home selling in Canton GA

[sunny505]

Its not your money Bob. Why don't you think of this situation as if it was and then tell me what you would really do. You act like its a crime to want to brake even.

[Jomaark]

I'm confused why you say the buyers are getting such a great deal if you are getting your price unless you are not happy with the price you are selling for. As far as giving money back our neighbor gave back $7000 in closing costs which I guess is a new way or rather has been the recent way that people buy houses. It's not the way we bought our house but I guess
if you get your money and it's not illegal it's okay. I would have your realtor explain why they are giving you so much pressure. Selling a house is hard enough dealing with the buyer and the buyers agent I'd be pissed if my realtor was giving me a hard time.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by sunny505

Its not your money Bob. Why don't you think of this situation as if it was and then tell me what you would really do. You act like its a crime to want to brake even.

Who said it was a crime to break even? I'm all for making a profit on the sale, but if the market is such that you can't, you either have to stay where you are, or sell for what you can get- complaining about it isn't going to change the numbers.

Since you want me to think about it as if it was my money, here's what I'd do. I obviously don't know the numbers of your deal, but say you were going to sell now, and "lose" $10k. Let's also say that the house you're looking to buy is $200k. You could wait a year, and maybe the market improves, and you're able to sell for $20k more than you can now- if your house has gone up in value by $20k, the $200k house that you were going to buy may be $220k now, so what did you really gain?? In actuality, you'd gain $20k in sales price, but pay 6% of the $20k to your realtor, so you'd walk away with $18,800- meanwhile, that house you were going to buy is the full $20k more, so you're actually losing money.

I've bought and sold enough houses to know that the market isn't always going to work in your favor. When we sold our house in NJ last year, the market had already begun to slip, and we had to sell for around $40k less than we could have sold for a year earlier. We sold anyway because we wanted to move. My wife heard recently that the builder in our subdivision had lowered the prices by $15k, and got all wound up saying "we should have stayed in NJ for another year- we could have bought this house for less". So, I pulled up some other houses in our old neighborhood, and showed her that they were selling for $20-25k less than we sold for last year, so we'd actually be worse off if we'd waited. She couldn't see that side of the equation- only the "our house is priced lower than when we bought it" side. Who cares? We're not going anywhere for a long time, and we'll make that $15k back many-fold when we do decide to sell.

Again, I don't know your numbers, so I can't tell you exactly how I'd react in your situation, but it sounds like you're just having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that housing prices don't always go up- usually they do, but not always.

[sunny505]

Bob,
having to sell your house for $40k less than what it was worth a year prior is really rough and then having the builder de-value the homes in your subdivision by $15 is just as bad. Just because you have a little equity and can afford to take $40k less does not mean it's right.

We will not get rich off the deal by no means. We are older and need our equity, like you did, to buy another house. We know for a fact, that GA market has more foreclosures than some of the other states. But once the foreclosures are all sold off, should not be long, there won't be as much inventory and the market will get better. So we will just wait.

[audioinc]

I had a very wealthy and sucessful "mentor" tell me years ago that houses were just expenses and not investments..... that the true investment was in "education".... had an impact on me.... so regarding the house and car thing.... simular adressments there..... I truly do feel for you regarding the soft market currently as I am also in the Canton area and close to homeless...... makes me think though about where I am going to place my next "investment" Maybe you are not close to homelessness... and I may need futhur education......Bottom line... hang in there.... life cycles full circle and the market will bee booming Maybe after the "eledtion"........ Jerry

[cool_mommy]

Originally Posted by sunny505

Its not your money Bob. Why don't you think of this situation as if it was and then tell me what you would really do. You act like its a crime to want to brake even.

Actually, Bob is quite knowledgeable in his posts (in general). I have been following this thread for some time now. If you don't have to sell then why are you still trying? It is obvious you are not going to get what you are looking for at this time. We had to write a check at closing last summer. It was extremely painful. We have always made a tidy profit from the sale of our homes in the past. Our house was only a few years old, on a few acres, in the fastest growing county in the state, many upgrades and in one of the best neighborhoods in town. This is not a real estate market that will allow such profits, perhaps maybe not even breaking even at this point. Why not wait awhile?

[PotterGeek]

We will not get rich off the deal by no means. We are older and need our equity, like you did, to buy another house. We know for a fact, that GA market has more foreclosures than some of the other states. But once the foreclosures are all sold off, should not be long, there won't be as much inventory and the market will get better. So we will just wait.

I just sold in GA, and like you, earlier I was in a state of denial about the market. I had a serious wake up call, and I got serious about selling. It took me 18 months to sell my house, but when I priced "ahead" of the market instead of chasing it down, I sold.
If you're not motivated to sell at TODAY'S market prices, you might as well save yourself the frustration and pull your house off the market.

Good luck in whatever you do, really. It is a tough pill to swallow, but unfortunately, it is reality and buyer's today don't care what you "need" or "have to make" on the sale of your home.

(Not to add doom and gloom, but the foreclosures are not getting snapped up like you may think. And there are LOTS more ARMS due to reset this year, which will add to the glutted inventory. The economy is in a recession and it will be a long, deep one. Credit standards for mortgages have tightened up and there are VERY FEW QUALIFIED buyers out there.)

[SANDYHAIR]

.If you feel this way take your home off the market . You just don't understand the market . THERE IS NOTHING ANYONE IS SAYING THAT IS PERSONAL. But your taking it that way due to not wanting to face today market. Sorry but that the way it works .

[brunettepeaceluver]

the markets gone down so bad i cant even sell this house i recived when my aunt passed away. its in key west florida where the house go for like $1,000,000 and i put it up for $850,000 and no one can even afforid it when the expense of living here. i've lowered the price over 5 times. i'll most likely never sell it until the gas prices go down. sry for ur bad luck too.


from ur discription i would buy it but i got another 5 year to go till i can move sry

[montanamom]

It hurts when you put too much into a house and can't get the money, or "improvements", back out. This happened to me on a home I over-remodeled in North Carolina a couple of years ago. The new owners got to enjoy all the new upgrades at my expense, but I wanted OUT QUICKLY. I wasn't in a situation to wait for a better offer. It was a relief, regardless of the "loss".
.
Ask yourself "How badly do I want to sell my house?" That helped me.

My brother sold his home in the Atlanta area just two years ago. It was nothing special, just another McMansion in a sea of McMansions in Gwinnett County, tiny yard. He got 5 offers in 7 days, and took the highest bid. The new owners couldn't get into his house fast enough, he didn't even have to clean it. And, he made a nice profit on a home he'd only lived in for a couple of years.

The market has changed that much - that's the reality.