Are you the ones that bought the cottage?

Congrat's! You've bought your cottage .... Good for you!

Having lived in a few cottages, I have to say, I'm all for owning a cottage and living in it full time. But if it's a weekend getaway you have bought, well, I'm all for that too! Or is it only a part timer until you retire?

All the better.

Are you going to renovate or did you buy a property that is all done up? Maybe, like us, you're into the vintage look or don't mind a bit of ramshackle in order to get the feel of being on holiday every day.

What ever you have bought, my very best advice to you is: Live in it awhile until you decide what it is you do want. After a year goes by, maybe you decide you can stomach with the original siding, but it just needs a fresh coat of red paint? (Check our back door in a previous post and you'll see what I mean.) The money you would have spent on new siding can now be used for landscaping, or maybe the new plumbing that you didn't know you needed until late one night one of the grandkids used too much TP and plugged the T soo bad it blew out a pipe? (You know how kids are with toilet paper?)

Is your new piece of real estate on the water, in the woods or in a park somewhere? Honestly, it doesn't matter. Just make sure that when you drive up, you're proud. When you fling open the door, you feel like the weight of the world has fallen from your shoulders. When you sit on the john, it's your throne.

After all. Is this the place you will retire to for the golden years of your life?

My late mother once sent me an email joke and it ended with the only thing golden is the pee. If you've just bought a cottage, you are ensuring your retirement years will be golden!

How much did you sell your cottage for?

So, you finally sold the cottage! Congratulations! Your Realtor called and said they accepted your sign back and they'll take it in thirty days.

What's a 'sign back' you ask? Well.

First of all, there came an offer: The buyers have had a meeting with their Realtor and told that person how much money they want to pay you for the place. They have told him how many days go by before they have to pay you that money and when they will 'take possession.' The buyer might, (and likely,) also add things in their offer to buy like, getting a home inspection done. Getting a title search done and do you have a copy of the survey they can have. It always has a deadline for you to consider the offer and it should have a deposit cheque attached that might show you how serious these buyers are!
But mostly it's about the money.
It should be all typed up in a proper legal document and have witnessed signatures of the buyers.

You read their offer. (The Realtor should present it or just tell you what's in it) and then you decide if it's what you want to get for the old place. You can ask your Realtor's advice, but remember the dual agency paper and if he is representing both the buyer and seller, his opinion might not be in your best interest. You can take it to your lawyer, but remember that advice is billed by the hour.
If the offer to purchase is not to your liking either in terms or cash, then you 'Sign it back'.

A sign back is just that. You counter offer their offer to buy. Whether you up the price, ask them to remove the house inspection or tell them if they want a survey, they'll have to get it themselves.

Sign Back's next

The price of your cottage?

Somebody gives you an offer? Is it Yahoo or Boohoo?

I suppose I would consider what I wanted to do after I sold the cottage.
-Do I want to travel the world on the proceeds?
-Do I want to quit my job?
-Do I want to have a nest egg?
-Do I want to make sure my kids are taken care of?
-Do I want to buy another, bigger or smaller or better one?

What do you want to do with the money?

Is the offer a fair one or have they offered many thousands of dollars less than you were asking? If it's many thousands less, is it because you were unreasonable or they are? Is your house priced more than anybody Else's? Feel out your realtor. You have a right to ask questions about the buyer, like: 'Do they think we're crazy?' or... 'Are they trying to take advantage of us?' You have every right to tell your realtor to go back to get a higher offer.

I remember one time, Dick and I were selling a place and the realtor came to us with a ridiculously low offer. I took one look at it and fired it back across her desk, stood up and said: 'We're done here!' She was all; 'What's the matter?' surprised, but you just knew she was in cahoots with the buyer and they just wanted a deal so they could flip it!

If it's important for any reason to get what you want for the place, stick to your guns. What the heck! You've loved coming here every summer for years, so a few more can't hurt... or can it?

What if someone in the family wants the place?

Aw crap! One of the people in the family has decided they should get the cottage off you. I say: 'get the cottage off you' because chances are, they think they can steal it or get it for nothing because they're family, friends or neighbors. Hah! Well here's what I think of that:

Ok, so if it's one of your kids, then OK, they're going to get it in the will anyway, so give them a break on the price. But wait! What about the other siblings? Do you have enough cash to pay them equal share? It's the old making chalk of one... cheese of the other and you just can't do that.

Have you always felt sorry for that cousin that wants it now? Get serious! Did she / he consider your feelings the last time they bought a new car or flew to Jamaica without you? Charge them full pop!

Oh! It's the cute old couple next door who say they want it for their grandkids? Charge them extra if they draw the old 'we're getting on in years' card to get you to drop the price.

Don't let anybody play on your senses when it comes to selling your family cottage or vacation property. You are going to live to a ripe old age and need all the money you can get to pay your own way and not be a detriment to your loved ones.
...And besides.... you're the ones who had the good sense to keep that cottage until it became valuable enough to sell. It used to be that they couldn't give away waterfront property and now everybody wants it. It's an ace in the hole, don't give it away out of sentiment or guilt.

Price, Price, Price!

The guy up the lane sold his cottage for a bazillion bucks and you sure should too, but are you comparing apples to apples? Here are some things to consider:
Do you have as much land as he?
Is your cottage the same square footage as his?
Is your place as spick and span as hers?
Do you need renovations and they don't?
Is theirs waterfront and yours not?
Does he mow his lawn faithfully like you?
Who has better landscaping?
Do you have a boat dock and she doesn't?
Is there a right of way on your lot?
Are you in the same municipality or town?
Do you pay the same property taxes?
Does your furniture look as swell as theirs?
Do your neighbors need appliances and yours are stainless?

This is just a short list of considerations when pricing your property and should be thought on long and hard. Make a list. Check it twice and see who's naughty or nice!

The Family Cottage

Do you continue to travel to the cottage every week? Do you still love it or do you dread the weekly trek? Is there a drive of many hours involved, hurling down a four lane, other holiday makers bumper to bumper, all driving at breakneck speed? Do you grip the dash of the family van with one hand, the other hugging the armrest, both feet firmly planted up against the firewall the whole way? Does your partner hunch over the wheel, a grimace of concentration adorning his face as he travels those roads one more time?

Does it take three days to pack enough stuff to survive in the woods each trip? Do they manufacture enough bug spray and sun block?

Do you long for different highways? Maybe just the view from your own living room for just one summer weekend?

Maybe the easiest way of solving the dilemma of who gets the cottage when we go is simply to get it gone while we can still enjoy the profits? Have you listened to your local realtor brag about prices lately? Pick up a magazine with lake properties advertised sometime. you might be shocked!

Labour Day Weekend

Well, here it is Monday night of Labour Day weekend. (Or if you're American: Labor Day Weekend.) We've spent the whole day driving the lake looking at property. Always thinking there's something better out there than what we've got!

And here's what we always come back to: What we've got here is always better than somewhere else. It is so hard at our age to stop improving, excelling and more is at this stage not better.  

How do you stop that? Do you all still want to improve your circumstances or are you content with where you are? Do you look longingly down a road asking; 'what's down there?' ...We do. 

Back to work tomorrow. Still having to go to work for some one else. Oh well! We can at least see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

Hope you all had as great a weekend as we did and yak soon.  ...Lucy