Housing sales have tanked in BC lately — down 25% over last year. There is so much on the market that prices are dropping almost weekly. Honestly, if we had $30K to spare, we’d buy another house and rent/reno this one.
The house next door sold last week — for about $40K under asking price which was already $40K below assessed value. One of the reasons it was reduced was that there were a lot of cosmetic updates needed. I think it had last been decorated circa 1978.
So when the purchaser started pulling out roll after roll of shag carpeting, I was not too surprised. The buyer is a builder — he seems to be renovating. Whether he renos to flip or to rent or to live there is anyone’s guess at this point.
Honestly, I would love to have the chance to reno a house we weren’t living inside. It’s the kind of thing that Mike and I say, “Yeah, a couple hundred thousand would fix that.” And really, that’s it. With just a little cash, we could buy, reno and rent or flip.
Meanwhile, my Mother-in-Law is moving soon; so if the itch to trade up weren’t already there… helping someone else pack and prep really doesn’t help. It’s not that we need to move but with a tween in the house now, we are out of time for getting a second bathroom… and the dominoes that need to fall for that to happen aren’t ready to tumble yet. There are days when the renos needed here are painfully obvious (Mike calls those “every day”) but on the other hand I am extremely thankful to be able to own a single-family house and plot of land we can call our own. Even if it’s not perfect it’s ours.
But if you happen to win a big lottery, or if you have a few thousand to spare, we’ve got plenty of ways to use any cash that happens to land on our doorstep. 😉