The Truth of Today
Not everything on the internet is polished and pretty.
I thought about putting off the writing of this scheduled post - the one about the kitchen, Samsung, Wayfair, etc. - until tomorrow, despite my promise to post every Monday. And the reason behind that is that I am not feeling so optimistic today. I am exhausted, and I am scared.
But the point of this Substack is to tell the truth of our property investment journey, and days like today are part of that truth.
Our house has been listed for almost a month now, and there has been very little activity. Only a couple of showings, and while each one emphasized how wonderful the house is, they also thought it was too expensive.
And that is true for Graham, which has not yet caught up with the Triangle in home prices. But the costs for labor and materials HAVE become more expensive, so while the good people of Graham are not used to paying so much for a house, the price of the house is also how much we actually spent on bringing it back to life. No profit margin remains.
I am sad because there has been so little movement on the market after the long months of this project. I am afraid because every month we carry it past April (the carrying costs are significant), we are officially losing money on the project.
I am frustrated because there isn’t much I can do to change or improve this situation. I am tired of forced optimism and trying to manifest a sale (hell, even manifest just a showing!) when so many beautiful, worthy houses are just sitting stagnant on the market.
I am angry that now that we’re ready, it’s such a shitty time to be selling a house.
Zillow just changed their prediction of the housing market to one that is in decline.
“Back in January, they were predicting a modest 3% increase in home prices through early 2025. By February, that number dropped to 1.1%. In March, just 0.8%. And now? Zillow’s latest model is calling for a -1.9% price decline between March 2025 and March 2026.”
I am angry with the current administration for tanking the economy and making people afraid to spend money; I am angry at them for causing so many to lose their jobs and their sense of safety and security. I am angry about the tariffs that now will make renovation costs untenable. (Sean’s costs for garage door parts and materials are going up 40%! And how is he supposed to pass that on to the customer!? But he can’t absorb it himself either.)
I am angry at them for so so many reasons that do not apply to this house situation, like normalizing hatred, taking away rights, deporting legal citizens, and hurting the national parks.
Today I am sad, and I am afraid, but I do not regret taking on this project, despite the mistakes, despite this tumbleweeds market. Working on houses feels right for Sean and me. It makes us excited and we love working together on it.
But today, I feel helpless and afraid, and I beg of the universe to move things along, to help this house find its family. I do not want it to sit alone and empty any longer, and I am ready to regroup and figure out what’s next for us on our property journey, because we’re not done, and I don’t want to be in this limbo any longer.
Because I did not do the planned post today, I will kick it to next week, and maybe by then, the house will have a whole new story!
Next week:
All about the kitchen
Including pros & cons of Samsung
Lowes & Home Depot & Wayfair, Oh My.
Thank you very much for being here with me, even on the hard days. I promised to tell the truth of this experience here, so there you have it. Some days, it sucks and is scary. But it’s still what I want to be doing.