Goodbye and good riddance.

When we moved to our current home in 2006, we left behind another home that we couldn't sell. It's an older (1942), smaller home, and of course we put it on the market just as the market was starting to tank. The home remained vacant from August 2006 to April 2007 when we finally found a tenant who loved the home and asked for an option to purchase in the lease. A two year lease. We were thrilled to have someone covering our mortgage payments. Those charmers gave notice and moved out April 2008. After a couple months of repainting, cleaning and fretting, we found another tenant. She moved in with her kids on June 1, 2008. And she moved out on January 31, 2009. Yes, we are totally getting screwed by this house. It's like an albatross hanging over our heads.

While we were at the house on Saturday doing our final cleaning, we talked a bit about how we don't miss it, even though there were so many memories there. Meg was just 1 1/2 when we moved in, so she grew up in that house. Drew was born while we lived there. The twins were conceived there. We had great Christmas Eve dinners with our families there. We had a big family reunion around our pool and met our new nieces and nephew that Doug's brother and sister-in-law adopted. We had our tough times there too. We endured two miscarriages while we were there. My grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimers while we lived there. That house saw a lot.

Today we're putting the house back on the market. We're no longer looking at making any money on the sale. In fact, we're taking a huge loss just listing it at the price the broker suggested we list it for. I know we're not the only people going thru this; I read every day about foreclosures, short sales and the depressed economy. I scan Craigslist for what others are listing their homes for and think "well, maybe our house will sell because we aren't asking so much for it". Doug created a spreadsheet for us so that if and when an offer comes in, we can determine if we can financially afford it. The house is a good little house for a small family, or a couple just starting out. It treated us well while we were there. Now we just want it sold. We said goodbye 2 1/2 years ago. Now we're ready to say good riddance. Cross your fingers for us that something good happens.