Anyone else in this housing boat?

laura&ry

Feel trapped by economy in a home you've outgrown?   It's not worth it to sell right now, but we don't have enough space or money to change our space to make it work better.  Love our tiny home still but wish we could sell without losing all our money and some. 

 

Just wondering if you were rowing the boat with me.  Misery loves company! 

lmb5109

We don't have kids yet but that's only because we can't sell our 1 bedroom condo and really didn't want to have a baby in this small place.

We've had our place on the market for almost 2 months and not 1 showing and that's with the asking price $15k less than we owe. Makes me sick every time I think about it!

DTNZ4Ever

Yes we are right there with you. We want to have a second buy don't have the space. We need to move before DS starts school since our school district is not the greatest. Our house is $100000 less than what we bought it for 6 years ago. We are thinking about adding a 3rd bedroom on but know we won't get that money back, we are thinking about saving 6 months mortgage in order to rent our place out and try to save for a down payment for a new place. We are stuck. We have a lot of foreclosures and short sales in my neighborhood.

laura&ry

We tried selling for months some time back, also asking price at a loss, no luck and now our neighborhood is even worse in terms of dropping prices and foreclosures.  We're in a one bedroom with an option to remodel to make it a two, but do I really want to spend money on a sinking ship when there's no room for a third bedroom?

calex33

We were in your situation for quite awhile.  We lived in a tiny 2 bedroom condo in a 3rd floor walk-up.  We had DD while we lived there, but knew we needed to move before having another.  The condo was on the market on and off for more than 2 years.  Then, out of nowhere last summer, a woman in our complex contacted our agent about renting our unit.  At first, we were hesitant because renting is risky.  After much discussion, we decided to go for it.  Her rent covers the mortgage on the condo.  She has been a great tenant and just asked us if she could renew for another year!  Woot!  We now live in a great house with more than enough room for us and our two kids.

So, the moral of the story, you may want to look at options other than selling.

MrsHT

I know how you feel.  We have lost so much money on our home, it makes me cry just thinking about it.  We have room to make things work if we have another baby, but if 3 was an option I think we would be really tight.  We could add on one day... but good luck getting a loan to do that since the banks are no help when it comes to maybe even doing a refi. 

Sigh this economy stinks

Katie91980

Hi Ladies,

I just made the transition from the knot over to here. I spend most of my time on the trying to conceive board but pop onto the local board every now and again too! I am actually a real estate broker and homeowner. While we're currently ok with our space at some point, hopefully in the not too distant future we'll outgrow our current space! Fingers are crossed on that!

I feel your pain and have worked with several clients in the same position. There is a positive...while you may lose some of the equity that you have put in your current place you have to remember that when you "upgrade" into something larger you're going to be able to take advantage of the lower home prices on that end. For example (just for nice round number sake) let's say you purchased your home for $100,000 back in the day and the economy has depreciated 20% making that home worth only $80,000...yes you've lost money but you're now ready for something larger which inevitably means more money so that house that you're looking at now for $300,000 back in the day would have actually cost you $360,000.  So, while you may "lose" $20,000 on your current home you're going to take advantage of the same market that hurts you on the sale when you buy and actually "gain" $60,000 when you "upgrade." Confusing, I know...I genenrally walk my buyers and sellers and family and friends through this in person with charts and all that good stuff. If you have questions feel free to PM me. I'm happy to help answer questions.

Good luck! The right opportunity is out there for everyone...it's a matter timing.

-Katie

mcgee4782

Rowing along side of you!

My husband and I bought our two bedroom condo six years ago and while it has been okay for us, our daughter, and our small dog, we definitely could use a larger place. I am now pregnant with our second baby and things are going to be really tight. We are looking to sell and buy a bigger place but know that its going to be a challenge since the condo across from us (also a two bedroom, two bath) just sold for 79K! I almost died, since we bout ours at 149K (which was a good price at the time). We are not in the ideal situation but didn't want this housing situation to stand in our way of having another baby. Who knows when we will be able to sell!!!! 

tmrchi

We're fast approaching that situation as well.  We are still TTC but our tiny 2 bedroom place is going to seem really small once we have a baby.  We had originally hoped we would be moving to a bigger place by the time we had a baby, but since we still owe more than we can get for it that won't be happening any time soon.  I know we'll get a good deal on the next place, but I'm not sure where we'll get a down payment from if we have to sell this place at a loss.  Of course if the housing market does turn around, we'll be able to sell this place, but that means the new place will be more expensive too.  rock...me..hardplace  At least everyone seems to be in the same situation.

kasang

     I understand completely.  We are stuck in a 2 bedroom condo I bought when I was single.  It has been in the market for 6 months and not going anywhere soon and if it does we will have to pay to get out!  To make matters worse, my husband and I are unsure if we should start trying to concieve until we have a house or take a gamble and roll with watever happens.  It sucks!

lmb5109

laura&ry:

We tried selling for months some time back, also asking price at a loss, no luck and now our neighborhood is even worse in terms of dropping prices and foreclosures.  We're in a one bedroom with an option to remodel to make it a two, but do I really want to spend money on a sinking ship when there's no room for a third bedroom?

I would love to pick your brain on having a baby in a 1 bedroom!! We are going to start TTC in a few months and we are in a 1 bedroom. We know we won't be able to sell in the next year (or more!) and we've been trying to figure out how to make a 1 bedroom work with a baby. We can rent if we have to, but until baby is crawling, it could work right?

We wouldn't have a crib for awhile, just a co-sleeper for the first 6 months and a dresser/changer. Our bedroom is really big, we have a king bed and still have about 8ft wall that we can use for sleeper & dresser. We live on a busy street and there are sirens and idiots with loud cars/motorcycles, so we will have to find a good white noise to drown that out.