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This is just not the time to sell. We're all stuck in this place where we SEE great deals on houses but can't MOVE on them because we're shackled to our current house which is a great deal for someone else who is shackled to her house . . .
It's true - The things you own end up owning you.
It's OK - I hate where I live, but the location is nice. (People = blah, physical location, on lake with views = nice)
And I guess we really don't HAVE to move.
Anyone remember the slump from the 80s? How did you guys handle it?
Maybe we'll try again in the spring, but I am so sick of the tire kickers and no shows. How many times have I polished the door knobs! I feel like the buyers out there are just classless, tactless, hacks right now.
Hey, just from the stuff I've read on here, if you can still swing the mortgage, stay. Yeah, maybe your location isn't perfect....but neither is taking a major loss. Wait till spring, it'll be better. Keep your chin up. ---Cindy
Will things be better next year? That's hard to say. One of the problems is that the overall housing market was due for a huge correction as a result of housing prices having risen far greater than the average rate of appreciation in the past. Also, with the U.S. economy tanking and inflation increasing, fewer people have the money they need to pay the exorbitant bubble prices sellers are still hoping to get. IMHO, it's hard to say where the price of housing will be headed.
Housing prices that don't reflect the reality of people's incomes to begin with + rampant inflation + bad economy + increased unemployment and underemployment = ?
Not only is it a scary time to sell, but it's also a very scary time to buy. What happens if you buy and housing prices keep dropping? That fear of purchasing an asset that will depreciate might become a vicious circle and drive the prices even further down. It seems like folks are just going to have to stay where they are unless they either absolutely have to relocate or want to move from one house to another. (It's true, you lose money selling your house but what you would buy would have a lower price than it otherwise would, too, so perhaps folks will break even and just be able to change houses with a local move.)
Anyone remember the slump from the 80s? How did you guys handle it?
From the numbers, they waited until the mid-90s for prices to come back to peak 80's boom levels. I'm not sure if you're willing to wait that long or not this time around.
It could be that this time is different - but that could mean better or worse. Understand that RE markets move slowly so assuming that things will be back to peak prices next year is a gamble.
I feel like the buyers out there are just classless, tactless, hacks right now.
Some have said that this is payback for the way buyers were treated by sellers when the market was booming 5 years ago. For example, many times, a seller would agree with a buyer on a price, then renege as soon as a higher bidder came along.
Something about real estate bringing out the worst in people (buyers, sellers and realtors).
threepitas...understand pulling it completely...we just did too. Long story.
Anyway, if you can stay where you are, and don't have to move because of a job/relo/looming foreclosure/anything else...then do stay, kick back and enjoy life.
Pull back, relax. Reorgainize your priorities. Create a new plan and in the back of your mind start thinking what you could do differently when and if you decide to sell again.
Just quietly mention to different people you run across in the course of a day that you might consider selling your house, do they know anyone looking?? It can still be somethign you do, but on different terms, less stressing....you never know, someone might be out there.
Good luck and enjoy the sigh of relief....for now, eh
The last serious correction in the NY tri state area took about a decade to work out. Similar time frames have occured in the past in many parts of California. No doubt some other areas of the U.S., too.
In those times past, many homeowners were upside down on their mortgages and could not take advantage of better rates, via refinancing, because their homes were not worth what they owed.
Most people bit the bullet, accepted the situation and stayed put.
Will things be better next year? That's hard to say. One of the problems is that the overall housing market was due for a huge correction as a result of housing prices having risen far greater than the average rate of appreciation in the past. Also, with the U.S. economy tanking and inflation increasing, fewer people have the money they need to pay the exorbitant bubble prices sellers are still hoping to get. IMHO, it's hard to say where the price of housing will be headed.
Housing prices that don't reflect the reality of people's incomes to begin with + rampant inflation + bad economy + increased unemployment and underemployment = ?
Not only is it a scary time to sell, but it's also a very scary time to buy. What happens if you buy and housing prices keep dropping? That fear of purchasing an asset that will depreciate might become a vicious circle and drive the prices even further down. It seems like folks are just going to have to stay where they are unless they either absolutely have to relocate or want to move from one house to another. (It's true, you lose money selling your house but what you would buy would have a lower price than it otherwise would, too, so perhaps folks will break even and just be able to change houses with a local move.)
you hit the nail on the head with your post. I see prices hitting year 2000 levels. Prices MUST be affordable to most people and right now they still ARE NOT. Especially with the economy and the recession we are in, prices have a ways to drop. I say summer of 2010 we will have hit bottom. Until then though, expect prices on the average to decrease another 25%.
This is just not the time to sell. We're all stuck in this place where we SEE great deals on houses but can't MOVE on them because we're shackled to our current house which is a great deal for someone else who is shackled to her house . . .
It's true - The things you own end up owning you.
It's OK - I hate where I live, but the location is nice. (People = blah, physical location, on lake with views = nice)
And I guess we really don't HAVE to move.
Anyone remember the slump from the 80s? How did you guys handle it?
Maybe we'll try again in the spring, but I am so sick of the tire kickers and no shows. How many times have I polished the door knobs! I feel like the buyers out there are just classless, tactless, hacks right now.
There is so much I want to BUY!!!
I remember the slump from the '90s, because my parents bought in '89. The thing you DON'T want to do is sell the house at a loss. The time to do that has come and gone, just like if you wanted to get rid of an SUV, you should have done so when oil hit $100 a barrel and not waited until it flirted with $150. You want to hold on and pay it down. It may take 10 years for the house to regain its value, as it did for my parents, but in that time you will have kept making payments and you'll be in a better position. If you go from one house which is losing value to another house which will also probably lose value, you're just getting hosed twice as hard.
This is just not the time to sell. We're all stuck in this place where we SEE great deals on houses but can't MOVE on them because we're shackled to our current house which is a great deal for someone else who is shackled to her house . . .
It's true - The things you own end up owning you.
It's OK - I hate where I live, but the location is nice. (People = blah, physical location, on lake with views = nice)
And I guess we really don't HAVE to move.
Anyone remember the slump from the 80s? How did you guys handle it?
Maybe we'll try again in the spring, but I am so sick of the tire kickers and no shows. How many times have I polished the door knobs! I feel like the buyers out there are just classless, tactless, hacks right now.
There is so much I want to BUY!!!
We just sayed in our house since we had just bought the house in CA .we just bougtht we had spent $ 50,000 more for it and then the maket went south. We stayed there for 8 years untll we made $50.000 Or $70,000 more on it and then moved. We were in no ruch.
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