How's that retirement penson going?

[earthdome]

My house sold and the closing was today. Just under the wire. Tomorrow at 8AM the city/county where I live is going into lockdown. It was supposed to close yesterday but the woman buying it for cash is a foreign international from china and the bank wouldn't release the funds. I was worried that we wouldn't reach close but she worked it out with her bank last night. That was close, I didn't want to get stuck holding on to it during all this economic turmoil. She came back after the inspection last week wanting a discount because of "problems" found during the inspection. She didn't ask for much so we just went with it instead of negotiating because the most important thing from my perspective was to get the sale closed.

[GeoffH]

My house has sold also (the buyer did eventually get finance approval), there is only the final bank inspection and settlement is supposed to be on 3 April.

The solicitor (attourney) office are closed but working from home and the bank will do the settlement electronically.

The issue is going to be timing, the RE are insisting upon a professional clean and disinfect before the bank will do the final inspection because I've had a 'person in self-isolation' staying there *sigh*.

I told them I was ok with them organizing a cleaner but they'd have to add it to the house sale expense costs, honestly with moving all the stuff in the sheds and getting my other house clear so the Maldon furniture can go in is taking all my time.  

I think I've sold just in time, I'm hearing that Real Estate sales are falling off a cliff. 

Although I won't sleep easy until the money is in my bank, I've got almost all my spare cash tied up in the new house and I need to sell the old one.

If the sale doesn't finalize then I'm renting one of the houses for income or applying for benefits if I can't rent it.

Edited March 25, 2020 by GeoffH

[OnMyWay]

On 3/25/2020 at 8:45 AM, earthdome said:

My house sold and the closing was today. Just under the wire. Tomorrow at 8AM the city/county where I live is going into lockdown. It was supposed to close yesterday but the woman buying it for cash is a foreign international from china and the bank wouldn't release the funds. I was worried that we wouldn't reach close but she worked it out with her bank last night. That was close, I didn't want to get stuck holding on to it during all this economic turmoil. She came back after the inspection last week wanting a discount because of "problems" found during the inspection. She didn't ask for much so we just went with it instead of negotiating because the most important thing from my perspective was to get the sale closed.

Looks like I will be stuck with an empty house for at least a few months, until this gets resolved in Florida.  Terrible timing on my part.  I asked my realtor a few days ago, and he said their are still buyers and sellers, but definitely slower.  I'm sure I will have to accept a lower price for the house.

[GeoffH]

1 hour ago, OnMyWay said:

I'm sure I will have to accept a lower price for the house.

I've read articles talking about a 20% hit to property values, a lower price now could end up still being better than what you'd get later.

Of course only you an make that call.

[fillipino_wannabe]

I'd be selling my stocks now (if I had any) after the little rebound the last couple of days. 'Just' around 25% down now from their all time high, I'd be surprised if it doesn't go a lot lower than that.

[hk blues]

10 minutes ago, fillipino_wannabe said:

I'd be selling my stocks now (if I had any) after the little rebound the last couple of days. 'Just' around 25% down now from their all time high, I'd be surprised if it doesn't go a lot lower than that.

That's one of the reasons I don't invest in the stock market - I'd always be basing my +/- on the highest value it attained rather than simply looking at what I paid and its value now.  I'm not suited to investment in general. 

[stevewool]

Still on the up my shares , but any moment they could go down .

[earthdome]

10 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

Looks like I will be stuck with an empty house for at least a few months, until this gets resolved in Florida.  Terrible timing on my part.  I asked my realtor a few days ago, and he said their are still buyers and sellers, but definitely slower.  I'm sure I will have to accept a lower price for the house.

Sorry to hear that. I verified that the money from the sale was in our account yesterday. We are so fortunate to have been able to get the sale done before the lockdown and without the buyer backing out due to the economic turmoil. Hope things settle down quickly and the markets recover some so you can get yours sold.

[OnMyWay]

9 hours ago, GeoffH said:

I've read articles talking about a 20% hit to property values, a lower price now could end up still being better than what you'd get later.

Of course only you an make that call.

Of course, it will be different in each market.  Going into selling I was always going to be flexible on my price because I didn't want selling to take forever.  Then my realtor actually suggested a higher starting price than I had been anticipating. Less than two years ago I had a contract with my tenant to buy it for almost 20% less than I am asking now.  He couldn't pull it off and prices went up a lot in the time since then.

So, I have a bit of wiggle room and have my fingers crossed that a buyer will be out there in the next few months.

[Tommy T.]

13 hours ago, fillipino_wannabe said:

I'd be selling my stocks now (if I had any) after the little rebound the last couple of days. 'Just' around 25% down now from their all time high, I'd be surprised if it doesn't go a lot lower than that.

I think that really would be a very bad idea.

Investing is not for the faint of heart. I have been doing this for over 35 years. No one can really time the ups and downs accurately. Sometimes you can get close. But the long term view is that stocks have gone up historically forever... Now is the time to hang on and wait. I have a few investments and was lucky when I sold some about three weeks ago to finance the home build. First time I was ever really lucky with timing.

If I were to consider my remaining investments now (which I do daily) I would be aghast at the losses - and I am... But it's only on paper, not realized losses. There's a big difference.

If things don't improve over the long run, there will be a lot more problems than just stock valuations...we're talking possible famine (remember the locust plague right now in Africa???), incredible joblessness and more... But I don't think that will happen. Things will bounce back and eventually be better than before. As depressed as I feel right now, I see there will be massive improvement when all this virus issue is done and passed.

Edited March 27, 2020 by Tommy T.