So I had this 4/2 single-family home for 9 years and, seeing the way the real estate market had peaked and was slowing, I decided to get out of the landlord business.
So I got it painted, put in new carpet, a "new" kitchen and appliances (got the cabinets on Ebay for $500 and put "em in myself -- looked great!) etc. etc. etc. I also updated the landscaping, which took the majority of my time. But again, things were slowing rapidly, and I figured "curb appeal" was worth it.
Long story short, it was probably the last house in that development to sell for anything near the high, and I was thrilled to get out before the feathers hit the fan. I got $405 for it but 7 months later an identical house down the street sold for $90K less.
Fast forward a year. I was in the neighborhood today on an errand and drove by the place. Looks like a World War I battlefield. EVERY plant, shrub, fence, pebble, and flake of bark has been removed. At first I thought they might be re-landscaping, but then I noticed that the curtains are all gone and there's a pile of garbage on the front porch and another in the driveway. Geez Louise.
I know I had to do all the work I did to sell it and I'm not exactly sad that my efforts have been dug up / ripped out... Just very, very reflective...
It's a surreal world where one of life's basics, a roof over one's head, becomes the stuff of huge profits and crushed dreams over a 12-month timespan.
So I got it painted, put in new carpet, a "new" kitchen and appliances (got the cabinets on Ebay for $500 and put "em in myself -- looked great!) etc. etc. etc. I also updated the landscaping, which took the majority of my time. But again, things were slowing rapidly, and I figured "curb appeal" was worth it.
Long story short, it was probably the last house in that development to sell for anything near the high, and I was thrilled to get out before the feathers hit the fan. I got $405 for it but 7 months later an identical house down the street sold for $90K less.
Fast forward a year. I was in the neighborhood today on an errand and drove by the place. Looks like a World War I battlefield. EVERY plant, shrub, fence, pebble, and flake of bark has been removed. At first I thought they might be re-landscaping, but then I noticed that the curtains are all gone and there's a pile of garbage on the front porch and another in the driveway. Geez Louise.
I know I had to do all the work I did to sell it and I'm not exactly sad that my efforts have been dug up / ripped out... Just very, very reflective...
It's a surreal world where one of life's basics, a roof over one's head, becomes the stuff of huge profits and crushed dreams over a 12-month timespan.
WOW...
At one point I had four SFUs and had been planning for them to be a significant source of ER income. When I sold the last one in 1995, I vowed I would never be a landlord again.
