KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

beat me to it...

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

If that's the case and you can't rent then you're likely going to have to bend over and take one for the team. Just lower the price even further and sell it. Keeping it at your price and not selling it is costing you money anyway, so just lower it another $10k-$20k and just get rid of it so you can move on.

With home prices where they are now you can steal a home on the buy side... so yes you'll be losing money now, but you'll make it up on your next transation since it's such a buyer's market out there.

Nicky Pass

To lower it another $10-20K would mean I would completely lose the $38K I put down and the $13-14K in equity...I'd rather burn it down!

hornyleprechaun

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

How much are you losing now by just letting it sit on the market, paying interest on your loan, and missing out on upside by buying another single family house while the market is at the bottom??

When we had our house on the market last spring we priced it ~$20k below what other similar models were selling for (and about $70k below where we could have sold just 12 months earlier)... and we have more land, plus a pool and tons of landscaping then those houses. But, we had 2 full price offers within a week while those homes were sitting for months with no showings, nevermind offers. Why did we price it so low? B/C we were going to make hundreds of thousands on our next house by buying a foreclosure, so we didn't mind taking a small bath now b/c we knew we would make it up 10-fold on the next purchase.

You need to pick your battles. Do you want to lose a little now or do you want to keep it on the market, continue to sink money into it (maintenance, common fees, taxes, interest, etc), possibly lose more money the longer it sits, and continue to miss out on incredible buying opportunities over another $10k or so?

Bottom line is that the market is what it is and it will not be undergoing any drastic turnaround any time soon. You bought near the peak and put additional money into it... so consider that money gone. Nothing you can do about it now... you'll never see that money back in your pocket. Not over the next several years anyway.

It's not selling b/c the price is still too high for this housing market, especially in the condo/townhouse segment which took a bigger hit then single family homes... so if you really want to sell, cut your losses, lower the price, and get out now... or, just stay put for another year or two. Problem with staying put is that yes, you may sell $10k higher 12-24 months down the road verses now, however, you would have missed out on buying another single family property which would have likely increased $50k or more during the same time frame. Again, you need to pick your battles.

If the money you are losing means that much to you then unfortunately the only solution may be to stay put and save while the market turns around over the next 5 years or so.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Also... forgot to ask... have you had an appraisal done on your home recently (within the last 60-90 days)? It doesn't matter if someone comes back and offers you $175k. If your home only appraises for, say, $160k... that will be the most you can sell it for (unless you get a cash buyer). And with appraisers moving to a centralized system, gone are the days where an appraiser can be influenced by a bank or RE agent to get the appraisal to come back to where they want it to help it sell at a higher price.

So you may want to look into having an appraisal done, since in the end, that will determine how much you sell for anyway.

Nicky Pass

I'm gonna wait until mid-January and then lower it again.....like 2-3K

moeronn

First of all:
Congrats!

Now to the cold, hard truth...

1. You just bought this house in March/April of THIS YEAR! Even in good times, it takes several years to be able to break even on a house.

2. You put this on the market just a couple of months after you moved in! People are going to think there is something wrong with the place when they see you didn't even own it for long before trying to sell.

3. You (or your agent) is doing really stupid things with the price adjustments of $1k-$3k at a time. You've had at least 9 price changes since you listed the place and none of them really make a difference except maybe the most recent $5k drop.

4. The description of your place is making you sound really desparate now and you should be expecting some "low ball" offers. The quotes are because they will probably be reasonable, but below your current asking price.
5. If you want to sell this place and move on with your life, then make a drastic ($10k-$15k) cut and be done with it. If you want to hold on to something that will likely cause you to lose more money and maybe miss some great opportunities on houses, then keep doing what you're doing.

I know this sounds harsh, but it's the current reality. This reminds me of that HGTV (or similar) show where the guy host tries to knock some sense into the sellers. Often times it doesn't work there, either.

Good luck and congrats again on the marriage.

subinf

Umm, I think he bought in 2005

svtmike

Any equity you think you have is a figment of your imagination. What equity you actually have is what's left after someone buys your place.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

What you talkin bout Willis? It's almost 5 years...

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Hate to sound like a broken record and I know this sucks... but $2-$3k isn't going to do anything for you. You yourself said you haven't even had a low-ball offer. If people aren't even offering you like $150k... what makes you think lowering it $2-3k is going to do anything?

Like SVTMike said... you're basing this on equity which does not exist (except in your head). If you want to sell, you need to be more aggressive on your pricing.

Take it off the market, let the "Days on Market" counter reset to zero. Then relist it in late February with a more aggressive price of $159,999 or $164,999 and be done with it. Going from $174,999 to $172,999 is not going to drive any traffic (or buyers) your way.

Nicky Pass

ARRRRRGGGGGGHHHH!!!!
Does market time really even matter? I mean people looking in my price range are gonna remember the pics...the address. You can go back and see that it was listed before, so whats the point?

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

^ It will matter to new people looking at your place. The odds are that people who already saw your place are not interested (otherwise they would have made some type of offer)... so who cares if they notice the counter reset or not?

What you need to worry about is the new buyers. You'd rather have them see days on market at 0 in February, instead of 275.

Plus, it's an easy story... you took it off for the holidays, touched up some things, then re-listed it at a more competitive price.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Also, I think I missed the "married" post as well.

CONGRATS!!

moeronn

Weird. This is what I found when looking at the property:

No activity in 2005.

Edit: I just noticed there should be unit numbers associated with these listings. Hence the conflicting info. Somehow, I think info from his listing is getting mixed in with other listings.

subinf

Hmm. I just went off his first post.

Rock2534

Thats a nice place, it just seems to be in a tough segment. It is a little small for a couple with a child, although it could work, but it might be a little expensive for a single person to afford with all of the fees. Seeing how you can't really rent it, it would be ideal for a single guy/girl to buy and then bring a roommate in with them.

Oh and I am surprised no one has made any perverted remarks regarding the realtors pic!!

Good luck with the sale.

moeronn

I'm glad no one has. I get the feeling that she might be Mrs. Nicky Pass.

Rock2534

I think juniorbeans has good points, my buddy went thru the same hassle last year when trying to sell his townhome on a golf course. Very nice place, but just not worth the amount he paid for it back in 05. In the end they just delisted and are still there, unfortunatley the only thing that is going to get results is lowering the price. A lot of people overpaid a few years ago, and you can't expect to make your money back on it now.

MR1

What you paid for the property, what you have done to the property and why you are selling make no difference to the market. What you think it is worth also makes no difference.

If you want to sell it, you can only get market value. The market is at least $10,000 below what you are trying to get. If you lower it $2-3,000 you are just asking for more disappointment. There is some great information in this thread.

Please don't bother getting an appraisal. You have already decided what it's worth. The appraiser can't meet your expectations.

Nicky Pass

I just called my realtor and took it off the market. Its gonna go back on in Feb with a new MLS # and I'm gonna put it on at $169,000.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

^ Not for nothing but I would find a new realtor as well.

If they could not give you the information you obtained on Acurazine... then they need to be fired ASAP. She should have been the one pointing out that you need to lower your price... not us. From what I have read I do not think $169,999 is going to get it sold either (think about it... you've had ZERO offers... not even low-ball offers. $5k less isn't going to do anything). You should be around $160-$165... but it looks like you're not going to listen to us. Hopefully you'll fire that agent and get a good one who will talk some sense into you and get that thing sold.

Good luck...

moeronn

Make sure you keep it off the market long enough. I can't remember if it's 60 or 90 days to reset Days on Market. Not sure what triggers an MLS number change.

hornyleprechaun

Invest $50 into some paint and get rid of the red.. seriously that will help.

Nicky Pass

Its not that I'm not listening to you, its just that I'm trying to get SOME of my down payment back. I put $38K down....I've paid almost 5 years of principal....I sell it for $160K, I walk away with $5-10K....that SUCKS!

moeronn

You know we aren't just trying to make you lose money, right? We're trying to help you sell the place. You have to decide which is more important; selling and moving to a house or trying to salvage a some money from the sale no matter what. Only you can make that choice, but expecting both to happen in the current market is just extremely unlikely.

It does suck, but wishing something weren't true doesn't make it any less true.

MR1

It's not the most desired situation but does it really suck bad?

If this had been rent you were paying, what would your expectation be? You have had the (Joy?) of ownership and that is really worth something. If I owned the place, there would be no red wall for instance J/K

As far as a new agent. That's a tought job especially with a client like you or perhaps me. You are trying to recapture equity that may not be there. The last thing you have wanted to hear is that you may be mistaken. I'm sure your agent figured that out and has tried to share your dream. If she had told you the things we have, I suspect she would have been fired. Some people hire experts and refuse to listen to them.

FWIW, not sure how your MLS works but with most, an agent can search the history over the past few years for your property and see everything related to the MLS. A new listing number after about 30 days will freshen the presentation and everybody will not search the history. Good luck again.

Rock2534

Yeah it sucks, nothing you can really do about it. But it may not be all bad, yes you may be selling your house for 30k less than you want to, but you might be able to make that back in the next house you buy. The housing market is tough for all sellers, so you take a hit on yours, and then the owner that sells to you takes a hit on theirs when you buy. Hopefully you can upgrade to a nicer home for 30-50k less than what it was going for a year or two ago.

It won't feel as good as cash in hand, but on paper it might not be too bad.

Sarlacc

Buying real estate is NEVER a guarantee that you'll make anything back in the long run. Its a risk like anything else. And 2 bed. 1 bath condo is NOT desirable. When I bought, there were a few things I would not even consider and that was one of them.

Yeah it sucks, but the fact you might actually get to walk away with some pocket money in this economy isn't anything to sneeze.

I'm feeling like this is the usual Nicky Pass, "I made a thread and now I'm not going to listen to anything any of you have to say" threads.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

Since you can't rent it out, your options are simple. 1) Continue to live in it until market conditions improve, or 2) Sell at market value.

What's it going to be?

Nicky Pass

What the fuck does that mean?
Pardon me for not wanting to lose all of my money.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

It does suck... but nothing you can do about it. If you want to move now, you have to work with the current market conditions. You're in better shape then some people. I can rattle off a handful of people I know who took huge losses on their houses. If we sold our house 2 years ago we could have got ~$550k. This spring we'll be listing it for ~$485k and will probably sell for around $470k. So instead of making ~$140k we're only going to make $90k. So yeah, I'd rather have the extra $50k in our hands... but that's the current market. If we want to stay another 5 years we may be able to rebound a bit, but we decided to take advantage of the buyer's market and sell now so we can steal something.

So yeah, it sucks, but no one on here it setting the prices... the market is what it is. If you're so concerned about only making $5k-$10k and want to make more money... stay a few more years and wait for the market to rebound a little bit.

But think about this... is it worth it to stay say 3 years and make maybe $20k more when you can sell, walk away with $5k, but then BUY something else for $75k below tax value? Personally I'm willing to take the small hit on the sell side now to make it up 10 fold on the buy side...

Like I said before... you need to pick your battles. Evaluate your options and make a move. Wishing you could sell for more isn't going to change the market.... so work with what you have and make the best decision you can. If you want to sell now, lower the price and get out... otherwise, sit tight for a few more years.

svtmike

We'll be here waiting for your thread titled "Why are bigger houses so darn expensive?"

Nicky Pass

I know my limits and I know the money I have....I won't be house poor.

UNCTYPE-S

If you think in this time in the economy that you're going to walk away with any substantial profit, you were severely mislead. This is a BUYERS market right now, not sellers. As others have mentioned, either hang on to it and rent it out or just live in it until this market turns around.

It does seem like you're not in an urgent rush to move out, so maybe just live with it for a while?

I just bought my place 4 months ago. 2bed/2bath condo. Backyard overlooks a mini lake, clean community and around tons of shops. Appraisal value was 205k. Asking was around 180k. I bought it for $167k! It's not my job to find out what the seller gained or lost but I went in there aggressive and got it on my first bid.

You're not getting bids of interest which is not completely understandable. Again, you have to ask yourself, either you take a wash and sell it low or hold on to it and monitor the market in the 1st/2nd qtrs of 2010.

DanL

iTrader: (2)

Taking it off the market for now was a smart move. Try again in early spring -- it's extra hard to sell a house during the winter months. BTW, you didn't pay five years of principle, you paid five years of mainly interest with a small portion of your monthly payment going towards principle. It's not unusual to simply break even after five years or even loose some money. A lot of people got spoiled by the booming real estate market several years ago and forgot it wasn't the norm.

BTW, I know what you're going through. We bought our first house for $182K and sold it seven years later for $182K -- bought at the wrong time, sold at the wrong time so we actually lost money. But that also meant we got our next house at a decent price and it's since appreciated nearly 100% even with the recent depressed market. So unless you're into flipping houses, I wouldn't worry too much about loosing some of your initial investment. Buy smart and you'll be fine long-term.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

I would never make such a thread . I'm pretty caught up on what's going on in real estate...

svtmike

My bad -- that was addressed to the OP.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

^ I thought so but wasn't sure since you quoted me