Selling a house - impossible?

[CleBrownsfan]

Talking about the worst time to be selling a house. I've had my house on the market: 1st with a realtor for 8 months - then for sale by owner so I could sell it for less - and now with another realtor and I've had no bites. For the year I've had my house on the market I've had one person do a walk through.

Sucks!! Just wanted to vent...

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, my cousin has been in the same boat. We were fortunate to sell ours right as the market started to turn (April '06). Sold our house in 4 days. Guy who lived beside me put his up at a much higher price thinking he'd get someone to buy, got one bite before we did but the deal fell through, and last I heard, had still not sold 18 months later.

Good luck, this is just a bad time to have a house up for sale.

[rowech]

A friend of mine in real-estate said houses that are mid-range first home type houses...just married couples or maybe 1 kid are selling okay still. Anything else other than that has been a struggle.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by rowech

A friend of mine in real-estate said houses that are mid-range first home type houses...just married couples or maybe 1 kid are selling okay still. Anything else other than that has been a struggle.

Pretty safe bet...there's always people looking to stop renting and start owning. The higher end houses are in some trouble.

[CleBrownsfan]

Originally Posted by Logan

Pretty safe bet...there's always people looking to stop renting and start owning. The higher end houses are in some trouble.

I definitely don't have a higher end house (lower to mid range). But this is the reason why I bought this house 'cause I was sick of renting. Probably the worst "investment" I've ever made.

[Klinglerware]

Originally Posted by Logan

Pretty safe bet...there's always people looking to stop renting and start owning. The higher end houses are in some trouble.

And you would think that renters considering buying a starter home are even more incented to buy now, knowing that the market is pretty soft.

I was kind of in this situation last year. As my fiancee and I were months away from getting married, the market wasn't the main reason why we bought when we bought. But, getting slightly more house for our money was a nice bonus. The previous owners didn't make much money out of the sale, but at least they didn't lose. So, I don't feel too bad for them.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

I definitely don't have a higher end house (lower to mid range). But this is the reason why I bought this house 'cause I was sick of renting. Probably the worst "investment" I've ever made.

It will always come back around though.

[QuikSand]

It's not that it's hard to sell a house. It's just hard to sell a house at the prices that most sellers are expecting.

[CleBrownsfan]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

It's not that it's hard to sell a house. It's just hard to sell a house at the prices that most sellers are expecting.

I'm selling my house $8,000 less than my appraised vaule (as of 2005)... still nothing.

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

It's not that it's hard to sell a house. It's just hard to sell a house at the prices that most sellers are expecting.

bingo...
Clebrownsfan, you could sell your house in a wk. if you had to, no offense.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by rowech

It will always come back around though.

Yeah, it's only a bad investment because he's in the situation where, for whatever reason, he needs to sell now (or because he bought at the higher range of what his house has been going for). Historically, real estate is a great investment. Timing has a huge effect though. I'm at the point myself where I can afford to buy a place, but there is enough of a possibility that I'll need to sell it in 2 to 3 years where I'm not willing to take the chance that I'll find myself in a similar situation.

If you have a young family and you can find a house that is big enough to grow into, and is in a good location for jobs that you'll be at long-term, this is an automatic time to buy.

[cartman]

The neighborhood I live in is experiencing a very soft market. It is considered a high end development, so that is strike one in the current environment. Strike two is a string of shady developers that have tried to extract as much $$$ as possible out without spending a dime on infrastructure. The third strike, related to strike two, is a HOA that is suing members for merely requesting a variance to the CCRs.

Add all that up, and you have a neighborhood where 38% of the houses are for sale, and there has been a grand total of three existing properties sold in the past 18 months.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

I'm selling my house $8,000 less than my appraised vaule (as of 2005)... still nothing.

As someone who finds himself frequently looking at appraised house values at work...appraised value means nothing. Many times they'll come in before closing at exactly the price required for an 80% LTV, coincidentally. Given the difficulty you're having selling, if you had your house appraised today, which would take into account recent comparable home sales, unfortunately I would gamble that it wouldn't hold up to that 2005 number.

Good luck, and please don't let our discussions interfere with your need to vent . You're always entitled.

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by Logan

coincidentally.

yeah, aint that interesting. even a few years ago I would watch the shadiest people doing these appraisals and they too were caught up in the whirlwind. I saw it coming so I saved and saved and saved but many of those people, appraisers, salespeople, title companies, etc. were living it up....as I stare out the window at my 145k mile Jeep, ugh.

[rowech]

A friend of mine is in a similar situation. Wants to move to a bigger house but can't get their house sold. So, being stuck, they had to look at adding on. 30K to add on what they want. They have to decide whether to do it because if they do, they know they'll have to stay there a while.

[Flasch186]

rent out the old, buy the new.

of course with financial and qualifying limitations unknown and needing to be answered first.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Yeah, my cousin has been in the same boat. We were fortunate to sell ours right as the market started to turn (April '06). Sold our house in 4 days. Guy who lived beside me put his up at a much higher price thinking he'd get someone to buy, got one bite before we did but the deal fell through, and last I heard, had still not sold 18 months later.

Good luck, this is just a bad time to have a house up for sale.

So true on the timing. I bought in April 06 and payed a fair price for a nice house. However, 2 of my neighbors have been trying to sell for a year and one of them has reduced price signs on the house and has told me he is going to take a blood bath, but he needs to sell due to a transfer at work. He's currently living away from his family and only visiting on weekends, so he's motivated to sell and have them join him where he is now living.

[CleBrownsfan]

I bought the house when I was single. It was big enough for me but now with my wife and a family soon to come it's time to look for something a little larger. There are several houses on the market where I live - all near the same price range and nothing is selling where we live. Logan is right - it was just bad timing on my end. I really wasn't ready to purchase a house as my credit score wasn't nearly as high as it is now. Plus I didn't have much to put down on a house but I still bought. That is the reason why it was the worst investment I've ever made. I'll end up losing several thousand dollars when I do end up selling the house. Oh well... live and learn.

[SunDevil]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

I'm selling my house $8,000 less than my appraised vaule (as of 2005)... still nothing.

CleBrownsfan, this is a very personal thing, and I deleted my advice from earlier. I would just read some of the threads in the blog, especially all the linked news articles and make a decision from there.

http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/

[CleBrownsfan]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

rent out the old, buy the new.

of course with financial and qualifying limitations unknown and needing to be answered first.

I've really thought about renting it. I just don't know if I'm ready for the risk...

[Ryche]

Just had to put my townhome on the market at the beginning of the month because I'm moving to Colorado. I'm praying it doesn't take that long to sell as I don't want to carry two mortgages and we just signed a contract on a new house. Figuring I can give it another month or so, then I'll slash the price down.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

I bought the house when I was single. It was big enough for me but now with my wife and a family soon to come it's time to look for something a little larger. There are several houses on the market where I live - all near the same price range and nothing is selling where we live. Logan is right - it was just bad timing on my end. I really wasn't ready to purchase a house as my credit score wasn't nearly as high as it is now. Plus I didn't have much to put down on a house but I still bought. That is the reason why it was the worst investment I've ever made. I'll end up losing several thousand dollars when I do end up selling the house. Oh well... live and learn.

If you can swing it financially, and there's even a decent market for it, follow Flasch's advice and rent out the old place. You'd be surprised how many people would want to pay a nice sized rent to live in a condo/townhouse/single family, as opposed to a more restrictive apartment. Plus (and I think we talked about this in another thread here a couple days ago), the rental market is pretty strong right now as people are delaying buying until the market stabilizes.

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

I've really thought about renting it. I just don't know if I'm ready for the risk...

not much risk if you try to minimize it via pulling credit reports, not allowing pets, being selective, etc. Good luck to you.

[SteveMax58]

Yeah...I feel your pain CleBrownsfan. My house hasnt been on the market as long as yours, but I've only gotten a handful of showings in 2 months. Only 3 people stopped in for an Open House. Pretty sad, especially considering I'm in one of the more up & coming areas around.

As others have stated...my house has been too high for the market at this time. Who is going to buy my house(mid-level house with lots of upgrades & niceties) when there are, on paper, equal houses in my area for $20k less. I listened to my realtor, and put it out there at a higher price than I would have otherwise done initially. Now I've decided to do what I thought I should have done from the beginning...throw it out there as cheap as I can afford to, and not get overlooked by any would-be buyers simply because my house is "overpriced" compared to others.

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

Talking about the worst time to be selling a house. I've had my house on the market: 1st with a realtor for 8 months - then for sale by owner so I could sell it for less - and now with another realtor and I've had no bites. For the year I've had my house on the market I've had one person do a walk through.

Sucks!! Just wanted to vent...

The answer is pretty much: yes. People now are trying to put their houses up for sale for similar prices from 2004-2006. The days of your house being valued at those prices are gone. People keep thinking "my neighbor sold his house a couple years ago for 400,000! My house is better than his, I want 425,000!". Sorry, not gonna happen. Be happy if you get 300,000.

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by Rizon

The answer is pretty much: yes. People now are trying to put their houses up for sale for similar prices from 2004-2006. The days of your house being valued at those prices are gone. People keep thinking "my neighbor sold his house a couple years ago for 400,000! My house is better than his, I want 425,000!". Sorry, not gonna happen. Be happy if you get 300,000.

Dola,

A good example is my townhouse. I bought it in 1997 for $63,000. At one point during 2004 the townhouses like mine were going for ... $380,000. Now people can't sell them for $280,000.

[Passacaglia]

We're probably looking to buy in about a year, when our lease runs out. I'm hoping that pirces will continue to go down, in this area, at least.

[CleBrownsfan]

Originally Posted by Rizon

The answer is pretty much: yes. People now are trying to put their houses up for sale for similar prices from 2004-2006. The days of your house being valued at those prices are gone. People keep thinking "my neighbor sold his house a couple years ago for 400,000! My house is better than his, I want 425,000!". Sorry, not gonna happen. Be happy if you get 300,000.

Problem is I just bought the house in (late) 2005 so I really haven't paid much on the principle. With Realtor fees @ 5% and closing cost I'm just trying not to take to much of a hit. I'm not looking to make a profit... I guess it was just bad timing on my end. I bought when it was a sellers market and selling when it's buyers market.

[Ryche]

Originally Posted by Rizon

The answer is pretty much: yes. People now are trying to put their houses up for sale for similar prices from 2004-2006. The days of your house being valued at those prices are gone. People keep thinking "my neighbor sold his house a couple years ago for 400,000! My house is better than his, I want 425,000!". Sorry, not gonna happen. Be happy if you get 300,000.

At least in my situation, my neighbor within a block sold his exact same townhome for a decent price only a month ago.

It was kind of funny, when looking for houses in Colorado, we found one we really liked, but the owners had only bought it a year ago and were asking 10k more than what they had bought it for. We lowballed them, basically offering what they paid last year and they wouldn't budge from their price. We walked away. Sorry, your house value has not gone up in the past year.

[Huckleberry]

The rest of the country isn't as nuts as the coasts as far as real estate goes.

If I wanted I could sell my house for more than I paid for it barely two years ago.

[Bee]

Originally Posted by SunDevil

CleBrownsfan, this is a very personal thing, and I deleted my advice from earlier. I would just read some of the threads in the blog, especially all the linked news articles and make a decision from there.

http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/

That blog is the reason I dropped out of RE investing in early 2006. You have to take what they post with a grain of salt, but they do link to a lot of information that indicated this downturn was coming and that it's not leaving in 6 months or a year. While the NAR tries to paint a rosy picture and blogs like this try to make like it's doomsday, I suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle (which is still bad news for someone trying to sell now).

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

We're probably looking to buy in about a year, when our lease runs out. I'm hoping that pirces will continue to go down, in this area, at least.

keep in mind, if prices dont go down, youll likely be able to find someone who will pay for you to break your lease. Dont feel locked in...I know, for my company, if there was a house you'd buy but "cant" because youve got 6 more months on a lease...we'd pay for the lease break fee.

[bbor]

Interesting how the American and Canadian markets are differing.I bought a 1700Sq townhouse last year....this summer a Townhouse in our complex that is 600SQ smaller than mine sold for $20 000. more than what i paid for my larger unit.

Me =

[tarcone]

Go to your local Catholic merchandise outlet. Go into store and ask for and purchase a small Statue. I believe it is St. Anthony. I cant remember.
Follow directions that come in box.
Sold our house in 2 weeks. And we overpriced our house. This was last year.

The statue may or may not of worked. In my mind it did. Im not catholic either.
A little faith goes a long way

[Solecismic]

We're in the same boat. We've had our house on the market 8 months now, reduced the price three times. We think we're in line with what's selling, as opposed to what's sitting. Just bad luck - we've had maybe 40 showings, but no solid offers.

A house with a flaw, like ours which has a kitchen and bathrooms original to the home in 1977, might sit for a long, long time. Sales are down more than 50% in our price range in our old town.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

According to radio host Michael Savage the problem is your own, due to your being poor. Wealthy homes are increasing in value. Rich people who work hard like him (from his own home) can buy and sell multi-million dollar homes as they please and make large profits. Lazy poor people like you need to get off your ass and work.

I only listen to the show because it's my job to...

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by Logan

Pretty safe bet...there's always people looking to stop renting and start owning. The higher end houses are in some trouble.

The problem where I live, is that the difference from rent (1200-1800) is a lot more then buying (high 2000-4000).

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

bingo...
Clebrownsfan, you could sell your house in a wk. if you had to, no offense.

uhhhh..no. wrong.

physically you can sell a house in a week. but anyone can say "i'm selling my house for $1,000.00. who's interested?". that's not the point. there's obviously a point where you can't sell for any lower. no one buys a house for $300K, then out of desperation sells it for $180K. doesn't work that way.

yes, the asking prices are a little high, just taking some time for some people to realize we're not in a seller's market anymore. but you can't sell a house willy nilly just for the sake of selling a house. you're not gonna be charitable and let some young couple starting out get the gift of a lifetime and knock off $200K from your asking price.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

keep in mind, if prices dont go down, youll likely be able to find someone who will pay for you to break your lease. Dont feel locked in...I know, for my company, if there was a house you'd buy but "cant" because youve got 6 more months on a lease...we'd pay for the lease break fee.

wow...was that always the policy or just in this bad market?

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by Hell Atlantic

yes, the asking prices are a little high, just taking some time for some people to realize we're not in a seller's market anymore. but you can't sell a house willy nilly just for the sake of selling a house. you're not gonna be charitable and let some young couple starting out get the gift of a lifetime and knock off $200K from your asking price.

A little? A little? What the fuck are you smoking? I know you don't live where I live but when the median house price is higher then over 70% of the population can afford it's not a little. My wife and I make more then the average and we cannot afford a home, period. No where within 100 miles from where we live, would could MAYBE squeak into a condo, but then you still have to deal with association fees. It's a big joke.

[Bee]

Originally Posted by Hell Atlantic

uhhhh..no. wrong.

physically you can sell a house in a week. but anyone can say "i'm selling my house for $1,000.00. who's interested?". that's not the point. there's obviously a point where you can't sell for any lower. no one buys a house for $300K, then out of desperation sells it for $180K. doesn't work that way.

yes, the asking prices are a little high, just taking some time for some people to realize we're not in a seller's market anymore. but you can't sell a house willy nilly just for the sake of selling a house. you're not gonna be charitable and let some young couple starting out get the gift of a lifetime and knock off $200K from your asking price.

Sounds like you're describing a short sale which I think will become a lot more common as home values drop and foreclosures increase.

[JediKooter]

The market isn't soft, the market is too expensive. Sorry to say, the houses aren't worth what people are asking for them, at least in my area.

[Malificent]

All depends on where you are. My 3 bedroom, 1440 sq ft house, 1/2 acre of land was just appraised at $158K, which seems reasonable to me - RDU area in North Carolina - the Triangle seems to have avoided the bubble altogether.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Bee

Sounds like you're describing a short sale which I think will become a lot more common as home values drop and foreclosures increase.

no, i was being extreme. point is - yes, you can sell your house quickly. if you put your house on the market for $100K i'll buy it next month. but it's not financially feasible for people to offer up these deep discounts on their homes. just trying to show that you can't make a flippant remark like "you could sell your house in a week if you wanted". these are major investments, and while people may not be able to retire on the homes they sell in this market, i don't think it's asking a lot to come out even in a home sell.

it does seem CleBrownsFan was not the ideal person to buy a house, and maybe should have done some more homework as to whether buying a house and needing to sell it so shortly was a wise decision. if he did it for investment purposes and looking to make a profit, that's part of the game. if he did it and decided he doesn't want to live in his house afterall or woke up one day and realized he wanted to move - that's a mistake on his part. home buying is not for the short term unless you are in the business of flipping houses.

but my main point is you just can't point to the seller all the time and say "you're being greedy, ask for less". there's only so low you can go, that's what i'm saying.

[st.cronin]

My eyes tell me that the prices are outlandish, as well.

I bought a house in my neighborhood, almost two years ago, for @ 110k. There are several identical houses, same age, basically the same view, etc, currently for sale from 180k-300k. That is insane.

(None of them are actually being bought.)

[Masked]

Originally Posted by JediKooter

The market isn't soft, the market is too expensive. Sorry to say, the houses aren't worth what people are asking for them, at least in my area.

You may not think houses are worth the price people are asking but the market does - houses in the area are still selling for well over asking.

[Synovia]

Originally Posted by Hell Atlantic

uhhhh..no. wrong.

physically you can sell a house in a week. but anyone can say "i'm selling my house for $1,000.00. who's interested?". that's not the point. there's obviously a point where you can't sell for any lower. no one buys a house for $300K, then out of desperation sells it for $180K. doesn't work that way.

yes, the asking prices are a little high, just taking some time for some people to realize we're not in a seller's market anymore. but you can't sell a house willy nilly just for the sake of selling a house. you're not gonna be charitable and let some young couple starting out get the gift of a lifetime and knock off $200K from your asking price.

The problem is, you paid $300K for a house thats only worth $200K.

If you want to sell it, thats EXACTLY what you're going to need to do. You're either stuck, or you're gonna lose money.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

My eyes tell me that the prices are outlandish, as well.

I bought a house in my neighborhood, almost two years ago, for @ 110k. There are several identical houses, same age, basically the same view, etc, currently for sale from 180k-300k. That is insane.

(None of them are actually being bought.)

damn, i need to buy in your neighborhood. summer home in NM, that'd be awesome. then again, airfare costs would negate such a low costing home. (no offense intended, mind you. i'm sure your house is as big as mine ).

friggin NYC/Long Island is waaay overpriced. ugh.

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by Hell Atlantic

damn, i need to buy in your neighborhood. summer home in NM, that'd be awesome. then again, airfare costs would negate such a low costing home. (no offense intended, mind you. i'm sure your house is as big as mine ).

friggin NYC/Long Island is waaay overpriced. ugh.

You don't have the stones to hang out in New Mexico.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

You don't have the stones to hang out in New Mexico.

you're right. if i was gonna go that far west i'd sooner go to AZ or Las Vegas area. then again, i'd likely wind up going to CA since i want to retire in the Whale's Vagina.


still, snow isn't for me. i just want sun and blue skies all year round.