stevenpiziks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stevenpiziks) wrote2020-05-16 05:55 pm
stevenpiziks) wrote2020-05-16 05:55 pm
Entry tags:
The Plague Diaries: A Mega-Decision
I love my house. I don't want to move. But . . .
Really, this house is too big. Darwin is only here part-time. Hell, =I'm= only here part-time. The basement is literally an entire 1,300-foot second house, complete with kitchen and full bathroom, but we only use it to house my treadmill. We sent one of the dining sets to Albion for Darwin to use, so the dining room is an empty, echoing space. It's silly to spend so much money on a house this large for this few people.
We were planning to sell the house next year, partly because Max is graduating soon, and it would be easier to wait until his life has settled (whether or not he was living with us would have an impact on what kind of house we'd buy), and partly because of the pandemic. Under Michigan's emergency declaration, real estate transactions were suspended. We COULDN'T sell.
But then two things happened.
First, the governor lifted her restriction on real estate. My thought was, "But who the heck would want to buy a house now?" Turns out I was asking the wrong question. I should have been asking, "Who the heck would want to SELL a house now?" Because a fair number of people want to buy houses, while very few people were putting their houses up for sale. Who wants potentially plague-ridden people to tromp through your house, right?
So we have a market where people do need to buy a house, but few are selling. The lopsided market means houses sell within hours--or even minutes--of hitting the market, according to Darwin's ex-but-still-friends Jim Powell. who runs a real estate agency.
Additionally, we can see financial troubles on the horizon. The legislators who oversee Michigan's budget are talking about a 20-25% reduction to school funding. This would certainly mean a gut-punch reduction of my salary and benefits. We soon may not be able to afford this house. If we didn't have to maintain a residence for Darwin in Albion, we'd be fine. But we do, so we aren't.
We decided it was better to sell the house now rather than lose it later. So we decided to list the house. This was on Friday. Little did we know what was coming . . .
Really, this house is too big. Darwin is only here part-time. Hell, =I'm= only here part-time. The basement is literally an entire 1,300-foot second house, complete with kitchen and full bathroom, but we only use it to house my treadmill. We sent one of the dining sets to Albion for Darwin to use, so the dining room is an empty, echoing space. It's silly to spend so much money on a house this large for this few people.
We were planning to sell the house next year, partly because Max is graduating soon, and it would be easier to wait until his life has settled (whether or not he was living with us would have an impact on what kind of house we'd buy), and partly because of the pandemic. Under Michigan's emergency declaration, real estate transactions were suspended. We COULDN'T sell.
But then two things happened.
First, the governor lifted her restriction on real estate. My thought was, "But who the heck would want to buy a house now?" Turns out I was asking the wrong question. I should have been asking, "Who the heck would want to SELL a house now?" Because a fair number of people want to buy houses, while very few people were putting their houses up for sale. Who wants potentially plague-ridden people to tromp through your house, right?
So we have a market where people do need to buy a house, but few are selling. The lopsided market means houses sell within hours--or even minutes--of hitting the market, according to Darwin's ex-but-still-friends Jim Powell. who runs a real estate agency.
Additionally, we can see financial troubles on the horizon. The legislators who oversee Michigan's budget are talking about a 20-25% reduction to school funding. This would certainly mean a gut-punch reduction of my salary and benefits. We soon may not be able to afford this house. If we didn't have to maintain a residence for Darwin in Albion, we'd be fine. But we do, so we aren't.
We decided it was better to sell the house now rather than lose it later. So we decided to list the house. This was on Friday. Little did we know what was coming . . .