Okay, so, the house. Let's tackle that one.
If you didn't catch it (AND WHY DIDN'T YOU?) I wrote about what happened when the real estate agent came to my house last week. It's embarrassing. Go read it. I'll wait.
Back? Shaking your head at me? Alrighty then.
If we sell our house at the top of the agent's recommended price range, we will lose about $20K. Not an insignificant amount. So here are the options, as we see them:
- Price our house higher. I vote no. All this means to me is that our house will be on the market for God knows how long, maybe it won't even sell, and that is something I cannot handle. We could try it and "see what happens!" like everyone keeps saying, but I can't do that for very long. So no. I could price it a teeny bit higher, but not as high as we'd need to go to break even.
- Negotiate commissions. I don't like this. I am fully aware that this is because of my Nice Girl tendencies, which, I admit, do not always serve me well. It drives Phillip around the bend that I am so icked out by the thought, but I pointed out that even if we negotiated our agent down to zero, we still wouldn't break even. So that's out. It also means we can't sell by ourselves or use Redfin, since we'd still have to pay another agent's commission (right?)
- Rent the house. Ummmm. I was super duper extremely against this idea, which came up long before we ever talked about selling. I don't have any particular rational reason for this, except that it sounds like great way to make my life more complicated. Do I want to be a landlord? What if our renters mess up the house? What if we have to fix stuff all the time? What if they don't pay rent? I am LAZY. I want a CLEAN BREAK. However, I'm more open to it this time around, especially since, after a bit of Google research, it looks like we could get what we want (or more) in rent. Also, Phillip's dad has a lot of experience in the landlord department and with him in the mix I wouldn't feel so blind going into a rental situation.
- Staying put. This is probably what we'll end up doing. Phillip and I are spectacularly awesome at maintaining the status quo.
On one hand, I feel fine about the whole thing. If I haven't made it abundantly clear, I really love this house and I really love how close it is to absolutely everywhere I want to be. I'm kind of in the middle of all the people I like to see, I can walk to the lake, it takes me two minutes to get anywhere and we're right on an easy and quick busline - a big deal when you're dying for your husband to get home at night. I have been thinking (A LOT) about the kids' sleeping situations and my options for musical beds. It's nap time that worries me - Molly can't sleep in the pack 'n play in my bedroom forever, and one of these days Jack will stop taking an afternoon nap - but I have an idea or two. Nothing perfect, but things that could work. I have to figure out what to do about storage, but I have an imagination and I can put it to work! I'm even realizing that a small living space hasn't ever stopped me from having company. Yes, it's frustrating to have friends for dinner and the kids are practically playing under the table, but we still have parties and people for holidays. It's tight, but it works.
That's the mantra - it will work.
On the other hand, I'm nervous. I'd gotten kind of used to the idea of living in a rental and taking my sweet time to find The Next Perfect House. Where I wouldn't have to worry about timing closing dates or having to live with our parents for a week or two while we're in between houses. I know that's borrowing a HUGE amount of trouble, but I can't help but think about it. And it's likely we won't break even next year either. We're not stuck here by any means, but it'd be nice to get all our money back, right?
So... yeah. That's that.
In this whole process I'm realizing how much easier my life is now that both of my kids are toddlers. Jack will be three in May and Molly is walking and going up and down stairs by herself. They eat the same food, they play with the same toys, they use the same cups, they even fit into the same size diaper (in a pinch!) They're not on the same sleeping track, but putting them down at night is getting a lot easier - we're able to put them down at the same time now. I feel really grateful for this, and that I can see it and know that we can stay in this house. If we got pregnant again we'd have to move. Immediately. We could put a third baby in our closet, but I'm pretty sure Phillip and I would book ourselves into the crazy bin before it came to that.
Any thoughts on renting out your house?
