Failed Flip: Stuck in a Fixer Upper for 7 years

[Alison Meehan]

Hey, everyone. The title basically says it all. We kept our 1st house and turned it into a rental house sucessfully. Still own it. But the second? We put the offer in and then realized I was pregnant with baby #2. So we did a ton of work but the work just NEVER seems to end. Painting, touched up the kitchen, HVAC, hot water heating, new front porch, new back porch. I'm so over it. We both work and spend a ton of time with our kids. Anyway... we're wrapping up the bulk of the major projects, but a few spots still look like crap. We replaced all the indoor doors upon moving in - and many don't work and/or look like crap. The outside doors plus the wood around them as well. Parts of the fence could also be redone and then we put a lot of time in the garden and it's pretty weedy. So... I'm wondering if these projects matter much or can I just skip them given that all the major projects are done? And, if we have the choice (which I think we barely can do either one - but selling seems more comfortable), should we definitely keep both rentals or sell our current house to get a new one? We have at least $200,000 of equity in the house but hoping for more, but we could rent it out for way more than our mortgage payment. But the cash would be a godsend. We qualify for a VA loan... and might be able to have it on both. Our interest rate is an incredible 2.5%. My husband's career and mine have honestly been VERY much on the backburning and the house is a HUGE problem for us. Slows our careers down a lot. We're looking for an easier house so we can focus on our careers and our kids more. Both our earnings are certain to go up (I have book deals and a business, he's getting a top secret security clearance for cybersecurity)... but even with staying where we are, we're in a pretty strong position. We are on target for retirement for our age and at least $250,000 in equity in the 1st house on top of that.

[JD Martin]

If you are making good money, why not just pay someone to finish the stuff that you are sick of doing? Just because you *can* do something doesn't mean you "should* do something. I can do a far better job on my lawn than my lawn crew does. It would also take me 1.5 hours, minimum, every week to do that job. They do my lawn in 15 minutes, cut, edge and blow and it costs me $25. My time is definitely worth more than $17/hr, not including the costs I would incur for the equipment and fuel. Interior door replacement is a simple job for anyone with even basic handyman skills. Same thing with fence repair.

It doesn't have to be an either/or proposition. If you want to sell to cash out, by all means so so, but know you will get better money virtually anywhere by having a house that presents to potential buyers as "all finished" because guess what - those jobs you don't want to do? Neither do your buyers unless they're getting a cash bargain for the privilege of working.