No. The situation is a bit more complex than that.

The original appraisal/asking price was a bit optimistic, but do-able. Then the market went soft and houses in the $300K+ range simply stopped selling here. With 20/20 hindsight, I should have quickly dropped the price by about $30K which would have been a true fire-sale at the time and gotten out of it. I'd have been better off bottom-line speaking.

To give you an idea of what I sold this house for... replacement construction cost for buying the land and building this exact house (not that anyone would -- it's an older house with a dated floor plan) would be just about half a million dollars MORE than I sold it for. The house is very well built and energy efficient -- I have to show people the fuel bills before they believe how little heating oil my computer-controlled $20K heating system uses -- and has had at least $40,000 worth of renovation and updates in the last three years. Four bedrooms, three baths, 3500+ square feet (including the garage) plus an additional 770 square foot detached two car garage plus workshop, 1.2 acre lot with fantastic view of the Alaska Range and Tanana Valley, and except for the Hell Hound house complete privacy.

Construction costs in Fairbanks are currently around $200/square foot. I sold for considerably under $300K. Do the math.

tanstaafl.