Difficulty selling? You are not alone.

From CNN/Money:

Help! Home for sale
By Les Christie

Home price increases have slowed nationwide and even reversed in many markets. Inventories are up and new home builders are cutting back. More and more sellers are having difficulty selling their properties.

We’ve profiled some of these sellers and that has produced a flood of reader emails from other troubled sellers.

K. Gordon, Amarillo, Texas: “I bought a brand new house in Amarillo. Unexpectedly, 4 months later I had to move back to south Florida . . . ‘Not to worry,’ I thought. A new, fairly priced house will sell quickly.

14 months and 3 agents later, the house has not sold. I’ve tapped out my credit making payments on that house as well as my current rent.

Tom Shipp, Seattle: “My partner and I purchased a new home in Seattle, before we listed our current home on the Eastside. Our agents were confident that our current home would sell in 2 weeks and advised that we not make a contingent offer on the new house. . . . [the bid] was quickly accepted.

Ninety plus days, a second mortgage, and a bridge loan later we are still trying to sell our Eastside property! We just made our first double mortgage payment and are feeling desperate and depressed. We are supposedly still in a “hot” market and our property has what the agent’s say are the three mandatory factors for a quick sale; price, location, and condition.”

Pat Berry, Virginia: “Our house has been on the market in North Springfield [near Washington, DC] since July 15. In that time, only two people suggested any interest by taking time to tour the property. My husband is due to retire on Sept. 30 and at that time, we will be carrying two mortgages on 1 and 1/2 incomes. Needless to say, my fingernails are chewed to the quick.”

A reader in Central Florida: “We put our house on the market at the beginning of July 2006 for $289,900. Since then we have dropped the price to $267,000 and have only had 2 showings. Our agent keeps telling us that there is a lot of inventory in our neighborhood and that price will be the thing that makes our house stand out. Our problems is that having only owned the home 1 year there is very little equity so dropping the price much lower will result in us actually having to pay to sell our home!”

Rick Weaver, near Charlotte, North Carolina: “The house has been on the market for 1 year and one month. I have had one offer on the house and they wanted me to sell it to them for $20,000 less than the asking price. This was the first and only offer. All of the realtors I have talked to say that I can ask more than the 133,900 for this house. But I am afraid to ask for more. It’s not selling or even being seen for that matter.”

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19 Responses to Difficulty selling? You are not alone.

  1. UnRealtor says:

    Here’s an example:

    MLS 2302230
    115 Short Hills Ave
    Listed in July for $748K, now listed at $689K

    Been sitting on the market for 68 days.

    The house next door, which is not as nice, sold last year for $750K in 3 days.

    The party is over Greedy Grubbers.

  2. Penguin says:

    People need to stop acting like we are in a sellers market. Also people need to stop aasking these insane prices, hey its not our fault people overpaid, or di not negotiate on that bigger house and now u have 2 mortsges.
    Crash and Burn baby This is what these people get for being greedy.
    The problem is most buyers now have common sence and dont feel they should overpay. Plus man people cannot afford these prices.
    If you bought b4 the bubble and all u could afford was 130k what makes u think everyone starting out can now afford 250-300k for a house? 2 get a fair market value take year 2000 price and add 3 perccent increse for 6 years and thats ur fair market value

  3. patient homebuyer says:

    hey unrealtor i wonder how the 750k neighbor fells about that 689 list price

    where has my equtiy gone?????

  4. UnRealtor says:

    “Our problems is that having only owned the home 1 year there is very little equity so dropping the price much lower will result in us actually having to pay to sell our home!”

    Bring a check to the closing, negative equity is the latest trend! Everyone’s doing it, don’t be shy.

  5. UnRealtor says:

    Patient Homebuyer:

    Oh you get me ready in your 56 Chevy
    Why don’t we go sit down in the shade
    Take shelter on my front porch
    The dandy lion sun scorch,
    Would you like a glass of cold lemonade
    I will do laundry if you pay all the bills

    CHORUS:

    Where is my David Lereah
    Where is my Suzanne to research this
    Where is my happy ending
    Where has all the equity gone!?!?

    http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/WHERE-HAVE-ALL-THE-COWBOYS-GONE-lyrics-Paula-Cole/7B2E88C470F1B7C14825696A0027938A

  6. njresident286 says:

    it is crazy to me how people move after only 1 or 2 years, yet they look down on renting! isn’t the point of owning a house to establish roots somewhere? Moving (in my opinion) is such a pain in the ass, and expensive, that I would never want to do it if i did not have to.

  7. Seneca says:

    How does one determine the “year 2000” price of a home? The problem I am having in coming up with an offer price is that I don’t know what condition the houses that sold in 2000 looked like. So I can’t really determine if it is comparable to the home I am interested in buying.

  8. UnRealtor says:

    “it is crazy to me how people move after only 1 or 2 years, yet they look down on renting”

    The plan for many was to buy every two years, and avoid taxes on their “equity income” since the IRS waives capital gains tax from a primary residence after 2 years.

    Sounds good in theory, if the market “always goes up.”

    Overpaid by $50K because of a bidding war? No problem, after two years you’ll make $100K instead of $100K.

    But those days are obviously gone, and those on a 2-year-plan are choking as their ARM payments adjust upward.

  9. UnRealtor says:

    Correction:

    “you’ll make $100K instead of $150K”

  10. Michelle says:

    Yipes!

    Sobering article.

    My best friend closed on her house in the SF Bay Area today (she was the seller). They had 2 offers in a week, and the buyer asked for and received a credit to fix few things. The house sold for 98.8% of asking and closed about a month after listing.

    So much can change in a month…I was holding my breath until I heard that the buyer showed up at closing today!

    njresident286, I totally agree with you. Moving is such a horrible experience to me…which is why we bought. I can’t stand the thought of moving again for many many years…decades…if ever.

  11. Penguin says:

    seneca

    it doesnt matter what the place looked likw in 2000 just find out what similar places sold for in 2000. I am one who low balls based off that calculation. I think people who pay 5-10k off list price r whats slowing down the crash. If people did 50 percent lowballs and we got most all peope bidding on houses to do that and not negotiate at all with thje sellern prices would start to become realistic and affordle to many people.

  12. anonymous says:

    What’s the big deal about taking a loss on selling a property? It happens all the time on Wall St. Best advice to investors/homeowners is to take a small loss now to avoid a bigger loss later.

  13. BC Bob says:

    For those that think prices will hold because sellers won’t drop their prices, think again. Sellers may not be in the market to sell. However, there are various factors that force this issue; job loss, job relo, change in marital status, retirement, etc…. Remember, the market determines the price, at the time they need to sell, not the sellers asking price.

  14. SAS says:

    Ain’t it a little to early for these knuckleheads to be saying this??
    And some on here still don’t think that people “tweak” things to give the false illusion. Read Plato Allegory of the Cave.

    No recession from Calif. housing slowdown: report
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060928/us_nm/economy_california_forecast_dc

    SAS

  15. SAS says:

    Billy Joel is freaking idiot too… God damn drunk, look at his big nose.

    “Want Billy Joel’s house? Only $37.5 million”

    http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/28/people.billyjoel.ap/index.html

  16. BC Bob says:

    SAS,

    “Bottle of red, Bottle of white”

    Only $37 million??? Just a New York state of mind.

  17. Says says:

    personally, i have enjoyed proving people wrong who have said to me “yeah but never in MY area, this place is TOO popular”. Keep telling yourselves that. I was absolutely just knee-slapping hysterical when i read that he said the bleeding has stopped. The wound has just started to open. Oh and i love that monty python analogy! I have seen MUCH larger price cuts myself.

    An interesting spin the industry is putting on it now i think: if housing falls, everything falls. This was the same sentiment back in the dot bomb era. Oh if we lose our shirts in the market then all hell will break lose. It’s a cry of desperation if you ask me. A chance to take swing at the taunting crowds.

  18. anonimous says:

    Difficult selling? cut the price 50%, I am sure it is going to be sold in 1 day. Nothing is garanted to make money. Even the best trader in wall street lose money too. Are u better than them?

  19. Location, location, location?
    I would like to see the statistics of home sales in the country, I think that more people are moving south for a more conservative place to raise their families with old fashion family values and be with like minded people. Not to be political but are the “red states” growing any faster than they were. Please tell me how your market is at
    http://propertysalvage.wordpress.com/
    Property Salvage
    http://www.propertysalvage.com

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