Saturday, March 22, 2008

OMG! I feel better!

Ive been very worried because it looks like we will be moving, and if we do, it will be very short notice. It will be pretty much, they give Kael the interview (thats what we are waiting on) and then say "Ok, be up here in 2 weeks". Not much time to try and sell our house. We will probably have to move in with my dad until the house sells and that has me worried because I dont want to impose on my dad for 6 months, 8 months, a year, whatever it takes to sell this thing.

When we bought our house, we got lucky. Its a very quiet townhome complex. Mostly elderly. The homeowners association is FANTASTIC! Our house is right in front of a beautifully maintained park. In the spring the maintenance people replace the plants with flowering bushes and vines. There are always butterflies and hummingbirds around because of it. It is just amazing. In the summer, they replace the dying flowers with bright green bushes. In the winter, they decorate it beautifully for Christmas. Its just amazing. Most weekends in December, they rent out the gazebo for local choirs to hold small concerts, so because of where we are we can open the windows and see all the great lights, a big Christmas tree and hear a choir singing carols.
(ok, I ended up rambling)
ANYWAY...the inside left quite a bit to be desired. The house was built in 1968 and it had NEVER been updated. Almost every wall was covered in tacky, busy, foil wall paper. The stove, dishwasher and fridge were harvest gold (well, the stove still is). The den and kitchen have hideous black laminate on the floor. All the light fixtures were gaudy brass and fake crystal.
The house was very well taken care of (aside from the cigarette burns on the bathroom counter and floor) but just never updated. We've been slowly fixing things as we get the money, but its mostly been paint, and its been a learning process as we go.
We got lucky because most of the houses in this neighborhood, when we bought it, were selling for roughly $115k. We got this one for 95k (because it needed so much updating and because the seller wanted to be rid of it).

Ive been worried because it seems like every week another house in our complex goes on the market, and none sell. Usually the ones around the park sell fastest and there are currently 2 around the park for sale, and they have been for quite some time.
We've been trying to think about what we need to do to the house to sell it fast, but enough to get something out of it. Most the houses here are 3 bedrooms, and ours is a 2. I know that's a big strike against us.

Well, I decided to do some research to find what people were asking on the houses around here and I found why so many arent selling. No one is budging on the prices. I found two 2-bedrooms for sale here, one updated, one not, and they were asking $125k and $130k for them. My jaw hit the floor! I told Kael that I feel pretty confident that we could update it a little and put it up for $120k and sell it pretty quickly.
Its like a huge weight off my shoulders! I was so worried that it wouldnt sell! I had no idea that house prices around here were that high. That is one of the good things about a mostly older neighborhood I guess :) They have time to let the house sit on the market and not bend on the price, which keeps the prices higher!

EEE! I feel like dancing a jig! Im so relieved! Its 11pm and Im tempted to go upstairs and work on painting!

1 comments:

*~The Mommy~* said...

Ugh, selling a house is so stressful. I hope that everything works out for you... and soon!!!