COMMENTARY | Many housing experts have recently said the housing market in the United States has bottomed out and is on the rebound. Many homeowners are desperate to sell their homes or refinance to be able to afford their mortgage payments.
Wichita, Kan., hasn't been hit as hard by the housing crunch, but we have seen the effects of the downturn in our community. We purchased our house in 2006 for a steal. The couple that previously owned our house was going through a very bitter divorce and was looking to unload the house fast, so we were able to get the deal of the century on it.
We got a 1975 split-level home, consisting of 2,200 square feet with an attached two-car garage and inground pool for a mere $116,000. The house was in great shape structurally, but needed a lot of cosmetic work.
We have spent countless hours removing old carpet, shabby wallpaper and replacing doors, windows and drywall. We gutted the kitchen and replaced the appliances, flooring and backsplashes. We gutted both bathrooms and replaced all the fixtures and cabinetry, and re-drywalled both rooms. We have replaced all the carpeting throughout the home, and removed all the wallpaper from all the bedrooms. Every room has received new light fixtures, doors and hardware. We completely finished the basement and garage and put new patios on the front and back of the house.
We've spent about $10,000 on renovations and have done all of the work ourselves. Now my husband has retired from the military, and we are looking to make our final move back east to be near family. Looking back on it, we think that the money we spent on renovations was well worth it. It has made the house more comfortable and appealing to our family, and has increased the value and the amount we can sell for. Our house appraised at about $126,000 before the renovations, and $143,000 after the work was done. And our realtor assures us that we can break even when we sell the house, and recoup the money we spent on renovations. We just need to find the right buyer.
We put our house on the market about a month ago. Our house is more up-to-date than identical houses in our subdivision. In addition, we have our home priced several thousand dollars less than identical houses that are for sale. So far, we have had very little interest in our home, with only five showings and no offers. Our real estate agent says that sales in our entire city are slow, and things should pick up as the weather gets warmer. She assures us that the work we've done to the house will help it stand out amongst the other houses being offered for sale, and help us sell faster.
We are starting to worry, however, as we need to sell this house before we can buy another house back home. We want to stick to one mortgage, and minimize our debt as much as possible. We have enough equity in this home to put a sizable down payment on another home to reduce our debt load. Our target date for a move is the end of May when school lets out. However, we need at least 30 to 60 days for closing on the house once it sells, and we are running out of time.
If the house doesn't sell by the time we are ready to move, my husband is going to move back home and stay with my parents while I stay here with the children and try to sell this house. This will be terribly stressful on all of us. We are hoping the experts are correct and the housing market is about to make a turn for the better. Until then, we will hope and pray that the right buyer will come along so we can unload this beautiful house and move on with our lives.
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