Real Estate: The Ramsey Way by Dave Ramsey

Author:Dave Ramsey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Keywords
Publisher: Ramsey Press
Published: 2024-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Selling Your Home: It’s a Big Deal Too!

For more than 15 years, Darren and Kenya lived just outside of Chicago. They were leading a super-busy life keeping up with their four increasingly active kids. “We have a competitive swimmer, a competitive figure skater, a competitive hockey player, and a rugby player,” Kenya said. Their kids’ busy schedules were starting to be a strain on the family—but that’s not all they were dealing with. Add in their ongoing money problems, Darren’s high-stress job, and aging parents with health issues, and you can understand why Darren and Kenya felt like they were drowning in their lives. It was time to make a change. They decided to leave Illinois and start a new life near their parents in Florida.

Just one problem (on top of all the others): They’d need to sell their house.

On one hand, Darren and Kenya knew their home sale could be a game changer for them. Their home was valued at around $176,000, and they had a ton of equity—over $145,000. That would give them more than enough to pay off their remaining debt and cover the cost of their move.

On the other hand, they knew their house needed a lot of work. “We had bought it as a fixer-upper,” Kenya said. “But it needed a new roof and new carpet, the kitchen and deck needed to be updated, and the water softener was broken and leaking. We also had a leak in the upstairs bathroom that dripped into the downstairs bathroom.”

Next came the news that Darren had landed a job in Jacksonville. His start date was just a month away! Was that a blessing? Yes! But it also threw another challenge into the mix: They only had one month to sell the house and move a family of six! As first-time sellers, Darren and Kenya knew they were getting in way over their heads. So they started looking for a real estate agent to help them navigate it all.

The first agent they talked to took a look at all the work that needed to be done and suggested they spend $20,000–$25,000 on the house just to make it ready to sell. The upside, according to the agent, was that those improvements would allow them to list their house for $190,000–$200,000. The agent completely ignored the fact that Darren and Kenya didn’t have that kind of money or the time to get the work completed. Bottom line: It was a bad plan that benefited the agent, not Darren and Kenya.

“The last thing we could afford was an agent who was just concerned about their own paycheck,” Darren said.

The next one they talked to was a RamseyTrusted real estate agent. And the experience was completely different. Their new agent looked the house over but spent most of her time talking with Darren and Kenya about their goals and listening as they explained their financial challenges and stressful schedule. The agent told them to price the house low and sell it as is.

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