Trish
The inventory of homes is going down and prices have started to go up in some areas. I recently raised my price a little. The market will improve for all levels of homes. Now with that said, where does one get a St. Joseph?

My husband and I can relate to your situation. We had our house on the market for about 10 months before we finally found a buyer. In our case, we have another year before we completely retire and move to our home in Tamarind Grove in TV. It's rough having two mortgages but we figured as long as we are both working, it was okay. We are closing on our house tomorrow and have moved into an apartment until next July. We buried more St. Joseph statues, pictures and cards in our back yard than the Vatican! I wish you the best in the sale of your house.

I've been in the commercial real estate business for over 30 years,but have several friends and associates in the residential markets.I've learned alot from them,plus my own experiences in having several of my homes sold.Find the best and most aggressive realtor you know,list with he/she and get out of their way.Let them price the house,since they have no emotional involvement.Your home is too pricey for the current market or it would have already sold after this length of time .Your home is in the upper price range which is the toughest market to find buyers .You need to offer the selling agents a bonus,so they will have an added incentive to show your home.Bottom line
is you need to list your home with another realtor and keep your ego and emotions out of it.Anybody that tells me it's impossible to lower the price of their home needs to have a reality check .Sorry if my post sounds harsh,but what you are currently doing is not working,these are some constructive ideas that have worked in the past,best of luck,and hope your permanently in TV very soon.

Thanks for all of the insight. Since I am the listing agent, I have been talking to a lot of other agents for ideas. We have been consistently lowering the price, putting it on and taking it off the market, etc. .We can't take it off for a long period since it is summer right now and this is when the buyers are looking..plus, taking it off for a few months would mean possibly delaying our move. We are bringing Steves mom and dad to live with us in TV and since they are 95 we want to get them down there as soon as possible. I'm sure it will all work out and I really appreciate the support from all of you. Oh, and Posh...you can find a St. Joseph 'home sale kit' at a Catholic Supply House..this is where we got ours. Good luck to all who are in the same boat..can't wait until we are all settled there!

Trish

I hope things work out for you. I'm keeping my fingers crossed until we sign the dotted line and get our check.

Trish, if you're the listing agent, here in NY on MLS that means if another agent sells your home they split the comiss.

If that's the case it may be shying others broker away or said another way you're only paying half?

Just a thought as to why it's taking long?????

It doesn't make any difference...whoever has the listing (in this case, my broker) will be giving the selling company 3%. Typically when a home is listed, the listing company charges the seller a fee (usually 6 or 7%)..out of this whoever brings the buyer will be receiving half (3-3.5%). As a side note...for anyone that thinks we agents are making money hand over fist by charging 6%..you have to understand..if I list a home for 100K and receive a comission of $6000...half of that goes to the buyers agent...half of what's left goes to my broker and then I pay a 12% fee to the company on top of that...therefore...I end up with $1320 that I now have to pay taxes on. Out of that I also have to pay for the sign and advertising....by the time it's done, I MAY be able to supersize at Mcdonalds! :). We won't even talk about the cost of gas when working with buyers that then decide, after looking at 25houses, that they either changed their minds about buying or buy a for sale by owner...urrrg. Trust me, I'm not complaining...I love my job..just giving you a little insight.

Have you thought of listing it at 8% or offering the selling agent/broker a bonus? I was a broker for 40 years and it's a matter of finding the right combination at the right time. I've even listed my own properties with other brokers cause I thought they could do a better job on a particular property. Some I just sold myself. You have to figure out the right strategy for your situation and take all the ego stuff out of the equation. Will your broker let you list with another broker? Some won't if you have a written agreement with them or some just get mad or offended. These are different times and require whole new ideas. The old days and ways are gone and not coming back.

Good Luck with your house. My husband and I sold our house last year and lost 150K. Although it stings at the time, I am so happy to be moving to The Villages. We still work and although it's a lot of money, it's not enough to stop our dream. :) We looked at the competition and found the houses that matched our house the closest. Then we dropped our price about 10% less than those house. We got 4 offers, not a bidding war, but we sold it. Turn on your 'buyers' eyes. What house would you buy in your price range. You can keep going down until your house beats all the ones out there.

Just sold a house in Michigan. You may have to go "Land Contract" With a large down payment.....

Homes and home selling and building has always been an interest of mine. I've held a real estate license in both Florida and Georgia and use be a realtor in Spring Hill, Florida. I've published 'Homes & Land Magazine of Savannah' at one time. I've personally built two luxury pool homes in Pensacola, Florida. So I know my way around the real estate market.

When we put our last home in Baltimore on the market May 2011 we sold it in 18 hours. Yes, the listing agent left our dining room table at 6pm, we had a showing at 10am the next morning and a contract by noon. Every home has it's sellling price. I studied the market in my zip code for months and when we listed our home I knew exactly what we were going up against. Every home has a selling price, you just haven't reached yours yet.

Wow, I am getting a lot of sage advise from reading all this. This week we are having our roof power washed, decks painted, windows washed, gutters cleaned, inside painting I have done all the touch up and then on to the MLS. We have an agent and are presently looking at his market analysis and deciding if "his price is right". It is a lot of emotional and sensible energy. We do not have to sell our house to move, it can stay for sale when we move to TV, but we sure hope it sells. Then we are worried whoever buys it will want it before we are moving in October but if that is the case we will have to live like Bohemians with the two Setters until we can leave end of September. I hope for the latter!!! Wish everyone luck who is on the market. We are selling a 1923 farmhouse on a half acre 20 minutes North of Seattle so it will take a special purchaser to love it like we do! So we are all playing The Price is Right game.

You may want to consider increasing the buyer realtor share of the commission by 1% rather than reduce your price again. I bet we will see you soon here at TV after that! Good luck!

Wishing you the best of luck

Did you get a realtor referral through the villages? Our sales rep's admin person stayed in contact with the realtor. Could not have been more pleased.