The people across the street are moving. They were loud, inconsiderate neighbors who sometimes blocked my driveway with their trucks. Their little girl was a brat who sassed me back when I asked her not to hang out in front of my house because she was so noisy. I couldn’t believe it when there was a for sale sign on their front lawn. They bought their house when prices were high. The sign was up for four months. And yesterday I decided to get back into selling real estate, so I looked up their property. Sure enough it was in default and on the market for about $150,000 less than they bought it for, subject to the lender approving the short sale. Today the sign is gone, though the listing still shows it’s active. That probably means it’s going into foreclosure. That makes me feel very sad–for them- even though they were annoying neighbors, and for everyone else on this street, including myself. Misfortune is still misfortune no matter who it hits.
I’d tried to sell my house three times, but nobody would buy it. I knew it wasn’t worth what I borrowed, but I didn’t realize the value in my area had fallen so low. My hope is that I start making more money so I can continue to afford the payments, because the alternative is not something I want to think about.
1 comment:
We were very surprised to learn that our house value is going down faster than we ever thought possible!!! We paid $140,000 for a house with a $123,000 mortgage. We've been paying it off as fast as we can, and now we only owe $107,000. I was proud of that until a recent appraisal showed that our house was probably only worth $100,000 now!!! Yikes!!!
And I was struck by your sadness for the annoying neighbors, too. I know I wouldn't have that kind of grace or class, to feel sorry for someone who made my life less pleasant--kudos to you!
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