A Dead Time in Life

DGS49

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2012
15,663
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2,415
Pittsburgh
I am in a very bothersome period right now. My wife and I have purchased and paid for our next home , largely with a line-of-credit mortgage on our current home, and the current home is not selling (3 months in).

On paper, we are fine. The current house is theoretically worth $100k more than the one we bought, but it is "unusual." It is a large, three-bedroom house with a full apartment in the basement (kitchenette, full bath, sitting room, dining room, and bedroom). We built this house when my father lived with us, but he is long gone.

Everyone viewing our house goes up to the second floor, counts three bedrooms, and asks, "Where is the fourth bedroom?" Well, it's part of that apartment you saw in the basement.

Every Real Estate person we talk to says, "This is great! You could use that for an in-law, a long term visitor, a college student kid, or a dozen other uses." But no one who has walked through seems to have any of those uses.

In the meantime, we have to keep the house 100% clean and orderly. We have to be prepared to evacuate on a moment's notice to allow a viewing, and we have to keep the furniture in place because it's theoretically easier to sell a furnished house than an empty one. Theoretically. And after several months of purging, we still have too much furniture and too much stuff to fit into the new Condo, and we still haven't figured out EXACTLY where everything will go, and EXACTLY what we will do with the dreaded excess. It's all good stuff and we don't want to just throw it away. Maybe some Veterans' organization will cart it off. Tax deductions are no longer an issue, eh?

Our communications with prospective buyers go through at least two filters. We tell our agent something; she distills it and tells the selling agent; she distills it and tells it to the prospective buyers. Who knows what they hear? What we want to say is, "Make a low-ball offer and negotiate!" But it doesn't happen.

For now, we can't plan anything, don't know where we will be living on Thanksgiving (let alone Halloween), and of course don't know when this situation will end. We like to travel, go to Florida every year for a month of Winter, but we can plan anything while we are in this state of Limbo. We have hired a mover to move most of our stuff on November 10th and 11th. Fortunately, the condo is only ten minutes from the house, which will save money on the move.

In the back of my mind is the dreaded experience of the Buyer's inspector coming into the house and finding Who-Knows-What in the course of his inspection. The house has never been checked for Radon, and again, who knows what he will find? So we could accept a low offer and then be put into the position of having reductions demanded for unknown problems. Sheeeeeeeit.

The "bottom line" is that everything will eventually work out. Worst case, we will get enough money to pay off the line of credit and put money in the bank, but this is irritating. I wish it would end.
 
With a basement I doubt you have a radon problem unless your dad's bedroom has a dirt floor. No idea what the market is like there now. Here, that thing would have been under contract in a week the market has been so crazy. Anyway, if it were to go under contract today, you would still have weeks and weeks and weeks unless it were an all-cash purchase.

The DAV used to gladly take stuff here but they closed the store when they lost their lease. They would tell you to take what you plan to take and let us know and we will come take everything else---and they would. They were not picky. You could likewise hire an auction company to auction the rest off as a Living Estate Sale if there is a lot that needs to be gotten rid of. That is mostly what I wanted to post about other than just point out I am the opposite. I don't like houses that are staged. I like them completely effing empty when I walk into them so I can do a thorough eyeball inspection.
 
My house is in a much-desired neighborhood, and in the best school district in this half of the state. It is on a perfectly flat cul-de-sac, so kids can safely play in the street, and people actually come here to teach their kids how to ride a bike. Location, location, location? We have it.

The house is over 3,000 square feet, and every single house in the neighborhood is four or five bedrooms. Ours is 3 bedrooms plus an apartment.

To be honest, while every part of the house is "nice" and in good repair, there is no room where a prospective buyer would say, "Wow!" We had a modest budget when we built the house, and never upgraded, for example, the master bathroom. I think that in addition to the apartment vs fourth BR, the lack of a Wow(!) factor is a problem.
 
I am in a very bothersome period right now. My wife and I have purchased and paid for our next home , largely with a line-of-credit mortgage on our current home, and the current home is not selling (3 months in).

On paper, we are fine. The current house is theoretically worth $100k more than the one we bought, but it is "unusual." It is a large, three-bedroom house with a full apartment in the basement (kitchenette, full bath, sitting room, dining room, and bedroom). We built this house when my father lived with us, but he is long gone.

Everyone viewing our house goes up to the second floor, counts three bedrooms, and asks, "Where is the fourth bedroom?" Well, it's part of that apartment you saw in the basement.

Every Real Estate person we talk to says, "This is great! You could use that for an in-law, a long term visitor, a college student kid, or a dozen other uses." But no one who has walked through seems to have any of those uses.

In the meantime, we have to keep the house 100% clean and orderly. We have to be prepared to evacuate on a moment's notice to allow a viewing, and we have to keep the furniture in place because it's theoretically easier to sell a furnished house than an empty one. Theoretically. And after several months of purging, we still have too much furniture and too much stuff to fit into the new Condo, and we still haven't figured out EXACTLY where everything will go, and EXACTLY what we will do with the dreaded excess. It's all good stuff and we don't want to just throw it away. Maybe some Veterans' organization will cart it off. Tax deductions are no longer an issue, eh?

Our communications with prospective buyers go through at least two filters. We tell our agent something; she distills it and tells the selling agent; she distills it and tells it to the prospective buyers. Who knows what they hear? What we want to say is, "Make a low-ball offer and negotiate!" But it doesn't happen.

For now, we can't plan anything, don't know where we will be living on Thanksgiving (let alone Halloween), and of course don't know when this situation will end. We like to travel, go to Florida every year for a month of Winter, but we can plan anything while we are in this state of Limbo. We have hired a mover to move most of our stuff on November 10th and 11th. Fortunately, the condo is only ten minutes from the house, which will save money on the move.

In the back of my mind is the dreaded experience of the Buyer's inspector coming into the house and finding Who-Knows-What in the course of his inspection. The house has never been checked for Radon, and again, who knows what he will find? So we could accept a low offer and then be put into the position of having reductions demanded for unknown problems. Sheeeeeeeit.

The "bottom line" is that everything will eventually work out. Worst case, we will get enough money to pay off the line of credit and put money in the bank, but this is irritating. I wish it would end.

If the home you are trying to sell has one or more chimneys it could be critical to it/them inspected, cleaned and repaired, if need be. Lot's of home inspections fail on the fireplace/chimney.
 

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