Selling our house in Asheville... Market advice? (Washington: lease, transfer)

[Crazy G]

>>>""""We just don't get up there enough to make it worth keeping a second home.""""<<<<<

According to the Mountaineer Newspaper in Haywood County, 60% of all housing is owned by people out of county....Maggie Valley/Waynesville, is a tourist town, and so too, to a certain extent is Hendersonville, where we live....Population estimates run from approx. 85,000 in off season to 130,000 in summer...
The slowing economy, and the high price of fuel, is only going to do one thing.....
PUT MORE HOUSES ON THE MARKET...
Depressing the prices of homes even farther.....

The big ""TALK"" [and it's only talk], is about all the people that want to move up here....""BUT"" they can't.....because they can't sell their house somewhere else..[Florida??]

The aggregate number of empty houses sitting is at all time highes....

You're in the middle of a """MACRO-ECONOMIC EVENT", that is going to take years to play out....We didn't get to this point in a flash.....and we're not going to get out of it, till the the last debtor has paid his bill....

""DEBT, IS GOING TO BRING THIS COUNTRY TO IT KNEES"""

>>>>There will be tears<<<<

[Crazy G]

A week or two ago, Andy Rooney noted in his commentary about all the houses that are ""NOT"" selling.....
He said, that "HE" had a very simple solution....

>>>"""DROP THE PRICE""<<<


Hope, is the last thing to go....and 'if' your hoping to sell in spring, you just may be missing an opportunity to sell, NOW, at a higher price than you will in 6 mos. or so....
My suggestion, would be to drop the price by $10,000 every 30 days, till it sells....
Your house, seems to be a very nice, ""BUT"" at 1400 sq ft, it would be a little small for a family...besides...most families can't afford a $200K house any way....Median income, dictates that....
SSOO!!! Your best bet, is to determine the median income for the Asheville area, and price you home, "AT" or under the affordablity ratio for the income....using 2.5 income as the ratio....

[Crazy G]

Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 68,889 people, 30,690 households, and 16,726 families residing in the city.

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[WeavervilleNC]

We've been trying to sell our home (2005 - stick built) since early July.
(Though I'm in the Weaverville/Barnardsville area and price is $445K)

I've watched all the "advice" shows, read all the newspaper articles about where to advertise, how to advertise...staging your home....flyers...blah blah blah....

But nothing is happening. We're even offering a $5000 selling agent bonus...
Not a peep....

Haven't had a showing since Nov. 19th!

Any tips? Ideas?

Though we're not in a desperate situation - I am getting tired of keeping this 3000 sq foot house clean (especially with two kids!)

I know it's a game that takes patience in this kind of market, but jeezopete this is like a root canal.

Thanks in advance :-)

Kelly

[JCL78]

Originally Posted by WeavervilleNC

We've been trying to sell our home (2005 - stick built) since early July.
(Though I'm in the Weaverville/Barnardsville area and price is $445K)

Hang in there Kelly... With a higher end price in this market it is definitely tough. What I am starting to realize is that if you want to sell fast, you are going to have to list the home for the bare minimium you can stomach. It is horrible, I know... but you have to take an objective look at what the house will sell for in this market.

If you are priced 5 - 10% lower than the comps in your area it is much more likely to be sold, and fairly quickly. If you are on par, or higher... the wait game ensues. Buyers are super picky, and can afford to be in this horrid market. Where as a few years ago, you could get away with pricing the house 5% above market value and have an offer for a lower amount, these days buyers just walk away and find something else.

We are hoping that traffic picks up starting this weekend, but many people are still in the holiday mode. Good luck... Lord knows we all need it right now.

[Crazy G]

He won't take a listing unless it's at least 15% below market value appraisal..

My advice would be to start there, and the drop your price $10,000 every month....

YOU WANT TO SELL, OR SIT AROUND AND COMPLAIN....??????

P.S.... the real estate market is deteriorating by the month...YES!!!
Fewer and fewer houses are being sold....
Financing is evaporating by the day...fewer & fewer mortgage brokers still in business.
This ain't pretty.....

[Cofga]

Boy, I hate to say it but this is good news to me. I want to retire to Asheville in a couple years and have even delayed it a year due to this housing shutdown. I was afraid that I'd be priced out of the market if prices down there kept appreciating like they have for the last 5 years. The house next to me sold for $465K 2 years ago then was taken back by the mortgage company--now it is listed at $250K! Talk about a drag on housing values in the neighborhood!

Anyway, this is just like any other recession (yes we're in one) first things collapse then everything stagnates for a while then eventually it starts to recover. We're still in the stagnation phase and it's going to be a while before things recover. One problem that Asheville faces is that folks moving there need to sell houses elsewhere first and prices there won't start to recover there until they do in other areas. At least that's what I'm hoping!

[Crazy G]

Originally Posted by Cofga

Anyway, this is just like any other recession (yes we're in one) first things collapse then everything stagnates for a while then eventually it starts to recover. We're still in the stagnation phase and it's going to be a while before things recover. One problem that Asheville faces is that folks moving there need to sell houses elsewhere first and prices there won't start to recover there until they do in other areas. At least that's what I'm hoping!

================================================== ========

Well, at least your kinda right....
""BUT"" things are not going stop going down till sometime in 2013...""MAYBE""

We didn't get to this point overnite [try 20 years], and we're not going to get out of this 'funk' for a decade or two....

People have been listening to CNBC to much, looking for a bottom, and a quick recovery....
DEBT to INCOME ratio is ""NOW"" >>>>>>""" 133% ""<<<<<<

Higher than the great depression, and the savings rate is a misely 1.4% average over the last 3 years....

There ain't NO cash, nor income to support these prices, either here in Asheville, nor in other locals....

[Asheville Native]

Originally Posted by Cofga

Boy, I hate to say it but this is good news to me. I want to retire to Asheville in a couple years and have even delayed it a year due to this housing shutdown. I was afraid that I'd be priced out of the market if prices down there kept appreciating like they have for the last 5 years. The house next to me sold for $465K 2 years ago then was taken back by the mortgage company--now it is listed at $250K! Talk about a drag on housing values in the neighborhood!

Wow, what part of the country is that in?
(I wish everyone would list in their profile where they are so comments will have a point of refrence)

Originally Posted by Cofga

Anyway, this is just like any other recession (yes we're in one) first things collapse then everything stagnates for a while then eventually it starts to recover. We're still in the stagnation phase and it's going to be a while before things recover. One problem that Asheville faces is that folks moving there need to sell houses elsewhere first and prices there won't start to recover there until they do in other areas. At least that's what I'm hoping!

Yes, we are in a recession, yet I find few with the courage to say so. However I think your view of how this will play out and how long it will last is flawed for the simple reason you haven't factored in the economic dreadnoughts that China and India are becoming, combined with the unrest in the middle east, and the fact that is the source of much of our energy. Remember the gas lines of the 70's? You ain't seen nothing yet. We will be damn lucky to not find ourselves in a depression. None of these factors existed during previous recessions.

[Cofga]

I'm in Northern Virginia outside Washington DC. There were a lot of overpriced homes sold here using the subprime mortgages and a lot of folks who could not afford them were targeted. So now we're working through the foreclosures as the baloon comes due or interest skyrockets.

As for the timing, you should notice that I did not say how long I thought it would take for this to work its way through. My house will be paid off in another year and I can afford to stay put if necessary. However the turnover rate in this area due to government and military transfers is about 26% a year so sooner or later folks are going to have to start buying again. In Asheville you just don't have that kind of turnover. What is happening now seems to be that everyone is just sitting on their hands and waiting to see what will happen next. Buyers are afraid to make a commitment on a house that may still go down in value so they are waiting for the bottom to come. And sellers just haven't accepted the fact that they are going to have to list their houses for much less. Until reality seeps in this is still going to be a waiting game.