house market stinks!!!!! (Mableton: sale, real estate, foreclosures)

[bunny1234]

I just wanted to say that the house market stinks. I have been trying to sell my house in cartersville now for six months for a relocation. Unforuntly my husband has already moved out of state and the kids and I are stuck here. The only thing selling right now are forclousures in the neiborhood.Im aggravated with keeping the house clean, the yard cut. My poor kids are tired of seeing me clean. I stress out if one speck of dirt is on the floor and I have two big dogs a 5 and 2 year old. Just looking for a light at the end of the tunnel!!!!

[BobKovacs]

While the market does stink, it could also be the house itself. Are you priced below the comps in the area? In this market it's not good enough just to be "priced in line with the comps"- you've got to be below them to draw people in. This may not be what you want to hear, and lower the price isn't something anyone wants to do, but homes are selling if they're in good condition and priced right.

[bunny1234]

I feel my house is in good condition. We are running along with everyone else price wise but we are the biggest and also feel we cannot lower anymore because we are coming out of pocket already and we are moving to a more expensive houseing market! My living area could use paint but I hate to paint if we are headed out

[lane421]

I feel your pain, and then some! 20 months on the market, numerous price drops, priced below comps, and just nothing is working. We have a townhouse (actually 2) and we find we are losing out to SFH foreclosures in the area or we find that buyers have a place of their own to sell first.

Every morning, its the same drill - get the house spotless (I have the 2 big dogs - no kids yet though) in case someone wants to come see it!

We just sucked it up last weekend and painted one room that one potential buyer said they didn't like. We've tried absolutely everything and nothing seems to work.

[spacelord75]

It took me 12 months to sell my townhome in Mableton and it was absolutely brutal. We ended up having to pay $10k out of pocket to cover what was left of the realtor's fees, but I was so happy to have that monkey off my back. We carried two mortgages from July 1, 07 until closing in March of 08 and it made our lives miserable. Unfortunately, the only thing that helped the house sell was when I finally found a window of opportunity after the last foreclosure in the neighborhood sold (at $20k below my lowest possible price) and I then jumped on that chance the cut my price to $15k below the next lowest home. I wanted to make it a no-brainer decision for a prospective buyer, especially since they still had new construction to look at. It paid off for me (well, sort of) and the lesson I took away from this was no matter what, price sells.

[RoslynHolcomb]

Bunny, I've so been there and really empathize with you. My husband was over here for two months before our house back in Huntsville, AL sold. I had to get our old house ready by myself. I painted four rooms, hung new curtains and cleaned like a fiend. We also rented a storage unit and 'decluttered' down to the bare necessities. I was blessed that my mother-in-law came and took my little guy off my hands for a week or so and I was able to get everything done.

IMO, nothing looks better than fresh paint, and I know it's a pain to do it when you're going to move, but I recommend it highly. Our old house needed painting and a new roof. We figured that if we painted the awnings it would freshen the whole house, and it worked. I also painted all the wrought iron to 'brighten' it up too.

I put down 22 bags of mulch and ten bales of pine straw. Two mortgages were out of the question. We needed to sell and sell at the best price possible because we were moving to a much higher market. We didn't make a killing, but we didn't get hosed either. We got double what we paid for it, so we feel that was fair. Had the situation not been so dire, we probably could've done better. It was a heckuva lot of work, and I still can't even think about doing any painting in our new house, but there you go.

PM me if you just need a sympathetic ear. This was so incredibly hard and I know what you've been through.

[cool_mommy]

Originally Posted by bunny1234

I just wanted to say that the house market stinks. I have been trying to sell my house in cartersville now for six months for a relocation. Unforuntly my husband has already moved out of state and the kids and I are stuck here. The only thing selling right now are forclousures in the neiborhood.Im aggravated with keeping the house clean, the yard cut. My poor kids are tired of seeing me clean. I stress out if one speck of dirt is on the floor and I have two big dogs a 5 and 2 year old. Just looking for a light at the end of the tunnel!!!!

I completely understand your frustration. When we relocated from the north my husband had to start his job before we even put the house on the market. I decided to put the house on the market as a FSBO as I used to be an agent. We have two elementary age children, 3 dogs and 2 cats. Showings and open houses were a pain, not to mention the constant cleaning! I would pack up the kids and my dogs and bring them to my neighbors house across the street (if there was a buyer's agent involved) so I could see how long they were at the house. (a pretty good indication as to whether or not they were interested). If there wasn't a buyer's agent I would ask a friend to watch my kids and dogs for the showing. (yes, I have some really great friends) I ALWAYS insisted on feedback. From this feedback I realized I had to do some painting. I ended up painting 5 rooms by myself, re-stained the front door, as well as painting and sealing the grout in our kitchen, hallway and foyer with a kid's painbrush (what a sight that was!) I would like to mention that my home was only 5 years old but sometimes these things have to be done. Of course I had to do all of this in addition to the normal running of the home, mowing 2 acres, running the kids around, errands, appointments, grocery shopping, laundry and the endless cleaning! The worst part was the kids and I missing my husband. I do have a point in all of this. Don't be too proud to accept ANY help offered to you. Whether it is watching the kids, errands or even to help you paint or clean. If you can, try to "live" out of one room to avoid messes in the other rooms. Don't be shy about asking for help. If you can afford it, you can hire a mother's helper to watch the kids while you paint, clean, etc. PAINT, I know it can be daunting but it can also make a big difference. Maybe not to you but you are worried about what potential buyers think. Painting isn't always essential due to just wear and tear. The color can be off-putting. Neutrals are a must. Borders, wallpaper, stenciling, faux-painting, can be a real turn off to people. I had to remember it wasn't my taste that mattered it was the potential buyers. What one person might love another person hated. It is best to keep it neutral. Another project (my personal nightmare) is weeding, pruning and weed wacking. Especially in the middle of summer. Ugh! It has to be done. It really makes a huge difference in the curb appeal. I ended up hiring some neighborhood kids to do the weeding. Any realtor worth a grain of salt will tell you that curb appeal is a must. I also had the carpet in the bonus room "stretched". The carpet wasn't top quality and after years of kids running around on it, it had started to become bumpy or loose in places. It cost about $100 and it looked almost brand new afterwards. The room itself was about 500 square feet and this one little change made a big difference to the whole appearance. It was actually my friend who made the suggestion. I had several friends come in to my home and offer their "honest" opinions.

One other thing that is pretty crucial is getting rid of "stuff". I had a tag sale almost every weekend. I also donated a lot of items and sold some to second hand stores. As much as you may love your stuff, it can look like clutter to others. This includes pictures. I packed almost all of mine away, right away. It can be hard for a person to visualize themselves in your home if it looks like "your" home with all of your personal belongings.

You are right. This market is horrible but people are still selling and buying homes. I hope that yours is one of them, in the near future!

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by bunny1234

I feel my house is in good condition. We are running along with everyone else price wise but we are the biggest and also feel we cannot lower anymore because we are coming out of pocket already and we are moving to a more expensive houseing market! My living area could use paint but I hate to paint if we are headed out

While that definitely sucks, it doesn't matter to the buyer. What you paid, how much you owe, what market you're moving to, how much you're going to have to come out of pocket- that's all irrelevant- if you want to sell your house, you need to be below the comps, not "running along with everyone else price wise". Would you rather drop the price $10k and sell now, or sit on the house for another 6 months paying two mortgages?

Originally Posted by bunny1234

I feel my house is in good condition. We are running along with everyone else price wise but we are the biggest and also feel we cannot lower anymore because we are coming out of pocket already and we are moving to a more expensive houseing market! My living area could use paint but I hate to paint if we are headed out

Yup- you're right- you'd have to take the time and effort to paint, and you won't even be there to enjoy the fruits of your labor. However, if the room needs to be painted, the $50 in materials and one afternoon you'll spend are well worth it, and could be the difference between selling and not selling. If potential buyers walk into your house and the first thing they see is a living room that needs paint, they'll be thinking "well that looks like crap- I wonder what else we'll need to do once we move in" the whole time they're in your house.

I know this may sound harsh, and I'm sure you don't want to hear it, but it's the reality of today's market.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by bunny1234

My living area could use paint but I hate to paint if we are headed out

That's probably part of it. You HAVE to paint if you (or a potential buyer) can visually look at a room and go, "This room needs to be painted".

You're up against foreclosures that are being sold at basement prices, as well as new stuff that looks like a showroom model, and, during a slow sellers market. You also mentioned two large dogs... not all potential buyers have pets or even like animals. There may be smells, hair, or things dog-related that you see so much you don't detect.

No offense to the husband, but with two kids and two large dogs, HE should have taken the dogs with him when he went ahead and moved, so that you could focus entirely on the kids, and selling the house, without worrying about the pets and the smells/messes they may be adding to the mix to make it harder to sell. I think maybe a discussion with him such as, "Get back here and pick up the dogs" may be in order.

You and the kids may be tired of it, but you really do need to paint, keep toys picked up, keep the yard looking clean and cut... all the time now. Even if you do take a price hit - you may have to do that in order to sell now. Don't rule out advertising on places like Craigs List or other free sites as well as using your realtor too - get the word out (with good photos) on as many free web sites as you can.

[masonbarge]

Originally Posted by bunny1234

I feel my house is in good condition. We are running along with everyone else price wise but we are the biggest and also feel we cannot lower anymore because we are coming out of pocket already and we are moving to a more expensive houseing market! My living area could use paint but I hate to paint if we are headed out

Absolutely positively paint everything, and in a neutral color. This is a golden rule of selling real estate.