Just over 3 years ago when we found out we'd be moving to Monterey we started the process of determining what to do with our house in Aurora. We bought it in 2007 and we bought it well below its appraisal due to a short sale, so we thought we were just walking into equity. But, by 2012 the market hadn't bounced back enough and to sell the house we were going to have to pay about $10,000 at closing. Not ok by us.
So, against my hearts desires, we decided to contract a rental management company and rent it out. The luxury of living 7 minutes from a military base is that your house will always been in demand for renters. The market was great and overall I would say the experience has been a decent one. But overall I'd also say I've never waivered in my desire to sell it and move on. I don't think I was built to be a rental property owner. I worried nonstop that tenants would fail to pay, or move without notice, or trash the house - and all of those things happened at least once. But, most months I worried for no reason as rent came on time and the maintenance expenses were minimal. We have really been fortunate in having a virtually pain free process.
Last fall, before knowing anything about little loretta or fort Hood, our tenants requested an extension of their lease. It was set to expire 9/30 and we offered a 6 month extension. Their request couldn't have been more percect. It put us right in the prime time for home sales in Denver and we were excited at the prospect of maybe selling instead of finding new tenants this time. Less than a month later I saw those 2 pink lines, and then a few weeks after that we found out about our move. The Aurora house situation was so perfectly timed and I know exactly who was in charge of that upstairs.
It hasn't been as smooth as we had hoped between our property manager, tenants and realtor - and things got a little hairy 2 weeks ago - but I am SO excited to say that on April 2 our house will be on the market!!! Our realtor is optimistic that we will have an offer within a couple of weeks and hopefully it's smooth sailing. If we could close on that sale before we embark on being parents of 3 that'd be pretty fantastic.
And that $10,000 payment at closing? Yeah. Not even close to the case anymore. So very thankful for the turn in the market and for how wonderfully these things all lined up.
3 years ago I thought the cards were stacked against us and was so frustrated that we couldn't just sell it and be done. I was just sure our financial lives would tank due to this rental. Oh ye of little faith. God always knows, doesn't he?
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