Auctioning your home?

[Becky]

I have a home in TV, but also have a home in Ohio. I just want to be done with it It is a nice home, ( for the last 34 years anyway!), but with this real estate market, I wondered if anyone has just said, " oh the h@## with it," and auctioned off their house? I am in the process of updating it, but just want to walk away! Any pros or cons? Could auctioning it be the way to go? Will check back tomorrow! Thanks! :)

Becky

[Just Susan]

Becky,
I have never auctioned off a house, but I have bought things at auction. I think that selling your house that way could create new interest in your house. You could even end up with a bidding war...a possibility but not a guarantee.

Some things to consider if you decide to do this...

I think auctioneers usually take 10% of the final bidding price. Who will pay that commission? The seller or the buyer?
If it were me I would certainly set a minimum reserve price that I would go no lower than ??????? whatever.
Is there a commission to be paid if the house doesn't sell? What is it?
Are the improvments that you are making really necessary in order to sell in this market? Or are they making it impossible for you to lower your selling price?
Have been on the market for a really, really long time?
Have you been getting the exposure to the internet that is required in today's world of real estate?


So many more questions to ask. My uneducated opinion...it is mostly bargain sub, sub, sub, basement hunters who buy at auction, in this type of market.

[Coconuts]

Oh, Becky. I feel so awful for all the people who seem trapped by their real estate right now. An auction sounds so drastic. I know you want to be in TV cut loose from the old ball and chain. Maybe you could rent the home for a while, a rent with option to buy deal???? Good luck to you.

[graciegirl]

Becky.

You could start with something smaller here so you wouldn't have to auction your home. It seems a little scary to me. Where do you live in Ohio? We live in West Chester, just outside of Cincinnati, but were born in Columbus.

GracieGirl et al

[NJblue]

Of course every real estate market is different and perhaps things in Ohio are much worse than in NJ, but we are getting ready to list our house and have been talking to Realtors. Around here, houses that are priced fairly have been selling relatively quickly. Of the houses that recently sold in the approx. price range of our house, their days on market were, 65, 17, 182, 18, and 4.

The one that took 182 days was grossly over-priced to begin with and as a result it lingered on the market and got the reputation of being a white elephant. After a series of price reductions, the owners finally were tired of it being on the market and they drastically lowered their price and it sold immediately (at their final asking price) with several offers.

[Becky]

I have not put my home in Ohio on the market yet. Just looking at the homes for sale around here and how long they have been on the market. Love my home in TV and don't want a smaller home.

graciegirl, I don't have to auction it. Just thought it would be a way to be done with it. I have lived here so long that I wouldn't loose money on it. It is paid for. I am in Findlay.

Improvements are just general improvements that everyone makes before selling. Paint and carpet.

I will talk to a realtor before deciding. Just hoping for a fast solution! Thanks for all the responses!

Becky -

[tucson]

Alot depends on the economic situation of your area. I would lease W/option to buy first. See if you get any bites on it that way before auctioning. That's what I did and right after I advertised through a website I got a qualified buyer who will lease it for 1yr and then buy it after the 1yr lease ends. Good Luck!!!!!!!!

[Just Susan]

Becky if you price it right it will go fast no matter where you live.

Good Luck to you.

[TomW]

We auctioned off a home after dad's passing several years ago. My advice is to contact two or three local auctioneers in your area and compare how they structure their commissions, what happens if your reserve isn't met, and if you are including household items in the sale that will require extra setup how they will handle that. The reputation of the auctioneer is a key point. People come to sales of good auctioneers. The last thing you want is a small crowd at your auction. We used the top auctioneer in our area because he draws big crowds to his sales. We came away with what we felt was a fair price in about the middle of the market range at that time. Good Luck!!

[largorick]

I have a home in TV, but also have a home in Ohio. I just want to be done with it It is a nice home, ( for the last 34 years anyway!), but with this real estate market, I wondered if anyone has just said, " oh the h@## with it," and auctioned off their house? I am in the process of updating it, but just want to walk away! Any pros or cons? Could auctioning it be the way to go? Will check back tomorrow! Thanks! :)

Becky
I am having a lot of success here in Michigan, your Northern Neighbor from Ohio, with the bank owned homes out there that you are competing with much like here, the houses that are in good shape, priced well under the current market value, if your house is worth say $450,000. I am seeing and selling homes when they get priced 200000 thousand less, there are multiple offers, most well over the asking as bidding starts and stops on your agenda. You could post a great price, say on the Wednesday of the week, allow showings only at specific times Friday and until 4 PM Saturday only and then cut off the showings, and offers presented Monday from 11:00 am to 4:00 will be reviewed.
I have done this recently here in Michigan and it is working. I sold 8 homes this week. Four offers were cash, two of those were with no home inspection and one wants to close this coming Wednesday.
I think this works better than an auction, you just have to have a strong and experienced agent to handle this transaction for you and be a good negotiator with the agents as this gets crazy.
While I am tying this I just got another offer on another of my listings that was $70,000. over asking price.
Good Luck to you. I can hardly wait to be working and selling in the Villages this winter.
Largorick

[Just Susan]

No disrespect intended, but seriously, any home will sell when priced in the "give-away" category.

[largorick]

Exactly, no disrespect taken. When you want the house sold and think of an auction, why pay the fees as there is never any guaranatee. It is not everyday that you get the opportunity with a seller that is so motivated that they are almost exposing themselves to be taken advantage of.
The market will determine what the house will sell for. If it does not sell, there is no cost.
Maybe things here in Michigan are worse than anywhere else, but I am thinking there are a lot of people out there not thinking outside the box as this market requires.
I am finding homes not even coming close to appraise even when agressively priced.
When the lady of this posting noted that she wants to walk away, this is a good opportunity.
I am no expert on any market because claiming to be an expert means you are no longer going to be open to learn anything.
I learn every day. When I move to the next life I might then be able to claim myself as an expert.
God Bless.

[Just Susan]

Just curious Largorick, have any of the houses you have sold even come close to the original asking price?

[largorick]

Just curious Largorick, have any of the houses you have sold even come close to the original asking price?
RE come close to asking price.
This is a question that has a complex answer. Some of these homes have been for sale for more that four years with various Real Estate offices locally.
Here in Michigan, the only homes that are selling are either bank owned or priced where the buyer has a perception of a deal.
I just sold a house that was listed for 2.5 years originally listed at 995000. It just sold for 650000. This was a 6000 square foot ranch with a full walk out lower level and not included in the square footage located on a gorgeous one acre lot. This house had offers on it in the mid 700's and the value was there but the appraisors would not give it the value due the Michigan being listed as a declining economy.
My most recent sale, yesterday was a 3500 square foot 5 bedroom hardwood floors on first floor, stamped concrete for drive and a 4 car garage was originally listed at 499000 3 years ago and sold for 266000 this week.
There is no magic bullet here and there are a lot of buyers out there with cash but they are guarding their cash like Pit Bulls.
Locally here there are homes that were listed for over 1.2 Million dollars are are selling for under $300 thou.
Does anyone think it is easy to sit with wonderful people and then educate them that their house is worth less that 40% of what they owe or what they have paid? It is tough and the success I have had is from understanding and educating people to what is.
There is no more "I need" or "I want" when the house is priced, it is," here is the very grim reality". Not fun at all for the poor seller or the Real Estate agent who is the bearer of bad news.
I love my business but lately I hate my job.
Hope that kind of addresses what is going on here. To share what is getting results in my area with other areas that are just as hard hit is good for everyone to know and use it if they wish.
I really prefer to be there in my Villa, everyone at least has a more optimistic attitude in Florida.
Largorick

[Just Susan]

So sad.

[Becky]

Very discouraging! Have decided I will list my home with a realtor in the spring after I move out. Doesn't sell - will go from there. Don't want to be in it when it is shown. What I get, is what it is worth. Like I said, I have lived here for 34 years so can't loose. I hope! Too bad that houses here won't sell turn-key. I have found that I have everything I need in my new home in TV. It is amazing how much stuff you can find that you can live without! Down-sizing big-time!

Thanks for all the info!

Becky

[ouma1938]

Like you Becky I am very anxious to sell and get down to TV. Rather than wait around we have decided to lower the price by $100,000 this week and go for broke!!! I am a realtor and the listing agent and I believe that this will work. This is the time to buy in TV so while it won't quite offset the loss it will some. The most important thing is that we are not getting any younger and I want to get on with the next (and best) phase of life sooner rather than later. Losing some of the profit on the house here is not fun but TV definitely is fun. So with prayers, St. Joseph buried in the yard, and some very positive thinking we will be Villagers by the end of this year!

[Peachie]

Good luck to you, Becky and Ouma. Ouma, we took a good size hit on the sale of our large home one year ago and it felt so good to be done with that transaction. And the price would have been even lower today so if you wait it could be even less. The Villages awaits....:a040:

[rshoffer]

If I was faced with something like this I know I'd stay put. If I didn't have an emergent reason to move I'd be darned if I'd discount my home that much. Do some cruising or traveling.... rent in TV for a month or so. As stated, think outside the box but don't throw 200 thousand dollars away.

[Peachie]

Rshoffer, they may not be discounting their home. Their newer price is probably the correct value of their home, the new truth about housing. The Villages have maintained a good deal of their value but a close examination of most home prices show dramatic drops which may not recover for years. They would be recouping a good deal from the loss by purchasing at the current prices in TV's and live the life of which they dream.

[NJblue]

A realtor related to us about how one couple intentionally underpriced their house by $100K to create "buzz". It worked and they had multiple offers immediately. The resulting bidding war drove the price back up to approximately what the perceived fair market value was. Seems kind of risky to me, but perhaps sometimes it takes out of the box thinking.

We had an interesting thing happen to us. Just yesterday we told an agent that we planned to list with him, but wanted to do some additional things to get the house ready to actually go on the market. Today, even before signing the listing agreement, he called me at work to say that another agent in his office has been working with a couple who are anxious to buy a house in our price bracket and would it be OK to show the house to the agent in 20 minutes! I hurried home and picked up as best as I could in 10 minutes and then let them in to see the house. The good news is that she thought her client would be interested, but the bad news is that now our timeframe to get it ready to show to a potential buyer is just that much more compressed. The other bad news is that we were hoping to be able to stay in the house through the holidays. If this works out with these buyers, that could be a problem.

[Peachie]

NJBlue, what wonderfully good "bad" news. Hope it sells quickly for you.