Earlier this month we sold our house in the USA. It was bittersweet to have the home leave our family.
We bought the house back in July of 2005. We just had our second child, Oliver, and I really felt we needed a place to call our own. We had been looking for awhile in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I am from Caspian, and we were looking for a home nearby to spend our holidays. The area is full of forests, rivers, lakes, lots of snow, and it is a child’s paradise. We also have lots of family and friends up there. We finally found the home of our dreams. We were looking for an old “Americana” house in town. The house above, exactly fit the bill. It is a 1911 American Four Square located in a leafy neighborhood of Iron Mountain, Michigan. It was built by the first Swedish doctor in town when Iron Mountain started as a region of iron ore mines. We fell in love with the home.
It is a huge house with over 3500 square feet of living space. The home was owned by another doctor the past 20 years and he did a great job of renovating and adding to the home. You can click on the photo above and it will take you to the set of photos we have. The back yard (above) was great with a swimming pool, sauna, and space to play. In retrospect, the pool was extremely dangerous with young children and we should have gated it or taken it out. The second floor was cool too, with a large terrace and the third floor had a perfect bedroom for the boys. Most of the basement was also finished and it was done in the style of a ski resort.
The reason we sold the home was that we hardly ever were there. It sat empty for an entire year and it was a burden for my family and friends to take care of. We also didn’t like the property taxes, insurance, and mortgage payments we had to make. Later on we rented the house and then we could never use it.
We didn’t lose too much in the value of the home with the market crash of the past year. Most homes in Michigan lost on average 20% in value and our home didn’t do that badly.
We learned a lot about real estate! For our situation as expats, it is difficult to have a home in the USA. For us, it was not worth the hassles and expense. But we will have good memories of our short time in the home. I don’t think our children will remember it however.
I want to thank several people for their help with our home. First of all my mother and father. My dad went every Thursday to clean up the yard and fix things around the home. My mother dutifully paid the monthly utility bills. My sister-in-law Michelle and brother Jim also checked on the house occasionally and had it full of food upon arrival. Finally, I would like to thank our real estate agent, Monica from Stephens GMAC. She was so kind and worked extremely hard in the purchasing, renting, and selling of the home. Thank you Monica!!!!
Some colleauges here in Belgrade were talking about the affordibility of country homes in Serbia. Will we enter home ownership again???
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