Bought at Peak (Richmond, Short Pump: sale, real estate market, apartment)

[PalmettoWaves]

Any advice on my situation would be appreciated . . . Relocated here a year ago and bought a home when housing market was at peak. Now looking at moving back to former location (another state) for personal/family reasons. Our home is in the West End of the Richmond area - that's Western Henrico County, near Short Pump. It is a wonderful house, great neighborhood, great schools and near Short Pump Towne Center. I am ok if we don't "make" any money off the sale of our house but will be devistated if we lose money. Anything less than we paid for it will come directly out of our pockets/equity. And then of course - there is also the fees, etc. I am very concerned. Anyone have any advice? Thank you!

[seldomseen]

Have a realtor do a comp analysis of comparable houses sold within your area recently to gauge what you can potentially expect. The real estate market is stale for sellers right now as you already know. After you list your house, and determine that all offers are to low, and or you don't get any offers, consider renting the house out if this is an option for you. Renting may allow you to break even monthly on the mortgage, and allow you to ride out the real estate down turn. But again, no one can really predict when/if the market will rebound, especially to the inflated prices the east coast market has been experiencing for the past few years.

Good Luck!

[shellytc]

Palm, if you can't sell it, and do end up renting it. You mght want to determine how much negative cash flow you can afford to take, remember you should be able to take it on your taxes each year.

But get the CMA done with a good agent. and be honest with them about your situation. and see what can be done. You never know.

Shelly

[EricD]

The market in the West End isn't as bad as it is in other areas... I don't think you'll be that bad off. I personally would check the listings, and see what people are asking for their houses (the ones that are close to the same as yours), and then get a feel for what yours is worth now. Remember though, just because they are listed for a price, doesn't mean they will get it. I would also check for the amount of time that house has been on the market, as an indicator of weither or not they are asking too much for that house (if it's been like 6 months or more) Also, if you can track one or two homes that are the most similar to yours, and when they sell, check the deeds transfers for your area, to see how much it sold for. The local paper will often list this.

And then I personally would list my property FSBO and put it online (craigslist, and other free sites). Post in the paper every other week, and have open houses... you may still have to pay the other side's commission (3%), but that's half of what you'd have to pay otherwise... and you might get lucky, and find someone without a realtor. Make sure to clean your house until you can eat off the floors! This is the easiest thing that so many people just don't do. I have seen houses with dirty cloths in the living room, dirty dishes in the sink... it looks bad.

Anyways, I wish you luck. My wife and I were looking at homes in the West End, and found then to still be pretty pricey. (Mid-300's), so unless you paid way too much for your house, you should be ok.

[Rhett_Butler]

Originally Posted by EricD

I have seen houses with dirty cloths in the living room, dirty dishes in the sink... it looks bad.

Off subject but the worst I've ever seen was this house in Florida that my wife and I were looking at and someone had forgotten to flush the toilet.... BOY that sticks in your head even though it really has nothing to do with the house...

[seldomseen]

Originally Posted by VAFury

Off subject but the worst I've ever seen was this house in Florida that my wife and I were looking at and someone had forgotten to flush the toilet.... BOY that sticks in your head even though it really has nothing to do with the house...

lol....I actually rented an apartment before where the maintenance staff left a log in the toilet, the most disgusting part of this was, there wasn't any toilet paper in floating around!! I called the rental office, and told them to send someone up there to flush it!

[ashbrn4]

We've bought a peak before and just sucked it up and paid out at closing when we sold. Sometimes it happens. We've also bought the last couple of times at the "low" point and made money. It's just the way it is. The only advice I have it either accept it or don't. Sell at a loss or rent it out.

BTW, the reality is, on average, those that sell FSBO end up selling for something like 15% less than if they had listed with a broker/agent. People buying FSBO think they can get a deal because the seller isnt paying an agent so they tend to bid lower and those selling FSBO think they can get the going rate without paying out commissions. It can happen, but in this type of market, not likely. Houses aren't selling in a few weeks either, but months.

[richmondpics]

Housing prices overall haven't declined much if at all in the Richmond market so you shouldn't take too much of a hurt.

[jhrichmond]

Originally Posted by richmondpics

Housing prices overall haven't declined much if at all in the Richmond market so you shouldn't take too much of a hurt.

While it is true that prices have not declined much, there are almost twice as many houses on the market. People are lowering prices, or taking a lot less than list price, just to sell. It is definately a buyers market. They don't like one small thing about your home and they move on to one of the many others. I agree that renting your home out may be the way to go.

jh

[ImLooking4friends]

This is not a popular outlook, but if after trying all the good advise listed here you find that you are going to be eating a lot of debt, rent a home where you are going that is far below your means. Even if it is a room (providing you have no children) learn to live minimalistically. Save all the money you can and pay cash for a house in a less desirable neighborhood by placing an ad that says; "I buy ugly houses." Then buy one... fix it up... sell it... and do it again and again until you can pay cash for the house of your liking. I have bought houses for as little as $1,700 cash. You can buy a pretty nice house for $14,000-$23,000 just about anywhere excluding metropolitan areas. I paid $14,000 cash for my current home 5 years ago here in Cedar Rapids. I have done the same in Idaho, Florida, Colorado and many times here. The house across the street from mine is larger, better and sold for $5,600 cash last year. Wish I would have known. Try to think out of the box. America needs to discover a new dream and a new way to achieve it. If yu need help and advice, please feel free to contact me at gaspdesign@earthlink.net