Well it wasn’t exactly in the 6-year plan, but we weren’t really planning on that plan being set in stone anyway…
So: we’re going to try to sell the house.
It seems like the old proverb “strike while the iron is hot” makes sense here, and while the housing market (here in Southwestern Ontario anyway) has been strong, we’ve been counseled that its beginning to soften; that when it softens, it starts from the top and works its way down. The bottom end of the market, where we currently sit, is still holding strong, while the kinds of house we’d like to get into next are starting their decline. That means if we act quick, we can sell with strength, and buy against weakness.
Our neighbour two doors down, with the same house design and property size as us, just sold for $249,900 — in less than 2 weeks. Considering we bought our place 2 years ago for $219,00 we could make a tidy profit if we could pull off that sale price. If we sell first, then start shopping, we can hopefully buy low at the next level of house up. We’ll be looking in an area of pretty consistent growth, and hoping to do as well with that place as we did with our first house.
These are the ideas anyway. Its not like we’re real estate mavens with tons of experience playing the market. All we know is that as our kids grow, this place is getting a little tight, and that we need to be closer to some of our church community. Which is a shame, because we’ve finally started making some traction building some community with our neighbours…
Actually, there’s plenty of things that are a shame about this. We live in the cutest little village ever, at the end of a quiet street capped by a farm. Granted, we have an active railroad track in our backyard, but otherwise this is an awful adorable place to call home. If it wasn’t a 25 minute drive to get to everything we need, it would be perfect.
Nonetheless, for the time being, real estate is the primary source of investment for us, and if we want it to grow, we need to be active in the market. Its not like we don’t have plenty of experience moving. And we’re approaching this prayerfully, with plenty of decision points along the way where God can correct our course if we’re not getting it right. So far, He seems to be saying go:
– Yesterday we had our real estate agent over to sign the papers to list the house, today the newspaper called and asked if they could put our place on the front page of their fall real estate section. Apparently our house is photogenic!
– Our new neighbour, who we’ve enjoyed getting to know, does home staging as a side business, and came over last night to give us advice on how to prep the home for sale — for free. Aside from the immense amount of clutter we need to pack-up and hide, she said our place looks great, inside and out.
At any rate, we’re not committed to any course of action, save for putting a sign out front, and seeing what happens. If we get what we’re asking, we’ll look to the next step. If the offers come in low, we’ll probably sit it out here and watch the market a little longer.