My husband is out with the kids watching some Grommit movie. Me, I’ve spent the afternoon on the telephone with familymembers. Talking to my mom. Talking to my sister.

My mom had her surgery. Went well. We are now playing the waiting game. This is where her body tries to repair itself and fight off the infection. I’m cautiously optimistic since the alternative isn’t very palatable.

My husband and I are talking about selling the house in Florida. Pandemic aside, we just are weary of the whole renting game. 5am phone calls from potential renters, hurricane season, dependency on the family to check on things, the real estate bubble in South Florida and the fact that in 3 years we have more then doubled our money. We’ve been burned trying to “time the market” before. That was during the tech bubble. We lost hundreds of thousands of dollars when we rode my husband’s stock options from their grant price of 75 cents to over 132 per share and then back down to a buck fifty. So we have already felt the sting of greed. Sometimes, preservation is more important then growth. And we are at those cross roads right now.

The pandemic does play a part in our decision. But that isn’t it completely - I mean we weathered the whole 9-11 thing just fine. Truth of the matter is that if there was a pandemic and my husband had to stop working, making two house payments for 18 months to 2 years would be difficult. I do believe that no matter what, real estate would come “back”. But those two years of stress could be extremely painful. Plus it’s also paying for the upkeep.

What has Florida’s real estate market booming is the fact that many retirees and internationals are moving to SW Florida to retire. This is really weighing on the demand curve. How much longer can it last? Do I want to try to hold on for another year?

I just think right now I’d feel safer with a more liquid asset. Throughout my life, there have been many times where I have made decisions based on my gut… and I think I really simply have to trust my gut here.

But the inertia to sell the house is huge. We have the house rented for most of “season”. So I am going to have to tell a bunch of people “oops…sorry… find some place else!” That sucks. And then of course there’s the house full of furniture. What do I do with all that furniture? It’s furnished in a “West Indies” type style… and it really doesn’t fit with our house in Washington. And there’s all the “stuff” like dishes pots and pans. Perhaps I can sell it completely furnished. Then there is the whole having to find a real estate broker and figure out the massive tax implications.

And all this doesn’t even touch on the fact that this is a place full of memories for us. I designed this house myself. I did all the decorating. From purchasing the land to purchasing the 400 thread count sheets… my heart and soul is in this house. To let it go… is to let go of the dream of having it as a place to vacation to with our kids and our cousins. To let it go is difficult.

Gah. It’s overwhelming. And I’m still not sure what I am going to do. By far the path of least resistance is to just keep it. But the decision needs to be made in the next couple weeks because I have a bunch of advertising I need to renew and we need to give people time to find another place to stay.



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