I talk to the trees Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 So after nearly twelve years of living in a city I cannot stand, with no family, no real friends (for me or dd12), and winters long and horrible enough to make me sob for days on end (no, this is not an exaggeration!) I have convinced dh that we need to move. Now. No, not next year, now. Good. Fine. Let's put the house on the market this summer, dd and I can move in with my parents in VA until dh can find a job in that area, and all will be well. BUT WAIT! This morning, our neighbor from across the street tells us that after much thought, she's putting HER house on the market this summer, July to be exact, and she "doesn't care at all" what she sells it for! And then dh went and spilled the beans, and told her that we were planning the same thing! I am sickened by this, and my head is spinning! Should we try to beat her to market with our house? What if she moves up her listing date now that she knows we are planning to sell? What if she under-prices her home just to sell? Will that have a negative effect on our ability to sell? Dh has a potential promotion on the horizon, but that would mean *he* has to move to a different part of the state, which will mean renting an apartment, AND keeping up the mortgage until this house sells. We simply cannot do this for long. Our savings is tiny, and we really, really need to sell this house in order for him to take the "new and improved" job. Somebody talk me down. :crying: I have a meeting with the realtor on Monday, but I'm not sure I can wait that long. Someone with house-selling experience please, please tell me this is going to be okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMomMd Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 When we put our home on the market last summer the same thing happen to us. At first I was devastated...but actually it drove in more potential buyers because people would look at both of the homes. We ended up selling for 8,000 less then what we had wanted and we sold our home first. Everything will be Ok....Even a house across the street can be very different on the inside, do your best to make your home more appealing to buyers. Best of Luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
applethyme Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 I would start cleaning and packing non essentials. Tidy the yard and if possible plant some flowers. Make your house more appealing ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carriede Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 A friend of mine just sold her house. THREE other houses on her street had be for sale for MONTHS before they put their house on the market. They're military and wanted to sell before they left for Germany. They sold it in 3 months significantly above the current asking prices of the other houses which are STILL not sold. So yeah, you never know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 Years ago my house was on the market and so was another house on my street. Neither one sold. This time around my house was on market for one day and sold over asking price (yippee!!) The house two doors down went on market with new kitchen, bath, paint and more. It's still on the market. I'm convinced there is just no rhyme or reason to these things. As everyone kept telling me it just takes one buyer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'smom Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 I'm so sorry. I know what you mean about those winters. I think the pp that said it could bring in more traffic was right. When we were looking for houses, we'd look at others in the neighborhood that might not have caught our attention on their own. My bil just bought a house that had been on the market for one day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 This morning, our neighbor from across the street tells us that after much thought, she's putting HER house on the market this summer, July to be exact, and she "doesn't care at all" what she sells it for! First of all, your neighbor is lying. She cares. She's just saying she doesn't care, in case her realtor tells her that her house isn't worth a high price. She wants to be able to act like the low price was her idea. Second, as soon as she thinks you're going to list your house at a higher price, she's going to start thinking her house is way nicer than yours, and that it's worth way more money, so she will probably end up listing at a higher price than you do, rather than a lower one. Please remember -- PEOPLE LIE. And I'm pretty sure your neighbor's pants are on fire right about now. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 Price your home very well. Pay attention to comparable sales within the last few months. Prepare your home very well. Neutralize (get rid of dated...wallpaper, bold paint colors) and declutter (then declutter some more) the decor. Open the curtains and wash the windows. Turn on the lights. Fix every little nagging thing--squeaky doors, etc. Spiff up the curb appeal. Well priced, well presented homes sell faster. It's fascinating to take buyers to several homes and watch their reactions. Sometimes a home just SPEAKS to a person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 Is your neighbor's home very similar? We listed last summer and our neighbor listed (at a lower price, but we had more square feet) a few weeks later. We sold ours first, though only by about a month. My best advice is to get a good selling/experienced in your area realtor who can set your price point very well. Then ask the person what to do to make it present the best it can. Start decluttering and packing now. I'd want it on the market as soon as you could anyway. Try not to give thought to her plans, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I talk to the trees Posted April 27, 2013 Author Share Posted April 27, 2013 Thanks, hive! Dd and I spent all day yesterday cleaning and decluttering. Wow. I never knew just how much junk a family could accumulate in a little over a decade in a house! The good news is that there is a used curriculum sale coming up in a couple of weeks with the district's big homeschool group, and someone I know has asked if I will share a table with her. That should help us get rid of a lot! Today, we tackle the basement! If no one hears from me by, oh, say 8:00 this evening, somebody send a search party! I could easily get lost in all of the boxes down there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedchaos Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 We sold our house last year and a similar thing happened to us. We already had the contract written up for building our new house and a week before we listed our old house our neighbor 2 doors down with almost the exact same house listed theirs. I panicked. They had a slightly better layout and an extra bathroom. But ours was updated and theirs wasn't. Theirs was a short sale and ours wasn't. After 12 days on market our house sold (theirs did sell month or two later and they moved out the month after we did). The people who bought our house looked at both houses and chose ours because it was updated. What I'm trying to say is I wouldn't worry about the things you have no control over. We kept our eye on their price and priced ours similarly, but we kept our house clean and decluttered and we had already updated what was really old and outdated. Do everything you can do to make your house appealing (de-clutter, clean, paint if you need to, fix anything broken or extremely old, etc) and price it as best you can. Anything else is out of your control. Housing market and buyer's desires will decide the rest for you. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 When we moved from NC the first time, there were 2 other homes for sale on our street. Ours was a 4 bedroom, the other two were 3 bedrooms. We had gotten rid of all of the ugly wallpaper, put laminate in the living room and hall, replaced all of the gold fixtures with updated fixtures, painted it in modern colors, etc. Our house was on the market for 7 days; it had 2 showings and 2 offers. The other homes stayed on the market for a while because they were smaller and had not done all of those little things that add up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I talk to the trees Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 UPDATE: Anyone care to join me in a happy dance? We must be some of the luckiest people on earth! We put the house on the market on May first, got an offer on the fifteenth, and are looking at a closing date of July eighth! Add to that the fact that we made enough on our moving sale to cover the U-haul rental, and you're looking at one happy hive member. The neighbor's house just went up last week, and she even came by to wish us luck and tell us she'd miss us. I just had to share the happy ending to my story! Oh...and did I mention that today is our sixteenth anniversary? And that our dd went to VA with my parents earlier this week? (I'm on my ipad here, or I'd add a winking smilie!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Woo hoo! That is great news! Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannie in NJ Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 congrats happy dance (don't know how to put up the little dancing icons) so just pretend I put them here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myeightkiddies Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Congratulations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 Congratulations!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 what happy news... congratulations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedmom4 Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 Doing the happy dance for you! Elise in NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.