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It's astonishing to me that so many people think pulling a house off the market "for a year or two" will yield better results than selling today.
The market is trending down. Real estate tends to level off for a while after it bottoms. Since interest rates are at historic lows now, there's a chance they'll be higher in a year or two. All of these factors tell me it's as likely as not that prices could be EVEN LOWER in one or two years.
I'm not saying they will be or they won't be. But implying that you can get a better price in a year or two-- given current economic conditions and forecasts-- seems foolish to me. A more honest guess would be in five, ten or fifteen years.
Are you willing to wait that long to get out?
You don't have a crystal ball, and neither do I. The most reputable forecast I've seen predicted a bottom to the home market in the thrid quarter of 2009, but who the hell really knows? Price is only one factor. If there are no buyers, there are no buyers. I expect there to be more buyers in a few years once people are less spooked than today. But one thing is clear--right now is a HORRIBLE time to be selling a house. The future could be better or worse--hard to say.
Thanks all for your suggestions, the house is vacant since six months, we built another house which we wrote a contract in 2007 September at that point of time things were not this bad, with the intention that we will sell we went for new house. The old house is in the market since 1 year, since last 6 months its vacant as we moved to new house.
In this worst market in our subdivision the other 2 homes got sold,
we remodeled the kitchen to Granite and SS Appliances, new Roof, New paint inside out everything was done by Oct 2008.
Our only hope is its location it is close to 75th Street & Rickert Dr and house looks like 5 year old
even though it is not very well kept and maintained.
Hope for the best. Only hope is we are priced fairly and the low interest rates may be one + point for us. We are getting showing though but 1 in a month.
Lower your price, change Realtors, offer a free home warranty or pay closing cost. Do not invest more money. Skip ordering an outside appraisal, they just use comps from the MLS. Maybe offer a lease purchase contract not a lease to own.
Lower your price, change Realtors, offer a free home warranty or pay closing cost. Do not invest more money. Skip ordering an outside appraisal, they just use comps from the MLS. Maybe offer a lease purchase contract not a lease to own.
We have lowered the price several times, changed the realtor
now we have the second realtor
how does a lease purchase contract work
never been in this kind of transaction
can you please explain
how can we know how much the closing cost would be
we listed the house right now for 414,900
There's a real simple solution: lower your price to what someone can and will pay in this market. Your alternative is to wait it out. Right now it seems that everyone wants a bargain when they buy but aren't willing to entice buyers for their own property by bargain-pricing it. The real estate market is going to be very, very slow to rebound until people are willing to bite the bullet and price their homes according to current market conditions.
There's a real simple solution: lower your price to what someone can and will pay in this market. Your alternative is to wait it out. The real estate market is never going to rebound until people are willing to bite the bullet and price their homes according to market conditions.
I agree. Unfortunately, the market doesn't show any signs of improving in the near future. I would market it at a price you are willing to accept and move on.
Best of luck!
We are the residents of Naperville, our home is on the Market in Prime Location in Naperville since Dec 2007 its almost 1 year.
Its vacant since last 6 months we moved out in June 2008.
We have showings but no offer. There were days in our sub-division
the homes used to get sold in 2 days of market time and some times
the realtors use to call and ask "Are you willing to sell the house we have a buyer" even though the house was not in the market?
Recently we upgraded the Kitchen with Granite and all Stainless Steel Appliances too.
Please give suggestions and your advise
The fact that your home is vacant, could be contributing to the problem. Consider staging it, with small vignettes in a few rooms to give it some warmth.
Forget about what homes "used to" sell for. Those days are gone. In this market the homes that are selling are the lowest priced or the shiny pennies; the ones that stand out from the rest. So...in that regard the upgrades you made to your home, while you may not get your money back, will hopefully help your home sell before others in your neighborhood from an appeal standpoint.
If you are getting showings, that tells me your agent is doing their job by getting buyers through your home. No offers indicates that it is priced too high. As suggested, have a licensed appraiser give you an accurate picture of the value of your home TODAY. Then adjust your price accordingly. The biggest mistake seller's make today is holding onto yesterday. Pricing a home too high, only wastes valuable market time. Today more than ever before, buyers are well informed and understand value. Initially pricing a home accurately or slightly lower than market will elicit a quick sale and often multiple offers, even in this market.
The most important factor in selling a home is getting the price right.
Good Luck
Changing realtors never prove anything since most refer to the same MLS listings. With this market a older home prince around 400k will be hard to compete with new construction considering the incentitve they offering now.
I receive a pamplet for up to 2 years of no payments recently on a 4000 sq ft. spec homes in N. Aurora or Oswego with all the bells and whistles from a previous builders I was interested in when my home was on the market a year ago. How can you compete with deals of that sort if one in the market to buy. Thats a huge saving only having to pay taxes.
Thanks all for your suggestions, the house is vacant since six months, we built another house which we wrote a contract in 2007 September at that point of time things were not this bad, with the intention that we will sell we went for new house. The old house is in the market since 1 year, since last 6 months its vacant as we moved to new house.
In this worst market in our subdivision the other 2 homes got sold,
we remodeled the kitchen to Granite and SS Appliances, new Roof, New paint inside out everything was done by Oct 2008.
Our only hope is its location it is close to 75th Street & Rickert Dr and house looks like 5 year old
even though it is not very well kept and maintained.
Hope for the best. Only hope is we are priced fairly and the low interest rates may be one + point for us. We are getting showing though but 1 in a month.
Oh, would I help if I could. We did the SAME EXACT thing, only we contracted in the srpring of '06. We tried to sell in '06 and had it on the market for 9 months. As the new home neared completion, we decided to rent out our existing home, short term, to help with expenses. Without going into detail, the rental experience was a nightmare, and after they moved out in Feb., we did what little updating there was to be done (had already put a complete new kitchen- beautiful I might add) and so forth, was a beautiful R.A. Faganel georgian brick front, cedar sided, blah, blah, blah, and then put it back on the market, empty, right before Spring Break. We had a contract by June, thank goodness, and all went well with the closing. We still believe, whole heartedly, that the lovely family that bought our home got a wonderful home and a good price. We hope they think so. We built just 5 blocks from our old home, stayed in the same area/schools and all, it was/is just a bad market. Try to keep all the "doom", especially what you read on this forum, out of your focus.
I will tell you this; It is NOT always price!! From the first attempt to sell in summer of '06, until the second attempt in Spring of '07, we only lowered our price in $10,000 increments and a total of just $40,000 off the top. It was originally $589,000 and we went down to $549,000. We sold for $540,000. Closed in August. So, so many will tell you it's price and just lower and give the damn thing away. Don't do it, unless you are absolutely desperate. Stay in line with your neighborhood comps, it's what we did, and sooner or later, the right buyer will come along. They're just aren't that many right now. We owned both of our homes simaltaniously for 11 months (both in Wheaton). It wasn't easy but again, worth not giving in to this unrealistic mentality that "all homes are overpriced" and everyone should come down on theirs. It's so frustrating, we know, but homes did and were selling in our area for at least as much as ours and in many cases, much more. Right now there are 3 left in our neighborhood that have been on the market for over a year now. One has lowered their price to $498,900. It's still NOT selling. And it's similar to ours, not quite as big, but still. The neighborhood association was NOT happy when these folks lowered their home price to this extreme, as this is what a foreclosure/short sale would likely go fo at this point. I'm sure the realtor and others just assured them that if they just list below $500,000, they would sell FOR SURE!!! And the other 2 that have also not sold have stayed in the mid 5's and holding. There was a day when homes easily went for over $600,000 in our neighborhood so they are already at a GREAT PRICE!!!!! Buyers are a different breed these days, thinking they will go house hunting and get a "steal of a deal" for a home like yours with all the nice appointments it sounds like it has. Besides the government helping turn things around, those of us that are somewhat financially sound need to help the cause as well, by NOT giving into this attitude and giving our homes away! I think slowly but surely, this message is apparant in the western suburbs of Chicago and Naperville is tough because there is so much inventory to choose from. Hopefully, as I said, the right buyer will come along. Hang in there and I will send all kinds of good wishes your way! I hope you are enjoying your newly built home. We can say that we are and it was worth it. It's just amazing how you can go from a neighborhhod where realtors solicite your home if you should ever want to sell, to NOTHING, but don't automatically assume it's price- chances are it is not and even if you lower, you still wont' sell. Good luck!!!!
P.S. we stayed with the same realtor throughout!! It was not her fault. House showed lots, she advertised all the time, had open houses, etc.... unless your realtor is neglecting your listing, it's not her/his fault. They can't MAKE someone buy your home! As much as you want to get it sold, SO DO THEY!
Can you please explain in detail
does this buy down the rate means seller has to finance or the mortgage will be on sellers Name.
No you are not financing at all. What this means is you buy down the interest rate for the buyer of your home. Let's assume that a buyer for your home today could get a rate of 5 and an eigth percent. If that buyer could get an interest rate of 3 percent they would be very happy. Instead of lowering your price, offer to pay the fee (points) that your buyer would have to pay out of their pocket to get a lower rate from their lender. Buyers do this a lot. If you look online some lenders post their rates and it includes a 1% buy down point. They do this to make you think their rates are lower than all the rest. By buying down a buyer's rate this might make the house more afforable to them and it comes from your proceeds at closing. Talk to your Realtor about this. I'm sure he/she has a lender he/she uses. Have that lender make up a flyer advertising your willingness to buy down a buyer's rate and how much it will save them each month. Have the agent advertise this on the MLS listing and on all the other sites advertising your home. It is worth a shot and does not cost you any money unless someone gives you an offer!
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Getting the Price Right
In this market the homes that are selling are the lowest priced or the shiny pennies; the ones that stand out from the rest. So...in that regard the upgrades you made to your home, while you may not get your money back, will hopefully help your home sell before others in your neighborhood from an appeal standpoint.
