Sell or Hold (bank owned, short sales, foreclosures)

[Tucsonbound]

To all you housing professionals out there. I don't necessarily have to sell now however we're moving out of state for husbands job. A close relative will be renting from us for a year or so.

How long do you think it will take the market to turn around. Should we just put our property on the market now or wait a year or hold longer.

[norby413]

Hold as long as you can without financial duress. The market is just now coming back and should show modest gains in the next couple years. Still a buyers market right now.

[olecapt]

I diagree as to it being a true buyers market...it ain't. Price is holding far to firm and volumes way too low for a true buyers market.

But the advice is sound. Hold for at least a year. In a year look again. I can't see it changing in any significant way in the mean time.

When you reach the point you want or need the money sell. But no harm in waiting at least for this year.

[Tucsonbound]

Not a Buyer's Market? From what I understand there are currently over 21,000 listing on the market including townhomes.

It's not that I have to sell but after my Mom leaves in a year I really don't want to be a landlord. She'll be happy to show the property and keep it in tip top shape for showings.

I'm wondering if I offer a 5% Co-Op to the Buyer's Agent if it would sell in a decent amount of time. Do you guys think I'd make more if I wait a year? These damn short sales and foreclosures are screwing up the Comps. Argh.

Messed up think is I LOVE my house. If I could pick it up and move it believe me I would.

[renoguy]

My opinion is if you’re not wanting to be a landlord for the long haul, price the house right and sell it now. I watch too many people price their houses wrong wanting to squeeze out every last penny only to loose more because they wouldn’t just sell at the right price.

Let’s say your house payment is $1000 per month and you rent to your family for $1200 per month. You do come out ahead but… The government will make you take the depreciation for next year’s taxes and then when you sell you’ll have to recapture that depreciation. Once you move out something will break. Hot water heater, furnace blower, something. It gets expensive maintaining a house you don’t live in. If you’ve owned the house for a while you won’t get much of a deduction because your interest portion probably isn’t that high.

Let’s go with the price it wrong theory. You want to squeeze every dime from it. You pay $1000 per month plus another $100 per month to the power company and $30 to the water if you don’t have grass. You’re out $1130 per month every month. If you don’t price it right and sit on it, in my opinion you’re lowering your asking price by this amount every month. I watched a coworker do this. She asked me what I thought her house was worth so I told her and she said I was wrong or in other words too low. She held the house for 10 months paying more than my scenario and ended up selling for less than what I said because she was chasing the market down.

I don’t think the 5% will help. It’s all about the price.

[Tucsonbound]

I'm not greedy. The only problem is there is a Foreclosed property that is out of whack with the rest of the comps.

There are two of my model asking 330,000 but one foreclosure that the bank owns selling for 289,000. Yikes. My home has 3 bedrooms these homes all have two.

I'm installing brand new Travertine flooring this week and was planning on listing much lower than my competition but not 289,000. No way. The last homes that sold of my model were 2 bedrooms and sold for 340,000. None participated with Closing Costs.

Like I said I'm not greedy but I would like to get a fair price. It seems like we're at the bottom. People tell me it will turn around in a year or so. Confused.

[renoguy]

I understand what you're saying about that foreclosure but once it sells it sets the base level. Say it sells for $279,000 then from that point forward all offers will be based off that comp as a starting point. This is what everyone is concerned about, once foreclosures set the base that's where we're at whether we like it or not.

[Tucsonbound]

I don't think it sets the baseline. I have seen this happen in neighborhoods but then the same model of a person not in trouble sold for close to their asking price after the bank owned home sold much lower. The Appraiser apparently takes into consideration it is a Bank Owned Property.

I wonder though when the Banks get so overwhelmed with Foreclosures and there are more and more in 1 neighborhood if that will mess up the Comps.

I'm hopeful that because I have 3 bedrooms and all the others two and brand new Travertine Floors and priced lower than all the others with the exception of the Bank Owned home it will sell. Crossing my Fingers.