Real life stories on recent sales?

[dunno]

Well, just interviewed another agent....

yuck.

Same-old, same-old.

Maybe I'll just end up waiting too sell, I dunno.

Maybe I just need to have the most spectacular house in my $$$ range?

Maybe I'm still in love with my house.....

Again, I dunno.

[Team_Roberts]

In an earlier post I mentioned that you need to be the top 3-5 houses in your price range because when buyers are looking they don't want to search through 20-30 listings. In some cases (not all) if you don't have to sell right now you may want to wait. It depends on how much equity you have in your home and how flexible you will be in your price. There are so many great deals out there right now through builders that it is very hard for a resale to occur without a great price on the home. If listing your home right now you need to be in line with what recently has sold. I believe you mentioned that there are some 'skewed' numbers out there...but you would need to look at the realistic ones and see if you are anywhere close. (For instance some buyers are offering huge incentives such as no HOA's for a year, 6 % towards closing, etc.)

You asked me in an earlier post about what is the most asked for price range. To be honest, it varies on the buyers right now. I have seen listings in the 200-300 price range go more quickly than those higher recently - but we just closed today on a home for a client in the 360's.

You bring up a really good point. If you are 'in love' with your house it is really hard to let it go for the current market pricing. We encourage our clients when they are selling their homes that it is best not to consider it your home but that it was an investment and it is time to move on to another investment. Just a thought -- may work for some and not others.

Hope this helps.
Tina

[dunno]

ok, so here's my "Wish List"....

Clearly, there are people out there that are not just "deal shoppers" or "STEAL shoppers" - I want only THOSE people interested in my house, looking at it and wishing to buy it. (Ok. Remember this is a "wish list"!)

I want to aim toward the person who is looking for what I looked for....

I'd LOVE for them to have loads and loads of cash down..... (so I don't have to worry about mortgage companies still recoiling from their aggressive books!)

I actually want someone to come in and say "It's what I've been looking for!" whether it's to me, or to their agent or just inside their head....

I'd like to move TOMORROW (I have loved Tampa and New Tampa, but it's been 20 years!!!! (in tampa, not in this house, LOL)....

I love my house, but I am ready for something radically different.

I'd love to have a "need buyer" run across my house - but I still sell for a reasonable (but not desperate!) price, so I feel good about the whole transaction.....

OK.

So, I've just exploited the whole joy of anonymity on forums. I've waxed from rant to rave and from hoity to toity.

Tina, you are a rare gem. I wish more people were like you (I think WC24 might be a challenger). Folks with your vision are few and far between....

Dunno

[fl1025]

Summercreek is 33569 and Cypress Creek is 33573. They are both in Hillsborough County. Can anyone give me any idea on what to offer for these areas on new construction?

Also what is considered New Tampa? n Being from MN I don't know what area that covers!

Thankyou!

[Bones]

Originally Posted by dunno

Geez! LOL!!! I just tried to read my own posts.....

There is a legitimate reason behind my HS teachers' comments: WORDY.

So embarrassing! I know what I WANTED to say, but it sure gets lost!

So, Bones - did you figure out why it took so long for your house to sell?

The excessive inventory, drastic drop in new home prices, large increase in insurance, and buyers looking for a bargain hoping to find someone in distress.

[dunno]

<heaving a deep sigh>

Well, Bones, looks like they all have the same to say so far....

(Please don't relish my pain.)

Just spoke to a friend of mine who sold in Pinellas last summer. It took her 9 months to get to that sale -- and it was a mid-eastern CASH buyer! She was a hold-out for the price she wanted.

Of course, I might just win the Lottery Saturday night, too.

I don't know... maybe I should look a leasing it out and take the monthly loss until the market returns. Mathematically, it's less of a loss than selling at today's market values.

Or, just stay for a while. We have a healthy AC business and it is a nice home.

I dunno. Even with my undying optimistic attitude, this version of reality is taking a toll on me.

[helix139]

Dunno is a realtor! Dunno is a realtor! And a very manic realtor! Listen, everyone is trying to get top price for their house 'cause no one wants to go below what your house would have sold for back in March of 05. My wife and I are in the same boat. So what? We aren't going to loose money, 'cause we bought back in '03...and if we had to move we'd lower our price and get out, and still make money. However, we still like Tampa and don't plan on folding right now...maybe next year things'll pick up. And if it doesn't...well, we didn't get ourselves into financial straits so we'll be okay.
Everyone should just relax and be responsible financially so when things like this happens you aren't stretched thin. Anyway, more folks are moving into Florida than anywhere else!

[dunno]

Originally Posted by helix139

Dunno is a realtor! Dunno is a realtor! And a very manic realtor!

hahahahah!! ROTFLM(everlovin)AO!!!! <pauses to catch breath> Helix, that couldn't be FARTHER from the truth! (except maybe the manic part - LOL!!)

If you knew what these poor agents are going through interviewing with me, you would have NEVER scoped me out for a TROLL.

Nope. Just an ordinary hoping, wishing, (but still a) THINKING person ranting and raving here.

I hoped it would be easier, i wish I coulda just done it myself and pocketed <tongue-in-cheek> "tons of equity" -- but the thinking part?, well, that's just the part where I look at ALL the facts, then decide that I have a choice(s) on what I will focus on..... (optimism based on available facts is a marvelous selling tool.) (pessimism based on the same facts will just leave you hungry.)

Clearly, many homes of every variety are selling. Just look at the County Property tax rolls (that's actually a pretty easy to use site for a gov't site.)

Clearly, there are homes that are languishing on the market.

Clearly some have had some pretty quick turns and some sell for considerably more than their neighbors.

What I am looking for is to sell to a specific market - one that I choose, rather than the WHOLE POSSIBLE MARKET. Why would I care if an agent who wishes to represent me has 10,000 listings and has sold $5,000,000 of homes? That means NOTHING to me! I mean, that could be they sold five $1 million homes! What if they sell 50 $100k homes? That tells me what they know, what sellers they understand and what buyers they appeal to......

I want someone who can tell me how to appeal to my own little market niche (since I can't, for life of me, get my brain around it!). I only know what made me buy what I bought -- that's the only thing I can irrefutably bring to the table! I only know what drives me when I look for my next home. Here is where I, as a buyer, seem to be acting different from the "trends".

I have researched on line, read books, and tried to apply my own dissection of what drove(or drives) me as a buyer. Unfortunately, I can't find a web page that either supplies all the statistics OR sorts them the way I'd like them to sort so I can understand them and then use them for my benefit.

Let me give you a a little insight to why I persist that I don't HAVE TO accept and abide by what everyone insists are the "market trends": My husband and I run a small residential service and repair business. I have been in retail sales most of my working life. Businesses will fail or starve slowly by trying to appeal to the whole public. Businesses will thrive when they specialize in a specific market (can you say Starbucks? - hey, anyone can buy their own coffee and make it at home! They don't bother with marketing to those people or the ones that prefer a quick stop at the corner 7-11 (low-end homes) nor do they bring your order to your table with a flourish (high end homes.) I am attempting to apply that concept to selling my house!

Our experience is that cheap people are a waste of time and effort. Cheap people are even more high-maintenance than people who shop at the top end of the spectrum. Sorry if I've offended anyone out there that takes pride in how "savvy" and "frugal" they are, but the rest of the world knows what a PIA you are. It's not just that you cost others money - you cost others their time, energy and emotional health, too. I just don't want to waste any portion of my life dealing with them.

Hence, the idea of appealing to a narrower market when I sell my house, rather than everybody under the sun. That's why I look at what appear to be exceptions to the "trends" and try to figure out what conditions existed that allowed the "exception" - and look on both ends of the trend. Why did that house sell for so low? (OK, I want to avoid THAT!) and why did that house sell for so high? (OK, now THAT's what I want to do!)

So, the long of it is, I picked a place like this and see what others are experiencing on both sides of the street, and perhaps stimulate some others to consider what they have experienced and observed and pick their brains......

[dunno]

Originally Posted by fl1025

Summercreek is 33569 and Cypress Creek is 33573. They are both in Hillsborough County. Can anyone give me any idea on what to offer for these areas on new construction?

Also what is considered New Tampa? n Being from MN I don't know what area that covers!

Thankyou!

Hi, fl1025....

Summercreek and Cypress Creek are WAYYYYY two different environments at opposite ends of the county. They are about 30 minutes apart (if you catch the traffic right either direction on I75), but WORLDS apart.

I have lived in both zips and preferred 33647 (New Tampa) to 33569 (Riverview/Gibsonton). By and large, those who purchased in 33569 did so bc of the perception that they could get more house for the same money - and you CAN - You just get entirely different neighborhoods, too.

Less overall crime in New Tampa. More stay-at-home Moms make for better neighborhood watching. It's just harder for a criminal to get away with being a criminal. -- I know of one Hunter's Green Mom who, after some random vandalism in her neighborhood, noticed people driving around the neighborhoods way too late (you do tend to notice your neighbor's driving habits), so hopped in her SUV and followed. (Dangerous, but that's her style.) After a couple of nights of this, she finally noted the house they parked in and followed up the next day with the kids' parents.

People do a lot to protect their families and their home values up here!

New Tampa is pretty much from Tampa Palms up to the county border, although most would argue Wesley Chapel is pretty much the same, too. Once you get beyond Wesley Chapel, you get the "more house for less money" crowd again. Oh, and there's a huge mall planned for just NW of there at the apex of SR54 and SR56, (I think - I'm not a mall shopper)

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by helix139

Dunno is a realtor! Dunno is a realtor! And a very manic realtor! Listen, everyone is trying to get top price for their house 'cause no one wants to go below what your house would have sold for back in March of 05. My wife and I are in the same boat. So what? We aren't going to loose money, 'cause we bought back in '03...and if we had to move we'd lower our price and get out, and still make money. However, we still like Tampa and don't plan on folding right now...maybe next year things'll pick up. And if it doesn't...well, we didn't get ourselves into financial straits so we'll be okay.
Everyone should just relax and be responsible financially so when things like this happens you aren't stretched thin. Anyway, more folks are moving into Florida than anywhere else!

HMMM, I don't know, Helix. You need to check out the different forums and see all the people who are moving OUT of Fla. For as small of a state as it is, NC has an awful lot of activity and some of it is from soon to be ex-Floridians. Texas isn't far behind either.