house on the market? (Fort Worth, Keller: for sale, real estate market, foreclosures)

[akire]

We are considering putting our house up on the market, but are hesitant because the market appears to have slowed. Does anyone have a home on the market? Has the real estate market really slowed that much? Average number of days to sell?
Thanks!

[Guingirl]

Im not an agent, but hopefully you will have one respond. I have been researching this market for the last year and a half. There are properties on the market that have been on the MLS for more than a year and some that go up and are sold within a few days.

As it always is it is a value proposition. There are still a lot of buyers coming in from other states (CA and NY) that are finding great bargains the problem is that there is just a LOT of inventory on the market.

New construction has a lot of inventory on the market so your price for what you have has to be valued where it would be better to buy your home rather than a brand new one. You need to know who would be best to buy your home, why did you buy it and cater to that buyer (new family, older downsizing etc.). You have to price it correctly and get it prepped so that you don't have a lot of personal pictures etc so that it will appeal to the buyer that they can see their new home, not your home.

If all those things line up, you should be able to sell it in a few months.

The house that my Mom bought we found on a website that had a big MLS presense that we were able to find from CA. I had scouted it out when we were researching the area. This particular house had a lot of upgrades and it showed pictures of the house (not the furniture-even though it was staged well), this house was on the market for 21 days. We saw it one day and two days later she put a contract on it.

There are houses in her neighborhood from a different builder that have been sitting for a year.

Six months ago we were looking at a house that had every surface imaginable that had cookie jars and antiques, it was so busy that it was distracting. It is still on the market.

Hopefully this helps

[jamgolf]

Unless you have to sell, please wait ...
Our house is quite aggressively priced and has been on the market for about 5months ... the mindless building of the last few years has created an over supply, and now combined with the sub prime lending fiasco is causing serious issues for sellers.

But as its said that all real estate is local, so if your house is located in southlake, colleyville, some areas of irving, some areas of plano etc. then you might not have any trouble selling at all.

[Roma]

Originally Posted by jamgolf

But as its said that all real estate is local, so if your house is located in southlake, colleyville, some areas of irving, some areas of plano etc. then you might not have any trouble selling at all.

I agree with this statement. It depends on where your home is located. Not only the city but also what area of the city, what subdivision if any, what lot location and view does your home have if any. A whole bunch of variables.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

[loves2read]

The market has slowed even in Colleyville and Southlake--there are 23 million-dollar or more homes for sale in Southlake and last month 2 or 3 of them had contracts...
some houses in Colleyville and Southlake have come on the market in past three months and had contracts within a week--sometimes from the first showing--but the prime selling/buying season is just about over
people wanted to get their houses on the market and sold or bought before summer vacation and getting ready for school...

foreclosures are adding to the available inventory -- even the tract builders are starting to slow down their starts and push their inventory...

If you need to sell within a year--this is probably as good a time as any--just be prepared to price your house aggressively--have it prepped to the max so it shows like new--and have a good agent who knows your local area---most of the houses in my older neighborhood have sold because (from what I can tell) the house was listed with agency that does lot of business in this neighborhood and show them to people who want to live in this area...

it doesn't do any good IMO to list with realtor whose office is two towns away or who will show it to someone who really wants to buy in a specific town or school district but not in yours--yet they show buyers/shoppers houses that don't fit their bill because they want to let the seller see they are "showing the house".

Ask your realtor how many houses he or she has actually sold/closed in past 6 mo--call different local offices and find out which agent sold the most in your price range---that is a person you want listing your house--not just someone to list that would rather sell in the more expensive price ranges or in other areas---that is a dead end listing--someone else will wind up selling your house--Hopefully--but the listing agent will still get half the fee....

I have a realtor working with me who is great for the price range I am looking in--but I would not really ask her to list/sell my house because it is older and less expensive than the "relo" clients she normally works with--most of the houses she lists and sells are at least 500,000 and she has taken a new listin from Garabedian homes for a new Keller home that will be over 800,000---her clients won't buy my current home...and since she will get her commission from when I buy a house I won't feel guilty for not listing my current home with her...she might like the listing sure--but she won't be the one selling my house...

[artcgal]

We sold ours in about two months (it would have been quicker, but there were some issues on the process). But, we took a HUGE loss on it. It was nearly paid off...so, we still had a substantial amount for a down payment on our new house, and kept our house payments the same as they are now (and, the house is more than 2x the size). This was our goal.

With this said. there is somebody on our street whose home is the same size as ours (same floor plan, different elevation)...and, they have had it up for sale for about 8 months. They are asking about $25,000 more than we got...AND, I think it is WAY overpriced because you can buy a new built home for about what they are asking. I think they need to lower their price to sell it....otherwise it will be sitting on the market another 8 months.

[Mowtown]

I am real estate agent and I can confirm the sell of your house will primarily depend on the location of your property, of course the listing price matters but the main issue is location, location, location.
Fort Worth has so many faces, typically if you re-sell and you are located near new housing the demand for your home is less, however, if your home is located in an established neighborhood your chances of a quick sell is higher. Also, if you are in a good school district the odds of a quick sell are stacked more in your favor. There are other issues than can may play their part, but location is the the main factor.

Moderator cut: soliciting

[pwilson]

Loves2read has some valid points about builders and the market in general, but not all Realtors are like that. I am a Realtor most homes sell by other Realtors bringing a buyer. I do not know the exact stats, but I do know that over 90% of home sales involve 2 Realtors. The market was very slow in the first and second quarter this year, but has picked up some in the past month. I think the year overall will be down, though. If your house is in great condition, in a great area and priced aggressively, you should sell within a reasonable time. I had a listing in FTW that sold in 3 days last month, but I also have a listing in Richland hills that has been on the market for over 5 months.
Phil

[beowulf7]

For those competing with new homes in the same development, they will have a hard time selling until construction is completed. Since population in FW and surrounding cities is increasing with time, eventually, real estate will continue to improve (for sellers). But my prediction will be another 2-3 years of tough times for sellers - and good times for buyers.

[drjones96]

Unless you bought low in a neighborhood that's moving up it's a terrible time to try to sell a house. A girl I work with is trying to sell hers and the real estate agent told her up front it would take a year to sell her house. I don't know if that's a conservative estimate or if that's optimistic. Either way it means that unless your house stands out as a good value to someone you should plan on staying for a while.

I agree with the above statement about the mindless development. Just because there is an open field somewhere doesn't mean it makes sense to cram as many cheap houses as possible into it.

btw Anybody catch the article on CNN today about record foreclosures?