"Four years of gains in home prices wiped out" (Jacksonville: for sale, foreclosure)

[KerryB]

Not good news. I wonder how bad this is effecting Jax home values because Miami was mentioned as having a record loss??

We'll be trying to sell our home & moving after the new year. I guess its foreclosure for us. Ain't no way we can pay back the loss we've incurred.

[jackaroo]

Miami is one of the hardest hit markets. Jacksonville is affected, but at least right now, prices are at least still higher than four years ago. You may want to discuss with your lender what options you have. Depending on when you bought and what equity you put in, you may be able to break even.

[surfer boy]

Kerry B , where are you headed? You may want to hold on to your home if you can, and sell when prices go back up a little...

[titaniummd]

I was lucky to buy in 2003 and sell in 2007. I would have had $120k more if I sold in 2005.

[KerryB]

Originally Posted by surfer boy

Kerry B , where are you headed? You may want to hold on to your home if you can, and sell when prices go back up a little...

Not quite sure yet. Either back to DC or back to KY (home state). May not be able to stay longer. Not to unload our problems of you fine folks, but the wife is miserable at her job & mine is non-existent. And she can't get another like-job here, its not that type of a field. Gotta go where's hiring.

Seems like every time we've tried to make a right, we've made two wrongs here. It's just not working out like we hoped, so we're listening.

[surfer boy]

I have only driven through KY, but it seemed really pretty. Probably cheaper to live there too, and friendlier folks. Why not just return home and visit/vacation here in FL?

[riveree]

Sorry to hear that, Kerry .

When it comes time to sell, look into doing a short-sale, if necessary.

Basically, you'll call the mortgage company that holds your note and say "I've got a buyer willing to pay X, will you work with me?". Hopefully, the bank will agree to accept a lower amount than what you owe them and you can avoid foreclosure.

I was told to tell you by the guy sitting next to me (husband) to be nice when you call your bank - a lot of people are in the same position you are so the banks are getting these kind of calls all day. Realize that there's only so much they can do.

Hopefully, you've seen the biggest loss already and by the time you're putting the For Sale sign on the lawn, things will have stablized.

There's a lot involved in getting a house ready for sale, so you can start that work now and be ahead of the game when you're ready to sell.

What you can do now is repair, clean and neutralize. Remove all possible contingencies by making sure everything is in perfect working order, start making repairs if need be. Clean like you've never cleaned before ! Outside and inside, make it sparkle. Outside, you can do your pressure-washing now, maybe the soffits are dingy, maybe the driveway needs freshening...

If you can, as you get closer to selling time, you might want to repaint the interior. You can do this work yourself, so the only cost is paint. You want to pick the most neutral shade you can (I like to use the lightest cream color, just a hint of color). Paint does wonders .

You can maintain and even improve the landscaping. Once the weather cools off, you can trim trees and shrubs so they're ready to go in the Spring.

Lastly, be sure to get a good realtor who will work, not just take a listing. I'd get recommendations from people who have recently sold with a realtor so that you know the realtor knows what he/she is doing in this market. You don't want someone to burn the freshness of your listing, you want someone who can hit the ground running and has a proven plan of action.

Hope that gives you some ideas .

[KerryB]

Originally Posted by riveree

Sorry to hear that, Kerry .

When it comes time to sell, look into doing a short-sale, if necessary.

Basically, you'll call the mortgage company that holds your note and say "I've got a buyer willing to pay X, will you work with me?". Hopefully, the bank will agree to accept a lower amount than what you owe them and you can avoid foreclosure.

I was told to tell you by the guy sitting next to me (husband) to be nice when you call your bank - a lot of people are in the same position you are so the banks are getting these kind of calls all day. Realize that there's only so much they can do.

Hopefully, you've seen the biggest loss already and by the time you're putting the For Sale sign on the lawn, things will have stablized.

There's a lot involved in getting a house ready for sale, so you can start that work now and be ahead of the game when you're ready to sell.

What you can do now is repair, clean and neutralize. Remove all possible contingencies by making sure everything is in perfect working order, start making repairs if need be. Clean like you've never cleaned before ! Outside and inside, make it sparkle. Outside, you can do your pressure-washing now, maybe the soffits are dingy, maybe the driveway needs freshening...

If you can, as you get closer to selling time, you might want to repaint the interior. You can do this work yourself, so the only cost is paint. You want to pick the most neutral shade you can (I like to use the lightest cream color, just a hint of color). Paint does wonders .

You can maintain and even improve the landscaping. Once the weather cools off, you can trim trees and shrubs so they're ready to go in the Spring.

Lastly, be sure to get a good realtor who will work, not just take a listing. I'd get recommendations from people who have recently sold with a realtor so that you know the realtor knows what he/she is doing in this market. You don't want someone to burn the freshness of your listing, you want someone who can hit the ground running and has a proven plan of action.

Hope that gives you some ideas .

Thanks for the suggestions. They will REALLY help.

We got a good guy at our lender. He actually still keeps in touch with us, even about non-related stuff. So, I know he'll work with us as much as he can. We have a good realtor too.

Don't sweat the Jax not working out thing. It happens. We've moved around enough to know that feeling you get when things just aren't falling into place, no matter how much you try to make them. So, we're big believers in listening to that vibe.

Plus, it just makes more sense financially & personally. In KY & DC we had jobs we liked, plenty of money (not as much in DC obviously) & tons of friends. More than we had time for.

Here, its the exact opposite. And I don't know why, but I've never had this much trouble making friends in a town. It's not that people here aren't friendly, but it seems no one wants to make new friends & just hang out regularly or even just a one-off. So, that was always a bit strange for us, especially coming straight here from DC, where you would go grab a coffee with a person you barely knew & it was just second nature & it didn't seem weird to do things like that.

So, its definitely not from lack of trying on our part. We honestly gave it hell & was in it for the long haul. Fate just had other plans for us I suppose.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by KerryB

Thanks for the suggestions. They will REALLY help.

We got a good guy at our lender. He actually still keeps in touch with us, even about non-related stuff. So, I know he'll work with us as much as he can. We have a good realtor too.

Don't sweat the Jax not working out thing. It happens. We've moved around enough to know that feeling you get when things just aren't falling into place, no matter how much you try to make them. So, we're big believers in listening to that vibe.

Plus, it just makes more sense financially & personally. In KY & DC we had jobs we liked, plenty of money (not as much in DC obviously) & tons of friends. More than we had time for.

Here, its the exact opposite. And I don't know why, but I've never had this much trouble making friends in a town. It's not that people here aren't friendly, but it seems no one wants to make new friends & just hang out regularly or even just a one-off. So, that was always a bit strange for us, especially coming straight here from DC, where you would go grab a coffee with a person you barely knew & it was just second nature & it didn't seem weird to do things like that.

So, its definitely not from lack of trying on our part. We honestly gave it hell & was in it for the long haul. Fate just had other plans for us I suppose.

So it sounds like you have the lender/realtor end of things covered with some good people...that'll make it so much easier .

I know what you mean about things not falling into place. My last 2 years in NYC, it felt like that. Suddenly, things just weren't working and I felt strongly that it was time to move on....so I did .

People here seem to spend a lot more time with their families, I've noticed. When the weekend comes around, family members hang out with each other instead of friends. So that's a little different than what I was used to up north (in the city anyway). I've met people, but not too many have "stuck" .

[agreatlife]

Kerry, best of luck to you. If it's any consolation, we bought our home 4 years ago, and just sold it, and still made a profit. Certainly not like it would have been had we sold in 2006, but still is ok. Riveree's suggestions are spot on. I cannot add a thing to what she has said. I will tell you that we got a contract on our home in 30 days, but I think it's because we were able to take a little less than we would have liked.

On another note, I lived in Lexington awhile back, I thought it was just a lovely place, and Kentuckians truly are friendly. Beautiful countryside too.