When to call it quits
Posted on February 20th, 2008 – 2:50 PMBy Kara McGuire
One of the best things about blogging is that I now have a 24/7 forum (at least for a week anyway) to complain about people, specifically my dad.
Dad was never blessed with the gift of good timing. It took him 49 years and four daughters before he finally conceived his prized son. He bought heavily into telecom stocks right before the stock market collapse in 2002. And perhaps his greatest stroke of luck, he held onto his Boston-area house during the housing boom and finally decided to sell well after the market began to implode.
More than two years later, the house still remains for sale. Dad, whom I and a sibling convinced to move into a smaller, more senior citizen-friendly house, is still convinced that he can get more $400,000+ for it. I don’t think he could get that price even when the market was good. It’s old, ugly, and has no garage, a virtual poison pill in the Boston real estate market.
Yet the old man refuses to drop the price. He’s already changed real estate agents three or four times…as if they’re to blame for his plight. I’m not sure if he grasps that the market is not going to turn around anytime soon. Meanwhile, the house just sits there, eating up dollars in terms of taxes, heating bills, and insurance.
So how would you handle the situation? Should Dad continue to hold out in a vain attempt to wait out the market? Or should he just cut his losses and do a fire sale?
4 Responses to "When to call it quits"
Hi Kara,
I would say if your fathers health is good and he thinks it’s worth the asking price, as long as it doesn’t put his or his childrens financial situation in jeopardy, he should do whatever makes him happy. It sounds like he’s had a good life, so in the end, if it ends up costing him a few bucks, big deal.
Perhaps the house has a lot of good memories regarding your family. That may be a factor as well.
Good luck.
If he’s going to wait out the market, it could be worth renting the house out. Sounds like he owns it outright, so taking in tenants would at least stop the cash outflow for taxes, heat, etc - if not produce a couple hundred bucks per month of income. Of course, tenants do add to the wear and tear & there’s the whole management pain-in-the-keister factor. If he were my dad, I’d probably push for the sale.
If he does not financially need the money, why not just let it sit and keep him happy thinking it might sell for what he’d like.
Problem with renting out a property is it CAN cost you more in the long run. There are a lot of high maintenance tenants out there and even more who don’t care how they trash your property.
That’s just my nickels worth though.
Sorta related, what will happen over the next several years as Boomers retire and begin to sell their homes to downsize or retire to other countries? Gen X is not exactly large enough to cover the dramatic increase in supply.
