Yay! This will be an enjoyable process, yes?
Sure, it will totally be enjoyable. You betcha. Bless your little heart.
Making the decision to sell a house
So, my wife and I decided to move our family one day. Our biggest obstacle was selling the house we had owned for 10 years. We loved the house, just not the town around it anymore. We had a mortgage and a second line of credit on it. Considering how much the market had dropped in the previous few years, we knew we probably wouldn't make it. So we hired a realtor who had experience in short sales just in case it came to that.
Before I continue, I just want to say that Allison Fuhrman was epically awesome. Best realtor ever.
And US Bank Home Mortgage was epically horrible. Worst mortage company ever.
House for sale
We posted the house! Allison sent us this wonderful email on October 3rd, 2012:
Carroll Family,
Here is the MLS listing with all photos and virtual tours.
Please verify the information. If you see anything you would like to change or modify please do not hesitate to contact me the changes. I have listed the home as a 3 bedroom, because of the sq. ft. and bathroom count I felt this is a better marketing plan. The photos came out great and I am very happy with the v-tour as well.
I am very excited about selling your home and I thank you for the opportunity to do so.
Warm Regards,
Allison
The house
Here is a picture of the house. It was such a cute little brick Victorian. We absolutely loved the house and the property lit up like a gingerbread house around Christmas.
Fast forward
Woohoo! The house is sold! . . . May 20th, 2016.
3 YEARS 7 MONTHS later!
Honestly, I didn't say woohoo. I pretty much walked out in disbelief after finally signing the paperwork.
What happened
The house didn't sell. We initiated an aggressive strategy of lowering the price every month in the hope of generating interest and keeping the listing refreshed.
And then everything in our lives fell apart. Like on an epic level. I mean it really went to crap. I'm not even going to talk about it.
The house was the least of my concerns. I told Allison that we should let it get repossessed. I didn't care about it in the least. She encouraged me to keep going though. A short sale would be far worse for my credit than a repossession. Bolstered by her words, I told her that I would plug away. Just let me know what she needed and I'd take care of it.
First buyer
Woohoo! We got a buyer. Lots of papers to sign and send off to the bank. Every detail of my woeful finances was bare to them. Now we just needed to hurry up and wait . . .
. . . and wait
. . . and wait
After months of waiting, the buyer left.
Another buyer!
More papers, more financial details and more months of waiting.
Buyer gives up.
The next one barely lasted 2 months I believe.
And another,
And another,
Years have passed. By this time, they have years worth of financial data on how bad things went.
Another,
Another, this one super crazy. They left too.
Another,
Another before the other has left. This one even crazier.
Honestly, I'm not exactly sure how many we went through. At least 7. I believe it may have been as many as 10.
Along the way, I filed a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But it wasn't until I contacted my senator's office with the complaint that we finally saw progress. After 3 years, it seemed like a reasonable step.
Progress
It took constant work to get the bank to respond to even the simplest requests. But we finally received short sale approval. And then they gave us a deadline of 3 weeks to close. We managed to do it though
Details
Are lacking in this post. I really just wanted to write it in order to close a difficult chapter of my life. This is a woohoo sort of letter/thingy/whatever.
My house is sold! Yay!
If you ever want to buy a house in the Colorado Springs area, I recommend contacting Allison. She will do her best for you. Just please don't put her through the hell I did.
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John H. Carroll
2 comments:
I have a morbid fascination with the secret awfulness that engulfed your lives but I suspect I'm probably better off not knowing. Also, congrats on selling the house finally!
Yeah, We've managed to move on, so I'm leaving it behind. :)
Thanks, Mate! It's such a relief.
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