Real Estate Sales

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ferco

Recycles dryer sheets
Joined
Sep 14, 2004
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How long has your personal house been on the market? Any ideas for expediting a sale. Is it better to "invest" in upgrading with the hope for a sale. Is it better to take a loss and live with the devil you know, as opposed to holding out for the devil you don't know.
 
Before I begin, I currently I do not own. I sold at the peak. I am personally waiting for prices to stabilize. They have been dropping here in Florida for nearly 2 years and the same homes are still on the market after almost a year. At least the ones I recall. If I were to make an offer it would be about 20 - 25% less than the asking and start there. Most people who do not have to sell I think are pulling their homes off the market for a while.

Just my observation. Finally local Realtors are beginning to price homes more aggressively. But I a still seeing people putting their homes on the market that they purchased at the peak in 2005 for 10 - 20% more than what they paid. Most homes are down 25% from then. Those are the ones that sit and sit and sit and get stale.

Obviously this is just my 2c worth, as a real active cash buyer in todays market, when the right property comes up. I am not an investor and looking for a permanent home.

SWR

ferco said:
How long has your personal house been on the market? Any ideas for expediting a sale. Is it better to "invest" in upgrading with the hope for a sale. Is it better to take a loss and live with the devil you know, as opposed to holding out for the devil you don't know.
Click to expand...
 
SWR, haven't seen you here much lately.

I think that Fla. properties are about as low as there going to go but who really knows. I'm now living in Fla. and 2 of the houses on my block that have sat on the market for over 2 years sold in the last month. There's about 7 house for sale out of 46 on my block and nothing has sold in the last 2 years till these 2 this month. So I would guess the prices were lowered to the right spot to make the buyers bite.
 
I am tentatively planning to sell in 2009-2010, my projected ER timeframe. If it doesn't look like I can get what I could have got in 2005, I will probably wait a year or two.

As for upgrades, I think they may affect how fast a house sells more than what it sells for, in this area. I plan to put in new carpet just before selling, and I might paint, all in neutral colors. If I feel energetic I might even try to remove some of the wallpaper since so many people do not like wallpaper. I'll have an electrician look at the circuit feeding the patio lights and fan, that hasn't worked since Katrina. I'll hire someone to put a lot of work into the yard. I might even have to pay for a new roof, and I will hire a team to clean once I have decluttered and removed most of my stuff.

But I won't add a room or remodel the kitchen; in my case, my yard really isn't big enough for an addition, and my kitchen was nicely remodeled not too long ago.
 
We sold 2 little rental houses and a tiny strip of land - all congruent - found out yesterday that the buyer has chopped them into 4 separate lots and (if he gets what he's asking) should make 150% of his buying price, minus expenses. That's in just 5-6 months . Good for him if it works! We are about to market a 7 unit - did all new windows and outside paint last year, just put a new roof on, replaced a deck railing and have common stair carpet going in. Figure if it's shiny and pretty it should be more salable, if it doesn't sell we've made it more rentable for more money, reduced our maintentance hassles, and the money we spent should offset some of the gain from the sale of the 2 houses.
 
I know that homes are sitting on the market a lot longer these days with the current mortgage crisis affecting lending criteria. That said, if your house is in a constrained market, you should be able to sell it so long as you price it to move. Investing in upgrades can be a smart move, but never just "hope" that the upgrades will work. Find out what your house needs to sell at top price, fix the problems as efficiently as possible, and make sure that you can recover the cost of the upgrades with a higher sales price than you would have received before making the changes. If the current price it would take to sell your home exceeds the price you'd net after upgrades, making the changes wouldn't necessarily make sense. *Exceptions do apply, however. Good Luck!
 
Any house will sell in any market at the right price. So when I hear people complain about how hard it is to sell their house because of "the market", I laugh.
 
Don't forget St. Joseph!

Although I have not tried this, I know several people who swear that burying a small, plastic statue of St. Joseph (the patron saint of carpenters) works wonders. The statue is supposed to be buried head down, facing the street, next to the for sale sign...and once the house is sold, the statue is to be dug up and displayed in a place of honor in the new home. (Hey don't heckle me, I'm only the messenger, but I've heard enough success stories that I'm willing to try it the next time I'm selling my house!)

Here's a link to one of the stories about St. Joseph's impact on real estate sales.....Selling your house? Bury a saint
 
Achiever51 said:
Although I have not tried this, I know several people who swear that burying a small, plastic statue of St. Joseph (the patron saint of carpenters) works wonders. The statue is supposed to be buried head down, facing the street, next to the for sale sign...and once the house is sold, the statue is to be dug up and displayed in a place of honor in the new home. (Hey don't heckle me, I'm only the messenger, but I've heard enough success stories that I'm willing to try it the next time I'm selling my house!)

Here's a link to one of the stories about St. Joseph's impact on real estate sales.....Selling your house? Bury a saint
Click to expand...

A friend of mine had his house on the market for 1 year and tried this and sold it the same day.

In my case I did it and it still took over 6 months.
 
"...burying a small, plastic statue of St. Joseph..."

I didn't do it on my last transaction (1992) and have had indigestion several times when I eat too much Mexican food and my trick knee is acting up again.
 
Achiever51 said:
Although I have not tried this, I know several people who swear that burying a small, plastic statue of St. Joseph (the patron saint of carpenters) works wonders. The statue is supposed to be buried head down, facing the street, next to the for sale sign...and once the house is sold, the statue is to be dug up and displayed in a place of honor in the new home. (Hey don't heckle me, I'm only the messenger, but I've heard enough success stories that I'm willing to try it the next time I'm selling my house!)

Here's a link to one of the stories about St. Joseph's impact on real estate sales.....Selling your house? Bury a saint
Click to expand...

My cousins did this after their house sat for nearly a year (more or less) hasn't helped...I suspect they are asking too much
 
73ss454 said:
A friend of mine had his house on the market for 1 year and tried this and sold it the same day.

In my case I did it and it still took over 6 months.
Click to expand...

I've buried several cats on the property over the years; will that help sell the property (someday)?
 
73ss454 said:
A friend of mine had his house on the market for 1 year and tried this and sold it the same day.

In my case I did it and it still took over 6 months.
Click to expand...

Imagine how long it would have taken if you hadn't buried St Joseph.

I sold my last house in 3.5 months from listing to closing. That included the realtor not enthusiastically showing the place for the first two weeks because I was finishing the bathrooms. The neighbor across the street with the same floorplan as my old house has had their house listed for almost 2 years and it is still on realtor.com. They are still asking $50,000 more than I was asking for mine. They started almost $120,000 higher.

The house I bought to replace my last one was listed the day before I looked at it and we had an accepted offer within 4 days. The house was sold within a month of listing. It could have been sold quicker but the sellers couldn't move before they did.
 
Mom's house sold in four hours. The real estate agent already had a potential buyer drooling over it, watching mom for signs, no doubt. We were having dinner when the buyers arrived and quickly tossed some cinnamon in water and simmered it. Had we known about Joseph, we would have turned him up-side-down also.
 
Martha's correct, lower the price sell the house it's as simple as that.
 
Yeah, but a house that sells in hours needs a higher price.
 
We just sold a condo in FL. 2005 Price - $300K. We listed it at $229K. We got one offer. After negotiating, we ended up selling it for $210. It was a 1031 transaction and the buyer paid cash. Comparable condos in the area are still listed from $230 to $250. Some have been on the market for a year. Based on what we paid for it in 1999, we did OK. I am glad we were able to sell it. From listing to closing was about 3 months. Just before we got the offer, the realtor wanted us to drop the price to $219, but we were hesitant. Conclusion: if you price your property right (to get people to look at it) and then don't get emotional when they offer you 15 - 25% less than list, you should get a buyer (if you are lucky):)

That said, a lot of the comparable properties that we were competing with have been withdrawn from the market and I know they haven't sold. Inventory is still high. It's a jungle out there.
 
Saint Joseph is north of Kansas City - home of the Pony Express Museum - they're gonna have a rodeo there in the South end 9/14.

Friends I know say the houses are moving slow - so they bought and I have to help/loan em my pickup toward the end of the month.

heh heh heh - no word on the statue. One more thing - Jessie James got shot there - for a price you get to tour the house and look at the bullet hole.
 
I'm no expert - the Atlanta market doesn't look as if it is doing too bad. New homes are selling slower but still selling. It used to be that there was a regular selling pace. I don"t see an unusual amount of for sale signs on the laws. Atlanta wasn't a overheated market.

Bottom line - the housing market will recover. It is estimated that the USA population will grow by 100 millon by 2050. They will need a place to live!
http://www.finishrich.com/pdf/HomeAppreciation12-05.pdf

United States housing bubble - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
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