Timing of selling your existing home

[aljetmet]

I realize every real estate market is different but is anyone experiencing anyimprovement? We have a year to go and we don't want to stay an extra day if we don't have to. We will be here in April to buy our lot so we'll have some flexibility if we have to stay more than a year from now. Our house will be ready in about a month to market.

How are my fellow wannabees and former wannabees handling this issue?

[Carmpat]

Yes we bought a lot in December and we are ready to put our house up for sale the first week in March. We hope to sell it first, but if we can't then we will to start buildingat some point. The lot we selected has a privacy wall behind it in the Sannibel section.

Patti

[angiefox10]

While everyone is waiting for spring to sell. When the market is glutted. Why not now. People are in the market all year and it's slim pickings now.

We listed ours in december and sold on showing.

Just a thought.

[aljetmet]

We've taken down wall paper in our half bath and kitchen (large, 6 butt, there is another thread out there you just have to read)

Have the master bath yet to do. (it's bigger than Premier bathrooms).

Slowed down for a cruise and some medical issues. Maybe by the end of Feb.

No matter when we sell I have to work till 1/31/13... Plan is to go on Cobra for 18 months prior to medicare.

[Bigben007]

We've taken down wall paper in our half bath and kitchen (large, 6 butt, there is another thread out there you just have to read)

Have the master bath yet to do. (it's bigger than Premier bathrooms).

Slowed down for a cruise and some medical issues. Maybe by the end of Feb.

No matter when we sell I have to work till 1/31/13... Plan is to go on Cobra for 18 months prior to medicare.



We've taken down wallpaper, had walls re-plastered, painted, new landscape and we're still not done. Hope to have it finished for the 1st week of April. We chose April hoping the leaves will be on the trees, and we can put some flowers around. My home is ALL hard wood floors and I don't want people treading through my house in spring rain and mud. We bought a lot in Fernandina last month and would like to sell our home before we start building. Good luck to everyone! Hope the market picks up.

[jmac1031]

I am a realtor in Wisconsin hoping to build on our lot later this year in TV. We were blest and sold last August without officially being on the market.(I quit being lottery tickets after this closed!) I subscribe to a real estate economist to provide data and information on our local market. The attached link is from his website. It is importnat note markets are local and understanding ramifications to your price are crucial. Our market west of Milwaukee has been been very busy in January. Our office of about 70 agents is about 6-7 million ahead of last January. Low interest rates have got people out buying. While getting the most for your home is dependent on condition and competition, price is king! If your agent gives you a number that is far below your expection look at the data and believe unless you want to be in the same house 6-8 month from now. The other reason to get it out there is Shadow inventory - homes in the foreclosure process. If you see No Trepassing Signs on the windows and no for sale sign on the property it is shadow inventory. I recently had one next to my listing in a nice neighborhood that came on 100k under my listing. We sold mine but everyone commented on the house.
Here is another link -
http://www.keepingcurrentmatters.com/pdf/SellingaHouse.pdf

Shadow Inventory by State (http://www.kcmblog.com/2011/12/16/shadow-inventory-by-state)
Most agents can put together an absorption report to show how many months of inventory by price are on the market. 6-8 months is a normal market.
Good luck and listen to your agent! Always happy to provide advice PM any questions.

[Bigben007]

I am a realtor in Wisconsin hoping to build on our lot later this year in TV. We were blest and sold last August without officially being on the market.(I quit being lottery tickets after this closed!) I subscribe to a real estate economist to provide data and information on our local market. The attached link is from his website. It is importnat note markets are local and understanding ramifications to your price are crucial. Our market west of Milwaukee has been been very busy in January. Our office of about 70 agents is about 6-7 million ahead of last January. Low interest rates have got people out buying. While getting the most for your home is dependent on condition and competition, price is king! If your agent gives you a number that is far below your expection look at the data and believe unless you want to be in the same house 6-8 month from now. The other reason to get it out there is Shadow inventory - homes in the foreclosure process. If you see No Trepassing Signs on the windows and no for sale sign on the property it is shadow inventory. I recently had one next to my listing in a nice neighborhood that came on 100k under my listing. We sold mine but everyone commented on the house.
Here is another link -
http://www.keepingcurrentmatters.com/pdf/SellingaHouse.pdf

Shadow Inventory by State (http://www.kcmblog.com/2011/12/16/shadow-inventory-by-state)
Most agents can put together an absorption report to show how many months of inventory by price are on the market. 6-8 months is a normal market.
Good luck and listen to your agent! Always happy to provide advice PM any questions.


Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

[graciegirl]

All this improving is so important. Make it look like a model is my advice and get a realtor you can trust and trust him/her. Ours was a successful realtor and friend for 30 years.

She said, Grace, I am not your friend today, I am a realtor. Paint your bathroom neutral, remove this, this, and this. and take out your perennials. ok ok ok ok....TAKE OUT MY PERENNIALS?????

We did. And we cut the landscaping back to look like we had just planted it. Remulched as we always do in the spring. Brick house with trim painted and especially the front door. Made the curb appeal go way up.

Made a list of her directives and followed them. Took the cats and their food and their litter in car when we showed the house.

Priced it as low as "we could stomach"...as per Bill/( n Brillo) Sold in nine days.

Good luck to all of you getting your house ready to sell and move. This is such a hard part of the process, that and getting rid of stuff.

It is all worth it. We will be waiting here with welcoming hugs.

Good luck and warm caring thoughts heading your way.

[Bigben007]

All this improving is so important. Make it look like a model is my advice and get a realtor you can trust and trust him/her. Ours was a successful realtor and friend for 30 years.

She said, Grace, I am not your friend today, I am a realtor. Paint your bathroom neutral, remove this, this, and this. and take out your perennials. ok ok ok ok....TAKE OUT MY PERENNIALS?????

We did. And we cut the landscaping back to look like we had just planted it. Remulched as we always do in the spring. Brick house with trim painted and especially the front door. Made the curb appeal go way up.

Made a list of her directives and followed them. Took the cats and their food and their litter in car when we showed the house.

Priced it as low as "we could stomach"...as per Bill/( n Brillo) Sold in nine days.

Good luck to all of you getting your house ready to sell and move. This is such a hard part of the process, that and getting rid of stuff.

It is all worth it. We will be waiting here with welcoming hugs.

Good luck and warm caring thoughts heading your way.


How do you know where the "breaking" point is? I plan on getting all new appliances, the whole house has been re=painted, even the basement white-washed, bought some new (IKEA) furniture for staging, but would some of this not have matter? Is some not necessary? How do you know?

[graciegirl]

How do you know where the "breaking" point is? I plan on getting all new appliances, the whole house has been re=painted, even the basement white-washed, bought some new (IKEA) furniture for staging, but would some of this not have matter? Is some not necessary? How do you know?

You don't know.. Times have never been so hard to sell a house in my memory.

We were doing all this and had a neighbor who said we are going to sell our house and we aren't planning to take down wall paper and do any improvements or updating.. and we plan to just reduce the price.

Well that doesn't cut it in today's market.

Another thing we did in our 20 year old house is replaced every light fixture.

You have to do what you have to do.

It is very hard to know what will be the switch that turns on the buyers.

I know that we really cannot "see" our own homes.

[aljetmet]

Thanks for the advice!

We actually painted our front door first and had some rotting sills on the exterior repaired. We are taking down all the wallpaper.

We're putting the house up early (about 11 months before I retire) and we did have a market evaluation that we could live with.

If we get an offer we can't refuse (and we're not going to be pigish by any means) we'll probably build our house in TV and get a rental in Memphis.

It's 366 days away today (can't believe we have a leap year this year).

[2BNTV]

Gracie advice is on point.

Another thing you can ask your real estate agent is:

They have a chart that shows a bell curve that indicates interest will be increasing in the first four weeks assuming it is priced right. After he few weeks have gone by, buyers interest will be decreasing.

Bill-n-Brillo advice on "price it as low as you can stomach" is great.

The market today is price driven more than anything else. Buyers feedback will tell you if you have overpriced your home or lack of showings.

[tainsley]

We bought our home here in TV in July 2011. Went home and started doing cosmetic changes to our house in VA to put it on the market come March 2012. Our retirement date was 12/31/11. We decided to interview some realtors in early October (three realtors, low, low, high). Went with the third and priced our house $10,000 below her suggested listing price on 10/21/11. Came down to TV 10/31/11 for a week, Disney for a week, and back to TV. Got a call from our realtor telling us to come back to VA...house is SOLD ($5,000 below asking price)! We couldn't believe it. You just never know! Made settlement 12/28/11. Moved into our home in TV 12/30/11. I still feel like I am on vacation...gosh I love this place. Make sure your house is clean, get rid of clutter (we rented a storage unit to store our excess "things), make sure your house has curb appeal, and most important price it to sell. Good luck to you both!

[aljetmet]

My wife is throwing out all our clutter! Almost half our clothes are gone.
I had a packed walk in attic and it's almost all empty now. Had a tear when I had to same goodbye to my 286 PC and monochrome monitor.

We have lots of homes on the market in our neighborhood so that's why we're listing early.

[Bigben007]

I really appreciate all the advice and will take everything into consideration. We won't be "pigish" either, just want to join you all in TV's. We should be ready for sale the 1st week in April.

[2BNTV]

My wife is throwing out all our clutter! Almost half our clothes are gone.
I had a packed walk in attic and it's almost all empty now. Had a tear when I had to same goodbye to my 286 PC and monochrome monitor.

We have lots of homes on the market in our neighborhood so that's why we're listing early.

I really appreciate all the advice and will take everything into consideration. We won't be "pigish" either, just want to join you all in TV's. We should be ready for sale the 1st week in April.

Immaculate and decluttering is very important.

One smart member posed this question,

"what is it worth to get on with your life"?

Best wishes for the sale of your homes and I hope you get the price you need!!!!!!!

[Bill-n-Brillo]

By most reasonable accounts, home values in many parts of the country still continue to slide. The sooner a home can get on the market, the better the chances will be to get the most money for it.

But as has been stated numerous times by numerous folks, price seems to be the primary factor in today's housing market. All the other things such as staging, updating, etc. are all valuable to getting a house sold as well.

And sometimes a stroke of good fortune seems to help as well!! "Right house, right location, right price, right buyer, right time........." :icon_wink:

Bill :)

[2BNTV]

By most reasonable accounts, home values in many parts of the country still continue to slide. The sooner a home can get on the market, the better the chances will be to get the most money for it.

But as has been stated numerous times by numerous folks, price seems to be the primary factor in today's housing market. All the other things such as staging, updating, etc. are all valuable to getting a house sold as well.

And sometimes a stroke of good fortune seems to help as well!! "Right house, right location, right price, right buyer, right time........." :icon_wink:

Bill :)


Do I hear an:

"AMEN"

[Carmpat]

I have a house down the block from me sitting for a year only because the owners started the price of their house too high plus she has it decorated all in pink and silver in the 80's style. We still have to paint our downstairs bathroom and fix some molding in one of the bedrooms. The realtor who we plan on using said the market is very slow and due to Superbowl coming up this weekend people are not looking. My neighbors who had an open house this past Sunday only 3 couples showed up. I went inside to get a feel on how my home should look like. They say less is better to show the house. So hopefully we can get it up for sale sometime this month if not the first week in March which still is not spring yet. Don't forget NJ can have snow in February. Last year was a bad winter. Today it is 63 degrees. If only the weather would last. Thanks Patti

[Oren L Miller]

TV helped us find our realtor. They have agressive methods to find top realtors in your area. My wife is a very good decorator and the realtor we selected had us remove almost all of it. We painted walls neutral colors and removed all of the personalization from the home. To me the house went from WOW to plain jane immediately and it sold at the first showing and we had a contract in less than a week. It was priced to sell. We asked all three realtors what we could sell the house for quickly. They were within a couple of thousand dollars of each other. We actually put in up for 10% more than that and the offer was 5% higher. Forget what it was worth in 2008. Listen to your realtor. They want to sell your home but can't if you won't listen. Houses are selling. It is a different market out there today and many folks are competing with foreclosures that go for a lot less than market value. It is a buyers market. Calculate what it is costing you to keep the house your in. What would it cost you to keep it for one year? TV will help you sell your house with top notch realtors. Try it you have nothing to loose.

[aljetmet]

TV helped us find our realtor. They have agressive methods to find top realtors in your area. My wife is a very good decorator and the realtor we selected had us remove almost all of it. We painted walls neutral colors and removed all of the personalization from the home. To me the house went from WOW to plain jane immediately and it sold at the first showing and we had a contract in less than a week. It was priced to sell. We asked all three realtors what we could sell the house for quickly. They were within a couple of thousand dollars of each other. We actually put in up for 10% more than that and the offer was 5% higher. Forget what it was worth in 2008. Listen to your realtor. They want to sell your home but can't if you won't listen. Houses are selling. It is a different market out there today and many folks are competing with foreclosures that go for a lot less than market value. It is a buyers market. Calculate what it is costing you to keep the house your in. What would it cost you to keep it for one year? TV will help you sell your house with top notch realtors. Try it you have nothing to loose.

Waiting for TV to respond to my request to use their reloc service.
Congrats on your selling your house! Fantastic.

It will definitely cost us more to rent an efficiency apartment than it costs to live in our house. Therefore doesn't make sense to accept a rock bottom price 10 months before we have to move. Really interested in sitting down with the experts and see what they recommend.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

......It will definitely cost us more to rent an efficiency apartment than it costs to live in our house. Therefore doesn't make sense to accept a rock bottom price 10 months before we have to move. Really interested in sitting down with the experts and see what they recommend.

Good post by Oren!

aljetmet, not trying to be argumentative.......but what might appear to be a rock bottom price 10 months before you have to move could be more than you could get for your house in 10 months if the housing market continues to trend down. The tough part is figuring out the right price whenever it is that you choose to want to sell it.

Nobody has a crystal ball to predict what the future holds for the real estate market......unfortunately!

Bill :)

[aljetmet]

Oh I agree. That's why I started this thread in the first place!
I'm taking Oren's advice and try to get the best expert advice in my locale.

[mjdollard]

We are in the same boat, the real estate market here has picked up but I can't be sure it will stay that way. We will probably put our house up for sale this spring and rent until we actually buy, which I wish was yesterday.