The Frustration is getting deeper! This home must sell! (Sarasota: real estate, for sale)

[kelly3120]

I agree w/ Harrys first sentence ...get comps and compare.

We get a list of comps from our realtor once or twice a month, then at least you know what's going on around you and can compare

[kelly3120]

I agree w/ old timer too. We bought in 2003. The market was fine, insurance rates were AWESOME!

2004-2005 is when houses couldn't stay on the market for more then a week.

[maslozhir]

I have bought for 250K in 2005 . Begun to panic. Put on sale in 2006. In 2007 accepted the offer 210K and has given the buyer 12K toward closing cost . Paid commission to the agent and closing cost. So I have taken the loss 70K. It likely sounds madly, but I feel myself very blessed.

[Carbondated]

It's too bad the OP left her thread. I re-read her post here and her other posts elsewhere and it seems as if she is extremely anxious to leave Sarasota and head for greener pastures either on the east coast of Florida or to some other state entirely.

House prices were skyrocketing here in Sarasota in 2003. The "erroneous pricing" of houses started 5 or so years ago in this area. So, in her case she did buy at an inflated price and dumped in $80,000 in upgrades. $80,000 in upgrades, which to me seems like a ton of money, unless it was a derelict house.

So let me see she bought in at $350,000 and is trying to sell it, after being on the market for four months at $459,000? If there were no upgrades that would be $109,000 profit.

I was going to suggest that she use the Sarasota County Property Appraisers website to look at the sales of her particular home. The original price of the house is stated, as well as, subsequent sales of the house. She can use the formula of 4% increase per year from the original price. That is truly an indication of the value of her home. If she put on a new roof or replumb, or something else structural she could add those to the price. However, cosmetics are just that, cosmetic, and wouldn't figure very much into the value, if at all.

It's a shame that she didn't feel that people were supporting her and left the thread. I think, as a potential home buyer in Sarasota, she would get an indication of how the other half of the market is reasoning. Basically, the value of a house is not indicated by what people paid for it within the last 5 years. It's a shame too, that she probably would consider my post another doom and gloom post.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by Carbondated

It's too bad the OP left her thread. I re-read her post here and her other posts elsewhere and it seems as if she is extremely anxious to leave Sarasota and head for greener pastures either on the east coast of Florida or to some other state entirely.

House prices were skyrocketing here in Sarasota in 2003. The "erroneous pricing" of houses started 5 or so years ago in this area. So, in her case she did buy at an inflated price and dumped in $80,000 in upgrades. $80,000 in upgrades, which to me seems like a ton of money, unless it was a derelict house.

So let me see she bought in at $350,000 and is trying to sell it, after being on the market for four months at $459,000? If there were no upgrades that would be $109,000 profit.

I was going to suggest that she use the Sarasota County Property Appraisers website to look at the sales of her particular home. The original price of the house is stated, as well as, subsequent sales of the house. She can use the formula of 4% increase per year from the original price. That is truly an indication of the value of her home. If she put on a new roof or replumb, or something else structural she could add those to the price. However, cosmetics are just that, cosmetic, and wouldn't figure very much into the value, if at all.

It's a shame that she didn't feel that people were supporting her and left the thread. I think, as a potential home buyer in Sarasota, she would get an indication of how the other half of the market is reasoning. Basically, the value of a house is not indicated by what people paid for it within the last 5 years. It's a shame too, that she probably would consider my post another doom and gloom post.

I agree with you. I do think she (OP) became inflamed after a certain couple of posts here (I would be, too!) but I used to live in Sarasota and that has ALWAYS been a very inflated market. As mentioned in the post above, the super-inflation started there quite a few years ago. Every once in awhile I check out listings to see what folks are asking and I shake my head at the absolutely ridiculous pie-in-the-sky prices people are trying to get. A certain clue that a home is overpriced is if NO ONE IS EVEN LOOKING!

As far as upgrades - $80,000 is a LOT of money, and it's a known fact that you do not get all or even most of your money back when you upgrade - you do that for yourself, unless you are doing a "fixer-upper." I have to totally agree with those of you who believe that she is going to sit with that house until it is priced in line with what today's market will bear. Also, we haven't seen relief yet from high HOI, and it is very high in Sarasota, as are the property taxes, and interest rates are on the rise. Not many folks can afford a house like that with all the associated costs, the upper echelon buying in Sarasota go for the really high end homes and condos.

Oh well, she asked for opinions but she really just wanted to hear some lies to make her feel better.

[JimKing]

Well I'm sure I angered her. But this is a serious bubble. When you have people posting that they need to sell, that they are carrying two houses...they need a dose of reality. Especially when they are shocked that they can not still make a ton of money.

If she bought for $350,000 and put $80,000 in upgrades, and the market has been inflated for 5 years, she most likely grossly over paid.

Money magazine estimate: Sarasota, FL, +56% priced. Do the math, I was actually being generous with my estimate.

She is in a tweener house. Not enough for the rich, way too much for the rest. Those houses will take the biggest hit.

She has $430,000 in her house, I said her house MAY be worth as little as $200,000. Again, if I am wrong, she will sell it or more. That is the only way to truly value a house, sell it.

[firemed]

Why did people think it was a sure thing? The housing boom is just a distant memory. We're not talking just about people who are hardly making ends meet," said Raymond Rotella, a partner in the Orlando law firm Kosto & Rotella. "We're talking about some people with a sizable net worth and income-earning potential who are facing a serious dilemma."




Housing downturn bankrupts borrowers -- OrlandoSentinel.com

[riveree]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

A certain clue that a home is overpriced is if NO ONE IS EVEN LOOKING!

As far as upgrades - $80,000 is a LOT of money, and it's a known fact that you do not get all or even most of your money back when you upgrade -

Exactly!!

[ddlove01]

Originally Posted by pslOldTimer

Enough! Begone! Some houses are worth the price they are asking, and things like square footage don't always apply. Use logic! They put $80,000 in upgrades into the house -- that is more than most of you want to pay for the entire house![/i]

Has the original poster been back since they first posted? I didn't see their name on any of the pages. I am still curious what kind of upgrades they had for 80K, wood floors, granite and cherry cabinets can't add up to that price...My friends did a remodel with everything above for under 30K...and I think everyone wants to pay as little as they can, I bought in 2000 for ahem, well, that was then, this is now.... : )

[JimKing]

Originally Posted by pslOldTimer

Whoa, folks, hold on here a moment. Bought at the peak of the market? Paid too much? Stop! They bought the house 4 years ago! That was 2003. The market had barely started to heat up, let alone reach it's peak. The peak happened in 2005, and the buildup took less than a year! When folks talk about going back to pre-bubble prices, they mention 2002 - 2003.

If they put $430,000 into it in 2003, and assuming they were not fools, it is obviously a special house in a special neighborhood. House like it were probably selling for $750,000 or more by the peak of the market. Now, all they are trying to do is get their pre-bubble investment back, with a little room for negotiation. By the time they do negotiate a little, and pay commissions, they will have lost money. If that's the case, it tells me that the downturn in real estate is going further than we ever expected.

Back in 2001, prices had not grown by any appreciable appreciation in almost 20 years, the market in most of Florida was fairly stagnant. In other words, if we ever get back to 2001 prices, we will actually be going back to 1985 prices! This is getting ridiculous.

The problem with her selling this type of house has nothing to do with the value of the house, and in that price range, it has little to do with affording the taxes or insurance. The problem is entirely fear -- fear that the market has NOT bottomed out, fear that the values will be driven down yhet further, mostly by listening to all the nay-sayers about buying now.

I mean, listen to many of you -- as soon as you hear a price that you can;t afford to pay, you all start circling like witches -- Too Much! Drop Your Price! Too Much! Drop Your Price!

Enough! Begone! Some houses are worth the price they are asking, and things like square footage don't always apply. Use logic! They put $80,000 in upgrades into the house -- that is more than most of you want to pay for the entire house!

When the right buyer comes along, the one who appreciates this house, has the means and is not intimidated by the nay-sayers, it will sell. Unfortunately, people have been frightened so badly by the nay-sayers that the bold personwho knows their own mind is pretty rare.

That's what Mike Peterson was really saying, a little more politely -- "Do not rely on posters that are not even in your area telling you that your home is overpriced."

Totally ridiculous post. Your advice is dangerous and based on no fundamentals...it will lead people to hold on and end up losing even more money!

$80,000 in upgrades? So what? Every new house would have those things anyway. And $80,000 during the bubble? When contractors were jacking up prices? What upgrades?...how do we know what the next owner feels is important. Maybe her tastes are not what a new person wants, you have no idea the value, if any, of her supposed upgrades to a potential buyer! In fact many times someones upgrades are another person's turnoffs.

I know lots of people that hate stainless steel...fingerprints. Hate granite...water spots. Hate marble floors...dangerous for kids. Hate big whirlpool baths....hard to keep clean. And on and on. What she considers upgrades could be hurting the house.

The bubble started in 1999-2000, not 2003. It just got crazier 2003-2004, but house prices where already inflating for no reason before that.

Bottom line...Sarasota is 56% overpriced...her $430,000 house could be worth $190,000. And no amount of disbelief or praying or wishing will change that!