Would You Like a Little Cheese with that WHINE?!

Monday, May 14, 2007

Uh, Never Mind...

I normally don't flake out and change my mind once I *finally* make a decision, but this time is different. On Friday, I was supposed to call the realtor to make an offer on the house we like, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Something just didn't feel right. All day long a certain dollar amount kept swirling through my mind: It's the difference in insurance costs and taxes that we'd be paying - and it's pretty substantial. Manageable, but substantial. If I thought things were stabilizing in the insurance industry here in Southeast Louisiana, I'd move forward, but insurance companies are still looking for ways to minimize their risk and there's no telling what changed might be in store next year.

I may have mentioned this in a previous post: I have my insurance with a major insurance company. It covers my homeowners, including wind/hail damage (replacement cost). If we buy a new house, the same company will insure it, but it will drop the wind/hail coverage so we'll have to go through the state's insurance plan for wind/hail, and it would only be actual cost (depreciated) and quite expensive.

Plus the current law on the books state that an insurance company doing business in the state of Louisiana cannot drop a customer without a good reason if they've had their policy for 3+ years. A new house = a new policy. Never mind that we've been insured with them for 17 years. They could feasibly drop us within the first three years of owning the new house and then we'd have to go through the state insurance plan ($$$$) for all of our coverage.

Ultimately, the insurance represents too great an unknown variable for my comfort level so we're staying put. Perhaps in the next 3-5 years the insurance industry will stabilize (and hopefully the real estate industry won't skyrocket).

Meanwhile, my realtor put the For Sale sign up Friday. I was NOT expecting that. I thought he'd put it up Monday (today) when he came to take the interior pictures. I asked Dear Hubby to call and "break up" with our realtor, who handled the news fine. We took the sign down.

Home, Sweet Home.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Decisions, Decisions...

We signed the paperwork to list our house last night. I think we're asking a fair price, considering the type. It's a little starter home, cute, new enough (6 yrs) to still be attractive to potential buyers, I think. I'm still purging unwanted stuff, packing not frequently used items into boxes to put in the attic (de-cluttering), cleaning, etc.

On Monday, my agent will take interior photos and put up the yard sign. I'll probably cry then (again). It still doesn't feel real yet. We did find a house in our neighborhood that we like a lot. Still trying to decide whether it's The One, but I can certainly see myself living there (that's a good start).

The tricky thing is that I live in a fairly affluent town, but we're not very affluent ourselves (nor are we poor). When we first returned to Louisiana, this was a pretty affordable area to live because it is a bit of a commute for the people who work in New Orleans (a 24 mile toll-bridge, plus interstate traffic into the city).

Hurricane Katrina changed all that. We were fortunate that our area was not severely impacted (in general, our area had wind damage, but only the homes within a few blocks of lake flooded). So much of the New Orleans and the immediately surrounding areas were devastated. While there are people who are committed to rebuilding there, a great number decided to move to our area. Suddenly being far away from the city became a plus.

Property values initially skyrocketed. They've leveled off now, though. As I said in yesterday's post, we priced ourselves out of a lot of properties by waiting (and by being conservative). However, I feel like we're getting to the point that the value of the starter homes will peak so this would be a good time to sell. No one is building mid-level neighborhoods, though. Everything is upscale, which is nice...unless you're in the market for a mid-level home. The houses in our neighborhood are mid-level and are 6-17 years old. Other mid-levels homes in the area are much, much older.

Insurance is another huge issue. Because of Hurricane Katrina, many insurance companies have stopped doing business in the state of Louisiana. My carrier, Allstate, will write new policies for existing customers, but they're one of the few. They may be the only one by now, for all I know. Insurance costs have gone up - I've gotten used to that. The state flood insurance plan isn't terribly expensive in our area. The kicker is that if we sell our existing home which Allstate provides with hazard (fire, accident) & wind/hail coverage, they'll issue a new policy for hazard, but NOT for wind/hail. We'll have to go through the state insurance plan for that. :-(

There's also a rule on the books that an insurance company cannot drop a policy without good reason if the customer has had insurance for more than three years. Well, if we buy a new home, then we start all over with a new policy, which Allstate can feasibly drop (oops, they call it "non-renew" - like that makes a difference) our hazard coverage within 3 years - which means we'd have to go with the $tate run in$urance plan.

It's a gamble. My agent seems to feel that Allstate is committed to staying in Louisiana, and because we have multiple policies (auto, life, home) and a clean claims history that they'd be unlikely to drop/non-renew us. Of course, he doesn't know that for sure. It'll likely take several years for the insurance industry to stabilize and attract new providers.

So here's how it stands. Our house will soon be on the market. I think we'll make an offer for the one we like best. It will be a predicated offer, contingent on the sale of our home. Then we wait.... we wait to see if the seller will accept our offer (or negotiate), then we wait to see if someone will make a decent offer on our home.

Let the emotional rollercoaster begin!

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Weight Watchers Wednesdays (& Other Stuff)

week 1 (Wed. 3.9.07) ~~~~~~ Just getting started!
week 2 (Wed. 3.14.07) ~~~~~ - 3.4 lbs
week 3 (Wed. 3.21.07) ~~~~~ - 1.6 lbs
week 4 (Wed. 3.28.07) ~~~~~ - 2.4 lbs
week 5 (Wed. 4.4.07) ~~~~~~~ + 0.6 lbs
week 6 (Wed. 4-11-07) ~~~~~~ -0
week 7 (Wed. 4-18-07) ~~~~~~ -3.2 lbs
week 8 (Wed. 4-25-07) ~~~~~~ -1.2 lbs
week 9 (Wed. 5-2-07) ~~~~~~~ -1.4 lbs
weej 10 (Wed. 5-9-07) ~~~~~~ -1.4 lbs

total weight loss: -14 lbs

Wow, I can't believe it's been a week since I've posted. Sorry, everyone, for leaving you hanging. (I do like to check in every couple of days at least.)

Here's what's happening now: Dear Hubby and I thinking of selling our house and buying a slightly larger on in the same neighborhood. We have a "starter" home and I think the market for those are started to level off, whereas the slightly larger homes still seem to be appreciating in value. Unfortunately, we've priced ourselves out of a lot of decent homes by waiting.... I do not tend to make big decisions easily, I have to research, research, research, ponder it obsessively (my head hurts), lose a lot of sleep before I ultimately ask Dear Hubby what his gut is telling him and usually go with that. I'm certain God speaks to both of us. Unfortunately, I'm still learning how to just be still, be quiet.

Just when I think we've made a decision something else comes up. Another house in the area is listed for sale (I'm sure we'll see more of this as the school year is coming to a close), hints about a job offer out of state (would we really consider it?), etc.

Besides obsessing, I've been obsessively cleaning our house, touch up paint, de-cluttering, etc. to make ours ready to sell. We have a realtor coming by this evening to discuss pricing, etc., and if we like what he has to say, we just might take the plunge!

I have mixed feelings, though. I really like our house. It's just so tiny and the floor plan doesn't lend itself well to entertaining. That wasn't an issue when we bought, but at the time we had two kids and Dear Hubby's family didn't live very nearby. Now, since Hurricane Katrina wreck their home, Dear Hubby's dad and two brothers are living 4 blocks away. Two of Dear Hubby's sisters are living next door to each other two block from our current house.

I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, I'm off to check your blogs.