We’re Finally Selling Our House
May 26, 2009 by Karen Weideman
Filed under debt/credit, financial matters
We’re finally selling our house. You’d expect me to be jumping up and down with excitement, but I’m not.
You see, almost four years ago we bought a house. We lived in it, fixed it up, and cared for it. We wanted to make it a special place for our family. Now here we are selling it and taking a loss. A big loss. We actually have to borrow money to sell it. You may be wondering why I would be borrowing money to sell a house. Well, it’s been on the market for eight months. As you can imagine, the upkeep on a home can be very expensive and then add to it rent and utilities in another location, and it leaves us with little money left each month.
For eight months, we have been paying a mortgage, insurance, taxes, and utilities on a house we’re not occupying. All of this while the housing market is down. We’ve had people interested in the house, but none that could come up with the money. The city where the house is located has seen a lot of lay offs.
You may be wondering why I wouldn’t just hang on to the house and wait until the market picks back up. There are several reasons for this.
1) This is the first offer we have received on the house.
2) We don’t know when the market will pick back up again.
3) The financial strain needs to stop.
4) The market where the house is located is far worse than it is here.
5) Houses where we currently live cost a lot more.
6) Interest rates are the lowest they have been in many years.
7) Reasons #5 and #6 equal the reason we can afford to buy a house now.
Let me make this clear: I hate debt. This is not the road I want to take, but right now it seems like the only option. And with rates being the lowest they’ve been in years, we can actually afford to purchase a house here. The money we’ll save in interest far outweighs the loss on the other home.
I’ve had several people suggest a shortsale on the house, but everything I’ve read about shortsales messes with your credit. (Shortsales are a better alternative to foreclosure though.)
Sorry, this is no money saving lesson for today. This is just a lesson learned and some thrifty struggles, weighing options, and finding the best way to get through it. I’m hoping things are financially well your way.
images (c) Karen Weideman
I’m sorry, Karen. I know that was a hard decision to make.