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This is Not My Beautiful House
Saying goodbye to my partner for the last 15 years
Everyone told me it was a bad decision, and it was. The timing was awful. Still, it was an emotional decision based on a desire for stability in my life. I had just gotten divorced and had to start my life all over again. So in May of 2007, at the tipping point toward a massive recession and housing market crisis, I bought a house.
This is how you lose a massive amount of your net worth in a very short period of time. This is also how you gain an immense part of your self-worth over a long period of time.
About 18 months ago, I started evaluating my life and taking inventory. I have officially hit middle age, and my daughter will head off to college in three months. I am a single woman who lives alone. Keeping a 1,750 sq. ft. house in the suburbs does not seem like a reasonable part of my life plan.
In trying to figure out my actual life plan, it became more apparent that selling the house I’ve lived in for the last 15 years would be the smartest move I could make. The market is white-hot, I need to live somewhere low maintenance, and the proceeds would allow me some financial freedom.
Just two short weeks ago, it hit the market, and I spent the whole weekend hiding in various places around town because I…
