Home Sale Frustration

[CyinCo]

I need to whine a bit...

We have been trying to sell our house since November. Realistically, that isn't that long. But, the best offer we have had so far was $230,000, which we laughed off. We are listed at $250,000 and already, "priced to sell" when compared to comps.

The traffic has been good. We have 5 different people through just this past week and I would guess 15 total viewings since it went on the market. Considering the holidays of Thanksgiving and Xmas were in there, not too bad.

Our house has over 3000 finished square feet, 3 car garage, full finished basement with daylight windows, 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, huge vaulted living room and kitchen area, tile in the entries and bathrooms, 5-piece master bath, enormous master bedroom, a custom built wetbar in the basement that seats 4 comfortably (probably would fit 6 stools), deck off the back overlooking a privacy fenced backyard (6' contractor grade vinyl), and an irrigation system with digital controls. The house was built in 2003 so it isn't old but isn't so new that neighborhood isn't established.

Yet with all of that, people are offering us $230k. This has to be the most frustrating and depressing financial experience I've ever had to deal with. After realtor fees, we would leave here with virtually no equity (only what we have bought down since living here). We bought the house 4 years ago for $223,000. We put over $20,000 into the house to finish the basement and fence the yard. And that price is only the material costs since we did all the work ourselves (except for things like drywall).

I understand that this is a bad market but how can a house like this be so undervalued.

Then on the flip side, we are looking at homes in Des Moines, and to get something comparable to what I've listed above, we are well into the $300k's.

Our next house would be our third house that be have bought and it seems like we are practically starting over on the equity front when I thought we would easily have $100k in equity after leaving here.

Any suggestions from others out there selling? Do I just bite the bullet and unload this place for cheap or sit and wait for the "right" offer from the "right" buyer?

End of bucket dump..

 

[wartknight]

Can't help you. We've had ours for sale since April. There are a LOT of houses for sale around here. (North side of Ankeny)

 

[brianhos]

DSM area is very expensive and housing prices have not gone down here at all. We lowballed on a house on the north side of ankeny last year, but the builder held on to it. We offered 320, he was asking 340, he sold it almost a year later for 330. Should have taken our offer, it probably would have saved him $$ at the time.

 

[CyinCo]

DSM area is very expensive and housing prices have not gone down here at all. We lowballed on a house on the north side of ankeny last year, but the builder held on to it. We offered 320, he was asking 340, he sold it almost a year later for 330. Should have taken our offer, it probably would have saved him $$ at the time.

That sounds nearly identical to the house we want to buy. It is builder held. Similar price. We were hoping to get it for less. The builders had it complete for 7 months. Hopefully, the market has gotten bad enough so that we can get a deal.

 

[herbicide]

Have you counter-offered on any of these offers? In the end a house is only worth what someone will pay for it. Keep in mind that every month you do not sell you are losing money in terms of mortgage payments vs. waiting for the right buyer.

If it were me and I needed to move, I would cut my losses and not make a bad situation worse, if you NEED to move. If you don't need to move, I'd sit until the right offer is made

 

[cytheguy]

With the housing market the way it is right now, I'll be shocked if you get anything close to your asking price. If anything, since the market is so bad right now, maybe the lower than normal price you'll most likely pay for a new house will offset the lower price you'll probably have to end up selling for. Maybe when you do all the math, you'll realize you're not actually losing much, if anything at all. If that makes any sense.

 

[SlyCy]

I've been there, had to do a couple of price reduction ourselves.

250,000 is kind of an odd number for home selling. Usually they would price it as 249,500 so if a buyer is searching for a house between 240,000 and 250,000 it would definetly be included in the search.

We ended up selling ours but our next step was going to be to include an incentive of hiring a moving company to move the buyer if was an in-town move and we agreed on a price. Buyers like this because they don't have to front any cash to move.

I'm also a firm believer in hiring a realtor from the biggest realtor company in the area. They have more networking and are motivated to keep the sale within the company.

 

[Wesley]

Some new builder houses in Omaha have sat finished waiting for a buyer for 15 months. One finished the basment for $30k and sold it lor less than what he wanted the year before.

Another builder is competing after 8 months on the market with his new house against a house that he sold two years ago who decided to move back to California for a job in the banking industry.

The house we sold two years ago is back for sale altrady and shown on TV as a last resort. They put $15k into the kitchen and want $30k more than they bought it for. It was a great family home in a wooded area ad had a Florida room, 3 car, 5 bedrooms, 5 baths, lots of tile and wood floor, jacuzzi, etc. However it was over 20 years old. People weant perfect and les than 7 years old. Many of the people looking are really just looking.

PRICE, PRICE, PRICE is the key. With the subprime people being penalized, we have fewer buyers than we have had in years.

 

[brianhos]

One of the problem with buying a new one, is you have to go throgh the same crap to sell. I would have bought a new place last year if the though of selling our current house did not scare me so much. We just decided it was not worth the hassle and instead built on a new family room which is all we really needed.

 

[CyPlainsDrifter]

That sounds nearly identical to the house we want to buy. It is builder held. Similar price. We were hoping to get it for less. The builders had it complete for 7 months. Hopefully, the market has gotten bad enough so that we can get a deal.

And that right there, explains why yours is not selling well. The market is down and homes sales are down.

 

[CyPlainsDrifter]

With the housing market the way it is right now, I'll be shocked if you get anything close to your asking price. If anything, since the market is so bad right now, maybe the lower than normal price you'll most likely pay for a new house will offset the lower price you'll probably have to end up selling for. Maybe when you do all the math, you'll realize you're not actually losing much, if anything at all. If that makes any sense.

This is great advice. Any "shortfall" on the sale, will most likely be made up for on the buy. Two houses ago, I passed on some early lower offers and ended up eating nearly another year of house payments, just to settle for a low offer anyway. It hurt more in hindsight, by not just taking the hit early.

 

[agcy68]

My wife and I have a house for sale in Roland. GREAT / GREAT school, good neighborhood, good yard, 15 minutes from Ames (Best Buy or Wal-Mart). It was a solid house for us, but an opportunity came up that we couldn't turn down. It has 4 bedrooms, office, vaulted ceiling in the living room (great for 14' Christmas tree), 2 full - 1 three quarter - 1 half bath on a cul-de-sac. Roland is the home town of Gary Thompson and a great little town; the swimming pool is in walking distance (3 blks) with close parks, little league diamond, and "downtown" a little farther, but walkable. It has been for sale since June and still no takers. It has been off the market since November when we had renters move in, but they are moving out and now it is back on the market. I would love to sell it to a cyclone fan - Anyone interested?

For what it is worth, my Realtor thinks the sub-prime issue should wash through the system by Feb./March. Of course, now with the news talking about the r word, that my be another drag on sales. I do know that Pella Corp shut down their local plant, but several other mfg businesses are hiring good people.

 

[cloneluke80]

I have no sympathy for you. Houses are way out of range for average incomes and you should be happy to break even on the house. If you want equity in your house you do it the old fashioned way, by paying down your mortgage, not constantly moving up in house and buying more than you should.

 

[bpmdu]

I'd discuss this with your realtor. Talk about the market conditions and what he/she thinks the market is like in your area. While all these opinions are nice, unless any of these people live in the Greeley CO area, they don't reflect THAT market. It does take time to sell a house, there's plenty of listings, and the winter months aren't an ideal selling time. If foot traffic is high and you're getting good feedback (you should be getting feedback good or bad), I'd stick it out a couple more months.
Have you considered trying to do some staging in your home? Is the decorating effecting peoples' opinions? Try to get as much feedback as possible. If your Realtor seems like they aren't knowledgeable, aren't having open houses, aren't actively promoting the listing, and/or don't give you solid feedback.. I'd find someone else.

 

[isuno1fan]

I'm a firm believer in not moving frequently. Stick with the house you have. It's the best way to build wealth. If a job moves you, you should have some help with selling the house from your new employer.

Otherwise, stay where you are at.

I bought my house in 1999 for 299,500. Almost 10 years later, it is only valued at 332,000 and with this market, I don't think I could sell it for that if I wanted to.

The good news is I refinanced to a 15 year loan 4 years ago when rates were real low. I am in at 4.5%. 11 years left on the loan and 179k left to pay, but I plan to stay where I'm at unless career moves me.

 

[isuno1fan]

People who bought 4-6 years ago are never going to get out of the house, what they purchased it for in this market.

 

[isuno1fan]

Having said all that, I know you want to move to my area (Waukee schools, city of Clive) so I wish you luck.

 

[jdolson]

My job takes me around the country to businesses that produce concrete pipe and components for water runoff and sewer instalations. I would say 80% of the country has seen a sudden halt to the house building market. Outside of Utah and Seattle, it sonds like its going to take all of this year to get back to former levels of housing development. If you are a first time home buyer, this is a sweet time to buy.

 

[BigBake]

I need to whine a bit...

Our house has over 3000 finished square feet, 3 car garage, full finished basement with daylight windows, 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, huge vaulted living room and kitchen area, tile in the entries and bathrooms, 5-piece master bath, enormous master bedroom, a custom built wetbar in the basement that seats 4 comfortably (probably would fit 6 stools), deck off the back overlooking a privacy fenced backyard (6' contractor grade vinyl), and an irrigation system with digital controls. The house was built in 2003 so it isn't old but isn't so new that neighborhood isn't established.

And you're selling why?? I hope because you're leaving the area. Otherwise at those specs just hush up and be happy with the house you have.:notworthy: (hopefully that's taken in a ribbing fashion and not meanly)

 

[Wesley]

People who bought 4-6 years ago are never going to get out of the house, what they purchased it for in this market.

Nationally house sales prices are down 5-10 per cent from last year. The lowest they could go from past history is 20 per cent. The Midwest does not fluctuate as much since our taxes are so high and artificially keep prices down.