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Buyers shop online. This is a horrible listing. As other's have stated, there are hardly any pictures. Why a close-up of a tree, but no shots of bedrooms? I wouldn't call to look at this house.
How many bathrooms? That is a HUGE factor.
How many car garage? Is it only a detached garage?
I see a pile of wood, but no mention of a fireplace? Is there a fireplace?
Gas or electric?
No pictures of closets, only of one bathroom, is the basement just that little area with the red wall? Oh wait, that is the fireplace? No main floor fireplace?
Are there at least double sinks in the master?
Not a great listing at all. Would not get me to call my realtor and ask to see the house. I'd be irritated by the lack of info, and I wouldn't want to waste a drive out to a house that may or may not be what I'm looking for.
What I keep seeing, is people blame the listing page. What is not being taken into consideration, is most homes are not sold by the listing agent. Every member of the Board Of Realtors, is selling homes every day, not from the listing page, but potential buyers that they work with.
Any home can be sold, no matter what it looks like or where it is located. I was taught in real estate classes through the University Of Colorado in1971, and several expensive classes taught by professionals, that there is only one reason a home will not sell. As your home has not sold in 4 years, it can only be the one thing that keeps homes from selling. No matter what you believe:
The HOME IS OVERPRICED FOR THE LOCATION.
What you have invested in a home, has nothing to do with it's true market value.
What your mortgage is, plus what you need to get to cover the costs of selling, has nothing to do with the value of the property.
Every home has a true market value, and if priced at or below that figure, it will sell, in considerably less time than 4 years, anywhere in the country. This includes fixer uppers, to the nicest home in town.
Your home appears to be in the middle of the pack, the type that middle income people buy. It appears to be in good condition. If it was in many areas of the country, it could sell quickly at twice the asking price, or in some hot areas 4 times the asking price. Unfortunately in your area, those prices are way out of line.
Hire a bank level appraiser, to appraise the home and give you the value that a buyer can get financed. Too many Realtors give you wrong information on the price you will be able to sell for. They go under the assumption, tell the buyer what they want to hear as a value to get the listing, as you can come back later and get them to come down to the real value of the property. The best selling book for agents on listing property is 'Listing Magic'. That is exactly what the book preaches. In the business it is called 'Buying The Listing'. I never practiced this way of doing business, as was in Commercial/Investment/1031 Exchange brokerage for decades. Unfortunately too many agents do.
If the home had been properly priced, for the style, quality, and especially location, it would have sold in less than 4 years. The price is turning off both agents, and buyers. Otherwise you would have had several offers by now, and it would be sold. Apparently your area was hard hit by the recession bubble bursting, and taking a lot of value out of homes in your area. Your home may actually be underwater (term for home has fallen to worth less than the mortgage). The only way to know what is what, is to get a paid appraisal. If you do and find the home is underwater, you have something to take to the bank to attempt to get them willing to go for a short sale and lower the price down to where it will sell and keep your credit rating from going into the tank.
Last edited by oldtrader; 11-29-2013 at 01:42 AM..
[quote=oldtrader;32419356]What I keep seeing, is people blame the listing page. What is not being taken into consideration, is most homes are not sold by the listing agent. Every member of the Board Of Realtors, is selling homes every day, not from the listing page, but potential buyers that they work with.
Yes, generally when a realtor lists a property they have hundreds to thousands of realtors working, in a sense, for them and the seller to make a sale.
I respectfully add that the selling agents are selling homes from the listing info they are given. If they preview homes they can add things and I've known some to even take their own pictures because they know what their buyers would like highlighted.
And there is the one best picture....every few days a new one....on fb and other social media that should go out to agents/customers/clients/friends/neighbors that would draw one to look further.
Unfortunately, you may have to walk away from the home and not break even in this current market. Have you had any reasonable offers yet ?? You might have to talk to the lender about a possible short sale in which the bank might allow you to sell the home for less than what is owed on it.
Ninja'd.
Was going to suggest the same thing. See if the bank would let you do a short sale.
Also, see if the bank will just take the house back, and no more mortgage payments - a voluntary repo, as it were.
See if you could get the renters you have there currently...interested in a rent-to-buy arrangement. Maybe, if they can qualify for enough mortgage, they might even be willing to just assume your mortgage so that you can move on.
We did that once with a house in Florida, back in the 1970's. The buyer just assumed our mortgage, and we walked away. Of course, you are walking away from some equity that way, but, it sounds like you are not getting much from the equity anyway.
I will say that when we saw the pictures of out home on line, I hated the house. The pictures did nothing for me. The information listed did nothing for me either. Our agent was convinced that the house was exactly what we were looking for. I remember telling my wife when we were driving to the home, that it was the one I could not stand. On line it did not show well. On top of that most homes in our area have at least a 6,000 square foot lot. This one was listed as having a 4,800 square foot lot.
When we went to the house we fell in love with it. Our realtor even told us as we walked up, "Welcome to your new home." It was so much more differant in person than what they were showing on line. In addition it sits on a 6,000 square foot lot. It lists as a 4,800 square foot lot because it also has a 1,200 foot lot that is part of the proptery. It is still 60 X 100 just that a 1,200 foot section is considered commercial, as are the two home to our right. They are built within a commercial zoned area, although for a 2 mile long area and for the past 51 years their have only been homes along that area.
I am glad our realtor took us there and happy that we liked it when we got there. In another couple weeks it will be 3 years since we moved in.
I agree with other, pictures are not helping. In fact, my first thought was that this was a mobile home. If I was in the market, I would have left early. You need a better front picture from the street as a minimum.
A lot of buyers are terrified by a home already occupied by a renter. It doesn't matter if she's the most gentle paid-up granny on the block, renter = problems in the minds of many buyers.
The pictures make this house look smaller than it likely is. Such beautiful greenery outside (I grew up in the northwest, I really miss that) and yet the blinds/curtains are closed in the photos! You could make the house look SO much bigger just from redoing these photos.
TO the OP,
How much are you out every month between the rent you collect and the
mortgage you are paying on?
Is this amount becoming a burden for you?
You put alot of money into the home, you don't want to loose it.
Rents aren't going to go down in the future, only up. Do you really
feel as if it's worth taking a loss for? Can you hang in there and use it as an
investment property?
The realtor should have advertised it as a rental at the submarine base, did she?
Is the realtor handling the rental agreement and inspections for you now?
If you do a short sale, they will want you to sign a note that states that you
will pay back the money owed that is short of the balance.
Do you really want to sign that note?
Research online short sales, before you even agree to something like that.
If it were me, and I could afford it, I would keep the house as a rental, OH
and who does your taxes?
Go to a tax professional, a CPA and have your taxes done. SOmethihng you said
in your last post didn't sound right to me.
This looks like a very nice house with a few issues (eg; it looks like the rain, etc. must run into the garage/basement; plus it's a little packed with furniture, etc.), but, no immediately apparent show-stopper (however, pictures can be misleading).
After 4-years, you must conclude that something MAJOR is driving-away potential buyers. Price is likely an big issue (another $50K cut is a big deal on a $250K house), otherwise, you would be getting some serious offers. (Your notion that you must get close to what you paid for the house, is also inconsistent with the state of the market and the experience of other sellers, over the last few years).
My second guess is that you have a 'long-term renter problem.' Your renter is probably getting a sweet deal on the rent (probably hasn't increased in 3-years?) ... and really doesn't want to move. --- There are probably a 100 ways that a 'reluctant renter' can subtly discourage potential buyers ... without blatantly and overtly sabotaging the sales process (pets, odors, clutter, decorating, dirt, unkempt house/yard, etc). Have you asked your renter if she/they are interested in buying, perhaps with some owner financing or assistance in coming-up with a suitable down payment? --- You already know that you have a BIG sales problem! -- Honestly; 4-years! It sounds like you have been too willing to settle for a 'Rental-in-lieu-of-Sale!' -
If your Realtor/s are only telling you what you want to hear, you need to find better Realtor/s ... and also, put your existing Realtor/s on the spot. (You aren't by some chance using the same Realtor as both your rental and Sales Agent are you???). Emphatically tell your Realtor/Broker that after 4-years, you KNOW you have a major problem with either the house or the Realtor... and you DEMAND to know exactly what they think it is ... with NO punches pulled! (Don't settle for "the market is slow and we just need a little more time" unless you really don't want to sell).
Another thought about the rental/sales cost. -- If you were covering your mortgage with the rental amount, rather than 75-percent, you would effectively be giving the renter the FOURTH YEAR FREE! (IF the house was appreciating in value, it might help offset that loss, but, that isn't happening!) Therefore, while a long-term 'Lease-at-a-Loss' may be better than nothing, it's a poor, non-sustainable business model!
As someone who's been looking at real estate (possible retirement home) for a while, I'd be gun-shy if I ran into a house that's been on the market for this long, suspecting (perhaps reasonably, perhaps not) that either the price is too high (and the seller hasn't been willing to lower the price to meet the market's demands) or there's something wrong with the house or area. I'd be especially wary if it were a short sale, since it's sold "as is." Sounds like you've had bad luck with realtors, but it's not clear from my quick reading of the posts how flexible you've been on price and possible repairs. I could suggest a realtor if you want to pm me, but I have a feeling you've had access to plenty of realtors, good and bad.
Your area is a little off the beaten track compared with some we've looked at in the area, but there are certainly worse areas in terms of location. What have other homes in the area sold for?
Short sale may be your best solution, and it's better than a foreclosure in terms of the effects on your credit rating, but I'd think you'd want to talk with a financial advisor first.
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