If you have been here for awhile, you already know that I renovated a condo I own(ed) twice in the last 7 years, both times due to a relative absolutely mistreating the space. After the final renovation, we rented it out to a lovely couple who gave notice and moved on for work after a year of renting from us. Like I said, I never wanted to be a landlord and I lucked out with having great tenants (and I made a whopping $20 a month, so I wasn’t exactly a slumlord). After our tenants left though, we tried our hands at selling it again. We had the older floors ripped up and decided to go with polished concrete this time so keep with the loft look. I figured that the wood floors were harder to maintain as a rental so if we had to rent it again, it would be easier to go with a more durable floor choice.
We priced it low and surprisingly it sold a week after being on the market with a closing date at the end of that same month. What was interesting about the entire process of selling it was that it sucked out almost all of the nostalgia and goodwill I had towards Balconville. Despite having made some of the greatest memories from Mr. Tucker & I starting out our lives together in that space, it was apparent that it had become a burden. I wanted to close the door on that chapter of my life. Someone else can now make amazing memories in that space and enjoy what I believe is one of the better floorplans for a 1-bedroom condo in this city.
I don’t want to get into the nitty gritty of how stressful it was but it is done now and we are finally able to move on from that part of our lives. I am so glad that the process wasn’t drawn out – I don’t think I could have managed a prolonged closing. In the end, our tenant’s lease was up on September 30th, and the condo closed on October 31st.
The floors turned out beautifully. What a different a refresh makes!
For those of you who remember, this was the last thing on our list in order for Mr. Tucker to retire early. Not having the mortgage, condo fees, property taxes and insurance has been monumentally freeing for both of us. I think we both felt the weight lift from us as soon as we went in to sign the papers with the lawyer. We left the lawyer’s office feeling lighter and more free than we had felt in 7 years. It was the final thing we needed to do to move onto the last phase of our lives. We kept the memories but left the people who caused us so much pain behind. It was time to move on.
Of course, Mr. Tucker didn’t just waltz home and quit his job! He will work for as long as he can but his company has been circling the drain for a long time now and as they squeeze more out of employees layoff after layoff, it’s clear that the writing is on the wall. It’s nice to be in a position where we have options so he doesn’t have to take the first job that comes along because we are over-leveraged. So he will wait it out. He was one of the first people hired at that company and he says he wants to see it to the bitter conclusion.
In the end, we didn’t make bank on the sale of the condo. Essentially, I after all of the renovations we had to do, the closing costs, covering my butt for capital gains, putting some money away to top off our emergency fund, we had a wee bit left to put away for the children. But I’m not mad about it. The greatest thing about selling the condo was being able to take those expenses out of our budget and have the piece of mind that we don’t have to carry those costs should everything fall apart for us financially.
So au revoir Balconville! I will miss you but I don’t regret selling you.
