The Heather House, chapter 2

So, my little house is for sale again. We owned it for 10 years after we moved out, and sold it to the long term tenants who rented it - thinking it was a win-win. We rolled the proceeds into a larger apartment building, and they became homeowners. It broke my heart a little each time I would drive by the house when they were renting it. Broken down cars littered the driveway, Christmas lights were stapled into the metal siding (not even on the roofline!) and left up year-round. The yard went to shambles and they really let the place go. We thought maybe home ownership may make them care for the home a bit more, but we were wrong. Once they purchased the home, they began falling behind in payments. We helped them out on several occasions, paying their mortgage to keep them current, and then having them repay us on paydays. One day they were approached by one of those loan modification companies. They were told if they got behind 3 months in payments, that they could be helped. So they did. 3 months later, the loan mod company said it turned out they couldn't help them after all. They lost the house in foreclosure. I found the home the other night on the MLS, and was shocked by the photos. It's not the house I left 14 years ago. It needs some love. The description on one of the Real Estate websites read "total fixer - possible teardown". It's so sad. My husband and I talked about it again last night. I'm hoping I can convince him to take this leap. We would most likely fix it to sell, not rent again. I would love to give my little house another re-incarnation!