[Vinny]

My wife was my real estate agent and I used to be at one time. You are right about agents not showing homes for sale by owner or low commission unless their client finds the home and wants to see it. Our strategy was to offer an extra 1% to buyer's agent if sold within 30 days. We had no illusions about selling it that quickly but what it did was result in a lot of showings and therefore a lot of agents from different agencies seeing the house. It was not sold in 30 days so we withdrew the extra commission but we had showings every week from the same agents and others who worked with them.

With the end of the first time buyer credit quickly approaching we made the decision to lower the price to an amount we calculated would get more interest. If that did not work we were going to pull it off the market and just stay whet we were. Well we sold it and it appraised right on the nose so I think we did a pretty good job. My agent commission was less due to my wife being my agent so that helped plus i will get my $6500 repeat home buyer credit next year which i would not have gotten if i waited With my greatly reduced cost of living here I will be able to save almost 40% of my salary each year. If I stayed in NJ I would save very little if any.

[iaudit]

Originally Posted by Vinny

...... My agent commission was less due to my wife being my agent so that helped plus i will get my $6500 repeat home buyer credit next year which i would not have gotten if i waited With my greatly reduced cost of living here I will be able to save almost 40% of my salary each year. If I stayed in NJ I would save very little if any.

What credit are you talking about???? My understanding is that credit went away also or did you buy another house right away?

[DebiR]

Just sold this month... and will be traveling to TV in a week or so... We did drop our original asking price... (our area is small town USA, and is being hit hard by recession). We dropped about 9% of our beginning asking price... but we are happy with the decision.

[Bruiser1]

Price your house right or be prepared to wait.

Keep in mind the economy will be s-l-o-w in recovery.

House sales in the Villages are unusal. (location,location, location). We sold ours in 3 days.
Other parts of the Friends sold their house in 3 years!

[buggyone]

If your real estate agent thinks the price is too high - it IS too high.

I have no idea of how long you have owned your house but chances are even with reducing the price, you will still make a profit. Use that money and buy a nice house in The Villages - hopefully as a re-sale - negotiate the price with the seller and have a fully paid off house with little or no bond.

[perrjojo]

Originally Posted by Ooper

You just basically have to ask yourself how bad you want to be in TV!... simple as that!

We had our house on the market 3 years ago and took it off after 9 months. We relisted it 5 months ago and sold it for 100,000 less than we could have 3 years ago...we were not willing to come down on the price back then. In Atlanta area prices are still falling. We are glad to have finally moved on. As my husband says, "we will look back in a few years and say this was a great decision...or maybe not.". But today is today and that is all we have. You only need to decide if this is what you want. Also, once you have sold your home, it must appraise for that value so you are at the mercy if the market.

[raynan]

Lower the price and get down here. The prices here are rising so the quicker you get here you will save money on this end to make up for loss on the other end in VA.

[sunglow]

It seems to me if you have had lots of lookers then price isn't the issue. Our house in VA has been on the market eight months and very people coming to see it until we reduced the price. (We still haven't sold it after dropping the price $100,000.) Is your agent giving you feedback from other agents that are showing your house?
We tend to be pessimistic about the future. I don't think the market will be going back up...most likely going down. So I don't think waiting a year would help. But who knows,
I don't have a crystal ball. Good luck on selling it soon!

[billethkid]

and if you have a ton of equity all you are doing is deciding how much you will make on the sale (or not).

If you have the working margin, price it to sell and get to where you want to be.

btk

[l2ridehd]

Every agent and potential buyer will ALWAYS say "the price is to high" I always say that when I look at a house even if I think it is priced fairly. Everyone wants a bargain. So check the comps, look at everything on the market near you, watch what sells and at what price, know and understand "your market" and price your home accordingly.

Redfin.com is a decent tool to track this if they support your area. You can look at what has sold, what is on the market, which homes have open houses, asking vs selling price, etc. Throw out foreclosures as they will skew the numbers. Every home has a price that it will sell at, but you should not give it away either. You may not get what you expect for it, but make sure you do get a fair price.

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by Lou Card

When we put our house on the market in Georgia, at $250K, our agency had an open house for agents only. Their combined response was that we were priced too high. Recommendation was to reduce the price to $199,000. We sold in 2 months for $242,500, no seller closing costs, not repairs or changes wanted. Keep in mind that comps are a reflection of what agents convinced the sellers in your area to market their house at. It has nothing to do with value. If a home does not sell the Agent does not make any money. Now if you are lucky enough to find that one out of fifty agents that is in fact honest, take the advice, but you are more qualified to price your own house if you do proper research. Yes, use comps, but take them lightly. We had two offers at or near $190,000 within weeks, by Rental Investors from Atlanta.

FACTS: According to agents
When you sell, the improvements on your home don't represent value.
When you buy, the same improvements are worth big bucks.

When you buy a house with a pool, it is worth 30K more dollars.
When you sell a house with a pool, it eliminates many buyers.


TRUE FACTS:
Staging is very very important.
Pack away everything that makes the house yours like Pictures/souvenirs.
Less furniture makes the rooms look bigger.
Paint that Red room back to a neutral color.

LOU:
What an "on target" post. Love all your observances.
We experienced all of them.

Re the inground pool, re the improvements, etc.

Each time we practically gave our homes away, even though we made profits as the mortgage was paid up...........but still......later, those who bought our homes, SOLD HIGHER just by waiting out a bad market.

Usually, these agents just go by the town records of what else is selling in the neighborhood or has sold in the past..........not what they are truly seeing in front of them.

The faster they sell it, the better for them.

[gomoho]

What assurance do you have your home will be worth more in a year? November's election could create a HUGE problem - no one knows what will happen next year - so price it right and like someone said "selling your home at market value is not giving your home away."

[clekr]

In 2008 we sold our home in CT ourselves. I paid for an appraisal from the same type company that would do the bank appraisal ($300). It was $40,000 less than I thought it should be. But, they gave me six comparable, recent sales and I looked at every one of them. I could not disagree with the appraisal after that. The appraiser told me to list it at $20,000 more than the appraisal which I did. Nine days later I had an offer for $10,000 more than the appraised value. Of couse, I accepted the offer on the spot. My wife said I should have tried to negoiate for more. I said forget it - we are going to FL.

[ssmith]

I don't know if the OP sold or not but this thread started in 2010!

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by wlou

Opinions needed...House up in VA has been for sale 2 months..Lots of lookers, no offers yet...Realtor thinks its priced too high...Those of you who recently sold up north to move to TV, did you have to take a large reduction in price? Dilemma, do we wait it out hoping the market gets better...or Reduce now and just get out and to our place in TV??? Hard decisions...On the one hand you dont want to "give your house away"...but on the other, keep paying those monthly mortgage payments for another year as you wait??? hmmmm

It's two years later ... what's happening? I hope you reduced your price and are now happily living in The Villages. Or better yet, that you got full price for your home. Please let us know.