[ddlove01]

Did you ever sell your house?

Originally Posted by TriMT7

I was in your situation. I can relate totally, and actually had even less activity than you have had. I had 3 showings in 2 months! I was getting really nervous, since I had/have a deadline to sell. Then one weekend I put on my OWN open house and then out of the blue this couple came and put in an offer the next day after they saw it.

Closing is in 8 days (knock on wood). I consider myself lucky for being able to sell in about 9 weeks after listing. My neighbors next door have been trying to sell since October!!

I'm still nervous that something awful is going to happen though (they put down a small deposit) and they'll pull out..... so I'm only cautiously optimistic.

I'll write fully on the experience when it finally does close! It was a lot of hard work on my part, even though I had enlisted the help of an agent!

[gerard143]

what ya want for it, where is it located?

Originally Posted by duckyspawn

I am in the same boat. Have the home on the market since February and only one person has looked at it. I am the cheapest in my community by far and have a very nice 2 year old 4/2.5/3cg and dont know what I have to do to get it sold! Any advice? Know anyone that wants to buy a house???

[Floridanative2]

Originally Posted by duckyspawn
I am in the same boat. Have the home on the market since February and only one person has looked at it. I am the cheapest in my community by far and have a very nice 2 year old 4/2.5/3cg and dont know what I have to do to get it sold! Any advice? Know anyone that wants to buy a house???



ds, try putting a free add on Craigslist.com with some pictures. May help. I hope this is not a violation telling you to use this. I hope not...

[Jaehla]

If it makes you feel any better, there are people out there earnestly trying to buy and getting turned down for trivial reasons. We gave up last year. Your best bet is to rent to own...we are attempting now to find one of those options. Not only is it good for us folks out here that have to give up DNA for approval, its great for people that are at risk of losing their homes. Good luck*

[The Changeling]

No, just my car!

[Seabeacon]

Only one person, a drive by, has looked at our house. It looks like it's two mortgages for us.

[SunnyJeep]

We are in the reverse situation. We are trying to BUY a home, and are coming up with no luck. We have a downpayment IN HAND to cover a home up to about 140k, (we want to stay in the 75-90k range if possible) but we want to stay in our current area to keep our kids at the same school. That's the part that's posing a problem.

We have looked at 3 local houses, two of which we even tried going through the bank to get. The problem? They were both homes for sale by owner, and neither home would meet the appraisal value. In short, the banks won't finance the property!! The third house really broke my heart when we went to our banker, and he told us he didn't believe the house would not appraise. Not again! We decided not to even bother. It would cost us 1000 to have the property appraised, a sewer check, title check, etc. etc....

We talked to the owners, who are selling without an agent, and they refused to cover the cost of appraisal, so we didn't see the point in persuing the place. A real shame. I loved the house, but unless the owners would be willing to either cover the appraisal, or sign a statement saying they'd go do to the bank's valuation if WE pay for the appraisal, it's just not going to happen. It's been months and I've noticed that house is STILL for sale. I know they probably hope that someone will come and just plop 150k in their hands, but the reality is, most people who have that kind of cash on hand are NOT going to look for a property like that one. I know if it were me, I'd take the 150k and get a new home built to suit what I want. Know what I mean?

It's horrible, because we need to be out of our current house by the end of the year so we can give it to my parents. The lady who is renting to them has up and decided to sell the property they are on to a hunting club. (!!!)The place is falling down around them anyway (it's a historic home) and we are more than thrilled to see them out of there - if we could just find a place to move to so they could take up the keys!

[CG&D93]

We've been trying to sell for a year and a half. At first we were FSBO and for the last 3 months we have been with a realtor.

My twist is...I'm selling in East TN and I want to MOVE BACK TO FL. It's frustrating. Our house is priced good, shows well, good safe area, beautiful views, great schools, wonderful property. ALL the pieces and parts are there but no sale.

We have a contingent contract, but we are still active on the market because I refuse to put all my eggs in that basket.

Each week, we keep thinking that it will happen and time just keeps going by. Somedays I don't think I can do it anymore. And then others I want to move so badly that I pull up my boot straps and spruce up the house waiting for the phone to ring for a showing.

I'm hoping that with gas prices going down we will get more traffic on the house. The summer was a killer.

[littlemjs]

I've been reading through all the entries here and I feel so bad for anyone trying to sell their home in Florida at this time.

I currently live in Rockport, Massachusetts and the housing market is not great here either. However, I don't think prices have dropped quite as drastically. Houses that were listed for 500,00 are now selling for 430,000. Houses that were selling for 420,000 are now selling in the 370,000 range. Any thing selling below 350,00 here is scooped up instantaneously and is considered a bargain! The only properties listed below 300,000 are 1 bed 1 bath condos in coverted old houses.

The reason I've been following along is that my husband and I are looking to purchase something in Florida within the next year to 18 months. He has retired from one job, but has been working at another job until my son finishes up with college this year. I'm a bit younger and still work....although I do it from home.

We don't plan on selling our Rockport home as I could never completely leave New England. I love the change of seasons......but we are just getting too old to deal with the long cold snowy winters anymore. Our plan is to hang onto our Rockport house until my son can purchase it.

In Florida, we'd like to purchase a house that is near the East coast...although not necessarily right on the coast. Our plan is to become snowbirds and go there during the months of January, February, and March. We will be looking for a modestly priced 2 bed, 2 bath smaller home that is nicely landscaped and in a nice neighborhood. We would even consider a newer modular home on its own land.

My experience here in Massachusetts leads me to believe that in 2 to 5 years, a lot of the Baby Boomers will be finishing up with paying for putting their kids through college and will be retiring. I believe, similar to our situation, they will look to warmer states to spend the winters and the market will pick up. More and more people are retiring and more and more garage sales/yard sales are listed for people leaving/moving to Florida. As the Boomers get older here the snowy/cold winters get harder to take.

Anyway, just wanted to try and give another perspective from up North. If you can hang tight for a couple of years, I do believe you will see an up turn in the market and more northerners will be retiring to Florida once again.

[ctkid]

I'm just curious. Why are you wanting to move back to Florida? What don't you like about East Tennessee? A lot of people are moving up there from Florida.