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Actually, I'm hoping that somebody who knows the Dallas market can just say, Things are taking forever to sell, You're screwed, or Things aren't that bad, or something. SOME idea of what's going on. Yeah, we'll have to get a local realtor at some point, but we were screwed by an incompetent realtor in the past -- this time I'm doing my homework. If nobody can generalize, fine, then sorry I wasted your time.
Frankly, I don't see you taking a loss at all. As you can see from the Dallas forum, we have an influx of people moving into the area... even during this time of year, Dallas real estate was never "overpriced" to begin with, you're located in a great area and priced right for the "first-time buyer" or one wanting to downsize.
My advice, don't sell yourself short! And, price it above what you're willing to take... closer to $200k... people have this innate reasoning that what is listed as cheap... is exactly that... cheap! Get all your cleanup done and show it in the best possible light!
Frankly, I don't see you taking a loss at all. As you can see from the Dallas forum, we have an influx of people moving into the area... even during this time of year, Dallas real estate was never "overpriced" to begin with, you're located in a great area and priced right for the "first-time buyer" or one wanting to downsize.
My advice, don't sell yourself short! And, price it above what you're willing to take... closer to $200k... people have this innate reasoning that what is listed as cheap... is exactly that... cheap! Get all your cleanup done and show it in the best possible light!
Good luck to you!
Your advice (overpricing your listing) is typical for a seller's market.
We are in 2007, not 2004.
The advice above (if by chance you do get an offer) will guarantee you 1 of 2 things.
1. You found a sucker buyer (1 in a 1000) who will overpay in a buyer's market.
OR (if you don't get an offer)
2. After 3 or 4 months you will start cursing your realtor wondering why you don't have any traffic/offers. By that time you'll lower your price once or twice to around the amount you should list it now.
I mean really... What is the most likely outcome of the above choices?
I'm sorry, but the cheerleading post above is very dangerous. I've heard some crazy advice before on CD, but this really takes the cake. Shameful.
Your advice (overpricing your listing) is typical for a seller's market.
We are in 2007, not 2004.
The advice above (if by chance you do get an offer) will guarantee you 1 of 2 things.
1. You found a sucker buyer (1 in a 1000) who will overpay in a buyer's market.
OR (if you don't get an offer)
2. After 3 or 4 months you will start cursing your realtor wondering why you don't have any traffic/offers. By that time you'll lower your price once or twice to around the amount you should list it now.
I mean really... What is the most likely outcome of the above choices?
I'm sorry, but the cheerleading post above is very dangerous. I've heard some crazy advice before on CD, but this really takes the cake. Shameful.
This is Dallas...not Florida or the West coast.
You don't know enough to have that opinion.
RE is local and this is a local call.
I too would counsel caution but I don't know enough about the neighborhoods of Dallas to call the specifics. Nor do you CJ.
Based on the Housing Valuation Chart, (http://www.nationalcity.com/corporat...t.mc_id=100206) Dallas is undervalued by -28.1%. If those were the numbers in currently overvalued areas, I'm sure buyers would put a decent dent in the huge inventory.
Based on the Housing Valuation Chart, (http://www.nationalcity.com/corporat...t.mc_id=100206) Dallas is undervalued by -28.1%. If those were the numbers in currently overvalued areas, I'm sure buyers would put a decent dent in the huge inventory.
They also say Charlotte metro is "undervalued". If you look at hard numbers, sales on existing homes YOY are down over 20%, inventory is extremely high, builders are laying off people left and right, and homes are staying on the market much longer than in the past. BUT its "undervalued"......
Olecapt, your right I don't know enough about the specifics. But my POINT was the advice given by the previous poster. The OP even said there were a TON of houses to sell. And the advice is to list it much higher than what she prob should...
Maybe I'm wrong but I wouldn't advocate giving sellers market advice right now....sorry
Actually, I'm hoping that somebody who knows the Dallas market can just say, Things are taking forever to sell, You're screwed, or Things aren't that bad, or something. SOME idea of what's going on. Yeah, we'll have to get a local realtor at some point, but we were screwed by an incompetent realtor in the past -- this time I'm doing my homework. If nobody can generalize, fine, then sorry I wasted your time.
I've heard rumors, but I don't know your market. FWIW, here's a link to the MLS statistics from the DFW Realtor Association--> http://www.dfwrealtors.com/Default.asp?Page=63 (broken link).
For your size house you are not going to get $160k. It is small. I just sold my house in October at $148K and it was over 2,700 sq feet in a very desirable and affordable neighborhood in McKinney. Now is the worst time to put in on the market. I would rent it out first. Good luck. Be prepared to have it on the market for about 6 months or more if you list it now.
They also say Charlotte metro is "undervalued". If you look at hard numbers, sales on existing homes YOY are down over 20%, inventory is extremely high, builders are laying off people left and right, and homes are staying on the market much longer than in the past. BUT its "undervalued"......
Olecapt, your right I don't know enough about the specifics. But my POINT was the advice given by the previous poster. The OP even said there were a TON of houses to sell. And the advice is to list it much higher than what she prob should...
Maybe I'm wrong but I wouldn't advocate giving sellers market advice right now....sorry
CJ the other poster was local. Another local has chimed in that it will be closer to $160K. That probably bounds the likely outcome. The Dallas statistics listed indicate a reasonably stable market with a flat median up average, slower sales and longer time on markets. That is not a recipe in my mind for aggression...I know however that there will be pockets a lot worse and pockets a lot better than the mean. So you need local knowledge to tell which advice is reasonable.
We looked very hard at recent comps and decided that in this market we're unlikely to get more than 152 for it. We decided 145 was probably our best target price if we want to sell in a reasonable amount of time, respectable, in the comp range, etc. It's quite a bit nicer than the other houses in range (tile rather than vinyl, new bathrooms) but those can be hard to number-crunch.
We had the main areas painted, we packed up a bunch of things, etc. It was on the market 4 days before we had an offer! We went back and forth a little but came out at the 145k we had decided we'd target. No contingencies, no closing costs, no weird requests. We still have to get through the option period, of course, and the closing in Feb.
But we did the right things -- priced it to sell -- though it meant giving up some cash, it went quick -- cleaned like crazy and cleared out any pictures, clutter, anything that could be put in boxes and/or the attic.
I wonder if we'd listed higher if we could have sold it for more in a month or so, but heck, this way we get to move out next week knowing we're probably sold. And that feels GREAT.
No giant loss, no big wait, no 2 mortgages. Just needed to look closely at things and be more realistic about price. And wait four days!
Woohoo! Cross your collective fingers that we get through the option period and the close!
I wonder if we'd listed higher if we could have sold it for more in a month or so, but heck, this way we get to move out next week knowing we're probably sold. And that feels GREAT.
Most people who listed HIGHER from the outset in this market have been burned and will receive LESS than their original asking (in most cases).
Congrats on being realistic and moving on w/your life....
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