Selling That First House in North Philly

[Alison] I wanted to sell the North Philly house, the first property I ever bought, in the worst way but it felt like giving up and I was prideful. I did not want to admit that I made a mistake and needed to admit it, take my losses, and move on. Above is a picture of the first floor stripped down to be rehabbed. So I dithered. I put it up for sale on Craigslist and with my REIAs and did not get good offers so I pulled it down and looked for another solution. I did this twice, not wanting to give up, to fail. Every time I went, I had to round up a friend to go there with me because I was afraid. Not a good situation.

Finally I got serious, placing online ads and reaching out to my networks to sell the house. About 25 people looked at it and placed pitiful non-serious offers. Some included taking on the taxes and water bill, as I had. Others did not. I was starting to look at other solutions again (rehab, private lender, pay down the taxes and wait until the neighborhood improved and the house value went up).

In that moment an offer came in, still low, still taking a significant loss, but I could live with it. The prospective buyer promised to bring in a deposit to the lawyer liaison, then served up four days of excuses, including why he could not close on the date he promised. By this time, I was fed up and feeling like I was being played. I told the lawyer that the price was about to go up because the low price was contingent on a very fast, easy close. The day of the close came and went. The buyer failed to come through with the money. I took a day off work for nothing. I was VERY disappointed.

In the eleventh hour, at 5 pm on the day I was supposed to close, the lawyer called me to say that another buyer had surfaced, a man who was interested before but had made a lower, unacceptable offer. He told her he would come in with a deposit and firm offer and DID. Eureka! The new buyer asked the lawyer to pull title work on the property to make sure there were no surprises I had not already revealed. As far as I know, this could all be the lawyer's manipulations of my eagerness to sell. At the same time, I am convinced that only someone from the neighborhood can get that house sold. I don't like it but I don't care. God willing, we close this week. Keep your fingers crossed on my behalf, please.