[gcd01]

My wife's parents are getting ready to start preparing for a move from Palm Bay, FL back to the Cleveland, OH area which they moved from 14 years ago. We're trying to help them decide what to do.

They can't afford it anymore. They have a good income. Her father just retired from accounting and gets good retirement, and her mother still works as a receptionist at a doctor's office (25+ years and retiring soon). They are in their early 60s and can't afford the insurance, taxes, and everything is just too expensive. Their house is older, built in the late 1970s I believe, and was remodeled inside in 2001-early 2002 with new carpeting, paint, windows, kitchen, floors in living room, dining room and kitchen, bathrooms painted, etc. The problem....about 65% of the homes on their street are for sale and aren't moving. That's about 9 or 10 houses and their neighbors are preparing to put theirs up.

So what should they do? Could someone help us out? They want to get it up by this summer but NOTHING in their area is selling, at all. Last time I saw it was just a wasteland of "for sale" signs. Should they put it up for rent? Everything is beautifully landscaped and pristine, but so are the other homes.

Thanks!

[Racelady88]

If they can afford to they should put a reasonable price on the house. Buyers are waiting for prices to come down. I am house hunting and I see many homes that have been on the market for over a year, but the price remains in the 2004-2005 range.

[FL_TN_Nana]

They will have to market, market, market their home if they put it up for sale! Any online advertising should show inside and out pictures! (Maybe they could set up their own website with ads in newspapers showing where to see the home.) And they need to show a better value for their home than those on the same street. Point out the upgrades...then take a similar home on their street and put a price of say $5,000 - $10,000 lower on theirs. Evey's right about buyers waiting to see how much prices will drop. With all the homes on the market right now, it will take a better deal to sell.

[kort677]

Originally Posted by FL_TN_Nana

They will have to market, market, market their home if they put it up for sale! Any online advertising should show inside and out pictures! (Maybe they could set up their own website with ads in newspapers showing where to see the home.) And they need to show a better value for their home than those on the same street. Point out the upgrades...then take a similar home on their street and put a price of say $5,000 - $10,000 lower on theirs. Evey's right about buyers waiting to see how much prices will drop. With all the homes on the market right now, it will take a better deal to sell.

there is only one way to sell a house in a slow market, make the house show as nice as possible and the cut the price as low as you can and then be ready to lower the price even more.

You might lose 20k on the deal but how much would carrying the house another year or 2 cost you?

[tallrick]

If they have been there for 14 years why is it suddenly so expensive to live there? Are supplies such as groceries that much cheaper in Ohio? Property taxes should be capped low, and allow them to sit out the crash.

[hawaiifarmer]

I just spent two years in Florida...the '04 and '05 hurricane seasons included...and saw the forest of 'For Sale' signs and know exactly
what goes on. I traveled the entire peninsula, witnessed the horrendous
damage in places such as Punta Gorda, Arcadia, Zolfo Springs and even
the stuff in the Ft. Lauderdale area as well as the Everglades and
Lake Okeechobee areas.

My opinion? Get out of there ASAP before the continuing onslaught of
tropical cyclones turns the place into a Hiroshima/Nagasaki look-alike.
The warming of the Earth is going to produce not only huge hurricanes
but more severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. More hurricanes means
higher insurance that only the very wealthy will be able to afford.

I can see the day coming when the sellers may have to pay the buyer
to get out of the tax and insurance obligations but I can also see
the day when, after 8 more hurricanes make landfall anywhere in FL,
that a total write-off will have to be made. Just walk out and forget it.

And FL is not alone with this threat. The entire Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
are highly vulnerable from Bangor Maine to Brownsville Texas. There will
be more Katrina-like events in the coming years.

[riveree]

We have plenty of warning with hurricanes, days and days to prepare and decide whether you want to ride it out or move inland for a bit - it's not like they blindside us.

I don't think the time has come to run to the hills.

[JSnFla]

if they really want to or need to sell they will have to drastically reduce the price to somewhere near what is was worth around 2001-02. its still hard though becasue there are so many more people trying to sell their homes than trying to buy especially in south florida. everyone is trying to get out

[FL_TN_Nana]

Originally Posted by hawaiifarmer

I just spent two years in Florida...the '04 and '05 hurricane seasons included...and saw the forest of 'For Sale' signs and know exactly
what goes on. I traveled the entire peninsula, witnessed the horrendous
damage in places such as Punta Gorda, Arcadia, Zolfo Springs and even
the stuff in the Ft. Lauderdale area as well as the Everglades and
Lake Okeechobee areas.

My opinion? Get out of there ASAP before the continuing onslaught of
tropical cyclones turns the place into a Hiroshima/Nagasaki look-alike.
The warming of the Earth is going to produce not only huge hurricanes
but more severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. More hurricanes means
higher insurance that only the very wealthy will be able to afford.

I can see the day coming when the sellers may have to pay the buyer
to get out of the tax and insurance obligations but I can also see
the day when, after 8 more hurricanes make landfall anywhere in FL,
that a total write-off will have to be made. Just walk out and forget it.

And FL is not alone with this threat. The entire Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
are highly vulnerable from Bangor Maine to Brownsville Texas. There will
be more Katrina-like events in the coming years.

LOL! I find your post very humorous in that you apparently are in "Hawaii!" Let's see, you're in the middle of the ocean where huge hurricanes could wipe out entire islands; you are in danger of tsunamis from an undersea earthquake; and you have active volcanoes! Not to mention, an average person couldn't afford to live there. Thanks, but I'll continue to take my chances in Florida.

Oh, and btw, the reason so many 'for sale' signs were up in 2004-05 was because people were making a fortune from selling their $100,000 houses for $300,000.

[gcd01]

Thank you everyone. I sent them this information today and they're going to think on it. I know they're wanting to escape the hurricane season before it hits.

And tallrick, I do know they said the insurance and property taxes were very high last year and food and gas have gone up. I just think they're homesick for Ohio since they were born there and have a daughter/her family and other family there and that's the 'real' reason for moving. I honestly don't know who would want to move up there, but oh well...