Selling South George

Well, we knew this day would probably come…  South George is officially on the market! 

When we moved into this house, South George was under water.  We weren’t sure by how much, but with home prices having plummeted, we knew we hadn’t escaped the hit.  We knew we couldn’t sell the house for what we’d put into in and had hoped to be able to rent it for the price of the mortgage until housing prices rebounded or we paid the mortgage down enough to sell it.  Richard’s mom graciously agreed to stay there until such a time arrived. 

Well, the more Richard and I thought about it, the more we realized what a dangerous situation we were in.  If anything happened at South George, we wouldn’t be able to cover it for more than a month or two – tops.  Clearly we weren’t making any money off the property and it was costing us money just to maintain it.  Since I’m no longer working, that has made it extra difficult for us to justify the risk involved.  So we decided to seek the advice of our real estate agent, Reinie. 

Reinie discussed our options with us and agreed that it would probably be in our best interest to sell.  We would have to do a short sale since we owed more than it would sell for, but Reinie believes that the bank will agree our situation warrants it.  So we talked it over with Richard’s mom and she happily agreed to help us get the property ready to be listed.  Richard and I spent the weekend out there cleaning up the yard and bringing his mom’s extra things to our spare room here.

You all know how I feel about South George (see Reminiscing, for a recap).  This decision was a difficult one for me.  That house meant a lot to me and I’ve never been good at letting go of things I’ve attached emotional value too.  However, unlike other things I’ve been reluctant to lose, I didn’t fail at South George.  I’ve moved forward this time, not backwards.  While I made several huge life transitions in that home, it’s still just a house and not the embodiment of those life changes.  Maybe, the future owners of South George will have as rewarding a life as I did in that house.  One can only hope!

So, if anyone is interested in a two bedroom bungalow in excellent condition and full of wonderful memories, just let me know!