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Tina P.
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| Posted: Dec 11 2006 at 10:08am | IP Logged
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On Saturday, we received a letter in the mailbox. This letter had not been sent through the mail, there was no stamp, no post office marking, not even an address. I opened the letter which said something to the effect of, "Hi I am (name). We had our house on the market, but now we've taken it off. We had put an offer in on your house, but as we didn't sell ours, the sale went to you. Would you be interested in swapping houses or in taking a look at ours?"
Is this odd to you or what? Now, besides what's on the letter, we have to keep in mind that this house the people want to swap with us is about 1,500 square feet smaller than ours. It is located in a lovely and coveted area between the mountains. And it has 1.5 acres more than we have now. The area is more isolated from town than we are now. So music and ballet and sport practices would be either truncated or streamlined to fit into one crazy, in-town weekday.
We looked up the property value on Zillow and it assesses at about 30,000 less than what we are in now. Therefore, we might even be able to mortgage in an addition. But then again, we moved twice already this year. Once was from England, and the second within town. But after a lifetime of moving from state to state and country to country, this roving family wants to settle ... SOMEWHERE.
I love the idea of more outdoor space that we can call our own. I absolutely adore that area. There's a national park with a shallow creek running through where my kids can play. There are ski hills within a couple of miles. We have friends who live right down the block if we move there. And it's not like we'd be totally isolated. There's a grocery store a couple of miles away.
We've been praying about this idea and thinking about it for a couple of days. We certainly don't want to shortchange our kids. I'm confident that God will lead us in the correct direction. But He may lead me through the words of one or many of you.
I'm sorry I've written so disjointedly. I hope from what I've written you can sort of *see* all the advantages and disadvantages of moving/staying. I'm all in knots about this and I am wanting to hear any and all opinions.
God bless,
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Tina, wife to one and mom to 9 + 3 in heaven
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Tina P.
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| Posted: Dec 11 2006 at 1:14pm | IP Logged
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I'd love some thoughts on my post. It's getting buried, so I bumped it up.
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Tina, wife to one and mom to 9 + 3 in heaven
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stacykay
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Tina,
The only thing I can offer, if you truly were interested, would be to look at the area more closely, and see if there is any reason that this individual would not want to be there, and I would consult a real-estate attorney.
It does sound a wee bit odd to me. 
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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Paula in MN
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| Posted: Dec 11 2006 at 8:11pm | IP Logged
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Tina,
Would you be interested in this house if you hadn't received this "letter" in your mailbox? Would you even be thinking about moving? I have never heard of this situation before.
I agree with Stacy in MI about the whole thing sounding "a wee bit odd".
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 Paula
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Erin
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Well Tina if the offer is legit it sounds like it could be great. Yes the way was a little different but then I could imagine myself doing something that weird although I would include phone and address. I would ask be asking around about these people in their town, character referencing. Think about it if htey really wanted your property and couldn't swing it at the time they have obviously thought well nothing ventured nothing gained and just been bold and asked.! If its legit I can understand the process then again I would have just knocked obviously they were at your address.
Now about moving, where you are is it really where you want to be forever? Does the other place offer more of what you want to settle for forever?
We are about to move in two days!! To our dream property of 140acres we have waited 14 years for this. The catch to be able to afford this means that I have to settle in the short term for a MUCH smaller home (imagine 9 people squeezed into a samll three bedroom, one living and no dining room house) but this is a sacrifice we are prepared to make for the land. But then again we can build again Is this an option for you? Can you extend onto the existing home?
Much of what you describes sounds wonderful!! The only drawback I would consider would be the distance from town, if it meant dc not being abole to participate in actvities I would have to seriously consider it. I know they can have a different lifestyle but this is why I am so pleased about our new property as we are only 13km from town. it is a very hard one, if you could manage to get everything done in one day that would be great, although exhausting but then it is exhausting going out too much also.
Tina, I KNOW how hard it is making these decisions. Soo difficult. Love to hear how you go.
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Erin
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stefoodie
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That's really odd, Tina, and to me, more than a bit alarming! They tried to buy the house you're in, but they didn't sell their house so the sale went to you, and now they're asking if you want to swap? That's weird. Why anyone would send a letter like that after what happened is bewildering. I'd be a little scared, but that's just me, and I know I'm always a bit more paranoid than I should be. I think what's unnerving to me is that they actually went to your house to deliver this. But it may just be my big city mentality.
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Tina P.
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| Posted: Dec 11 2006 at 10:24pm | IP Logged
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Their mother and father or grandparents live right across the street from us on a few acres. The daughter/grandaughter is making a plea to live close to her older relatives.
They *did* leave a phone number and address on the card (I didn't think it would be prudent to share that information on this forum), but I have to agree with you Erin, why didn't they just knock and speak with us face-to-face?
We have moved so many times, we don't know where we want to live forever. Part of me would love to live close to my family in Wisconsin, but dh has no opportunities there. And we saw the place where the house-swappers live *after* we'd already settled on this house. We *love* it up in the mountains.
I had no desire to move, but to move to a small valley within the mountains? WOW!
140 acres, Erin? We'd settle for 2, 5, whatever! We have a large house right now, but we're cramped on 0.5 acres. And like you said, I'd settle for a smaller house now if it meant greater acreage. As in the book we're finishing, And Now, Miguel, there is a price for your wishes and prayers. We're determining right now whether we want to pay that price. We'll go look at the house, I think, and then IF we're interested, we'll engage a realtor.
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Tina, wife to one and mom to 9 + 3 in heaven
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stefoodie
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Sorry, Tina, I thought they were total strangers. That totally changes things then. Will pray that you come to the right decision soon. So envious about the acreage! My little dream of 2 acres seems to still be so far away....
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stef
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Erin
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| Posted: Dec 11 2006 at 11:29pm | IP Logged
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Tina P. wrote:
| They *did* leave a phone number and address on the card (I didn't think it would be prudent to share that information on this forum), but I have to agree with you Erin, why didn't they just knock and speak with us face-to-face? |
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Whilst you and I would knock and it makes sense to us maybe they had a reason. I've been puzzling this, perhaps they are very shy and couldn't handle a rejection face to face, or maybe they felt that you would feel confronted and pressured by a face to face so their way was less pushy. I'm just bold I'd knock. 
How far would it be for dh to travel? Was there a particular reason why you chose your current area?
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cathhomeschool
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Well, my first thought was that if their house is so appealing, why didn't you buy it instead of your current house? You said that you saw their house after you'd settled on your current one. Was it before you actually bought your house? If so, why didn't you consider backing out of your offer and making an offer on the house-swapper's house?
I understand their desire to be closer to their grandparents, but that should absolutely not affect your decision in any way. You must think only of what is best for your family in this situation, since that is your first duty before God. The house-swappers are certainly thinking of what is best for them.
I would definitely check the area out -- look at future development, flood plains, etc and the house itself -- to see if these people have an alterior motive. I am skeptical and would not assume that others are honest or completely open about their motives. Grandparents may not be the only reason for their desire to move.
Another issue to consider is realtor or real estate attorney fees. I would be hestitant to move again so soon and incur closing costs/etc. unless the house/land/location was really worth it (read: ideal for my family). Or are the house-swappers paying all the fees?
All that said, it does sound like an interesting opportunity. I will pray for wisdom and a clear answer for your family.
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Tina P.
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| Posted: Dec 12 2006 at 12:55pm | IP Logged
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cathhomeschool wrote:
| Well, my first thought was that if their house is so appealing, why didn't you buy it instead of your current house? You said that you saw their house after you'd settled on your current one. Was it before you actually bought your house? If so, why didn't you consider backing out of your offer and making an offer on the house-swapper's house? |
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I think you misunderstood. I saw my friend's house. Her husband had custom-built this house and they plan to stay in it forever. I've never seen these people's house who want to swap with us. I love the house we're in right now, I just want to uproot it and drop it in the mountains with lots of space around it. Is that too much to ask?
We are definitely skeptical about the motives of the would-be swappers. And you're right, we do *not* want to incur any more costs. Every time we move, and we've moved a lot, we incur debt. We're all tired of moving. Nonetheless, it will be fun to see this place.
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Tina P.
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| Posted: Dec 12 2006 at 12:59pm | IP Logged
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Erin wrote:
Whilst you and I would knock and it makes sense to us maybe they had a reason. I've been puzzling this, perhaps they are very shy and couldn't handle a rejection face to face, or maybe they felt that you would feel confronted and pressured by a face to face so their way was less pushy. I'm just bold I'd knock.
How far would it be for dh to travel? Was there a particular reason why you chose your current area? |
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Hi Erin, you're probably right. I don't think I'd be thrilled to be confronted with, "Hey, we heard you want to live in our area. Why not take a look at our house? We really want yours, but you managed to sneak it out from under us (even though it was on the market for around 8 months)." 
It's only about 15-20 more minutes of a drive, in good weather. But traveling the mountain passes is a bit more dangerous in inclement weather. We chose our current house, not the current area. There's really nothing wrong with it except that it sort of hems us in. We're more outdoorsy than this town lets us be.
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JennGM
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Hi Tina,
To me, the situation sounds bizarre. Are you sure this person didn't put a postcard in every neighbor's mailbox, too?
Some of your negatives would stop us from moving. We considered a house with 5 acres, outside of town, actually made an offer. I'm glad we didn't get it, as the drive would have been costly and tiring. Our final decision was to add no more stress on this end of dh's commute (he rides the train an hour each way).
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Jennifer G. Miller
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stefoodie
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JennGM wrote:
| Are you sure this person didn't put a postcard in every neighbor's mailbox, too? |
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Yikes, I didn't even think of that! What if this guy has been monitoring sales in this area and been sending a letter to everyone who has bought a house there? Imagine if he sent 20 of these and there was ONE who actually swapped houses? After Jenn's post I'm going back to my initial reaction -- it is weird, and if I were you I'd be highly suspicious.
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Tina P.
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| Posted: Dec 12 2006 at 2:52pm | IP Logged
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I don't think it's all as alarming as it sounds.  Our friends up in the mountains actually *know* of this lady (have never met her, but they know who she is), this lady has the same last name as our neighbor across the street and in the letter had referenced a neighbor on the other side of us.
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Tina, wife to one and mom to 9 + 3 in heaven
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stefoodie
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Well, you really know best, Tina. I'm sorry if I sound like such an alarmist -- I don't mean to be, just no experience at all with this type of situation -- which probably should be reason enough for me to stop giving advice  .
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stef
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: House-swapping? Any thoughts or HELP?
