In the fall of 2010 we decided to put our house up for sale. We got it ready, or so we thought. We cleared out the clutter, had interior and exterior painting done. We interviewed several agents, and picked one (not the one with the highest listing price) but not the one that was an obvious low ball. Contracts signed, house cleaned, decluttered, the cat outsourced, we went on vacation.
Well the house went on the market two weeks after we left. And minimal action began to occur. We had comments that potential buyers didn't like the electrical outlet covers, wanted granite countertops, etc. Some even commented on the bedroom layout (as if this could be changed). We returned, with no nibbles. Several weeks later an open house was scheduled. It snowed. Now in Raleigh, this means basically snow flurries. The real estate agent sent her assistant. No one came....not even the neighbors (what else do you do on a snowy Saturday morning). No follow-up was scheduled.
Well Christmas was coming, and we were moving. In came 5 U-BOX pods. Furniture was moved into the pods, stuff was given away, hauled to the curb, or donated to various charities. In the middle of this, I went to the hospital for several days.
Retirement came, the house was empty, New Years came, and we moved. Still no movement on the house.
Our real estate agent indicated that we were approaching the home buying season. But nothing happened. February came, and we lowered the price by $10,000. The real estate agent had suggested $5,000. We said "why so little", why play games. We were coming up on the 6 months end of contract, the real estate agent said she had a client who was interested, we waited for an offer, none was forthcoming. Then we got a call....we needed a home inspection done "immediately". We were travelling in Rochester, NY. We did and it uncovered that we had a 55 year old house, with the incumbant issues of a 55 year old house. We decided that we would switch real estate agents. We said to ourselves that we would be told that the agent had a buyer in hand just before the contract expired. Guess what, that is what happened. The first agent wanted the contract extended for another month. We didn't want to get into a month to month cycle.
Lesson learned: list your house with a seller, not a lister!
We worked in good faith with our existing real estate agent, but had a backup plan. The contract expired and we signed with another agent. He told us that having a inspection was a bad idea at this point since everything found would need to be disclosed. Good point! We listed at what we though was an agressive price, cutting it by another $15K. This was just the first of several cuts. Then came the real problem. I was in the process of cancelling our auto insurance (why pay for auto insurance when the car has no license and is in a garage.) Our insurance company said "You are obviously not living in the house, so the insurance is cancelled." Yup, no notice. So we were in Indianapolis the day before leaving for Malaysia and had to find homeowners insurance for a vacant for sale property. Our real estate agent had a solution and we got minimal insurance coverage. However this involved faxing a lot of documents from our hotel at LAX. In the middle of this a cup of coffee was spilled into the laptop. It only shorted out the wireless card.
For the next two months we communicate frequently with our agent, lowering the price to see if we get any nibbles. Finally in June one is offered, but with many conditions. We offer to lower the price, since being 12K miles away does not allow you to find, and supervise a contractor. The deal is accepted. But given this is a buyers market, negotiations went up until the morning of closing. Thank goodness we had an experienced negotiator as our real estate agent.
My sister-in-law handled the closing for us. Our attorney in Indiana prepared a limited power of attorney which allowed her to close the deal, sign the papers etc. Many thanks Joan. But the buyer used a Cary real estate agent and attorney. Evidently it took many telephone calls to convience the real estate agent that we had no home owners association. And I don't recall how many times we had to certify that we were US citizens. Somehow some people think if you move overseas you lose your U.S. citizenship. We still carry our US passports, are still represented by a non-functional congress with "third world" tea party politicians, pay US/NC taxes, and pay for medical care that we are prohibited by law from using (Medicare).
So much for selling into a seriously down real estate market. We read articles about "baby boomers" who have all their wealth tied up in their home. By real estate standards of the last two decades we were seriously underhoused. It turned out to be the right decision for us.
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