advise on home sale

achamb7

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2011
Messages
264
Location
Lenoir City, TN
I relocated out of state for my job, and placed my old home for sale. After talking to the realtor, we started off at $15k more than I paid (which I still owe on); the house has not had any lookers or offers in almost 2 months on the market. I dropped the price by $5k, thinking of dropping a little more. However, I do not want to take a loss, if possible, on the sale. The upside is that since I relocated for my job, they are offering a bonus for selling the house in a timely fashion. Of course, the longer I don't sell, the lower the bonus. Financial gurus, how low should I go?
 

achamb7

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2011
Messages
264
Location
Lenoir City, TN
I'd like to at least break even, without the bonus from my employer. And renting is not an option. Don't want that headache.
 

SVTORANGE

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2007
Messages
11,449
Location
Maryland
Renting is a hassle no doubt, I know in this are they advertise we buy any house within 7 days if I see the info again I will send you the phone number.

There must be some places there you can find that will buy the house possibly?

Good luck to you.
 

black4vcobra

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Premium Member
Party Liquor Posse
Joined
Feb 22, 2009
Messages
4,474
Location
Cottage Grove, WI
I'm interested in hearing what others have to say as I'm in a similar situation, though I own a duplex and am renting both sides. It is a major headache renting to people so I don't blame you OP at all for not wanting to become a landlord.

As for me, bought duplex in 2009 for $185k, fair market value is now $175.5k and I owe $156k on it. Between mortgage, PMI and escrow, I pay about $150 a month more than I am collecting in rent, though the plus side is one of the tenants takes care of lawncare, snow removal and minor fixes around the place for a reduced monthly rent. The equity I'm gaining and the tax break I get for the mortgage more than offset the additional out of pocket monthly expense so I'm not too worked up about losing money each month.

Do I sell it or hang onto for a while yet? I'd hate to have a realtor take a 6% bite out of whatever it would sell for and ideally it would be great to have some money in my pocket after selling it to buy a different house in the next couple of years. Selling it myself next year might be an option but I'd have a lot to learn.
 

SVTORANGE

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2007
Messages
11,449
Location
Maryland
Thanks, man. Hadn't even considered places like that.

Your welcome you can find these places in the want ad weekly booklets or believe it or not Craigs List as there are people who post up they are looking for homes as well.

Just another avenue for you to think about. Oh also ask some of the local banks as well.

Hope this helps :>)
 

pdm

Newbie
Established Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2008
Messages
971
Location
bluegrass
PM me your address. Pretty sure I can help you out. Around me, things are selling like sweet tea in August. You should not be sitting on it that long.

The danger of pricing too high is that potential buyers will pass over it and never come back to check if the price has changed. For an effective sell, the house has to be priced right from day one.

By the way, I just took a job in Kentucky and am going through the exact same thing. I have to start work on 7/14. Our house isn't on the market yet due to this happening mid-remodeling. We are working on a "rent with option to buy" deal on a house we like up there
 
Last edited:

RDJ

ZERO shits given
Established Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2002
Messages
19,853
Location
Texas
Renting is a hassle no doubt, I know in this are they advertise we buy any house within 7 days if I see the info again I will send you the phone number.
There must be some places there you can find that will buy the house possibly?
places like this are a rip off. they specialize in buying from desperate people and NOT paying anything close to market. you will be lucky to get payoff I would stay away.

OP: consider hiring a rental agent and renting it if you can rent it for the mortgage payment or more. I hired a guy that limits the number of houses he manages, charges me 10% of the rent and I am worry free. went from "losing" money on it every month to making 500 a month off it as well. Do a web search for rental agents and then look closely at their reviews. reviews from tenants are going to be mixed so read the reasons they like / dislike. Sometimes a bad tenant review of a rental agent is actually a positive review when evaluating whether to hire a guy or not.
 

...Mark...

Member
Established Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2002
Messages
534
Location
Marietta GA
First and formost welcome to GA.

Second, PDM i'm surprised i have not run into you yet. I live over by Shallowford and Sandy Plains. Where do you live?

Third, achamb7 when did you buy your home and where are you coming from? You mentioned you are coming from out of state. If you bought at the height of the market, the market has corrected itself so you very well may owe more than what your place is worth. If that is the case it may make sense to rent it out until it appreciates enough for you to break even or make a few bucks a couple years down the line.

My sister in NY bought at the height of the market in 06/07 and if she were to sell her place for what its truley worth today, she would have to bring $40k to closing just to break even and that's not taking into consideration RE Agent fee's.
 
Last edited:

...Mark...

Member
Established Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2002
Messages
534
Location
Marietta GA
The danger of pricing too high is that potential buyers will pass over it and never come back to check if the price has changed. For an effective sell, the house has to be priced right from day one.

Here's the trick.. Pull the listing with the current agent, or wait for it to expire after the standard 6 months..

Once it expires or your pull the listing wait a week and then relist. When you relist it will be assigned a new FLMS # and as a result it will apprear as if it is a new property listing on real estate agents and potential buyers saved searches etc.

Trust me.. This works.
 

achamb7

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2011
Messages
264
Location
Lenoir City, TN
Bought in 2011 in Attalla, AL; it was owner financed. I owe much less than the property is worth. So while I have paid on it the last 3 years, I do have equity in the home. I'm about to get VERY aggressive on the price. Also, I have not read a good review yet on the "we buy y our home" guys, none of them.
 

...Mark...

Member
Established Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2002
Messages
534
Location
Marietta GA
Bought in 2011 in Attalla, AL; it was owner financed. I owe much less than the property is worth. So while I have paid on it the last 3 years, I do have equity in the home. I'm about to get VERY aggressive on the price. Also, I have not read a good review yet on the "we buy y our home" guys, none of them.
I'm not trying to be a dick here but the reason why the owner financed it is because the banks probably wouldn't for what he was asking for it. I cover the SE for work and know exactly where you live. You are about an hour outside of Birmingham towards the Atl side. It's sort of a no mans land. In my opinion i would dump it and even consider taking a loss based on your work incentive vs rent it out and have a management co deal with it.

Serious.
 

SVTORANGE

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2007
Messages
11,449
Location
Maryland
places like this are a rip off. they specialize in buying from desperate people and NOT paying anything close to market. you will be lucky to get payoff I would stay away.

OP: consider hiring a rental agent and renting it if you can rent it for the mortgage payment or more. I hired a guy that limits the number of houses he manages, charges me 10% of the rent and I am worry free. went from "losing" money on it every month to making 500 a month off it as well. Do a web search for rental agents and then look closely at their reviews. reviews from tenants are going to be mixed so read the reasons they like / dislike. Sometimes a bad tenant review of a rental agent is actually a positive review when evaluating whether to hire a guy or not.

Can't hurt to try the worse that can happen is he says no to the offer:shrug:
 

13COBRA

Resident Ford Dealer
Established Member
Premium Member
Single Barrel Sirs
Joined
Jun 4, 2012
Messages
22,543
Location
Missouri
Waiting for the "burn it down" response...
 

KLLR SNK

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2012
Messages
940
Location
Moline, IL
First rule in real estate finance; whenever the present value of the annuity exceeds the present value of the asset, turn in the keys.
 

weems

Mach Won
Established Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2007
Messages
2,026
Location
Savannah, GA
Nothing really constructive, but if you have any specific questions feel free to PM me, I am a licensed SC Realtor.
 

Users who are viewing this thread



Top