[Villages Kahuna]

You have an offer. Great!

You don't know what it is yet? Don't get all upset if it's a whole lot less than you were expecting or hoping for.

Be a little concerned if it is conditional...like the buyer has to sell his house before you sell yours. Keep the negotiations going on price and try to get rid of all the conditions. "Buy" the removal of conditions with a lower price if you have to. From all that I can gather from personal experience as well as friends and neighbors here in TV...the resale market out there is simply awful. There is way too much inventory for the number of buyers. To that you add the recent development that even creditworthy buyers are having a tough time getting mortgage loans.

From all that I can gather, resale prices are down 15-20% from what asking prices were a year ago, more in some cases and some markets. If your offer is in that range, don't be alarmed or offended. You have an offer. Keep the negotiations going as long as you can to try to get the most that you can for your house. But don't let the "live one" get away. You might be waiting a long, long time before another one comes along.

The advice of another poster..."get on with your life; it's only money" is on the mark as far as I'm concerned. I almost turned down an offer that was maybe 1% lower than I wanted for our house on the Chicago North Shore. Had I rejected the offer, we still might own that house and have too few lookers and no offers. I can assure you we would not be enjoying the lifestyle in TV if we were sitting on an expensive, empty house up north. My wife and I can't imagine the stress that not being able to sell our house up north would have had on us after we moved here. The "lost 1%" is long forgotten and we are ecstatic with our new home and the lifestyle in The Villages. I thank my lucky stars that I wasn't stubborn and stupid (as I've been known to be) and turned that offer down.

Good luck.