Long way to go

The other day I received a letter from a local realtor.  Inside was a listing contract for one of the two lots Ali and I own in Lehigh Acres.  Back in the glory days of real estate in the early 2000’s we thought we would jump on the band wagon, buying two lots in this area that was targeted as the next huge growth area in SW Florida.

At first we felt like geniuses, at one point we could have sold each lot for close to double of what we paid for them.  Well I guess we got greedy.  Instead of taking the tidy profit, we held on for more, thinking the ceiling wasn’t even visible yet.  Hell I recall having grand ideas of selling these lots and having made enough that by this age the house would be completely paid off.  Boy, was I wrong.

Instead we didn’t see the warning signs when the prices started declining.  We thought it was just a temporary situation.  In no time at all the market for these lots totally imploded and we were left holding the bag.

Well this letter from the realtor indicated that lots in this area were starting to move.  His sales contract indicated his commission would be 8% or a flat $500, whichever is higher.  Hmm maybe the prices have actually started to swing back up??

So I emailed the guy, asking what lots like our have been selling for recently.  I was not excited in the least when I got my response, saying the median price has been between 4 and 5K.  At that number I would be taking an 83% loss on that lot.  Multiply it times two for the second lot and you can see how underwater I am on these two “investments.”

I have considered just dumping the land at these low numbers and put whatever proceeds I get towards paying down the home equity line that was used to buy them in the first place.  However at this point I find myself still holding on to hope that sometime before I die I can at least lose less money on the deal.

I try to not think about my land holdings very often, it depresses me.