October 15, 2008

Update on the House Flip | The Housing Market is Bad!

You've all heard about my house flipping story. My wife and I bought a house about two years ago now that we thought just needed cosmetic work (there should be a foreboding pause here...). Some minor renovations to increase property value and we were sure we'd be able to turn this thing around and sell it and make a little money. We did the first part right - new paint all over the place, and added a few countertops and a vessel sink to make the place pop a little, although we didn't put in epoxy garage floors.

Only problem was, that wasn't the only thing that popped! We already knew that the housing market wasn't great. We were okay with that. The thought was people will buy a nice house for a nice price - that is what we will give them. So, the house was finished, my wife applied for and accepted a nice job in Seattle, and we put the house up on the market for a price that was substantially higher than we paid for it.

And what do you know, after about 3 weeks we had two offers! For over our asking price! It was awesome. Then guess what happened - the house inspection. Although we only bought the house two years ago and we knew there were some minor deficiencies that needed to be fixed, when the home inspection report came back (which was put together with some great home inspection report software - very professional) there were all kinds of problems. Roof maintenance, new siding, new window sills, it all added up to a pretty penny. We responded to their
home inspection request with a list of what we would and wouldn't fix and what we would credit.

And then the buyer's just backed out.

No counter-offer. No last and final offer. They just quit. And so the house is back on the market. Although it has given us time to do the things that were on the home inspection report, we are now into October with no buyer. And because we want to sell it (we are moving to Seattle in about two and a half weeks) we have already lowered the price once. But it still looks like no one can get credit, and no one wants to buy a house right now because the economy is tanking. I'm holding out hope that eventually we will give a deal too good to pass up.

Here's to our house selling!!

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