Housing Market? (Washington: real estate, 2009, to rent)

[UtahGuy]

How is the housing market where you are? I live in the Ranches in Eagle Mounatin and have dropped the price of my 2800 square foot house 20K and still no bites! I really need to sell, any suggestions?

Robert

[golightlygirl]

Hi Utah Guy
Tough market out there. I would suggest seeing what your competition is, look on the web, go to the areas open houses. Without knowing anything about you house, it would be hard to give specific advice. Watching the shows on HGTV can also give you alot of good ideas!

You might want to rent the house until this market stabilizes. But that could be months or even years GOOD LUCK!

[Agoraphobic]

The problem with the Ranches is that there are new houses all over the place... so why buy a "used" house when you can get a new one for the same price?

It's a really nice area, I thought about moving out there, but I wasn't sure how long I would be at the job I'm at now. In the end I decided against it mostly because of the resell problem my friend has had out there. They are in the same situation (at least they were a month ago... man I'm a bad friend) but if they have had any success I'll let ya know what they ended up doing.

Hope you find a buyer soon! Are you selling it yourself or through a real-estate agent?

[cottonwood2420]

Originally Posted by UtahGuy

How is the housing market where you are? I live in the Ranches in Eagle Mounatin and have dropped the price of my 2800 square foot house 20K and still no bites! I really need to sell, any suggestions?

Robert

This Housing Market won't pick up again until at least 2009.

My Advice: Start unpacking.

[UtahGuy]

Sadly, staying put isn't an option! The house has had a number of add-ons that you can't get with a new house for even close to the price, but I agree, why buy used when you can buy new.

Has anyone ever used one of those "guarantee to sell" type places? Do they give you a decent offer on your home?

Thanks,

Robert

[flyerone]

Unfortunately if you need to sell the only answer is lowering the price. It's a buyers market right now, maybe you can just rent the house until the market picks up. Winter is a bad time to sell a house anyway, If you can hold out until spring maybe things will pick up. I dont see how those guaranteed to sell places would help you unless you lowered the price enough where they could make some money, they aren't going to carry your house for 10 months and expect to make anything. Maybe you can spend a little on staging, make sure the outside looks great. Even the new house builders are having a tough financial time, they cant afford to hold out, they are going to slash prices.

[UtahGuy]

I may be able to drop the price anothe 5K or 10K, but it might be best to hold out for spring/summer?

Thanks for the advice,

Robert

[Bayzing]

Market is definetly soft right now. I am a consultant and work in an office with some guys that do a lot of real estate deals. I have several associates who have lost some BIG money on residential real estate in the past few months... they were essentially stuck in some homes they couldn't sell and had to unload them for thousands less (in some cases they're still waiting it out). Their consensus is that the market probably wont fall off the cliff (like it has started to do in places that have seen big runs over the past five years (California, Florida, Washington DC)... but they feel the market will be stagnant for many months and probably return to slow appreciation (3 -5% year) sometime in 2009.

Market your home AGGRESSIVELY... make sure and use a good realtor... don't be afraid to negotiate your commission with your realtor... and be open to the idea of cutting the price on your home even more. Things could get worse over the winter before they get any better.

[MtgConsultant]

I disagree with the appreciation only being 3-5% per year, I still would say your going to appreciate more like 5-8 or 5-10%. Getting with a good realtor will help as stated above. Utah's market won't tank as bad as some of the other surrounding states, our economy holds us alot when others tank, you may see it go down a bit more but not too much, and I don't think it will take until 2009 before you get a bite, stick to your guns. Remember, any ol Joe can get you a loan, but if you want someone who actually will teach you, turn your eyes to a consultant, I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have.

[J.T.]

In order to market your home successfully you need to meet with an experienced real estate agent who can tell you what the homes have been selling for in your immediate area. This will allow you to view your competition and give you a realistic idea of what you are up against. Find the things that your home has that the other active listings don't and play those up, lower your price just below theirs, offer to help pay closing costs, include a home warranty (typically around $250). All of these things will give you the edge that you need. I'd be happy to help run some numbers for you if you'd like a complimentary market analysis. Something my clients like to try is a 4% listing for 30 days, see what your response is, there is nothing to loose!