Getting It Sold

Wow. Thanks for your response to the cute little house on Wrenford. I received 15 written offers in the span of just 48 hours. Top bidder? $36,000 in cash, quick close and no inspections. Usually I wouldn't encourage a buyer to not have a house inspected, but in this case, the seller was so interested in selling, and there were SO many offers that it made sense to just cut out anyone who asked for them.

Now here's the interesting part of the story: I got a phone call yesterday from a slightly irritated neighbor who was angry at ME for pricing the house that way. "The neighbors are all frustrated because you pricing the house that way brings all our property values down." Aha. As if I dictated the market! (Wish that I could).

Here's the thing: with the death of a parent comes the realization that all you have left is some memories, a bit of stuff, and a HOUSE. What are you going to do with a house when you live across the country, around the world, or even next door? SELL IT. Who sets the price? The market sets the price. We could have priced the house at $1.00, and it still would have sold for $36,000. We could have set the price at $50,000 and it still would have sold for $36,000. We could have set the price for $75,000 and NO ONE WOULD HAVE LOOKED AT IT! Instead, the seller got the house sold, no longer has to pay the insurance, taxes etc., and one very happy homebuyer now holds title to a cute little house on Wrenford Road.

Cutest Little House on Wrenford

I gotta show you the cutest little house of all on Wrenford in South Euclid. Really, isn't this the best? All brick, solid as a rock. 3 bedrooms, 1 full bath. Eat in kitchen, finished basement. Yes, and it can be yours for only $25,000! What's the catch? NO CATCH.

People often ask me why a given house is so cheap. In this case, the house is part of an estate. The owner passed away a month ago, give or take a few days. Her daughter, executrix, (a fancy way of saying that she's handling the estate) understands that she'd rather have her mom than any amount of money out of the house. Given that she can't (have her mom, that is), she's asking a price that will just prompt a sale. No reason to hang on to it, no reason to dilly dally around. I applaud that approach.

We'll Take What We Can Get

We'll take what we can get, but we have our first sign of spring in Cleveland! These are the first bulbs--hyacinth? daffodils? Hard to tell yet, but they're here, and here to stay. I had a nice referral today (thank you R. Hefter of Hebrew Academy of Cleveland). The potential Clevelander asked first and foremost about the weather. I told her not to move here because of the weather, but rather in spite of it. Cleveland may have the worst climate I have ever lived in, but has the warmest heart. The people here, the sense of community, the way you can belong all add up to fabulous value. Add in the fact that our housing is cheaper than many places across the country, and our tuition and costs of that sort are less as well, and there you have it.I have always thought that the first sign of spring in Cleveland is the vans of Amish day-workers coming to build in town. I expect we'll see that sign of spring soon, but our first and foremost sign was actually found in nature--enjoy!