Ready to get out of dodge if only the house would sell

[highpointdawg]

Hello everybody I have been watching this board for some time now and have picked up some great advise thanks all.
I turned 55 in april and had all intentions of hitting the road May 1 but until the homestead sells I will have to hang around. The real estate market in Mi. is so bad along with the econemy that I have a feeling it may be next summer before it sells. Local tv reports that there is 1 person leaving Mi. every 10 sec. looking for greaner pastures.
DW and myself purchased our retirement dream in the upper cumberland area of tn. overlooking beautifull center hill lake bu do not want to start building until our current house sells.
It is really getting difficult comming to work everyday knowing that I could be retired now if not for this current slump in the economy.
Regards Mike

 

[macdaddy]

Hi Mike - time is money, why not price your home 5% under the market for a quicker sale? It's all about the price now. 5% or even 10% under the market now could be less of a hit than a sale in 12 months after the market declines further. I don't see any trends on the horizon that would pick up the economy there.

 

[highpointdawg]

We knocked off 10% last month 30 k and would consider any offers that came in but bottom line is there is a lot of sellers and very few buyers!

 

[macdaddy]

Good first step. Are you in a position to carry the note on the house, e.g. take 10% down and have the new owners make mortgage payments to you? This can also help a house sell in a slow market and is not as hard to do as it sounds.

 

[jclarksnakes]

Highpointdawg,
....I think Macdaddy is right. There is nothing to indicate things will be better in MI over the next year. Real estate went up real fast all over the country and seems to be in a period of correcting that quick runup. MI could face bigger drops than everywhere else. Nobody I know in the south talks about retiring to MI. LOL. Holding on to real estate in MI because it has already dropped and hoping it will come back may be an expensive mistake. Of course if you can stand the job a while longer and are building up the portfolio some more it may balance out for the good overall.
Good luck,
jc  

 

[Martha]

Welcome to the forum Highpoint.

So what part of Michigan do you live in? It has always seemed to me that Michigan has more economic ups and downs than many other midwestern states.

 

[honobob]

Welcome to the forum Highpoint.

So what part of Michigan do you live in? 

Dodge?

 

[highpointdawg]

Our home is in Oxford township which is about an hour north of Detroit. I could afford to retire with my small mortgage but it makes me nervous as we also have a home in Wi. with a small mortgage where we will be spending our summers. Our plans were to build in Tn. and be free and clear with the procedes from our principle home and maintain our small mortgage in Wi. As for carring the note in Mi. with a 10% down sounds good but that would leave me with 3 mortages and I am sure the DW would be to nervous about that.

 

[Brat]

I remember when there was a billboard, "Will the last person to leave Seattle please turn out the lights!"  Seattle recovered from that Boeing slump but it took a while.  Portland too had a big setback when wood products died and GP left town, real estate stagnated for years.  These cities turned around as the result of community leaders (not all elected) who asked what can we do to build businesses in our community, then developed a plan and worked it.  Those who stayed had to tighten their seat belts.

If you can't aford your dreams at what you think the MI house would sell for now you need to adjust your dreams.

 

[droubal]

Only Southeast Michigan is having a problem. We moved to Marquette from Grosse Pointe in April. It took nearly two years to sell. We were always a little behind the curve, lowering the price a little too slowly.
The Marquette real estate market is still very strong. A friend sold a 650k house in a couple weeks, at the asking price.

The Metro area is not going to get any better any time soon. So if you get an offer, take it.

Good Luck

 

[unclemick]

Brat

I tryed to beat the crowd - left Seattle for Denver - Dec 1969.

Been back a few times - but not since the early 90's - my sister says you're not gonna believe how it's grown. They're still renting. Paducah, Kentucky wasn't the center of any known housing boom when they left 3/4 yrs ago. House money went into retirement funds.

heh heh heh

 

[Brat]

Brat

I tryed to beat the crowd - left Seattle for Denver - Dec 1969.

Been back a few times - but not since the early 90's - my sister says you're not gonna believe how it's grown. They're still renting. Paducah, Kentucky wasn't the center of any known housing boom when they left 3/4 yrs ago. House money went into retirement funds.

heh heh heh

The test is how to evaluate opportunity costs and to act before the crowd forms. Ah, were life simple!

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

I remember when there was a billboard, "Will the last person to leave Seattle please turn out the lights!" Seattle recovered from that Boeing slump but it took a while. Portland too had a big setback when wood products died and GP left town, real estate stagnated for years. These cities turned around as the result of community leaders (not all elected) who asked what can we do to build businesses in our community, then developed a plan and worked it. Those who stayed had to tighten their seat belts.

If you can't aford your dreams at what you think the MI house would sell for now you need to adjust your dreams.

How do you take advantage of such a situation? I would think that if you're still a wage slave, it would be very risky to invest a bunch even in admittedly depressed real estate because if you're job is located in the same area, your income could be affected. Even good real estate deals produce minimal positive cash flow initially, certainly not enough to sustain a reasonable lifestyle. Could this be a great opportunity for an out-of-area investor?

 

[Brat]

How do you take advantage of such a situation? I would think that if you're still a wage slave, it would be very risky to invest a bunch even in admittedly depressed real estate because if you're job is located in the same area, your income could be affected. Even good real estate deals produce minimal positive cash flow initially, certainly not enough to sustain a reasonable lifestyle. Could this be a great opportunity for an out-of-area investor?

My 2 cents:

Those who stay in the community for whatever reason need to hunker down, those who leave will take it in the cheeks.

I don't think an outside investor would be wise to play in this market unless their business plans provide for time (years) it takes to turn a local economy around. Even then the investor needs to know that there is leadership that can accomplish the job. IMHO: the smart investor doesn't buy at the bottom, they buy after the market has turned and has demonstrated that it is sustainable.

 

[larry]

Ready to get the f... out of Dodge? Actually, houses in Dodge City, Kansas are not moving. Everybody wants to get out of Dodge as it is 60-70% hispanic now and the water quality is poor (exceeds federal uranium levels), bad odors from stockyards. Can buy a 2000 sq/ft home for $150k or less. No habla espanola.

 

[Brat]

The reason to get out of Dodge, Kansas is water quality and odors. For that you can credit your city/county leadership.

 

[larry]

Sorry, as I look back at my post it appears bigoted, not my intention. Dodge City has some good things going for it BUT some of the reasons people are leaving are as I mentioned, growing Hispanic population, terrible quality water, odor, etc. Hope this clarifies previous post.

 

[Brat]

Some of us are high-mileage and can recall other immigrant groups.  It wasn't so long ago that Irish immigrants were a concern to those arriving earlier.  When I worked in New York City in the 60s it was Puerto Ricans, in many communities during the 70s - Vietnamese.   My grandfather immigrated from Norway because he wanted to eat regularly - and some had issues with them.  If not you, then your forbearers, were once poor immigrants moving to this country for better opportunities.

Immigrants buy cheap homes because they too want to put down roots and that is all they can manage financially. 

Remember, they didn't make the mess you are complaining about... you (metiphorically) did.

Let me share a story with you:  When my DH and I built our home a couple years ago several in the neighborhood objected to new residents.  I asked one, in a public setting, when they arrived.  When she answered I said, "Welcome! My family had arrived in the territory in 1845 and one branch founded (a nearby community)."  (Damn those immigrants!)  She has avoided me ever since. 

Edited for color..

 

[highpointdawg]

well it looks like the family homested is finally going to sell we should know sometime tomorrow. It has been a tough couple of months in this verry bad Mi. real estate market. Me and the DW are ready to start the next chapter of our lives. I will be giving my notice to retire ASAP and put these last 35 years of corp. BS behind us. I am so excited (and a bit nervous) I am sure I will have trouble sleeping tonight. Thank to everyone on this board for helping us get to this step. Regards Mike

 

[mb]

Congratulations and good luck!

MB

 

[kowski]

Mike, We sold our home in Michigan in February. We bought a home in Central Florida 2 years prior. Tried to keep both but was to much work and money for the perks. Took us 9 months from start to finish. Was just woundering how your deal was working out. We had so many buyers and so few signed contracts that it was very nerve wracking. Sold several houses in my life and this last one, because of the market, was the worst experience by far.

 

[deaneditor]

Well, don't leave me hanging. We are trying to sell, too. Did the Michigander make it to Tennessee?

 

[legacypac]

I am sure that the real estate market will turn around eventually, but it seems like right now is the time to be buying, not selling. People still need to live somewhere - even if the economy has gone to H E double hockeysticks. It's not like 1/2 the population died or something.

Hope the house sells and remember if you replace that house with another investment that is also underpriced, it's not so bad.