I had no idea what a big deal selling a house was until I was right in the middle of selling one. Having moved 28 times in a pretty short life time can be stressing. Of course, you learn to adjust. As my parents would say, you will make new friends.
In 1998, we had to sell our first house. We were making a company move to another state. We had to sell one home to have money to get into another. We used the same real estate agent that sold us the house so that part was easy. It was easy for us to keep the house “open house” ready as there were only three of us. One of the three was less than one years old.
We put it up for a price that would make us a little money while still being in the market value for a house with its specifications. Our realtor was pretty gung ho and had an open house right away. Within a few weeks, we had an offer on the house. Our agent said to take the offer as any offer is a good offer. The offer was low. The person presenting the offer knew that we had to relocate in a short period of time. They were thinking that we had to sell the house right away. It was not a good offer in my opinion, so we turned it down. If I remember right, we would have lost money on the offer.
We would have been better served selling the house to the investors that give cash for your home. At least, with them, we did not have to pay the 5-6% realtor fees. We decided to keep showing the house with the expectation of getting what we asked for it. In our relocation, we had rented an inexpensive town home while we sold the house. We were not in a hurry to sell the house but knew that we couldn't buy anything new until it sold.
We got a break in Indiana. Our town home lease was only for 6 months. After the 6 months, it was month to month. We had time to look for the right new home. We were also in a position to build a new home as long as our house sold quick enough. Our house was across the street from a park which led to the lake. It did not take long before we started to get some decent offers.We accepted our first offer and had problem number one.
The house was under power lines and this was a major concern for the family making the offer. We couldn't tell them that we lived there and were fine. Personally, I did not think it was a big deal at all. They were not high voltage power lines. They were not touching any trees or shrubbery. There was not a pool or water close by. They walked away and looked for another home.
Luckily, we had new buyers right behind them. They did not have any worries about the power lines at all. They were very happy to be right across the street from a park which led to a good boating and fishing lake. Thirty days later we closed on this house and started looking in Indiana. Since we still had 4 and a half months of lease left, we built a house in a cul-de-sac. This move was okay. The move from Indiana to California was definitely more stressful. We will talk about that move another time.
Believe that success is based on faith,family,and friends.