Listed the House...Moving to VT

The last showing I had really got my hopes up, but didn't pan out. The folks that looked were counting on their mom and dad to move into the apartment house, but in the end the parents refused to move our of their current home. I decided to just take the house off the market when the realtor contract expires on 12/25/15, and relist after the holidays.

Yesterday I got a call from our realtor, someone wants to show the house at noon today. I am pretty surprised that anyone is out looking at houses 3 days before Xmas, but maybe that means they really need a house? In any case, the house looks nice all decorated for Xmas.

Uglysquirrel wrote:Rob, nice place so close to the water. Your realtor can provide listed vs sold cost data on local houses, also days on market before sold. That can guide you into making decisions. Best of luck, know what you are dealing with.

In the last 12 months only 1 house in my area has sold for over $200,000 - and it was on the water. The big sucking sound of jobs leaving the area has resulted in a lot of homes listed for sale, and very few people moving into the area.

Rob, maybe the guy is going to buy his wife a BIG Christmas present . Hopefully it works out for you.

Well, the Realtor left her card on the counter and they turned off most of the lights before they left. No other clues - hopefully we get some feedback soon.

Go with it,Rob ! This is going to be an interesting episode in Your hunt to move closer to where You both work. I'm still sorry that it has to be this way,as You've built one heck of a Family Place there. Hat's Off to You both for being Good Family Providers and keeping all the balls in the air ! Merry Christmas,My Friend !

I feel for you, Rob.

Each house we sold happened after we gave up getting our hopes up.

Once we didn't really care (not anxious), is when they sold.

It can be frustrating, all the ups and down. Just go with it

Enjoy your Christmas!

Yeah! Enjoy your Christmas with the boys. Burn some coal. Stay warm

Rob R. wrote:Well, the Realtor left her card on the counter and they turned off most of the lights before they left. No other clues - hopefully we get some feedback soon.

You could consider renting it out....some places the market has not returned.

I can see why this house has not sold in your area:

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8007-Route-22-W ... 8796_zpid/

I think that's what happens when the amount of the mortgage exceeds the market value of the house. I never thought much about flipping houses but it might make sense there.

Mike

I did evaluate renting the house, but I don't think it would be a good option for us. If I was planning on living close by it might be a different story, but the last thing I need is to be paying a contractor to go take care of every little thing that goes wrong in a 100 yr old house with a tenant that doesn't take care of anything. The other issue is getting the numbers to work. The total ownership costs of the property well exceed what most 3 bedroom houses are renting for in my area. I'd rather sell it at a loss and move on than rent at a loss every month.

sorry just noticing this Rob (maybe a real estate/rental/land/mortgage section in the future).

anyways... without knowing your personal ability, real degree of motivation , etc. Im going to simply try to give some options and facts that may or may not help...

#1 any real estate in most parts of the country will sell near market value if listed for $1.00 (I'm ot saying to list your house for a buck but I just want you to understand anything & everything WILL and CAN sell... the only question becomes... how much you will get for it).
#2 a tactic many banks now use is to way under list a property to achieve the highest, best, swiftest & surest... the way real estate was done years ago was always to "leave room to negotiate" (if I hear that phrase from any of my sellers I am hell-bent on teaching them, showing them and rescuing them from themselves)! Its simply not the way real estate should be done today...
#3 I'm sure your aware already between thanksgiving & new years is not typically a time to do anything drastic or have any expectations of magic (hold tight... wait for the tax returns to start and a new world, new market, new buyer pool will emerge...
#4 "value range marketing" a technic used by list agents to enable the lowest list price possible in the MLS to pull the largest buyer pool possible to your property without indicating any possibility of you taking less than list price... (in other words... if your house was listed for $199,900 you would instantly double the amount of buyers who would see, know about, realize your property even exists! "seller will consider all offers between $199,900 - $229,900 or whatever)... bear in mind when a sellers value is ANYWHERE near a large threshold like $200k I would always recommend listing it just below that wall!.... I know your not quite at that level but I want you to understand that in some areas, towns, etc... that wall might be very HUGE and the only to climb it and get yourself over the other side is to at least give consideration to a list price just below that wall in order to propel you over!
#5 seller financing... I know it sounds scary & risky to a seller but try to look at this way... if taking back a second in order to give ability to a buyer to make the purchase at a certain price point helps obtain you moneys you would not have otherwise seen than its not a risk at all! (example: sale price of $225k with the seller taking back a second of $15k at a reasonable interest rate paid over a 10 year term is better than seller having to sell for $210k and not having that payment each month over 10 years).
#6 when all else fails... reduce the commissions to what's normal in the area and offer whomever the selling agent is a big fat paycheck! $5000 bonus to the sale agent of my house! you'll be surprised how many of us will be trying

OK.... have to run to the store and I don't want this to become a entire book for you to read... but I hope this info helps you learn a little and gives a few options to consider... you know you can always reach out if your needing anything Rob...

Doug, about half of your points echo what my realtor has told me. The others points are a close match to what I have been suspecting over the last few months...that we listed the house at too high of a price to begin with. I went with the advice of someone with an excellent selling record in our area, but the results have been very discouraging...and I'm not sure if my expectations were just out of line? I have considered changing realtors, but since it is an MLS and all of the other realtors already have the opportunity to bring in a buyer, I'm not sure if that would do any good.

As for reducing the price farther, anything below 207K would put me in the red after paying the realtors, lawyers, and bank. I could do that if forced, but the idea of losing all the equity (plus $ spend on upgrades) just to start over with whatever I have left in savings is pretty discouraging.

Glimmer of hope: My realtor called with the feedback from the buyer's agent. Overall they thought the home was in a beautiful setting and well kept, but they did have some concerns and questions. No deal breakers yet, so maybe this will turn into something.

It may not be price, but simply a lack of buyers at this time. I think leave the price alone. You can always lower to make a deal. Any offer will be lower than asking price anyway.

franco b wrote:It may not be price, but simply a lack of buyers at this time. I think leave the price alone. You can always lower to make a deal. Any offer will be lower than asking price anyway.

That was exactly what my realtor told me.

Feb and March will bring in the new season of buyers...
Hold the price...
If someone wants it and thinks you are priced high...
They will make an offer...
At a lower price...
Your job is to counter and "sell" the House...
There is an Ass for Every seat...
Just went through this...
You will find a buyer...

CapeCoaler wrote:Feb and March will bring in the new season of buyers...
Hold the price...
If someone wants it and thinks you are priced high...
They will make an offer...
At a lower price...
Your job is to counter and "sell" the House...
There is an Ass for Every seat...
Just went through this...
You will find a buyer...

LOL.... you guys ... why don't we simply wait a year a two and eventually the market will catch up to price and we might sell something a year or two from now if the market trends our way
I will PM Rob with some ideas & advise... this is why I have job security