Help me figure out if this is a good thing.

[cschin4]

Face reality. Sometimes you LOSE money. Not everything you touch will turn to gold. Get out ASAP. Sell it for whatever you can get. You are heading down a road of absolute headache if you don't. Take a loss and chalk it up to life experience. I know nobody wants to hear that. But, funny, you never hear anyone talking about the money they lost. Just sell it and move on with your life.

[red92s]

two acres, a two car garage, and a huge barn for $116k? Wow. The car lover in me is drooling!

Best of luck moving the property.

[mom-from-missouri]

How well do you know the realitor?? The people who want to rent it are friends of his?? Does anyone still in that town keep an eye on it for you?? I got burned by a realitor once--he had a friends living in my house--I was 500 miles away and had no idea. Realitor was pocketing the money...

[cschin4]

The realtor is not your friend. He/she is a business contact and that's it. Don't rely on friendship as helping you make this decision. The realtor may very well believe this is something that would benefit you and it may be true. But, you really need to decide this for yourself. The major problem is the distance factor. Others feel comfortable renting a place from a distance, I would not. There are many things that can go wrong when renting and a lot of damage can be done to your home in short order by the wrong renters. I would think this through carefully.

[hmd2009]

two acres, a two car garage, and a huge barn for $116k? Wow. The car lover in me is drooling!

Best of luck moving the property.

The barn has two garage bays as well as a workshop and horse stables and an efficiency apartment, and a little log cabin in the back yard

[hmd2009]

Face reality. Sometimes you LOSE money. Not everything you touch will turn to gold. Get out ASAP. Sell it for whatever you can get. You are heading down a road of absolute headache if you don't. Take a loss and chalk it up to life experience. I know nobody wants to hear that. But, funny, you never hear anyone talking about the money they lost. Just sell it and move on with your life.

I'm trying to sell it! I've already talked to my bank and they won't even talk to me about a short sale or deed in lieu. We didn't buy more of a house than we could afford, our house price hasn't dropped, it is worth more than we are asking, I don't really know what else to do. i'm going to call the realtor tomorrow and drop the price, but nobody is buying houses there. I spoke to another realtor who I'd dealt with in the past and she said nothing is moving.

[hmd2009]

How well do you know the realitor?? The people who want to rent it are friends of his?? Does anyone still in that town keep an eye on it for you?? I got burned by a realitor once--he had a friends living in my house--I was 500 miles away and had no idea. Realitor was pocketing the money...

Yeah, I don't think the realtor is looking out for us at all. He had sold the house of the people he wanted to rent ours to. It costs us over $1100/month with mortgage, taxes, yard upkeep, snow removal, heating, etc, I'm not renting it out for $600/month, thats cheaper than section 8 housing in our area. Good deal for them! Especially considering we dropped $1300 to have it professionally cleaned after we moved out, and its all winterized. Trust me a renter would not detail clean it and winterize it for us when they moved out!

[red92s]

Just a thought but, couldn't you rent out just the (4) garage bays? I'm not tooooo far south of you (MA) and I know that clean, dry vehicle storage for people with cars they only drive when there isn't snow on the ground can go for upwards of $100 per slip. Wouldn't cover everything obviously, but it's something, and much less maintenance than having renters on site.

[cschin4]

it is worth more than we are asking,

It is only worth what someone is willing to pay. Right now, people aren't buying so you can keep lowering the price and sell at any price or just hang tight. I sympathize with you as it is difficult to know what to do. But owning a home you aren't using is expensive as you have taxes, insurance, heat, etc to pay on an unoccupied home. Perhaps even a "rent to own" deal. Or maybe post the home on Ebay. Also, are there things you could do to make the home more appealing as in paint, landscaping, etc? Of course, at some point you just cannot put anymore money into it and it is what it is. You could also consider offering a home warranty, cash back or other perks that might get people in there to look. However, I think alot of us are going to find that houses are not selling and going to be stuck with property as well.
I have a somewhat similar situation. I purchased a home and remodeled it with the intent of moving in. Well, this was prior to all the bailout mania, etc. As a result I was unable to sell our present home. So, my mom needed a place to live so now I am renting her the remodeled home. It is still costing me money as I am renting it for to her for what she was paying for her apt. but hopefully we can recoup the losses down the road but I am not so sure.

[hmd2009]

Just a thought but, couldn't you rent out just the (4) garage bays? I'm not tooooo far south of you (MA) and I know that clean, dry vehicle storage for people with cars they only drive when there isn't snow on the ground can go for upwards of $100 per slip. Wouldn't cover everything obviously, but it's something, and much less maintenance than having renters on site.

Great idea Red, wish I'd of thought of this last winter. Everyone has their "toys" out of storage right now though and I don't plan on having to heat and plow the snow from the driveway again this winter, as I'm giong to give it up before then if it hasn't sold.

it is worth more than we are asking,

It is only worth what someone is willing to pay. Right now, people aren't buying so you can keep lowering the price and sell at any price or just hang tight. I sympathize with you as it is difficult to know what to do. But owning a home you aren't using is expensive as you have taxes, insurance, heat, etc to pay on an unoccupied home. Perhaps even a "rent to own" deal. Or maybe post the home on Ebay. Also, are there things you could do to make the home more appealing as in paint, landscaping, etc? Of course, at some point you just cannot put anymore money into it and it is what it is. You could also consider offering a home warranty, cash back or other perks that might get people in there to look. However, I think alot of us are going to find that houses are not selling and going to be stuck with property as well.
I have a somewhat similar situation. I purchased a home and remodeled it with the intent of moving in. Well, this was prior to all the bailout mania, etc. As a result I was unable to sell our present home. So, my mom needed a place to live so now I am renting her the remodeled home. It is still costing me money as I am renting it for to her for what she was paying for her apt. but hopefully we can recoup the losses down the road but I am not so sure.

I do have an offer to pay closing costs on the house or money towards a down payment. I'm calling the realtor today to see about lowering the price of the house.

Sorry you're going through something like this as well, atleast your mom is able to live in your nicely remodeled home