Friday, February 8, 2013

Putting the Past Behind Me

When my marriage fell apart in 2006, I tried to move on and thought the best way to do that would be to buy a little home of my own.  I loved my little house.  Not long after I moved in, I was offered a job up here in Washington DC and realized that if I ever hoped to retire and be able to support myself, I needed to make more money to contribute toward my retirement.  I've been up here since 2008 and have been renting out my little house in NC since I left.  I thought I'd be able to retire and move back in three years, but having done a quick check of my retirement annuity, I see that's not possible.  The stress of being a landlord is not worth holding onto my house especially since I'll probably have to work for at least another three to four years.  I'm ready to sell it and move past and get on to the next chapter of my life.  

Unfortunately, just as I was getting ready to put it on the market, the roof leaked and I found out I had to have the roof replaced.  I had to have the ceiling fixed where the roof leaked into the plaster ceiling and in the process, found out I have no insulation in the attic.  I also found out that now I have to repaint all of the trim because my dumb a** tenants splotched oil paint over every place there must have been a mark of any kind - basically, all the doors and the trim in the house.  The paint has now yellowed and has left huge yellow blobs over the rest of the white trim.  I'm so demoralized at this point.  Every time I think the house is ready to go, something else crops up.  

I'm hoping that once I sell the house, I'll be able to put aside some money and if I need to replace my 13-year-old car, I'll be able to afford one.  I'm secretly hoping that my little Honda will keep on keeping on for another couple of years.  Meanwhile I'm crossing my fingers that nothing else goes wrong and I can find a buyer before any other gremlins come along that are going to cost me more money before I can put it on the market.  

Did I say de-moralized?  I mean de-pressed, de-spirited, just wanting to bury my head in the blankets and say enough already!  

7 comments:

Dog Trot Farm said...

Ah Genny I am sorry to hear this, being a landlord is never easy. How do you oversee all the repairs that need to be attended to while in DC? Do you have someone you can trust, family perhaps? All I can say is keep putting one foot in front of the other, it can only get better. Thinking of you, Julie.

Genny said...

Julie, I had a property manager to take care of repairs that needed to be done. Unfortunately, no one ever cares for your house the way you do. The problem is that they painted over latex with oil, and now it's all discolored and needs to be repainted. I'm okay. Thanks for lifting me up. I'll get through it, but sometimes the going gets rough.

Unknown said...

Genny, I have been through the same thing. I had to wait until the tenants left because there was no way I could sell my house with them in it. They were hoarders basically, you couldn't see the floor...anywhere. I had to have the entire house repainted and lots of other work done. We spent out entire Thanksgiving weekend just cleaning! While it was heartbreaking to see my home treated the way it was, the cost of fixing it up was a drop in the bucket compared to the equity that has built up over that time. It's for sale now, it just took us 5 months to get there. You will too, hang in there!!

Razzberry Corner said...

Oh, Genny, I'm sorry! We also have a rental house. Our renters finally moved out. They refused to let us enter the house for the past year because they trashed the place so badly. We have been working on it for months to get to cleaned up. So sad. And just when it's almost done, just need to finish repainting the inside, I decided to move back into it. It's a much nicer house than the one I'm living in. And so, I made the big decision to move since it's sitting empty anyway. And then suddenly we found renters for it. And so yet again my plans change...

At least I'll be getting the rental income when the sequestration hits in a few weeks and I lose part of my pay...

Cheer up! There's always bad things going on, we just have to keep smiling in the midst of it all!

Genny said...

Lynn, at least my renters didn't completely trash the place. They pulled out mature landscaping because they were worried about someone hiding behind the bushes. Let's just say they were a little odd. I'm glad you found a renter for your place. How would the critters have gotten along without you? I'm worried about the loss in pay that we could be facing. It will sure make it tough until I sell the NC house.

Thanks for your sweet note and for dropping by!

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

Well, it's not at all nice to know we are not alone. We own a home in Maine and the renters moved in with the agreement that they were buying. After over four years they just moved out saying they don't qualify. We didn't mind that they didn't buy as the rent was paid on time. We won't be going back until August and now have a reality that is supposed to have weatherized it. We have no idea what condition they left the home in..but we are hoping it isn't too bad.
It's very stressful having renters as they seldom take care of the home.
You are in a tight situation and hopefully things will get better and you will be able to sell your home. It sounds like your renters really made a mess of things.

Many are going through what has happened to you. Life can be so difficult.

Genny said...

Wsprsweetly, I sure hope that you find your home in great shape. Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment. Good luck on your Maine home. I LOVE Maine!