UNDER THE MAINE SUN

STATE OF OUR ASSETS AFTER THE DOWNGRADE

Watching British films, I've often heard a phrase, "Safe as houses." I heard it in Howard's End among others. The housing market may be rocky right now but a house isn't likely to curl up and disappear. 

I've been watching the commentaries about the stock market's aftermath since the big S&P downgrade of American debt. The people who panicked and sold off at a loss are the big losers. Unless they're quite young, there's no way to recoup. I agree with the experts who say to hold and wait it out.

Meanwhile, most of my money is in houses -- and they're still there. Their prices might be lower than I would like, but I won't be wiped out. Even though there's some leveraging through mortgages, I didn't over-extend beyond what payments I can keep up with. I hope you don't either.

I'm not a financial expert by any means -- haven't made any fortunes. But even though I don't have a lot of money, my assets are still there through all this.

I just heard Jack Cafferty on CNN giving his opinion -- ranting about the politicians who are on vacation now through this stock market drop. I don't have much sympathy for those of them who caused this state of affairs due to their politicizing the country's financial crisis. But I do take exception to his criticism of President Obama who bore the terrible burden through these last weeks. He was under enormous pressure and still is. Mr. Cafferty, who I used to like, criticized him roundly for celebrating his 50th birthday at this time. I think our President deserves a break! He was, after all, live on TV today trying to reassure investors and the American people that our country's financial status is a lot better than the S&P downgrade would indicate.  My opinion is that our President deserves some R&R -- he doesn't get much!

No houses selling just yet, but sooner or later they will. I'm impatient but not panicking!

Jean, Still in Maine

THE APRIL TRIP TO ALLEN ST.

The last step was landscaping and staging, both of which were mine to do. Both required a lot of shopping (fun). The landscaping also involved a lot of back-breaking labor!

THE SECOND TRIP TO ALLEN ST.

Robin was good at keeping me updated on everything. Actually, he lectured me on keeping my cell phone on -- something I usually didn't do when I wasn't traveling.  He said in his heavy southern drawl was, "That we have here is a lack of communication." That was after he tried to reach me to get my input about the master bedroom closets. He ended up having to make his own best decision. I took his words to heart and tried to keep the phone on whenever possible. He sent me photos several times per week.

THE "AFTER" AT W. ALLEN ST.

This was the end result after a lot of money and a lot of hard work. 

I've been away from the blog for months but I've been busy in the meantime. It took 2 months to work magic at 954 West Allen St. in Hendersonville, NC. I was lucky to have a wonderful contractor, Robin Stafford. Together with Ira Holbrook - plumber, Gary Melton - electrician, Jerry Moore - Painter, and Rocky from Horizon Plumbing and Heating, as well as Hardin Flooring and Quality Aluminum for the gutters and let me not forget Bradley, the kitchen designer from Lowe's -- and a lot of email badgering from me -- we created a small miracle. The inspectors were pleased as were all the neighbors. After the fact, Dan Osteen now keeps the grounds up for the showings.

CLOSING - THE NEXT STEPS

The deal for the little house on West Allen Street in Hendersonville, NC closed successfully on December 21st. Between my wonderful attorneys Elkins & Elkins and my wonderful realtor, Bill Millwood, everything got done and I barely had to lift a finger except to press "Send." It's now mine as I was sure it was meant to be.

AFTER THE AUCTION

I don't like the term "flipping" when referring to buying, upgrading and reselling houses. It sounds a little callous to me. While it's important to maintain a business-like attitude, I still feel that it's okay to love each little house. That will show in the final result when it goes back on the market. Each one should have something special about it -- something that will make a potential buyer say, "I can't believe I'm getting this for such a low price." The trick will be to accomplish that without going above your budget for the upgrade.

The books tell me that in buying houses to fix up and sell, you make your money when you buy the property. That means you have to know what the upgraded house will sell for and buy it at a low enough price that you can make a profit after the work is done. Many people forget to include the carrying costs in their figures. That includes things like taxes, utilities, mortgage interest, and maintenance expenses. Also, don't forget your realtor's percentage when you sell. I wouldn't recommend trying to do that without him or her. They should be an important member of your team.  You have a big enough job managing the whole thing.

AUCTION SUCCESS

What a rush! It was very exciting even though I wasn't physically there.  Bill called me on his cell phone when he arrived. The auction was held at another property that was being sold and only a few people were there. 

At 8 AM Bill called me again and the auctioneer promptly began. I could hear it all. He spent the first two minutes going over the rules of the auction -- everyone already had a copy. Then he started the bidding. He was like a tobacco auctioneer -- you couldn't understand a word he said except for the amounts.

SHORT SALE, AUCTION and OTHER REAL ESTATE EVENTS

My recent experience with short sales has been quite a trip. I made an offer on a sweet little house in North Carolina for the full asking price of the short sale. The owners accepted, but it had to be approved by their bank. Short sale means the bank is supposedly willing to accept less than the seller owes them. 

All seemed well and we were waiting for confirmation of our closing date. Waiting. Waiting. The bank kept asking the seller for more documentation on their end. Waiting. Then my realtor got a phone call from their realtor. The bank had "accidentally" let it slip into foreclosure. Real bummer for the sellers who now have a foreclosure on their credit record. Bummer for me, but not hopeless -- I could just keep looking.

I decided to wait until winter to look for the next little place to fix up and "flip." Meanwhile, my realtor, Bill Millwood, suggested that we follow up and try to buy the property at auction. He knew I was still interested -- after all I had already drawn up a budget and made the plan for the fix-up.  I went out and bought 3 books on buying at auction and am now wading through them. They pretty much say the same thing -- I could have saved a couple of bucks by only buying one.

SHORT SALE, AUCTION and OTHER REAL ESTATE EVENTS

My recent experience with short sales has been quite a trip. I made an offer on a sweet little house in North Carolina for the full asking price of the short sale. The owners accepted, but it had to be approved by their bank. Short sale means the bank is supposedly willing to accept less than the seller owes them. 

All seemed well and we were waiting for confirmation of our closing date. Waiting. Waiting. The bank kept asking the seller for more documentation on their end. Waiting. Then my realtor got a phone call from their realtor. The bank had "accidentally" let it slip into foreclosure. Real bummer for the sellers who now have a foreclosure on their credit record. Bummer for me, but not hopeless -- I could just keep looking.

I decided to wait until winter to look for the next little place to fix up and "flip." Meanwhile, my realtor, Bill Millwood, suggested that we follow up and try to buy the property at auction. He knew I was still interested -- after all I had already drawn up a budget and made the plan for the fix-up.  I went out and bought 3 books on buying at auction and am now wading through them. They pretty much say the same thing -- I could have saved a couple of bucks by only buying one.

PROBLEMS AND FRUSTRATIONS

I knew the well was "slow." I had hoped it was due to corroded pipes as that's a common problem with old houses. But my plumber, Ira, has broken the news that I will eventually need a new well. I can use the present one as long as I nurse it along carefully -- no watering the lawn, etc. It also probably means bathing in a teaspoon and being careful about washing clothes. OK, so now I know. The next thing to find out is, since this well does have some water, can the new well be drilled as a continuation of it? On my next trip down, I'll have to see if Ira knows a good well drilling company, and get their opinion. Unfortunately, a new well is one of the things that will have to wait until the Maine house sells.  Life has to wait until the Maine house sells.

Some people looked at the Maine house and I tried not to get my hopes up. They took almost a week to decide, but the husband loved it, thought it was perfectly done. His wife thought it was "too done," and not enough left to do to make it "hers." Of course, she won. So it's wait some more.

Meanwhile, I had been thinking that once I sell this place I'd be in a quandary as to how to make the move. It's clear, especially with the well situation, that I can't live in the house and keep the five cats safe during the building phase. Why not go ahead and see what's available for the next project. Something livable that I could be in with the cats while the first house is being done, then move into that house while I finish and sell the second house. Good plan.

I checked the internet and found a really cute little place with large rooms (not many but large) and a sunny kitchen. It was only a mile from the first house. I sent Bill to check it out. His report was disappointing. Although one traveled through a pleasant neighborhood to get there, once there one would be surrounded by trailers and not nice ones at that. They could all be seen from the windows of the house despite fencing all around the yard, and bushes. I sadly returned to the internet and found three more possibilities.

When Bill looked into it, he found that one was already under contract, but he would check on the other two shortly. Meanwhile, I decided to wait a bit longer so told him not to make the trip. Then the potential buyers appeared on the horizon. It was encouraging even if they didn't buy -- it was a sign that there were people out there who would realize the value of the property and possibly buy. I went back to the internet. Only one of the little houses was still on, but it was the best one. Not only that, the price had dropped by $10,000 in less than two weeks. I immediately contact Bill to go as quickly as possible to see it.