Its not the size of the town, but the people who work there. Have you read about the "Koss" case? Koss is a maker of popular headphones. Their lady executive stole millions over several years before it was detected. She took enough to jepordize the survival of the company. She did not "need" the money, but wanted to live high and apparently is a kleptomaniac. She stayed away from people's personl belongings, but the company coffer was fair game. She also had a 'thing' for shoes - had 400 pairs of expensive shoes and some had been worn only once. Some of the money she stole was used to make big gifts to charities, apparently not for good will, but to put on a show of wealth.

I expect it will be a bit of a challenge for them, BUT that's good--learning a new place, meeting new people, finding a niche for themselves are all GOOD things, and those pursuits will keep them active and on the move. We are far more active now--we were starting to stagnate just a little at the other place. We had it all fixed the way we wanted it, we had established friendships that didn't require much work--here, we've had to get out of ourselves just a bit to make this work. It will be a good move for them--they'll do fine, and will no doubt love the new place once they have settled in.

Teacher always said, 'Show your work.' Here's those two houses. Kind of interesting for me: the Peoria house is on what used to be called 'High Wines Road,' where the Peoria whiskey distillers all lived, which is why the district is crowded with beautiful old homes like this. I look forward to seeing your pictures. The house in Peoria, via Google maps. The house in Muskegon, via Google Maps.

I'm a retired appraiser, but not in Texas. Although, I have lived in and owned property in Texas. My parents moved out to Texas in retirement to live near my brother who was in the Air Force. My brother retired and built an adjacent home on the property my parents had acquired. My parents passed, the home went to my brother and he has moved elsewhere in Texas to be near his grandkids. My DB has already moved. The property is on the currently on the market. It is located in between two Podunk towns near an Air Force base. It is a much nicer property than the average house in the area. They are getting the same song and dance as IlovetoCook from their realtor(s). "It's priced right, we just need to wait for the right buyer." If I had a dollar for every realtor who said that, I'd be rich. They are dealing with ridiculously inept agents, too. I wouldn't tolerate it. Luckily, I didn't get an interest in the house, so it really isn't my problem. I'm watching the train wreck from afar. My brother needs to lower the price. IlovetoCook, You need to finish that bath or tear out the addition. One or the other. Those are your choices. Your only option if you leave it as it is now is to sell to a cash investor. They will low ball you. It's a starter home. Your market is a starter home market or an investor market. The house must be able to pass a VA or FHA inspection. That's the goal. Don't entertain the idea of trying to rent it out. Long distance landlord is an impossible situation. You don't have that kind of expertise. I wouldn't consider selling to buy in this circumstance. Any buyer that can't qualify for FHA isn't worth the risk. They will abandon the property in bad condition. You need to sell. Because you have a loan on the property, you can't finance the sale. The last option is to walk away. If you don't have any equity and don't care about your credit, you can hand the keys to the lender. A short sale is a possibility, too. But, I would try to sell it first even if you have to write a check to make it happen. Give up on trying to make money. That's probably not going to happen. Your realtor should have a handyman that is capable of completing the bath. Get her to ask around. Agents do this sort of service all of the time. There is someone capable of doing the remaining work. Understand you will need to make a couple of trips back to get this done. Make your agent provide you with the MLS listings of all of the closed properties within the County that are either a 2/1, 3/1, 2/2 or 3/2 that have closed in the last 2 years. Throw out the new construction, if there is new construction in the area. Given the small population, the large area and expanded timeframe are necessary. This will give you some idea of your situation. The report will include some very important information such as days on market, average list price and average sales price. Once you have these numbers, you will be able to make an informed decision. If your agent balks at providing you with this information, go to her broker and get it from them. You do have options. Most of them are bad. Get the MLS sales asap.