DW has been complaining that I need to nap now since I don't have to visit our other house since we closed last week. It's a good feeling isn't it? Much less stress and I like the fact the assets are now liquid.

Indeed! For this brief moment, we are totally debt free and all our money is working for us. A very nice feeling.

We are probably taking a loan to build the new house since otherwise we have to use tax deferred money to do it which is a huge tax hit. We've rented a house 2 minutes from the property we are building on so that part is great.

Now you can move on with the rest of your ER plans, build the new house, and so on. That has to be a HUGE load off your mind.

Yes, W2R. When we bought the other property without having sold the other house and DH retired without having done so I was a little, well, reluctant. But this was one of those times (not many of them actually) when I deferred to DH's thoughts. He now says he wouldn't have done any of that before selling the house but thankfully with it sold it all worked out.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

What a huge relief for you! Wishing you all the best going forward.

 

[Beryl]

Congratulations!

I know the feeling. Last June, I sold my previous home after renting it for a couple years. It was only on the market for 10 days and I got the price I wanted. No way could I have sold it today for what I did then, however. The housing market is really crappy almost everywhere.

Debt-free is a wonderful place to live.

 

[Katsmeow]

Congratulations!

No way could I have sold it today for what I did then, however. The housing market is really crappy almost everywhere.

Yes. It is a bit of a paradox here I think.

On the one hand, they keep saying that prices are slightly "up" over the last year.

On the other hand, houses are taking a long time to sell (for houses of the type I was saying often taking a year or two and rarely selling in less than 6 months) and the inventory of unsold houses is growing.

You would think that the second factor would lead to lower prices, but it doesn't seem to.

It seems that (at least in our specific area and price range) many sellers are just not reducing their prices and are holding out for higher prices. And, sometimes they get them...but it takes 1 to 3 years to get there.

If you don't really need or want to sell, then maybe that it is OK. For us, the carrying costs of the house -- mortgage and maintenance expenses -- were high enough that we could do better reducing the price than hanging on to it and selling for more a year from now.

And, of course, some who hang on for the higher price end up on the market a long time and still have to sell for less.

When we relisted this spring, we interviewed two real estate agents very successful in our area. They both thought the price we were at when we took the house off the market was a fine price. But, I then asked them what we should list it at to sell within 3 months. They both suggested the same price (top of the search bracket below the one we were in). It was hard to do that because it would pay off if it led to a quick sale but then what if it didn't? As it turned out, it did lead to the quick sale so we were glad we did it.

 

[Meadbh]

Congratulations Kats! That must be a weight off your mind.

 

[pb4uski]

Congratulations. Sounds like you are going through the same thing we are but the order is different. We demolished our lake house in October and have rebuilt - we're substantially complete but still need some finishing items (kitchen countertop, appliances, flooring downstairs, etc.) but we should be able to move in by mid-late April. We had never built a house before - it has gone pretty well overall, however it seems like there were about a gazillion decisions that we were asked to make as construction progressed, so best of luck in your demolition and reconstruction.

After we move into the lake house we will then finish decluttering out main home and put it up for sale. We had it under contract last summer but the buyers were unable to sell their home so the sale fell through.

I am mulling over pricing it towards the lower end of the market to generate interest and get a quick sale and then just be less flexible in any price negotiations.

 

[Katsmeow]

Good luck on your build!

A number of years ago we bought a house that had been framed and then went through the rest of the building process. Very stressful. I actually don't like the idea of building, but to have what we want in the area we want that was the direction we need to go. We hope to get started soon and that it all goes smoothly.