My family is now in Morocco, and I’m living by myself in our US house. My family is in Morocco settling in: the kids in a new school (I’ll talk about that experience in a future post), a new place to live in, and getting things in order. I stayed behind in the USA for work reasons and also I needed to tighten some loose ends. One of those loose ends is what to do with our US house.

What to do with the house ?

We lived in this house for over 10 years. We have built many memories over the years: our kids birthdays, BBQ with friends during summer time and growing our own vegetables in the backyard.

Now that my family is in Morocco and I’ll be joining them soon, we had two options for the house: sell it or keep it. To keep the house, for many reasons, this meant renting it. We live in the north east of the USA and winter can be pretty cold. The house needs someone to maintain it. If we kept the house empty we would be paying maintenance expenses for no benefit: keeping the heat on during winter so the heating pipes would not freeze and blow. In summer time, we would need someone to mow the lawn. Plus, we we’d need a person to check on it from time to time.

Last but not least, we would need to continue paying property and school taxes. So really if we wanted to keep the house, we we’d need to rent it out: the renter would take care of the house, we would recoup the property/school taxes from the rent, and we we’d have a stream of cash flow.

Rent or sell ?

Renting a house means that we will still be responsible for fixing major appliances and parts like the furnace, plumbing, roof, etc. I could delegate this to a property manager for a fee. Still, one still needs to manage the property manager and continue paying the taxes.

I did a quick cash flow computation for the rental idea. It looked good, but not great. I decided that I did not want to deal with a property management company, plus I needed the equity built in the house to move on with my future projects in Morocco. So, I decided to move ahead and sell the house.

Real estate agent

Now that the decision to sell the house has been made, it was time to get a real-estate agent. Jeff, a friend of mine who works in the real estate business, came to mind. I called him up and set up an appointment.

Jeff came over to see the house, and he provided his impression. He asked if I wanted to do renovations before putting the house on the market; I opted for the easy route: sell the house as is. I did not want to expand energy and money if I did not have to.

We met again in his real estate office, and he went through the process of how he would market the house, visitors management, and all the steps involved until the closing.

Jeff handed me a contract that outlined his services and fees. I took it home, read it, and eventually signed it the following day.

The sale process is ON !

Jeff brought a professional photographer to take pictures inside and outside the house. They came back stunning, and my home looked much better than what it was in reality :). Jeff put the house online for sale and I started to get online requests from potential buyers to visit the house. Jeff received the requests and sent them my way.

Prospects

Before a prospect came to visit the house, I made sure to clean the house and put it in the best shape it could be. The appointment is usually set for 30 min. I just locked the front door and left the house ready for visitors.

After the first week, I received multiple feedbacks varying from “not interested” to “interested” and all in between.

An offer

After 2 or 3 weeks of visitors, Jeff called me and, with enthusiasm, said “We have an offer”, excited, finally, it is happening. Jeff continued, “The offer should be signed any time, and we should receive it by the end of the day today”. Later that day, the offer indeed came through. Wow, very happy that we have an offer. This is working !

I received the offer electronically. It was $5000 less than the asking price. Well, after all, this was an offer; wish I could reject or counter-offer. I slept on it and the following day decided to accept it ! The offer was already signed by the buyer and as soon as I signed it it became legally binding for both parties. Neither of us could get out of the contract… except if there were contingencies in it and contingencies there were: Financing and Inspection, plus the lawyers reviewing the contract. If the buyer could not get financing or the house inspection did not pass, they could get out of the contract.

The buyer needed to apply for a loan and get an inspector for the house. It was just a waiting game.

Disappointment

After 2 weeks, I got a disappointing call from Jeff: “Sorry, the bank did not approve the buyer’s loan application !”. I responded, “How come, I thought he was pre-approved before he made the offer”. Jeff replied “Yes he was but … it appears that in the pre-approval application he listed his income higher than what he really make. During the formal loan application he could not prove that declared income, and the bank deemed him unqualified. I’m sorry 🙁”.

New start

During the loan application we had the house out of the market, marking it as pending. Now we need to put the house back on the market, and make it available for buyers to visit again. After 2 more weeks of prospect buyers inquiries, it becomes clear from the feedback that some renovations are needed. The kitchen and bathroom did not look great.

In their feedback, multiple potential buyers pointed out that the kitchen is outdated and the bathroom needs renovation. It’s time to speed up the sale process; the house would not sell quickly without a renovation. I set the budget that all renovations should cost no more than $10000.

• Kitchen top and sink needs replacement
• All hardwood following to be refinished
• Upstairs bathroom will be completely renovated: new tub, new sliding glass door, new tiles, new cabinet and sink.
• The same goes for the first level half bathroom.

During the renovation period, Jeff kept the home posted online but responded to buyers that a quick renovation is ongoing, and the house will be available for visitation soon.

Renovation

I decided to do a complete bathroom renovation. We gutted the bathtub to put in a new one. The same goes for the second bathroom. Also, the kitchen will be refreshed and the hardwood floors will be refinished.

After 3 weeks of renovation, the house looks like much better than before.

I increased the original asking price by $10000 to recoup the investment in the renovation, and soon enough I started to accept new prospects requests.

After a month of new visits, we got a new offer !!. It came with the same contingencies as the previous one (Financing and Inspection). Jeff re-assured me that this new buyer has her finances in check and will very likely get approved. She has a stable job and income. The home inspection was made, and the report came back positive. There were no major issues that needed to be addressed.

We now just wait for the bank to process the loan application. The tentative closing date was set 2 months after the offer date. After a few weeks, the bank approved the loan application. This is great. It’s now only a matter of time before making the transaction.

The closing

The closing date comes, and it’s now time to meet and sign the sale contract with the presence of the real estate agents and the attorneys. Jeff is enthusiastic, and so I’m. It’s a pay date for both of us :). He will get his commission, and I will get the house proceeds.

We chatted a bit, then we entered the meeting room. The buyer’s attorney went over the contract and explained it to both parties. The buyer and I signed on the dotted lines, and I got the sale proceeds as a certified check. This is real !

I handed over the house keys to the new owner, congratulated her, shook Jeff’s hand, and said goodbye.

Wow, I’m now I’m house free. No more repairs or visitors. It was a roller coaster experience: multiple visitors, different feedback, a failed offer, renovations, before finally landing the buyer.

My take away from this experience is for anyone contemplating selling their house:

• Do your homework considering your options
• Be patient with the sale process: you will receive disappointing feedback. Don’t give up.
• Act on the received feedback
• Consider renovations or reduce the price
• Get the house marketed it aggressively
• Did I say be patient ? The house will be sold eventually.

My US housing experience chapter is now closed and I can start my journey in Morocco without worrying about a house left behind across the Atlantic ocean.