The real estate market sucks, and we can't sell our house!
Yes, yes, yes! Everyone you know has a real estate horror story. Their home has been for sale for the last year. The realtor hasn't brought anybody to see it. The neighbor had to give the house away to sell it. We've all heard them.......The tough real estate market.
Toni & TIna's Horror Stories! We're not going to give it away........ In fact we're not even going to sell it!
I got a call from Toni asking me to sell their home in Westland. They said they saw a lot of good deals out in the Brighton area and thought now would be a good time to make a move. So after running Comps (Comparable sales in the area of homes like theirs) the value of their home is around 130-140K. This is a shock to both Toni & Tina so they do what most people did when we were in a rising market. Lets start at 154,900.00. That's 20-25k above value. I even suggest we get an appraisal from a licenced appraiser ($300) to help them see true value, but they decline, "Why spend $300.00 when we'll see what we get".
So in the first week we get 1 viewing. and agent in the area goes through as they will to see what NEW has come on the market. Her feed back reads "Needs a good cleaning and it should be priced in the 130-135 range" WOW isn't that something, with all of the info realtors have available we came to the same conclusion. about 135ish. This is October 2007. Only 4 Showings. Fast forward to May 2008. We get a showing and feedback tells us "We saw one around the corner, Nicer for 125K". Toni & Tina say we're not going to give it away. Well with the market dropping 18% over the last year, prices are dropping 1.5% per month.Toni & Tina are losing $1350.00 per month in equity, or about $12,150.00 since they listed their home. The new value is about 125K. They did lower the price though, they now sit at 139,90.00. still with no showings. "It's a tough real estate market"
Gary's success story.
Gary ended up with a home to sell do to a death in the family. He asked me to take a look at it. "What do you think it's worth, 175k"? he asked. Him and I looked at some stuff for sale to compare, then he did get an appraisal. The appraisal cam in at 120-130. So we set the price at 139,900.00. In 11 days we had 14 showings and ened up with 2 offers and sold it for close to the high end of the appraisal value. 11Days on the market! "It's a tough real estate market"
Judy's success story.
Judy had a home to sell. She didn't want to take care of her sister house she ended up with any longer. We talked about pricing the home to sell now, not in the winter or next year. We looked at what sold in the area, (This tells us what people are willing to pay, they bough at a certain price) Judy understood that NOW is the time to sell the house. In one month it will be worth less. The time you list is the best time to get an offer. (It's new and the people that have been looking want to see what's new on the market) If gas goes up people have less to spend on a house. I the auto companies lay off more people we have less people to buy your house. Judy understand that these and alot of other factors affect the value of your home. Jusy said "Let's price it to sell, not price it to show" Well we had 4 showings in the first 4 days with an offer at asking price in 6 days. SOLD!
"It's a tough real estate market"
The tough real estate market is do in part buy the sellers themselves. They are pricing homes the way we would in an increasing market. They price to the high side hoping to get an offer. But in a declining market people don't look at homes that are over priced. (If you could afford to buy a Ford would you go to the Porsche dealer hoping they would come down?) In Castle Gardens (5 mile and Newburgh) there are 5-7 homes for sale in the 150 to 160 range, 3br ranches, all about 1100-1200 sq ft. (They are all the same). But still there are homes in there that are priced at 189,900.00. N0w these people are telling the stories at work about the how tough it is to sell a house right now. The value in the neighborhood is 150-160. Why would someone pay 180 with all that is available for 150-160?? "It's a tough real estate market"
A Buyers story.
We have a young woman just out of school and her boyfriend ready to start their life together. She just started a new job. The future looks bright. (Yes, in the Detroit area). We look at homes 350-400k. After looking at 10-12 houses we choose the perfect house. 10 acres, 2500 sq ft house. The buyer putting 50K down (Yes, now you need actual money to buy a house). So we put an offer in on a Friday morning and wait in anticipation for an answer so we can start packing. Friday comes and goes with no answer. We get a call Saturday afternoon saying they are considering our offer and will be back with a counter offer. ALMOST 2 DAYS! On Sunday my buyer calls and says to pull that offer. They are tired of waiting and want to move on. They ask "Don't they want to sell the house"? The other agent apologises for the wait but the seller wasn't sure what they wanted to do. That deal never happens. The buyer goes on to buy a brand new house, and the seller sits with his house still for sale. "It's a tough real estate market"
So you want to sell
Get an appraisal. This will cost you about $300.00. This is where you should be priced at RIGHT NOW. Price it near true value and you will get showings and an offer near this price. It best to refuse three "low Ball" offers than not to get any offers at all.
Fall out of love with your house. People are buying a structure. Yours or the one down the street. You need to be the best, or the cheapest. No one cares you have "Heavy duty nails" or "Curtains" in the garage. "My husband just made these shelves". GOOD! They're just going to rip them out. No one cares. What does matter is what else I can get for the same price.
But I have to get...... Your home is worth what the market says it is worth. What you owe on it has nothing to do with it's value. So don't use this as a pricing tool. Find your homes true value and work with that. (True value, not what YOU think it's worth) Figure out if you need to come to closing with money. The longer you wait the more it will cost you. REMEMBER prices are dropping 1.5 % per month.
If the right buyer comes along we can sell it! When people put an offer on a home they are most likely borrowing money. They go to their lending and there first thing the lender does is do an appraisal. If the house doesn't appraise for the price offered they won't lend the money. So in our example above in "Castel Gardens" the values are 150-160. So even if an offer comes in at 175 it probably won't appraise out and the deal will fall apart. Or the buyer can come up with the extra money if YOUR house is the perfect house. (Yes I said extra money.......they usually have trouble with the money they need to come up with let alone extra money).
As a realtor I am they busiest I've ever been. People need to sell and there are people buying.
If you need to sell your house you can. Price it to sell...NOW.......and you can beat the "Tough real estate market"
Just my toughts! www.mrlivonia.com
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