It was okay being Landlords, and we were very blessed to have wonderful tenants, but I never did quite like the prospect of owning an "Investment Property". I guess it's just not my thing. We have been talking about selling it for awhile, hoping the market would come back up, and not wanting to displace our current tenants.
This past January, we made the decision we would sell it. I contacted a Realtor and talked with her about putting it on the market ASAP. The next morning at 7:00 a.m. my cell phone rang; it was our tenant. (Note: it's never a good thing if your tenants call you at 7:00 in the morning!) There was water dripping from the ceiling in the kitchen. Panic! They shut off the water and I called a plumber. He came and cut a HUGE hole in the ceiling, only to find out it was not a plumbing leak. So we figured it was a roof leak. The roofing company came and did repairs on the roof, and the next morning, still dripping! What?! Finally, someone we had look at it realized it was the seal around one of our window trims. The caulking had deteriorated and simply needed re-done. Voila! No more leak. But there was still a huge hole, so we had to call an Independent Contractor. And, voila again! Several hundred dollars later and problem solved.
That took more than three weeks to go through that process. Then we had an Acquaintance express interest in purchasing the home as a rental property. Yay! We wouldn't need to put it on the market and our renter's could stay put. Perfect! Until he did an inspection on the property and didn't like a couple of things and "it just didn't feel right." Two weeks later again, and we were back to square one. But, by this time, our tenants knew we were trying to sell. So we decided, what could it hurt? We asked them if they were interested in purchasing it. Never in a million years did I think they actually would be. But THEY WERE! (Loud, joyful screams!)
BUT, they weren't quite ready to buy yet. It all came very fast for them, but after working through things, and us being very patient, we finally closed today! And we were able to do it without a Realtor. (We passed the savings on to them, but I was still so glad it didn't have to go on the market.) It is so exciting!
Here is a picture of our first home, the home we lived in for 7 1/2 years when three of our children were born. It was a great first home for us and we have many wonderful memories here.
We are so glad another wonderful family who already knows and loves the home was able to purchase it and will be able to continue enjoying it. We are so grateful how everything works out in the end!
(And, our other big news...we are under contract to buy another home, so if all goes well, we will close on that on May 19th. So I guess the not being a homeowner won't last very long after all:).)
