rafiki Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 If you think it's the price, then all means lower it. But I'm in the same no sell boat as you. Our house has been on the market for 6 months as well, without so much as a nibble. I think it's just the market. Ours isn't unreasonably priced at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlotteb Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 I totally know what you mean. Our house has been on the market since September. We have added new carpet and linoleum, re-painted each room a neutral color, majorly de-cluttered, and even did some tasteful redecorating. We have had tons of house showings, but not a single offer. Our house is very reasonably priced according to the realtors we've talked to. We are considering low-balling the price just to get it to sale, but I really don't want to do that if we don't have to. I would love to make some profit from it! I think the problem in our area is that there are so many houses for sale. We probably have 10 in our neighborhood of 50 homes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenAL Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 We're in the same situation. Ours has been on the market for 6 months, we just re-newed our contract with the realtor. We lowered our price, but our realtor said we were priced fairly to begin with. We had hoped lowering our price would bring more showings but it's not working. In our area, we are on the higher side of the market...so we knew it might be a challenge to sell. Most people who buy here are buying smaller homes. I'm just ready to sell! It's tough keeping up with everything & trying to have the house show ready just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msjones Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 We're selling my father-in-law's place for him. After hearing lots of stories like these, we priced it low -- hoping to generate interest. It worked. We got a full-price offer after one day on the market, and an offer 6,000 over the asking price the next day. Now, we have a nice bidding war going on. We were a bit reluctant to price it so low, but it worked. Just my two cents. Best wishes on selling your places. Very stressful, I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plucky Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 If you think lowering the price will help then do it. I went round and round with a realtor about price. He insisted I pick a higher price. I followed his advice and we didn't sell that spring. Next spring I had to lower it 20 thousand below my original low price to sell it. Price matters. People want a deal in this economy. Just so you know my old house lost $30,000 in value since we sold it. Sometimes the longer one waits the more depreciation is going to happen in this economy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i.love.lucy Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 Mine is in a short sale situation. If we don't sell, they will foreclose. But I think we have an offer on the table today after a MAJOR price reduction. Problem is I doubt our mortage co wil accept it. I hope they counter back something reasonable so this couple doesn't bolt. Seems a lot of us are in a tough spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 (edited) If you think lowering the price will help then do it. I went round and round with a realtor about price. He insisted I pick a higher price. I followed his advice and we didn't sell that spring. Next spring I had to lower it 20 thousand below my original low price to sell it. Price matters. People want a deal in this economy. Just so you know my old house lost $30,000 in value since we sold it. Sometimes the longer one waits the more depreciation is going to happen in this economy. . Edited March 11, 2010 by KidsHappen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 When we were trying to sell our house in FL, it was on the market for 9 months. The realtor insisted that it was priced right and it was at our breakeven point so we were hesitant to lower it anymore. We also had the disadvantage of having already moved here so the house was sitting empty. She wanted us to rent furniture and stage it which we could not afford to do because we were paying rent here and mortgage there. So we got the bank to agree to a short sale and lowered the price. We got several offers in the same general price range and sold fairly quickly. Unfortunately it is a buyers market and if you want to sell then you are going to have to have the best bargin. That means the best house for the lowest amount of money If you think that is the sticking point, lower the price. In any case, keep in mind that the realtor has an interest in you selling for as much as possible because she makes her commision on your sale price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 (edited) I live in the NY metro area and our house took 2 years and 6 months to sell (saltbox). The only thing you can do is bottom out the price. We eventually came down over 100k dollars, but it sold, and if we had to lower it any more-we would be staying. I wasn't taking a loss on it just because the economy was horrid. Caveat, I didn't HAVE to sell, but we had to sell for space if YKWIM. 9 people in 1100 sqft. Not fun. The good part is that I'm buying a house that had come down over 300k in price so it's all relative. Edited March 11, 2010 by justamouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 I think the problem in our area is that there are so many houses for sale. We probably have 10 in our neighborhood of 50 homes! Oversupply is an issue, but the biggest hurdle we had in purchasing a home was getting a mortgage. We have excellent credit (DH's in >800, mine is high 700's), a decent income, and a stable job situation. Yet it took us 6 months to find a lender willing to give us a mortgage. Several of the folks I talked to said that in a normal market we'd easily qualify but their underwriters were vetoing ANY California mortgages over a certain amount because of the risk of a further price decline. It's like there's no happy medium in the mortgage market. 3 years ago lenders were overly loose in qualifying folks and today they're overly strict. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 Price is a big part of any home purchase in any economy. Anyone looking to purchase now wants/needs a deal. Follow your instincts, imo realtors don't know anymore than anyone else right now. jm2cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 I think it's not the realtors who set the market price, it's the buyers. If it's not selling at its current price, you've got to lower it or be willing to wait. We listed our 90 yr old colonial style house at 40k under what we had bought it for 4 years earlier at the height of the market. It was absolutely depressing to do it, *but* we had two full-price offers in two days. We moved and are renting in order to save up for a new house. I'm so glad we did it that quickly! Getting out from under a house can be very freeing... even if it is a big loss. I just figure if I had that original down payment in stocks, I'd have lost that much too. And... presumably we'll be buying a house that is priced less than it would have been 5 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigitte Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 In any case, keep in mind that the realtor has an interest in you selling for as much as possible because she makes her commision on your sale price. Yes, but, if it does not sell, the realtor makes nothing and is out hundreds of dollars in advertising expenses. So, the realtors are inclined to price homes where they think they will sell, not where they stand to make a bigger commission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 Houses just aren't selling right now. We ended up taking ours off the market in December and renting it out. We had a wonderful tenant in FOUR HOURS. We're making a profit every month off the rent, too. I hope you sell yours... :) ...but if you don't...renting it out can be an option... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPlaceLikeHome Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 Houses just aren't selling right now. We ended up taking ours off the market in December and renting it out. We had a wonderful tenant in FOUR HOURS. We're making a profit every month off the rent, too. I hope you sell yours... :) ...but if you don't...renting it out can be an option... Did the realtor help you? We are considering renting our house and are wondering about realtor management companies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 It really is about finding the right buyer. Our house was on the market 3 months last year, priced fair for the area, showed many times, but it took one family who LOVED the playscape with a pea gravel pit under it to finally go for it. We cleared more than we expected, and everyone was happy. We have friends who have had their home on the market for months with no serious offers, and IMO their house is waaaaay nicer than our old house was with many nice features. Odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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