One year on the market

for anyone who has been following our story in a friendly, caring way....here is an update. any others....just don't read this! it's as simple as that.

on june 1, 2008, i put my condo on the market at $125K. my realtor assured me that the property would sell within 60 days. that price was smack in the middle for comparable properties in this area, and i had the nicest unit available in my area.

it was sure to sell RIGHT away, he said. his boss had said so.

on july 12, 2008, dave and i got married...still having absolute faith that my place would sell, because the condo market had not yet crashed.

in august of 2008, however, condo sales in the chicago area were reported to have suddenly dropped 80%.
there was news all over that the condo and townhome market was tumbling exponentially fast, and that the value of this kind of property was plummeting faster than a bowling ball tossed off of the roof of the Sears tower.

by august of '08, i had not had ONE showing on my property, and my realtor had not done half of the things he had promised to do, so, with the news at hand, i fired him.

(he was a long time friend, so this was a very difficult and painful process for me)

he had not yet hung a key box in the lobby (building rules-no keybox on the unit door), he had not come by to take photos, he had not put a flier together, and his internet ad was incomplete, and did not even indicate the price of my property!

so i called to complain about him, and, as a result.... i hired his boss.

we did the first price drop at that time. she did all of the things he had promised, and not done, ON HER FIRST DAY.

i got a lot of showings all at once, because she put together the virtual tour, she hung the keybox, and she put out fliers.....but the one person who wanted to purchase the property (immediately after i hired the new realtor!) had to go FHA, and FHA won't give a loan when someone wants to purchase a condo that has an ASSOCIATION.
(show me a condo complex WITHOUT an association! there's no such beast, that i know of!)

months passed, showings came and went.....then, four months with not ONE showing, despite multiple price drops. no one was looking at real estate anymore, my new realtor said. friends said this to me, too, after reading their local papers, or talking to their neighbors.
i knew i was not alone!

then, in march of '09, the showings started up again, but still, there were no offers.

ALL of my financial hope, and most of my "net worth" is sunk into this condo.
to not be able to recover that money has been extremely stressful, and difficult.

not nearly as difficult, however, as having to live apart from my new husband.

this has been a year of pure, unadulterated hell, for the most part. anyone reading this who doesn't GET THAT, i implore you to refrain from comment. (the one person who came from the Radio Paradise site, and left a comment on my blog, is probably laughing out loud right now. he/she is calling me names, and trying to think of something witty to say..but, i beg you, keep it to yourself, because until you have walked in these moccasins, you have NO FREAKIN' IDEA of what this has been like!!!)

i have now dropped the price on my property as far as i can. from $125K to $105,900.

the last price drop was 2 weeks ago, and i took another HUGE dip of $3K all at once ( i did that once before, and got a flurry of showings).

not.
one.
call.

$3K drop, and no one came to look. no one. does anyone have a clue what that means, or how it FEELS???

at this point, i literally cannot take an offer below $104K, and still be able to afford to sell this place.

if i go any lower than that, i will LITERALLY have to take out a fuc*king LOAN to pay for the closing!!!

do you understand what i am saying, here?

a year has passed, and the only thing that has happened is that the value of my property, the ONE THING in this world that was supposed to be a stable investment, has completely vanished.

i know that i am among thousands, in that regard. i do not claim to be unique in my situation.

but i do feel that there is an aspect of my situation that is NOT all that common: the one in which my property ownership is forcing my husband and me to live 800 (or so) miles apart from one another, holding on to nothing but faith that things would work out for the best, somehow.

there are those who have advised me to abandon my investment, and my property, and claim bankruptcy, and throw away EVERYTHING that i have worked for, for love.

i'm sorry. i understand the romantic appeal of this, i really do!! but my daddy didn't raise a stupid woman.

i am a true romantic at heart, believe me, but i simply cannot justify throwing away EVERYTHING i have worked so hard for!! i can't justify ruining my financial standing, and that of my husband.

my vulcan blood boils at the thought...."it is not logical!"

so, two more days on the market, and we reach one year.

dave and i agreed that, at the one year point, i would have to abandon hope of selling, and start to look for a renter.

i don't want to be a long distance land lady, and i don't want to entrust my precious investment to a total stranger, who could trash it, and further deplete it's already non-existent value!!

but there are no more choices left.

things have not worked out for the best.

but renting the place is the next step. no more options remain.

as of june 1, 2009, we start looking for a tenant. my brother in law told dave (but not ME) that he would be the local contact person in charge of this property.

i guess that means that when the tenant puts a hole through the wall, or breaks the balcony railing, or puts a shoe down the toilet, my poor brother in law will come investigate.

i hate putting a family member in that position, but, at this point, the only way to protect my investment AT ALL is to take the road i have dreaded, and not wanted to take, from the get-go: becoming a long distance land lady.

while some have advised me to jump ship and throw everything away, others have assured me that keeping the property, and renting it out, could be a GOOD thing.

all i can say is, i sure as hell hope you're right.....because i have no faith in that idea yet!

but...here it comes.