Saga: the Riddles’ Move, Part II

So in Part One I told you about WHY we want to move to Cincinnati. Now I’ll catch you up on the process so far.

TO RENT OR TO SELL?

So for awhile we talked about whether we should rent or sell. The housing market is the worst it’s been in many years, so we weren’t keen on selling at first. In fact, Boston’s housing prices have risen 76% in the last five years whereas the standard of living has only increased 16%. So there is a big bubble here that is waiting to burst. I mean, who can justify buying a house that is more than three times its actual cost?

But then we looked into renting and that turned out to be a distasteful option. For one, we would have to upgrade our heater and fix all the possible problems if we were going to have an tenant. Lots of money up front. Then we’d have to have a property manager, which raises the rent level needed. Then we’d have to get the rent we needed, which was pushing what was expected at this time. But most importantly, if we rented we’d have to find a tenant with children older than 6yrs because there is a law that unless your house has been professionally deleaded (thousands of dollars), you cannot legally rent to families with young children (or those who might have children in the future). Not only would that knock out the exact demographic who’d like our house, but how would you find a renter like that? You can’t advertise for no families with young children, or couples who won’t have them, because that is discrimination which is also illegal. And you can’t take your chances because people can sue you until their child is 23yrs old if they ever acquire a lead problem. Or you’d try to evict someone and that would be discrimination, which is illegal.

SO you are basically in a bind as a renter in this state. We’d probably have to invest enough money into upgrades and management that we would come out close to even years later when we sold it at a better price. Take into account that you have to provide lawn and snow service, that you might have to deal with repairs long distance, that renters can trash the place or not pay properly and you are liable, and that you might have trouble getting a renter after each year and have to cover two mortgage payments, and you basically are thinking, Thanks But No Thanks!

SELLING

So we decided to sell. Fortunately, we got the best broker in the world and he knows our house well because he was the Seller’s Agent when we bought it. He knows every upgrade we’ve done, how much it was/is worth, etc. Plus, he’s the top realtor in our town for several years running. He spoke to us at length about our options and a pricing plan, and then we launched in, the last week or so of March. It was a total whirlwind to get things ready because we hadn’t planned on listing it that early, so I literally spent about four days straight cleaning, washing, repairing, painting, decluttering, hanging, etc. I was up one morning until 2am scrubbing the kitchen!  Then I was outside another weekend, in the rain and snow, hanging shutters and planting tulips!

You know how you always get your house better for selling than it EVER was when you owned it!

So we put it on the market and someone wanted to see it the very next day… our first showing! We actually had about four showings in three days plus an Open House. And we got our first interested buyer who was adamant that their offer was the only one we’d get. It was low, so we waited and when another interested buyer came along, our first buyer offered $10,000 more and we went under agreement. But, it was not to be. They had been difficult negotiators to begin with, and they proved difficult. Three weeks, about twenty showings and one more Open House, and one inspection later, our buyers caved. They just wanted a perfect house and less money. After the inspection (which went pretty well), they came back with a laundry list of every upgrade they wanted and we couldn’t accept that for the price they were offering. So we let them go.

Then our second buyer—previously the competition—stepped in. They offered the price we wanted and we were thrilled. But then, two days later, their lender called and told them they couldn’t get the financing they wanted after all. So our second offer under agreement failed.

Now we are back to the drawing board. It is difficult to want to keep the house on the market longer since it is hard to keep it so clean and evacuate every time there is a showing. It is hard to believe we’ll get another offer since most people in our area aren’t even getting ONE they like, and we already got two. Plus, we are past the magic first month mark when the property is exciting on the market. Are we doomed to just sit? Our showings have slowed. It is hard to say…

We’ll keep you updated!