Moving Along
It's been nearly a month since my last post and what a difference a few weeks can make! Many things have happened since then. Well, that sounds rather passive, doesn't it? These things didn't just happen but finally came together after much struggle and strife. Well maybe not as dramatic as all of that, I always wanted to use "struggle and strife" but dramatic enough for me. In getting the mortgage bank's permission to do a short sale on my house, I had to write them a Hardship Letter. The letter actually got to be two-and-a-half pages long because there wasn't a single, simple factor of causation, rather it was the laying on of multiple (negative) changes.
But the result is that, after four long years of trying to sell this house, I finally have a buyer--yippee! I would have preferred, and tried very hard, to sell it in the usual, normal way, at break-even point. I would have not recovered the money I put down in the house, which was a substantial amount of my savings. Even at a break-even point, there were no takers. The mortgage was still much higher than the house was now worth since the housing prices have fallen as much as 50% in this area.
I still won't recover any of my down money or receive any sort of profit or pay back whatsoever. It was difficult to find a Real Estate Agent willing to do the tremendous work involved with a short sale, but I found a winner. Both of us have spent countless hours on the phone with my mortgage bank setting this up. And of course she had to show the house many times and I had to prepare for it each time.
But after some offers and counter-offers there is a buyer, a signed contract and the sale is in the works. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!
A parallel situation and happening is that I went to a housing expo with a friend. There we saw all sorts of interesting information, including rent-controlled apartments. I had been half-heartedly looking for an apartment, thinking I'd never get out from under the house mortgage, unless they finally foreclosed on me. The apartments in my price range were dreadful, grubby, tiny, and usually in an iffy neighborhood. At the expo I picked up brochures and information and made an appointment to check out a newly revamped apartment building, which is on the National Register for Historic buildings.
I later toured two apartments and talked to the manager about my housing situation. She was encouraging and told me it wouldn't be a problem, which was a huge surprise to me. I did have to supply documentation and while I was getting it (several days) both apartments were taken plus another one I hadn't seen. She called a week later with another apartment becoming available and I quickly went to see it. The apartment was small, but well kept and lovely. After seeing how quickly these apartments were rented, I snapped it up and paid a minimal deposit to hold it.
So all of that leads to the biggest news: I'm moving on the 30th!
But the result is that, after four long years of trying to sell this house, I finally have a buyer--yippee! I would have preferred, and tried very hard, to sell it in the usual, normal way, at break-even point. I would have not recovered the money I put down in the house, which was a substantial amount of my savings. Even at a break-even point, there were no takers. The mortgage was still much higher than the house was now worth since the housing prices have fallen as much as 50% in this area.
I still won't recover any of my down money or receive any sort of profit or pay back whatsoever. It was difficult to find a Real Estate Agent willing to do the tremendous work involved with a short sale, but I found a winner. Both of us have spent countless hours on the phone with my mortgage bank setting this up. And of course she had to show the house many times and I had to prepare for it each time.
But after some offers and counter-offers there is a buyer, a signed contract and the sale is in the works. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!
A parallel situation and happening is that I went to a housing expo with a friend. There we saw all sorts of interesting information, including rent-controlled apartments. I had been half-heartedly looking for an apartment, thinking I'd never get out from under the house mortgage, unless they finally foreclosed on me. The apartments in my price range were dreadful, grubby, tiny, and usually in an iffy neighborhood. At the expo I picked up brochures and information and made an appointment to check out a newly revamped apartment building, which is on the National Register for Historic buildings.
I later toured two apartments and talked to the manager about my housing situation. She was encouraging and told me it wouldn't be a problem, which was a huge surprise to me. I did have to supply documentation and while I was getting it (several days) both apartments were taken plus another one I hadn't seen. She called a week later with another apartment becoming available and I quickly went to see it. The apartment was small, but well kept and lovely. After seeing how quickly these apartments were rented, I snapped it up and paid a minimal deposit to hold it.
So all of that leads to the biggest news: I'm moving on the 30th!
