Housing Bubble? Your thoughts, predictions (Portland, Bangor: selling a house, buyer, university)

[tlb71]

Also, several comps in the area were priced the same and have since been lowered between 10-30k and they still aren't moving. We decided to sell before the BNAS closure thinking we might not be able to sell after and then we would be stuck. Our agent told us that unless we were planning to stay another 5-10 years to sell it sooner rather than later. What are your thoughts on that? Any insight is greatly appreciated!

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

That's an idea. I just hate to sit here burning up days on the market. It apparently makes a big difference how long a house sits unsold. There's nothing at all wrong with our house, and I don't want people getting the impression that there is when it sits unsold for several months.

I have heard realtors make comments about a listing when a house has been listed for a long time. I heard such things being said when I was coming up here to Maine shopping for a home. They do seem to make assumptions about any house that has been listed continuously for an extended period. Do buyers listen? Or do they truly form their own opinions? I do not know.

It seems to me that living in a motel room, meeting a realtor everyday, getting a fresh stack of listings to drive to and look at each day, that you do listen a lot to what the realtor says. Realtors describe the town, the school system, the surrounding area; if that realtor is the only person that you are having contact with in the area, then I can see where you are likely to assume what impression that he has of each town, or possibly each house.

We once had a building listed for a very long time, in Bremerton Washington, due largely to a military base being shrunk and lots of folks were leaving the area. I hate to think of what the realtors were saying when any buyer showed interest in our property after such a long time. We finally had to arrange a 'short sale', just to get it sold.

Personally, I have seen realtor offices that maintained statistics about how long their listings stay on the market, and they brag about those statistics.

If a realtor were to advise you to take a home off the market, it is possible that he simply does not want it to be slewing his statistics upward. His advice may or may not be for his own motives, and not really an honest assessment of whether or not a buyer might come along in the next week.

I rather think that a buyer will show up whenever someone is ready to buy. No amount of guessing is going to make it happen any sooner, and taking a house off the market for a few months is not entirely honest [assuming that a realtor was going to then call it a 'new listing'].

A person will buy whenever the stars align for him to buy. I do not think that whether a house has been listed for one month or for three years, should make any difference.

Good luck.

[tlb71]

Forest Beekeeper, that is kinda what we thought too. We are in no real hurry, but there is that since of uncertainty that eats at you. My husband thought it was the agents way of indicating her motivation level for the coming months. Also our neighbors crap house looks better buried under some snow! OT- we lived in Silverdale,Wa 95-97, hubby was on the Nevada.

[Elcarim]

The realtor just emailed me back and said the market is deadly slow right now. Only 1 home sold in our town during November, and it was a trailer house that was on some land. She wants to sit down with us when she gets back from Canada. She's coming Tuesday, and we'll go over it all then.

Reducing our price is not an option if we expect to have enough money out of the sale to relocate across country and start a whole new life. We are right in line with the sales for the last 60 days. I think we just have to sit this one out. And yes, the uncertainty of what to expect next and when to expect it is maddening! Most especially for us control freaks!!

It also doesn't help our feelings any that we are SO ready to begin our new life in Maine and fulfill such an important dream. Limbo is not a happy place to be!

[WhoFanMe]

Originally Posted by tlb71

WhoFanMe
I am not sure it is a price issue as we live in Bath and nothing is selling right now except the super cheap fixers. We bought ours 2 1/2 years ago for 200k (4 bed, 2 bath, large 2 car garage w/full attic above on .22 which is large for Bath) and since have gutted the kitchen and both baths ourselves along with redoing all the floors and tons and tons of painting. We are using the same agent that sold it to us and she suggested we list between 230-245k we opted for 229,900. Our problem has more to do with our neighbors house looking like a pile of crap and how close we are to BIW. We were relocating to Maine because my husband took an engineering job w/ BIW and were unaware of the stigma locals have of the company and its employees. We get traffic up our street at 3:30p.m. every afternoon for about 10 mins., but other than that it is VERY quiet. So, as an agent do you advise taking it off the market for winter? We are not financially strapped, just tired of the up keep on a 100+ year old house and we aren't really sure we want to stay here, but are not quite ready to call it quits. Getting rid of the house is our first step as we knew it could take awhile...

tlb - I sent you a DM.

[399083453]

Saw this on another forum.

What goes up must come down....... This time it will be much worse than the 1980's.

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by tlb71

Forest Beekeeper, that is kinda what we thought too. We are in no real hurry, but there is that since of uncertainty that eats at you. My husband thought it was the agents way of indicating her motivation level for the coming months. Also our neighbors crap house looks better buried under some snow! OT- we lived in Silverdale,Wa 95-97, hubby was on the Nevada.

Cool, I was a NavET onboard the USS Casimir Pulaski in the Bremerton shipyard, and then the USS Alaska at Subase Bangor.

[WhoFanMe]

When I host an open house, the first thing a customer asks me is, "how long has this house been on the market?" The perception seems to be that if it's been on the market for a long time that there is something wrong with the home or that the seller is desperate and will take a "lowball" offer.

Houses and condos are still selling in today's market, when buyers percieve that they are getting value. Unfortunately with all of the inventory and the negative news out there, many buyers are afraid to pull the trigger.

[tlb71]

Forest Beekeeper- small world, he was a NavET also out of Bangor. Went to BOOST, Tulane, then a SWO, now a reservist. Still gets called Bubble head now and then!

[Elcarim]

If only we were independently wealthy and our move did not depend on the sale of THIS house. I'd walk away and leave it in the hands of the realtor in a heartbeat!