Tampa homes falling off the MLS listings (sales, real estate market)

[seajoy88]

My husband and I have plans to move to the Tampa area and were looking back in May of this year, but the recent mess with the economy has delayed our plans a little. Even so, we've kept multiple homes from the MLS listing saved in searches on realtor.com just to see if any go down in price. But just this week, 5 homes that we were watching dropped off the MLS. I cannot tell if they were sold or what. These homes are all in the high 400s and low 500s.

Is there a sudden selling of homes in Tampa? Or is there some other reason why they would be removed from the MLS? I think a couple were owned by banks.


Thanks, Joy

[Lives 4 The Water]

Hi,

I too am following the market and see homes come off the MLS. If you saved the address you can wait a while and check the particular county property appraiser's site (Hillsborough, Pinnellas, etc) and see if there is a sale for the property. If you ask a realtor they can look it up now and see if it was withdrawn (voluntary), expired, or sold.

I am curious to ask the Realtors on this forum - it appears to me that many people withdraw their listings as they aren't getting favorable response in this market - Is that true?

[bentlebee]

I do this for a few years now and also by observing other things in the market I have come to the conclusion that many homes are off the MLS due to the fact that they are in foreclosure and in my area there are houses (more than 5) that are not on the MLS which they were for months, some for more than 2 years and now are bankowned, empty and not on the MLS...and not sold!!!

Some others have sold, others are pending and often back on the MLS.

By just looking what is happening around me it showed me that still many homes have to be relisted and they will show up "New listing", after having been on the market for years or being empty...so watch out for mold!!!!

[seajoy88]

Originally Posted by bentlebee

I do this for a few years now and also by observing other things in the market I have come to the conclusion that many homes are off the MLS due to the fact that they are in foreclosure and in my area there are houses (more than 5) that are not on the MLS which they were for months, some for more than 2 years and now are bankowned, empty and not on the MLS...and not sold!!!

Some others have sold, others are pending and often back on the MLS.

By just looking what is happening around me it showed me that still many homes have to be relisted and they will show up "New listing", after having been on the market for years or being empty...so watch out for mold!!!!

I have seen one house that we were watching go off the MLS and then later come back on as a new listing with a new MLS number. Also, this house was built in 2005 (according to the county assessment) yet they had it listed as being built in 2007. No one has ever lived in this house.

Here's another thing about that house. Back in June my husband and I made an offer on the house. Our bid was $5000 below what the bank wanted. They turned down our offer and so we walked away. Then by the end of August this same house was listed on the MLS at $20,000 below what we had offered them back in June. We decided not to move on it and just wait things out. Maybe it sold since it's off the MLS now, but it is odd to see 3 homes fall off all from the same neighborhood all in the same week.



Take care, Joy

[mrs.coach]

Then by the end of August this same house was listed on the MLS at $20,000 below what we had offered them back in June.

I'd be breathing a grateful sigh of relief rather than scratching my head in curiosity! Good idea to wait this out a bit longer!!

[seajoy88]

Originally Posted by mrs.coach

I'd be breathing a grateful sigh of relief rather than scratching my head in curiosity! Good idea to wait this out a bit longer!!

I'm still perplexed. But believe me, I am sighing in big relief.

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by seajoy88

I'm still perplexed. But believe me, I am sighing in big relief.

You are so lucky that the bank didn't take your offer, you might have a cheaper chance on a house that you might like even more or perhaps the same house for even less...maybe it even changed banks, since the mortgage papers could have been sold.

[summergal]

Originally Posted by seajoy88

Then by the end of August this same house was listed on the MLS at $20,000 below what we had offered them back in June. We decided not to move on it and just wait things out.

I'm sorry, I disagree. You were willing to buy it at $5k less, but not at $20k less? That doesn't make sense. So really you are saying that you were not serious about buying the house in the first place then. Otherwise you would have jumped at the opportunity to get it for less than what you were willing to pay originally. When will you buy? When is the market going to be at it's lowest that you will stop "waiting" and get on with life? Where's the bottom?...nobody knows that answer. Home prices have fallen considerably... do you not think the prices are reasonable now? The RE market will only begin to recover when people stop speculating and waiting for the bottom and begin getting on with things and buying. That will determine where/when the bottom is. We the buyers do that. I just heard that home sales here were starting to turn a bit and there is an increase in sales. That's good news! Now is a great time to buy! After all, you're not buying at the top of the market, we're near the bottom. RE investors are buying now. So should you! There are great deals out there. And you can save a family from the devastating effects of a foreclosure. Think about that. While people are sitting around waiting for the lowest bargain prices in history, families are losing their homes. You can change that for someone by buying their home.

[BucFan]

No sense in throwing away your hard earned money if you feel the housing market is still declining. Saving even $15k is worth a lot as far as real estate taxes, right?

I'm in the market, but will watch for awhile as this current financial crisis makes the real estate market still unpredictable.

[seajoy88]

Originally Posted by summergal

I'm sorry, I disagree. You were willing to buy it at $5k less, but not at $20k less? That doesn't make sense. So really you are saying that you were not serious about buying the house in the first place then. Otherwise you would have jumped at the opportunity to get it for less than what you were willing to pay originally. When will you buy? When is the market going to be at it's lowest that you will stop "waiting" and get on with life? Where's the bottom?...nobody knows that answer. Home prices have fallen considerably... do you not think the prices are reasonable now? The RE market will only begin to recover when people stop speculating and waiting for the bottom and begin getting on with things and buying. That will determine where/when the bottom is. We the buyers do that. I just heard that home sales here were starting to turn a bit and there is an increase in sales. That's good news! Now is a great time to buy! After all, you're not buying at the top of the market, we're near the bottom. RE investors are buying now. So should you! There are great deals out there. And you can save a family from the devastating effects of a foreclosure. Think about that. While people are sitting around waiting for the lowest bargain prices in history, families are losing their homes. You can change that for someone by buying their home.

No, the realization is that the house is not even worth the $20K less in this current market. When we made our offer at $5K below what the bank wanted in June, we were very serious. We didn't put $15K in good faith with our offer without being serious.

By the time it was $20K below what they originally wanted we realized that my house wasn't going to sell fast as we anticipated. In this current economy I am not willing to buy the house at it's current price until my house sells. If someone else gets it I will be just fine. Waiting is the safest bet right now.

As far as I am concerned, angels were looking out for us because had the bank accepted our offer we'd have 2 mortgages. If we offered on it now, we'd still have 2 mortgages. Situations can change in a matter of 4 months. Look at what the economy has done is the last 3 weeks.

I'm absolutely sighing in relief.