Thursday, August 14, 2014

And Now We Wait

I appreciate all the good thoughts and well wishes....

The House
We met with a realtor, and unfortunately G-man wasn't clear what we needed and what we were trying to do, so the realtor wasn't as prepared as I thought she would be.  This is totally on G-man...when he called, he failed to tell her that we may be relocating, and the time line.  He just told her we were thinking of selling.

Anyway, we did the tour of the house and the good news is that she thinks it is a cute house, good structure.  We told her what things we thought we needed to do to get ready to sell and she agreed with them.  She had a couple of other suggestions, but nothing that was a make or break item (add handrail to attic steps; repaint hallway to lighter color, but that is just to brighten it up, not because it needs to be painted.)

The bad news....although Zillow has our house at 209k right now, she thinks that may be way out of whack.  She is going to do a market analysis for us, but based on our conversation....we may not even have enough to pay off our current mortgage once you factor in all the fees.  Our mortgage is 180k.  She said the first 6 months of the year were brutal for selling, so the comps may be very low.

So now we are flipping out on multiple levels....we need to make some money to put toward a new house.....we don't want to still owe money on a house we won't even own anymore or do a short sale and wreck our credit (and one thing I read said that we couldn't apply for a new mortgage for 5 years???)

We are going to also explore renting out our house, but we need to cover our expenses, and not sure that would happen....so we would still be paying on this house.  Plus, we would be long distance landlords.  Not ideal in any sense.

Even if we eeeked it out....we would have nothing for a new house.  I looked at rentals and the least expensive rental for a 3 bedroom, was a townhouse for $1500.  And then we would be tied to a very small area to buy when we could, because we will not move the kids into yet ANOTHER school.

We are completely in uncharted territory.

PLUS, if he gets the job, he has to be there in 90 days.  If we can't sell/buy in that time....then he goes without us, and then we are looking at having to pay for a place for him to live (or deal with the disaster that is my parents)....and we will still need to pay our CT bills, but now we will be living on a NC salary.

LOTS of things in play.

The interview
The interview went alright.  Being a phone interview, he didn't have the opportunity to read facial expressions or body language.  He said it was very cut and dry:  they asked a question, he answered.  Rinse and repeat.  There were a few questions that I think he could have answered better, but what is done is done.  There is nothing more for use to do on our end.

G-man mailed them a thank you card for the opportunity to interview.  I know it won't make a difference, but it is the right thing to do.

We aren't sure when they will make a decision.  We are "guessing" that by tomorrow they will have selected the candidates.  Then it goes to the head honcho to sign off on, and then back to HR to make an offer.  At the warp speed this has been moving....we could know as early as Monday or Tuesday.  But probably by the end of next week.

ETA:  We got a little for clarification on our time line.  While it is possible we will know next week, it could take a few weeks if candidates or management are out of the office.  Inside scoop said it is a good sign if his references are contacted.  The Administration Officer at our current office is really pulling for us.  She will let G-man know if she is called.

Meanwhile...we are entering into the 2 week period of time of emotional chaos for me, so I am prickly already.  I am trying to keep it all together.  But it is really hard.



20 comments:

  1. I've never bought or sold a house so I can only imagine how stressful things are for you. I am pretty sure though, that I've often heard you should get at least three different agents to do a valuation for you. You're also essentially interviewing them for a job, so should be very clear (at least in your own head) on what you expect them to do for you and go with the one who has the best fit for you. By the way, have your read the Freakonomics take on why real estate agents always sell their houses for more (actually, I just googled, and here's a link: http://freakonomics.com/2005/06/16/today-show-transcript/ ). The whole area is a minefield. Here's hoping it all works out in the end.

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    1. Thanks for the link...I will check it out.

      We do plan to speak with other realtors. This was just the first one. We are under no obligation with her.

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  2. Yes, do interview more agents. We recently sold my parent's house though and in the end we had to lower the price because the appraisal was lower than the contracted price.

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    1. Yep...this was just the first one. We really wanted to make sure we knew what we needed to do to get the house ready to sell. And if all of this is a "go", we will have a few more people come in. From what the realtor said yesterday, the market analysis only takes a few days, so within a week of knowing, we should be able to have a better handle on what numbers we are looking at....and who we would like to work with.

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  3. I think that the comps will tell the better story. And make sure that the comps seems right. Your real estate agent has much more incentive to sell fast (and with the least work for them) than to sell at the highest price. Would G-Man's salary go up with this new job? Or will the cost of living go down? I'm guessing it will - your oil alone has to be a big savings.

    And are you sure that $1,500 is the least expensive place you could rent? That sounds very high - even here on the fancy north side of Chicago you would get a very nice place for that! 3 bedrooms for sure. So take a little more time when you're not feeling so panicked and try to take another look. Maybe a different website or calling an actual apartment rental company could help. I do like the idea of selling the current place and renting until you've saved for new downpayment.

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    1. The comps are always hard. Our area has a diverse amount of housing. I went through this when we did the refi....same size and bedrooms are not always a comp!

      Salary will actually go down due to the cost of living part of his pay (base salary is the same on a GS scale, but your locality and COLA change by region), but his grade would stay the same for the moment. However, the career ladder goes higher, so the potential for higher grade/pay is there. Most likely in about a year he would get a pay bump.

      Tthe cost of living is much less there (property taxes are 1/4 of what we pay now!). Like you said...no more $317 monthly oil bill (but we will now have a gas bill, but the overall savings will be there). Gas, food, and insurance is less expensive. And we would probably be closer to his office, so our commute cost would also go down.

      We are REALLY trying not to rent. We would be locked into a very small area to buy in because of the kids' school (they are going into 7th, and we will not move them into another school once they start). The $1500 I found was a quick search...so there may be other options. But again....renting would be a LAST resort. While trying to repay debt, bounce back from the cost of relocating (we have to pay ALL of it), and adjusting to a new pay (our debts will remain the same...but now we have less money)....it would take us at least 3-4 years to save up for a downpayment. That puts the kids in the middle of high school.

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  4. Are you prepared(should he get the job) to have him move there to work until your house sells?

    A coworker of mine put her house on the market in April as her husband was transferred in July. Their house has not sold but fortunately for them he was able to move and live with his parents until the house sells and she and their 4 kids can move.
    The housing market here is doing well and she still can't sell.

    Also are you able to be a single income family until you find something should this all pan out?

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    1. Yep. If he has to leave without us, we have a couple of (rotten) choices. He can live with my parents (this would be a whole other post), live in some temp situation (rent a room, Residence Inn), or possible stay with a friend. None are ideal, which is why we are trying to move as a family.

      We don't like the idea of splitting the family, but we may not have a choice.

      We wouldn't be a single income family...I would take any job just to bring in some money until I found a more permanent position. There may need to be some temporary big time changes, but it would just be until the dust settles. I am already looking on-line at what things are open, and my resume is in good shape. As soon as we get a green light...those suckers will be sent.

      This all is going to be a HUGE UPHEAVAL if it happens. No way around that. But looking at the big picture, sometimes you have to do it to move forward.

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    2. I hope things work out and you guys get the fresh start you are longing for.

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    3. I don't think anyone is ever truly ready for major upheaval...but I have to have faith.

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  5. Get more realtor opinions. We had 3 different realtors come out several years ago to give us an estimated price. Got 3 estimates from one end of the spectrum to the other. Like $70,000 difference! (one was in the middle of the other 2). Was quite interesting to see how different they were in coming up with their comps.

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    1. Yep. We are hoping they are within 5-10k of each other so we have a better idea what a TRUE number is.

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  6. I think the 1500 rent seems reasonable...my daughter pays 1850 for a small 2 bedroom in suburban Denver. Also- do you really want to live that close to your parents...

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    1. The $1500 isn't that bad....my point is that I would be paying that in rent, so not really saving much money. We will get killed in taxes without the write-off.

      My parents...here is the "rub" with all of that. WE wanted to move to this area back in 2004/2005. And that is when we started trying to make it happen. My parents decided to move to that area when they officially retired (my dad was on Medical leave for almost 2 years prior), because that is where we thought we would be....and they wanted to be near grandkids. So they moved there first.

      No, I don't want to be that close to them. But based on recent information....I believe that they won't live THAT much longer. Part of me thinks this is happening now so I can go and help them die.

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    2. Mysti, the last line made me laugh. You can interpret it two different ways. I'm guessing you meant to help them while their sick.

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    3. Lol.....hopefully they don't go together or it might look a tad suspicious :)

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    4. Wait...so are you saying that leaving the big smothering pillow and gloves on the counter is a bad idea? Lol

      Their health has been failing for awhile. But we aren't trying to move because of that. It just happened that a few things have come to light in the middle of all of this.

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    5. Gloves and pillow.....too funny!!!

      In all seriousness though, sorry your parents are not well.

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  7. That does really change things- I am sure they will appreciate your help and it would be nice for your children to have some time being around grandma and grandpa for an extended period of time. Hope everything turns out for the best for you and your family.

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  8. Best of luck with the interview! Can't wait to hear updates.

    As for the house stuff, that stuff flies right over my head lol. I'm still an apartment dweller (well, until I move in with my BF this fall.. he owns his house).

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