My real estate agent, Ruth Ann, is coming by tomorrow to check out my house. I am wondering if she thinks the appraisal is a bit high at $323K. My house is only 880 sq ft!
Almost all of the value is in the lot. I think my county tax appraisal has my lot valued at $220ish and my improvement value (aka, my house) as only $42K! Ha ha. What a clear statement of, “Uh, yer house is a piece of shit.”
There is a lot of controversy about these tax appraisals. Neighbors think that the city is biased and wants these old 1940s homes torn down, but many in the neighborhood hold fast to the original buildings. I hope a new buyer wouldn’t tear my little house down! The three homes to my right and the two homes across the street have all been razed and rebuilt….
$319K means I can pay off credit card debt and have 20% down for my RV. I’ve decided that with the recent soft housing market (not as much in Central Austin, though), I won’t lock in a loss on my house. If the numbers don’t work, I’d rather take the hit with subsidizing a rental for at least a year. Austin is growing and these Central Austin lots are in demand with limited supply….
Anyway, keep your fingers crossed that Ruth Ann thinks my house can sell for a good price! She is a 30 year veteran real estate agent and is well respected with regard to Austin home values.
4 Comments
Wish you luck on the house. We hit the road July 2009 and sold the house August 2009. Our realtor in San Antonio took care of the sale for us so we don’t have to be there.
After all the improvements we made, we still took a lost in the sale. It was the beginning of the real estate crisis.
Hope you have much better luck in Austin. We love staying at a RV park between Bastrop and Austin so we have access to the cool things in Austin and mountain biking in Smithville.
(^_^)
Oops, I really meant to say “hit the road July 2008 and sold the house August 2008.” Sorry about the confusion.
I see that you are interested in fulltiming. I wish we had the gumption to do something like that. I’ve bookmarked your blog after reading it so I can keep up with your progress. My wife and I just purchased an older motor home and drove it almost 2,200 miles to get it home. Having never driven one before, it was a bit of a daunting task, but one that ended up being a whole lot of fun. Enjoy.
My advice, since you are kinda asking us: rent the house. Wait out the market. Maybe offer a rent to own with the right tenant. Grab a used RV with good bones (good chassis, working appliances, sound exterior) and see how you like the lifestyle.
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