Unfinished business, and home values in the 'hood
So current events in my life have prompted me to look at my house with fresh eyes. Mostly what I see is a thousand little unfinished projects. I wonder how it got this way? It might just be home ownership, but this goes beyond simple maintenance. Never finished painting/trimming the baseboards from when I put in the new flooring. Never quite got to painting the wall I had replaced when I repaired my closet's pocket door. One of my kitchen lights keeps shorting out. The hot tub needs to be rebuilt.
I thought I'd be able to pull a tiny bit extra out when I refinanced my house, probably in the next couple months, until I talked to my neighbor Bob last night. So Bob owns the house across the street from me -- identical floorplan, and he has a pool in back. Two years ago his place was valued at $300,000 or so. When I got mine appraised it was $285k. I have the nicer kitchen and finish work of our two places, but pools are pretty awesome. Anyway, Bob is selling his house. He's thrilled that he was able to score $180,000 for his place. He's lost $120k in value and is happy! Then he tells me, gloating now, that the average home price in the 'hood is now $160,000. So if I'm lucky -- really lucky -- mine might be $165-170k or so.
I'm literally sick to my stomach right now. I owe $160,000 on my place, and had sort of kept that extra $100k-or-so in the back of my mind as a useful buffer against the black cloud of despair. Jesus wept! $100,000 gone, just like that. Now I'm just hoping that I don't owe more than the house itself is worth. That is, if I can even qualify for financing.