When Madison and I decided that we were going to live the nomadic life in the RV we knew we had to downsize our lives and expenses. The big thing on the list was the house I bought less than 2 years ago. We couldn’t afford be paying for a mortgage on a house that we weren’t living in.
I contacted my realtor, a family friend and just a great, straight shooting, realistic dude. He told me that there was no way you could AirBnB my place because of all the upkeep, cleaning and preparation that would need to go into the house in-between visitors staying. Selling wasn’t an option because I had just bought the house and didn’t have much equity in it.
It came down to renting. I had just recently completely redone the family room with the help of my dad – it quickly became the best room in the house. The kitchen, which was basically 12 different wood looks with scattered flower patterns covering every fixture imaginable, was a grandmother’s dream but was in desperate need of a renovation. With the moral support of my buddies hanging out and playing video games while I painted every square inch of the kitchen and put a new floor in, the kitchen was given about a 50-year upgrade.
My realtor dude came to check out all of the work that had been done and we discussed the AirBnB, selling, and renting options when he got a phone call from one of his other clients who was about to sign a lease the next day. His client was being forced out of his rental house in the village by a crazy landlord looking to move back in. He was about to sign a lease a few towns away that he didn’t really want to live in.
My realtor immediately told his client that my house in the village was now a viable option, but he had to act quickly. The guy came to check out my house that same day, agreed to rent it for two years and we signed the lease a few days after making it official.
It was a great deal that Maddy and I felt so extremely lucky in getting. Thanks to my realtor for hooking us up like that – in no time at all. A few weeks later we moved the last box out of the house, met my new tenant and moved things into 5 different family and friends places while Maddy and I squeezed my important stuff into her apartment, that we will soon be getting rid of also, to move into a 25’ RV – the downsizing is to be continued.
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