Part 1 – The saga begins
Last October, I wrote about the rental house we left behind in Virginia when my company moved us unexpectedly. Well, it looks like we’re going to be selling it here in the next couple months…and we’re upside down on the mortgage. So I thought it might be helpful and encouraging to you if I exposed our situation as we walk through it.
I plan to post once a week about this…if you want to see all the posts at any time, just click on the My Short Sale tag and you’ll be taken to the archive.
Let’s start with a little history…
We bought the home in March 2006 in Virginia and expected to live there for a few years before selling or moving. When we bought, we thought we’d be able to take advantage of the great local economy and rising home prices.
Besides, the rental place we were in at the time was so small we had to measure every piece of furniture we had before we moved in so my wife could make a floor plan of exactly where everything needed to go. As a matter of fact, the day we moved in, the movers didn’t believe all the furniture would fit where she said to put it. She assured them it would and showed them her detailed, down to the inch, drawings.
Low and behold, everything fit…just barely.
So when we moved from our 1435 sq foot house into a 2380 sq foot house, we loved the space. And the fact it was only 15 minutes from work made it even better. Plus, it was close to shopping, schools, and our church.
Anyway…when we moved away from the new house almost 2 years ago, we were lucky and found renters right away. And while that was a blessing, it was also a financial necessity. We were still bullish on the area’s economic prospects and wanted to hold on to the house. Of course the market hadn’t started depreciating yet either.
Problem was, we were several hundred dollars a month out of pocket after the rent.
$1,950 – Mortgage
$1,800 - Rent
$ 150 - Management fee
$300/month out of pocket…before any expenses
Luckily, we could afford that…of course if the place ever went un-rented, we’d be in a world of hurt real quick.
Stay tuned…more to follow…you can click the My Short Sale tag to see all the posts.
Tags: My Short Sale, rental home
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