[janette moss]

Does anyone have an insight as to when it will be a seller's market in Michigan? If you haven't picked it up by now, I am trying to sell my home on the golf course. Have already dropped it $15,000 and know it will have to go lower eventually -- ouch!!!!! Does anyone feel me? Help me to feel better by telling me some "seller woes". I know the Michigan economy, mortgage companies going belly-up affecting the stock market all are affecting the real estate business. Someone with the "real estate crystal ball" please look into it and tell me what it says -- all sellers need hope in Michigan. Some of us want to leave the state and others would like to upgrade to a better home of choice! Know one can predict this "see-saw" situation, but we need to hear something positive if possible!!!!!! We sellers are in the same boat and don't want our homes for sale to "flood" in our tears.

[Rapunzll]

I doubt there will be a sellers market in this state for many years. Still, I'm going to be putting my home on the market and will get out before things get even worse.

[janette moss]

Originally Posted by Rapunzll

I doubt there will be a sellers market in this state for many years. Still, I'm going to be putting my home on the market and will get out before things get even worse.

Thank you for your reply. Our home has been on the market for seven months. I heard on talk radio that things should be better in 2008 and 2009. I know things can always get worse, but will they? Keep me posted as to how things go for you selling your home. Good luck! Let me know later what the crystal ball tells you.

[Rapunzll]

Where are you located? I'm in Traverse City, and thankfully, although home sales is slow, it doesn't seem to be nearly as bad as it is in SE MI.

I think that things will get better re the housing market in 2008, but I doubt if that will hold true for MI.

[jimdhen]

Originally Posted by Rapunzll

Where are you located? I'm in Traverse City, and thankfully, although home sales is slow, it doesn't seem to be nearly as bad as it is in SE MI.

I think that things will get better re the housing market in 2008, but I doubt if that will hold true for MI.

It's all about job creation, and as long as Lansing only is thinking of ways to raise taxes there will be no job growth. Businesses and people migrate to equilibrium and the outsider's perception of coming to MI for a job is non-existent unless your company relocates you to MI. Unless MI has significant growth in employment, there is nothing to drive demand for homes other than minor population changes and minor amounts of people looking to upgrade or downsize their home but stay in MI.

[highfive]

You don't need a crystal ball to see that Michigan is not going to come back anytime soon.
The last time we saw anything even close to this it took almost 10 years from the late 70s to the early 90s.
I see some posting that the west side is doing "well" don't buy this load of magic beans.
All the forecasts are saying if the fed does not drop the interest the whole u.s. will go into rescission, and that the auto industry has dropped 10% this year alone.
We in Michigan are not going to see any good times soon.
For those who want to sell their homes in MI. If you don't get ahead of the curve now, and I mean now!! you will look back on this time as bad as it is as a good time to sell.
If you can't wait it out for 7 to 10 years, and you need to go. Then you have to take your hit now and get to some place that you can start to rebuild.
I have family trying to sell their home and will not drop price.
those who wait and dig in their heels and say I will not drop my price, their neighbors will drop price, and your home will get over looked. In this market you can only sell with price, people are looking for deals those who are in the market. If you don't get ahead of the price curve now, you will only have a worse item to sell in the future.
So this is a time the stubborn people will loose out big time.
I know of one person in tower, who is trying to sell an old school house on ford road that they paid 39k for put another 30k into it and say they will not take a dime under 150k, All I can say is some people do not live in reality, I think he calls himself the "cartoon guy"
These people are nuts and will hang on to their house and pay the taxes for the foreseeable future.
Remember very very few homes have anything so special you can price it as you want and a buyer can not find a comparable home down the road for 20% less.
Put yourself in a buyers shoes, money is a hard to come by item, loans are getting hard to come by, and homes are a dime a dozen, why deal with some idiot that thinks his or her home is worth prices of 5 years ago?
So if you need to sell price is all you have in Michigan, and you have to be lower than the people who are around you, I have 70 vacant acres I wanted to sell, every one around me was 3000 an acre which was out of sight, or they dropped slightly to 2000 an acre. I priced my acreage at 1500 an acre and sold in a month.
There are buyers but not many, what can you do to make them look at your product?
Price, and one other little thing, tell your listing agent to put at least a 1000 to 5000 buyers agent bonus, think of it this way, you are an agent sitting in your office, you have the golden commodity in this market, you have a buyer, you look through your listing for your buyer, and what? there are 50 listings that would fit your buyer, but this one offers you 3000 extra if you sell it.
which one would you push on to your buyer?
It all comes down to money, There are few if any listings that are special and have no competition.
loose some now, or more later.

[Zmehappy]

My crystal ball broke about a year ago. But looking into my wish bag, I feel it's going to be late 2009 before we start seeing a turn around. The amount of homes for sale on the market is anywhere from a 12-16 month absorption at today's buying pace. Plus as you noted many buyer's are leaving the state which will push that number higher as they don't repurchase in Michigan.

[Lola Granola]

2015. Maybe longer.

The MI economy needs rebuilding, without the Big 3, and that's not going to happen in a couple of years.

Think PA after the steel industry died.

[TaxBait]

Originally Posted by Zmehappy

My crystal ball broke about a year ago. But looking into my wish bag, I feel it's going to be late 2009 before we start seeing a turn around. The amount of homes for sale on the market is anywhere from a 12-16 month absorption at today's buying pace. Plus as you noted many buyer's are leaving the state which will push that number higher as they don't repurchase in Michigan.

Where are you at? I heard it was more like 8 - 10 years in the Traverse City area. I see signs up for well over a year on most homes. They just give up I think.

[janette moss]

Originally Posted by Rapunzll

Where are you located? I'm in Traverse City, and thankfully, although home sales is slow, it doesn't seem to be nearly as bad as it is in SE MI.

I think that things will get better re the housing market in 2008, but I doubt if that will hold true for MI.

I am on the border of wayne and romulus.