Personally, the continued downward spiral of home prices makes my stomach churn.
We built prior to the “boom” with the intention of staying put and we didn’t play games. Now our house needs to go on the market because we have to relocate to another state.
I’ve heard the values have already fallen to 2002 levels so if prices continue to plunge... I don’t know, I don’t even want to think about it. “It is what it is.”
You may want to rent out the home instead of selling. That way you get a tidy sum each month. There are realtors that will do the dirty work of finding a renter, collecting the rent, and contacting the necessary repairmen... for a nominal fee each month.
I feel for you. I hope you are able to get out of your home as much as you put into it. I know these time are rough. A few years after college, one of my three roommates/landlord was in foreclosures. As a group, we’d move into one of the houses he bought in foreclosure, and sometimes I would live in houses 5,500 or so square ft. He would tell the stories sometimes, but he was never empathetic. He would buy them for about 55-60% of what people paid for them, (because he knew they’d drop in value in the next 3-4 years (that was BEFORE the 2008 crisis, by several years). Even then, we all knew the price was too high, and in a bubble.
He wanted me to work with him, but I opted not to. Seeing so many people lose out because they overextended had themselves, would have been too difficult for me to cope with (he was a bit of a callous guy). I met some of the people, including a family who got a divorce over finances (although that’s only ever a catalyst, not the cause). It’s sad, but there’s a long way to go. There’s no economic activity to support a housing market in the range it’s been. It was like giving an 18 year old a credit card (the gov. forcing banks to give mortages). The 18 year old thinks they’re rich, and that the price is only a number. It’s only when they have to pay it off that they realize there’s a number of man hours of work attached to that price.
As a side note, I recently spoke with my father about a topic, and he was pricing everything in terms of hours of work. In my opinion, it’s a very smart thing to do, because A) It’s a lot easier to personally factor out a lot of garbage in “price.” and B) It shows you where your labor time is going directly. Just a handy bit of advice, on a bit of a tanget. Best of luck to you, I hope your situation goes weel for you, hang in there.