We were sooooooooo close.
We were so close to listing the house.
We’d decided against a realtor and for a listing service, which would give us a realtor-quality listing that would stay up until we sold the house.
We’d started packing and put items in storage to make the rooms feel bigger.
We’d taken the photos of clean and de-cluttered rooms.
We’d snuck onto realtor.com looking at houses in Georgia.
We’ve even come up with a list of Twenty Things to Do Before We Buy a House.
We were one day away from listing the house when the floor – a.k.a. the economy, fell out from under us.
Banks aren’t lending money. Credit card companies are reducing credit limits, affecting credit scores for even those with excellent credit histories.
Car dealerships are closing because no one is spending money to buy cars, and banks won’t give car loans to those few who do.
Now we’re unsure what to do. If we find someone willing to buy our house they probably won’t be able to get a loan, at least until banks start lending money again.
And if we do sell the house Husband has to find a job in Georgia before we buy a new place. After all, no lender is going to give us a mortgage with no income. And in this economy advertising agencies are laying people off, not doing much in the way of hiring…
On the other hand, no one’s going to even want to buy our house if they don’t know it’s for sale. I’m also thinking that sitting on the market for awhile will not have the same stigma it has had in the past. Almost all houses are languishing, aren’t they?
So, what’s the smart decision? Do we list the house and take those risks? Do we put it on the market even though no one is buying and we’re uncertain about the future of everything?
Or do we wait, for our home value to decrease more, staying in a place we don’t want to be, and wait for things to get better while we sit here uncertain about the future of everything?
Stay tuned.
October 9, 2008 at 12:41 pm
It is an exasperating time for many. Best wishes getting all your questions answered… and (((hugs)))!
October 9, 2008 at 4:39 pm
You don’t “need” to move so don’t move. Stick with it and wait until the credit crunch lifts, or you “need” to move.
October 9, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Read the post by Get Rich Slowly where he interviews his brother. I think it will help you out. If you’re meant to move, it will happen, otherwise, you’ve spruced up your house for your family to enjoy.
October 9, 2008 at 11:06 pm
What harm can it do to list it? If you’re concerned about the effect of having the house sit on the market for a long time, plan to list it for, say, two or three months and then take it off. Real estate is still moving, if slowly–if it’s priced right.
Do you have any assurance that Husband can get a job in Georgia? Or that he can’t? I was surprised at the number of job openings around here — I really thought no one would be hiring. But so far have applied for six jobs, each of which looks like a good fit, and haven’t exhausted all the possibilities.
October 13, 2008 at 5:31 am
I second copyeditorsdesk! If you list it, but don’t count on it selling, what have you got to lose?
October 15, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I’ll jump on the bandwagon – I say list it, with low expectations.
This economy just sucks! We just moved from LA to Philadelphia and are renting a house. We thought we would be able to buy next summer but we’re not sure what is going on with the banks and lending. We might have to have 20% down and no debt and even then only get approved for 1/3 of what we would have a year ago. This is crazy!
October 26, 2008 at 5:40 pm
[…] Carnival of Money Stories: Edition #81 was hosted at So Cal Savvy this week. My article To List or Not To List? was […]
March 8, 2009 at 2:39 pm
[…] finally moving… March 8, 2009 — BeThisWay I know I’ve written a time or two or thirty about our desire to move out of our too-small townhouse and buy a home in Georgia or […]