Why We Were Able to Sell ... (cheapest, foreclosures, commission, sales)

[sheri257]

The simple answer is: price.

We sold our house in a horrible market ... the Inland Empire of California ... which probably has the most foreclosures in the country. And we'll still make some money on it ... about $20K. Nothing to brag about by California standards but ... not too bad, considering.

Why were we able to sell? We priced it cheap. We didn't get greedy, chase the market down, etc. and try to get more money than what we could get. We already knew the true market value based on CMA's and our own market research.

We didn't end up listing it but we already knew what a realtor commission would cost ... and that buyers were looking for closing costs and other expensive concessions with higher priced homes so ... we figured we'd just slash the price by those amounts and that would move it instead.

Why were we able to slash the price? Because we went out of our way not to pay too much in the first place. We moved out here to avoid the huge price increases in coastal areas. And ... we never borrowed on the property when it did double in value two years after we bought it ... since we never believed this house was worth that much anyway.

We remembered the real estate crash of '92 ... and didn't want to get into a negative equity situation. We always wanted to be in a position where we could sell this house no matter how bad the market got.

[Jaded]

^^

Very good points!

What I don't understand is why SO MANY people made the false assumption that home prices NEVER fall??? Who started this rumor?

Also, many sellers today simply don't understand that it is a BUYER'S MARKET. I don't think they know the difference between this market and the one that ended in 2006.

I was priced out of the market in 2001 and didn't buy because at the rate homes were increasing, I knew something was up...and not in a good way. I kept telling those around me in the business that it wasn't going to last long and that Real Estate Markets are cyclical...they didn't listen!! Oh well, see ya at the bottom!

[CouponJack]

Originally Posted by sheri257

The simple answer is: price.

We sold our house in a horrible market ... the Inland Empire of California ... which probably has the most foreclosures in the country. And we'll still make some money on it ... about $20K. Nothing to brag about by California standards but ... not too bad, considering.

Why were we able to sell? We priced it cheap. We didn't get greedy, chase the market down, etc. and try to get more money than what we could get. We already knew the true market value based on CMA's and our own market research.

We didn't end up listing it but we already knew what a realtor commission would cost ... and that buyers were looking for closing costs and other expensive concessions with higher priced homes so ... we figured we'd just slash the price by those amounts and that would move it instead.

Why were we able to slash the price? Because we went out of our way not to pay too much in the first place. We moved out here to avoid the huge price increases in coastal areas. And ... we never borrowed on the property when it did double in value two years after we bought it ... since we never believed this house was worth that much anyway.

We remembered the real estate crash of '92 ... and didn't want to get into a negative equity situation. We always wanted to be in a position where we could sell this house no matter how bad the market got.

Very good points...

The problem in most cases is people think their POS taj majal is worth more than it really is.....and also they don't price it out 4-6 months...they are pricing it based on the past which got most burnt in the first place..

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by CouponJack

.....and also they don't price it out 4-6 months...they are pricing it based on the past which got most burnt in the first place..

Well ... I'm also looking to take advantage of these low prices as a buyer so ...

It doesn't bother me to not make that much as a seller. I figure I'll make up for it on the other end.

Besides, $20K in cash is nothing to complain about. We never put much into this property so ... we're happy.

[Bazzwell]

Very nicely done, well thought out and done with a realistic attitude. Congrats!

[featherz]

We just sold in the dreaded inland empire also (well, we are days from closing.. stuff can still happen as everyone knows.. is there any wood to knock on?) and we also sold "low" at what the realtor told us,we had never borrowed on the property and bought it when it was fairly cheap. And we made a small profit. First offer that came in, we took it.

We did use a realtor, but that was out of necessity since we were moving far away at the same time.

We ultra cleaned with a pro and did minor fixes but didn't stage, paint, remove wallpaper, update the kitchen or any of the 'required' things. There are still houses on our street priced 30-40K higher that are not selling and have been listed for > 6 months.

I figure if our price was OUTRAGEOUSLY low or out of range for the market we would have received multiple offers. With only one offer (in 12 days) it was probably where it should be.


Of course, stuff could always fall through at the last minute so keep your fingers crossed for us.

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by featherz

We ultra cleaned with a pro and did minor fixes but didn't stage, paint, remove wallpaper, update the kitchen or any of the 'required' things. There are still houses on our street priced 30-40K higher that are not selling and have been listed for > 6 months.

Yep, we did the same thing. Just a professional clean and some pool/yard clean up. We were going to recarpet, paint, etc. but some realtors we consulted told us not to ... that buyers didn't care so much about that ...

Price would be the overwhelming factor ... and it was. Even though the IE is a bad market, it's also where sales have picked up the most since prices are the cheapest here in SoCal.

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by Jaded

Also, many sellers today simply don't understand that it is a BUYER'S MARKET. I don't think they know the difference between this market and the one that ended in 2006.

It's probably a difficult reality to face. If you paid too much or borrowed too much and would have to take a huge loss or stay in a house you don't want anymore for years ...

Well, you probably wouldn't want to cut the price either. The only thing that surprizes me is when I read about people who went belly up in the '92 crash yet ... they still got caught up in the more recent feeding frenzy.

We really made a point of learning from our mistakes in '92. We were in a negative equity situation and it took years for us to recover. We were determined not to do that when we bought this house.

That meant moving to a cheaper, less desirable area but ... at least we stayed out of trouble and didn't pretend we could pay for anything more than what we could actually afford.

[Bideshi]

Originally Posted by Jaded

^^

Very good points!

What I don't understand is why SO MANY people made the false assumption that home prices NEVER fall??? Who started this rumor?

Realtors.

[dogmom]

Sheri, have you heard anything on your new home up north yet? It's been a few weeks since you made your offer to the bank and I was wondering...glad you got your home sold, that is great...hopefully ours as well, soon...take care