That escalated quickly...

[Daniel Meyer]

We'd been leaning toward selling the Suburban Blah House and moving to the Old Vic full time for a multitude of reasons...

Started tuning it up a few months ago...fixed some definitely broken things etc...

Called a realtor two weeks ago to take a look at it and give me a sanity check...what MUST be done/etc...

Short of it is...after an epic week of cleaning and horking heavy crap all over north/east Texas...it went on the market yesterday.

MLS pushed the listing out sometime around 6pm...and 5 showings were scheduled before I went to bed...one of 'em last night.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2610-Chariot-Ln-Garland-TX-75044/27006517_zpid/

[OnaWingandaPrayer]

If it is like the Tampa FL market , those 5 and more will be bidding against each other and paying considerable over asking .  Best of luck.

[pais]

If it is like the Tampa FL market , those 5 and more will be bidding against each other and paying considerable over asking .  Best of luck.

Agreed, same type of market in NE Ohio. Just wish I could get the Mrs. to get on board the selling train. Retirement getting close. We don't need all the house we now have. I think they call it downsizing.

Good luck to you Daniel!

[Oss]

hey Daniel I think someone stole the ceiling fan from the bathrooms   

Every other room seems to have one, is that a dallas kind of thing?

[..]

hey Daniel I think someone stole the ceiling fan from the bathrooms   

Every other room seems to have one, is that a dallas kind of thing?

In a bathroom??? Is that a New York thing?

Extractor fan - yes.

[RNFWP]

Nice listing.
Hope you enjoy the Old Vic and all the benefits of being rid of the suburban "blah" house.

[Serk]

hey Daniel I think someone stole the ceiling fan from the bathrooms   

Every other room seems to have one, is that a dallas kind of thing?

Ya'll don't use ceiling fans? Almost every room in every house I've ever lived in has one...

[Willow]

Seller's market even with the economy in trouble.  Some things just work out of sync.

[sandy]

That house in the nicer PHX areas would be almost double that price.

[f6john]

Houses in my neighborhood in rural Kentucky are selling for over asking price and they weren't cheap to begin with. I'm fairly certain that my house would sell for $100k more than I paid in 2018, that being based on 3 houses that have sold in the past year with in eyesight of mine. Luckily my most recent property tax bill was still based on my purchase price.

I'm "stuck" here for the foreseeable future as our grandkids grow up. By the time that comes about we probably won't care where we reside.

[hubcapsc]

Daniel, I remember when the (tornado? hurricane?) tore up all your buildings,
including the downtown art building... I'm glad you still have The Old Vic and
are moving there... 

-Mike

[f6gal]

That house in the nicer PHX areas would be almost double that price.

I have a rental house in North Glendale; 1661 ft²; Zillow estimate is $390,700.  I should sell it now, but I don't have the heart to kick out the tenant.  I finally got a good one after years of deadbeats. 

Edit: Hmmm, a smaller house, one street over is listed for $446,000.

[old2soon]

      Housing market Is NUTS! Way back in 70s when I sold my house in Il. I could NOT afford to buy it back! Carl NAILED it-Sellers Market!  RIDE SAFE.

[Daniel Meyer]

Less than 3 days on the market...under contract for $35k over asking. 

[Daniel Meyer]

hey Daniel I think someone stole the ceiling fan from the bathrooms   

Every other room seems to have one, is that a dallas kind of thing?

Heh...it's a "we run several tons of high efficiency air-conditioning around 300 days of the year" kind of thing..

[f6john]

Less than 3 days on the market...under contract for $35k over asking. 

Sweet!!!

[Oss]

 

[RNFWP]

$$$ cha ching $$$

[Valker]

So, Daniel, with some gains from this sale will you HIRE out some things on the Old Vic, or are you going to work yourself to "incredible" again?

[Daniel Meyer]

So, Daniel, with some gains from this sale will you HIRE out some things on the Old Vic, or are you going to work yourself to "incredible" again?

Well...still not counting my chickens before I burn the bridge to get to the other side...or something like that...

But a little of one, a little of the other.

Mainly, it gives me a fighting chance at actually *having* a retirement...what with the pension theft (with federal government support) that took my fully vested pension away a few years back..

[Daniel Meyer]

Well...it's gone. Papers signed, money in the bank. Feels weird. We lived there longer than we'd been alive when we bought the place. We struggled, hard at times, to get the place. 29 years there and now it's gone.

I've sometimes wondered...on these big decisions...The Suburban Blah House...The Old Vic...whether I was doing the right thing, or the smart thing, or buying an albatross...but it seems my instincts...and the resulting struggles...have paid off.

On to a new chapter!

[indybobm]

Congratulations on selling the house. For most people, they get a ton of money when they sell their house but then how to do they afford to buy another in the inflated market?

[Daniel Meyer]

Well, many move to a more reasonable part of the country from their perspective...one of the things driving the inflated market here (Dallas area) is all the folks moving from California and such. Our "inflated" market is cheap to them.

That said...it cannot last...and with the coming inevitable interest rate hikes...the market will cool rapidly methinks.

In our case, we bought for a pittance, sometime back, what many thought would be an albatross in small town Texas to retire into...so we don't need to find something in this messed up market...

The new(?) digs:

[RNFWP]

Congrats again...
I've enjoyed your Old Vic blog. The porch, racoons etc...

[cookiedough]

That Vic home is pretty big, do you need that much space?

I liked the layout and design of the brick house a lot. 

glad you got 30K plus over asking price, good deal.

2 Kids live 3 hours north of us and keep asking when we are moving  up closer to them since they never come home ever.   I said probably never since although I can get say 170K for my small home,  what is there cheaper in this market to buy, pretty much nothing under 170K more like 200K on up and do not feel like shelling out another 30K on another house.   Things may change though in next few years the a-hole builder 2 houses up from me just bought for 800K the farmer's field behind our house worth about 120 lots going in probably the next 5-10 years selling a few.  I heard lots 100x100 ft going for 35K on up so not worth it to me to buy the lot behind our house for anything over 20 grand to keep NO neighbors directly behind us which would suck.  With both neighbors to the side never home and no neighbors behind us just a field, it is almost like 'country' living with no people around.

[Daniel Meyer]

That Vic home is pretty big, do you need that much space?

Oh good lord no. But what's that got to do with living?

[Jess from VA]

Is there a basement?

[Serk]

Is there a basement?

What is this "basement" of which you speak?

(It might, but the vast majority of houses in The Republic do not have basements.)

https://homebyfour.com/texas/5-reasons-why-texas-homes-dont-have-basements/

[Daniel Meyer]

Is there a basement?

Negative. Black clayish soil, high water table...AND limestone/caliche at the 5 foot mark would make it problematic...but since this was built in the late 1800's I don't know why other than it was very uncommon to do so here. I have a cistern though

[Jess from VA]

Well, most of the basements I ever had leaked... so I kind of hate them.

I was just thinking if there was a full basement, you could have an indoor .22 range.   

[cookiedough]

I could not live without a full basement being 24x46 feet all open to store 'stuff' down there.  With ONLY a std. 20x24ft garage and small 1104 sq.ft. ranch home, where would I put everything if had NO basement? 

A FULL basement all open is a must for me. 

[hubcapsc]

Many houses up North have basements and poured concrete foundations.
The soil freezes feet deep in the winter. My frost line is... an inch. I could
bury my water line 2 inches deep. We don't need a basement, we can keep
our stuff out in the shed  ...

-Mike

[cookiedough]

Many houses up North have basements and poured concrete foundations.
The soil freezes feet deep in the winter. My frost line is... an inch. I could
bury my water line 2 inches deep. We don't need a basement, we can keep
our stuff out in the shed  ...

-Mike

well my 7x7 outside shed does not hold much - LOL.  I keep telling my wife I want to get delivered in a 12x20 storage shed with loft to clear out the basement taking up near 1/3rd of my city back lot, but she says NO to that idea, look stupid.  It might look stupid, but still needed to help unclutter the basement and garage. 

For those with larger house and more land to build a shed,  I envy you all....

[cookiedough]

Hey Daniel Myers,

So, did you sell your house yourself no real estate agent?   Reason why asking is need advice have a highly potential interested person  in my moms house let her see it today she is calling me back this week for a potential offer.  I did not set a price but told her between 80-100K depending on what we take out of the house vs. leaving most of it there for her to rummage thru like all furniture and knicknack crap. 2 auctioneers said 10-15K worth of furniture and knicknacks, etc. if held an auction but I ONLY see 5-6K tops to honest and not worth spending next 8 weekends going thru all the hoarder junk doubt anything too valuable.  

Her daughter in 20's was perfectly happy leaving most of the (nickle and dime junk upstairs piled up high) to rummage thru since she sells on ebay.com a lot of stuff and enjoys it.  

I still need to go thru one hutch in dining room full of paperwork and the entire loft upstairs full of stuff just to make sure nothing we want to keep, but can live without 99% of the stuff in that house we grew up in.  

So,  what needs to be done in order to sell the house in terms of paperwork privately?  I have the deed/title or whatever they call it in the safe but what about all closing costs selling house AS-IS no home inspection nor realtor.  Can potential buyer just get approved for a loan at a bank and take the paperwork to county courthouse to transfer deed to old small house?  I am POA for my moms house, etc.  and approved to do all the signing for her since she is incompetent to do so has altheizmers bad.

HOuse is perfectly liveable as-is for now, but in next 5-10 years need new roof, new windows, and new gas water heater is about it.   Cupboards and flooring and paneling can be dealt with in due time as they see fit all re-done in 70's 80's.    Property taxes is only 1500 year so have kept it to store 2 fishing boats inside garages the past 4 years but sick of going over every 3-4 weeks to mow the grass and shovel sidewalks, get mail, pay water/gas/electric bills, etc.    

Now is the time to sell since 3-4 years ago when vacated I felt house value only 65K but seeing as how house prices are going up and up past 2 years and hard to find any home under 100K worth living in AS-IS for now,  should be an easier sell for most people to afford in my area a 2-3 bedroom 1 bath smaller home with oversized 2+ car attached garage.    The huge garage sells the house since value it alone at 25K easily partially concrete halfway up underground and about 24x24 feet bigger than most std 2 car garages at 20x24 feet.

I do not want to get a realtor to sell it since by the time they take their cut and want to fix this or that to make it more presentable not worth my time nor my mom's money.   Potential buyer was ecstatic to see it today with daughter since her stepson I talked to today next door just bought similar house but moldier and more run down inside I have been in was my next door neighbors growing up for 85K.  The new owner told me today even my old next door neighbor lady refused to get a home inspector involved thus the reason sold for 85K only.  I feel 90K with almost all personal belongings is reasonable since know mom's house is in better shape inside and out than neighbors similar house has more structural issues with mold, rotten nasty smelly carpet, and leaking basement at half the size basement, etc.

Will be interesting though since I think they want to buy the house, fix it up in few years, and resell it for say 150K.  She said she knows a few people in the construction industry who are good at redoing stuff inside basically help her do it for cost and like said, if new windows, gas water heater, and new roof and new carpet/linoleum,cupboards, it is a 150K home easily.    would be a good 20K profit once sold for 150K I think? 

[cookiedough]

this all assumes the lady can get approved for a 80-90K loan at a bank and the bank willing to give her the loan without say a home inspection, etc.   My neighbor thru a realtor sold his house few years ago and required him to do this and that BEFORE selling the house to new owner since home inspector was fussy on some things like a sump pump enclosure venting out the side of the house is stupid IMO have a sump pump as well and they are the only ones in my neighborhood who has one of those plastic vented capped sump pumps running piping outside the house.  I leave my sump pump crock fully open no cover and have not died yet in 30 years here yet.   

[Daniel Meyer]

It would be worth contacting an agent anyway...to get a sanity check on the value/marketability of it. It may be worth substantially more than you think. They will also make sure the offer is correct and doesn't leave you exposed to some liability. Timing and wording are important.

As far as a home inspection...IF a bank/mortgage is involved there WILL be an inspection. The only things you would HAVE to fix are "lender required repairs"...usually active wood destroying insects or damage...that sort of thing...all the little code or punch list stuff is negotiable between you and the buyer.

The actual sale paperwork will be done through a title company. They have to verify tax status, liens, they may need a survey, and so on...the agent assists with all of this.

IF you can get an agreement with the buyer to waive all (or they pay) you still need the title company...think "lawyer" to make sure all the paperwork is done correctly.

Here in Texas the real estate agent gets 6% customarily...you can negotiate this or get a "discount broker", but it's probably worth it. If the buyer has their own agent the two agents split the commission. Title insurance is usually around 1%. Closing costs several hundred...just paying lawyers and filing fees and the like.

Oh, and yes, I used an agent. My house sold for more than $100,000 more than it was valued at on the tax rolls...

[cookiedough]

ok thanks.  Yah,  I vaguely remember using the local title company in 1993 to close on our house.  I doubt an agent is needed pretty sure both buyer and us can deal with the closing.  I doubt house is valued at over 100K so am happy it be gone at 85 to 90K.  House sold next door similar for 85K but needed more work done to it inside am sure.  To NOT go thru the entire hoarding stuff upstairs is worth 5-10K alone of my time and it sounds like potential buyer's daughter sells stuff on ebay.com which is not my cup of tea.  I will let her make 5 grand or so on all the stuff she does not want in the house trying to sell it, not my thing.

closing costs can be buyer's responsibility and if home inspection needed which sounds like might need to be done than she can pay for that as well as buyer.  I know by talking to her yesterday she wants to avoid as much costs as possible or agents/realtors, etc.   

If daughter not want it, it sounds like she knows contractor friends in drywall, construction, etc. who can easily spend 20 grand on new windows/flooring/sheetrock, etc. and flip the house for 150k range. 

There is an old 1986 caprice classic of dad's still sitting in garage 165K miles ran well 8 years ago when last started and I changed oil/spark plugs, etc. wanted to drive it another 60K miles but the entire brake system gave loose when I pulled the parking brake NO brakes and needs new battery am sure now is dead (and probably tires being 12+ years old now even though sitting in garage the past 12 years or so.  she wants that as well told her 1 grand since probably 600 bucks to fix up and car is in reality only worth 1500 bucks if brakes and battery were good.  My kid not happy wants to drive the car around is not too rusted, etc. in actually pretty good shape considering the year, but told him I am not sticking 600 bucks into that car and he will not either, even though I really think will run another 60K miles or so, but start nickeling/diming him to death being so old.  Hoses, belt, etc. were replaced done around 100K miles tuneup at local dealership, but really does run well for how old it is.

[cookiedough]

Just 3 years ago we were thinking 65K for house sold but after talking to 2 auctioneers think 80-85K house value at an auction is realistic selling price.  Is a small town and rural area and is liveable as-is but most would want new flooring/carpet, gas water heater, windows, and take off that ugly coming down wallpaper from I bet OEM from the 1950's when house built. 

I just have to make sure in wording says sell house  AS-IS NO warranty, etc. since never know what could go wrong soon after selling?  She said will call me back with offer this week if 85 to 90K I think time to sell housing market is HOT right now in that small town of 1100 people ONLY 2 houses for sale same as my small town nearby only 1-2 houses and both sell for full asking price. 

I know if I get a realtor involved she will say fix this, fix that, can get 50K more but not willing to do it.

[JimC]

Cookie,
Remember that black cloud that travels above your head? You could have serious issues if you try to sell it yourself.
At the very least, you should get several market analysis's done on the property so you know exactly what the value is, they cost nothing. Many Realtors sell on a fixed flat fee in this area, (2%) that could be money well spent to eliminate potential problems.

Jim

[3fan4life]

I would get a Realtor to look at it and appraise it for you.

It might be worth much more than you think.

$80-$90k doesn't buy much these days.

A house on our street (in need of serious repair) just sold for $180k, which is about $100k more than i would've paid for it.

It looks like the buyer is making the repairs and intends to flip it.

I'll bet that it goes back on the market for $240k or more.