Layout:
Home > House Two Doors Down Under Contract

House Two Doors Down Under Contract

March 26th, 2015 at 08:02 pm

The housing market in our small city has been really weird. Things weren't selling, and what was on the market was really weird or overpriced.

I don't make it a habit of keeping track, except that a good housing market usually means more work in construction which means more work for architects! I weathered the last economic downturn pretty well, but that was mostly because I don't design houses (I do mostly civic/public buildings). That slowed down, too, but not as much.

This morning I learned that the house two doors down from us is under contract. I didn't even know it was for sale; it must have just gone on the market. It was being rented out because the owner moved around the corner (same neighborhood); I didn't know the people who were renting it (it hasn't been that long). I can't wait to have real neighbors! There are only four houses on our street.

Anyway, the really good news is that it sold for $720k! It's a little larger than ours (maybe 2500 sf and ours is 2300). It has a little bit nicer view, too. But this is really good news for our equity! I've been figuring our house is worth $500k, but I think it's probably a little over $600k. I built it 16 years ago, and with the lot and an addition about 9 years ago, we've paid $300k total. We owe just under $57k.

I should be less nervous about money given the equity in our home, but you have to have somewhere to live, and you can't eat your home, right? Plus equity could disappear as the market changes. So I'll just continue being frugal.

2 Responses to “House Two Doors Down Under Contract”

  1. Another Reader Says:
    1427406747

    Getting rid of the mortgage means you won't lose $550k in equity if you suddenly could not make the mortgage payments. With that little left, I would be fired up to pay it off ASAP as well, so I could reduce my risk and increase my flexibility.

  2. Buendia Says:
    1427409963

    Exactly! I figure we can pay it off in just about 2 1/2 years...

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]