Selling a house! Pixie dust!!

[TikiGoddess]

Hi folks!

We took the plunge and put our house on the market. The combination of lower house prices, great mortgage rates, and good timing have pushed us to look for a larger house in our area.

Of course, the first day that we went out to look for houses -- we found our dream house. This was before we even had ours on the market! The only hitch is that we cannot put an offer in on it until we have our house under deposit. So for the last two weeks we have worked our tails off to get our house in perfect condition. Our house is not big, only 1400 sq feet, but it's in a quiet town with great schools and a nice, private yard. It would be (and has been) a great first home. It is priced well and is in move-in condition.

Our realtor has been fantastic. She even brought in a professional stager to help rearrange our furniture, etc. We've had three showings since the house went on the market last Weds. -- 5 days ago.

Pixie dust, advice, words of encouragement all readily accepted! We are crossing our fingers that we can get our house under deposit before someone else buys our dream home...

Kathy

[VWL Mom]

Good luck, hope it sells quickly so you can get your dream house.

[Disney4us2]

Good luck

[RedSoxFan]

Best of luck to you selling your house. It can be nerve wracking. When we had our house in VA on the market 4 years ago, our realtor had us pack a lot of Kourtney's toys (she was 8 at the time) along with other unnecessary stuff to make the house less cluttered. The other thing we did was take down the sheers in the windows to let more light in as one person who saw the house thought it was dark. We also removed pictures of the kids as I didn't want them on display for strangers. You never know.

[Magic Smiles]

I sold my Mother's house last summer (in Ontario, Canada) in five days. Both the Real Estate Agent and myself had thought it may take a while as it was a smaller home by todays standards with only 1 bathroom and no garage. I even priced it above what the agent figured it was worth. As I said, it took five days and I got pretty close to my asking price, more than the agent had suggested that I list it for. All it takes is for the right buyer to walk in.
Good luck and I hope that the right buyer walks in real soon.

[jmj18]

Good luck!!!

We had the same situation....small house, beautiful backyard and priced right. We sold in 13 days......so think positive and you'll do GREAT!!!

[disneymom15]

Good luck, hope you sell your house quickly.

[princessgirls]

Good Luck Kathy!

We sold our starter home in 2007. It was a stressful experience, but in the end, it ALL worked out. I looked at many houses, and fell in love with a lot of them. Don't get too attached to a house, until there is a contract on yours. One of the lessons I learned. We ended up with our stuff in storage and living at my Mother's for 4 months to get into the house we did buy, and we are very happy that it all worked out. I am a Faithful woman, and truly believed that when it was a good situation for us, it would all work out, and it did!
Now, we are taking advantage of the really great mortgage rates and refinancing. Our bank is offering 4.75% with no closing costs. I never had a mortgage rate so low.
Good Luck...Pray...and be patient!!
Julie

[TikiGoddess]

Thank you all for the kind words!

We've had four showings so far... haven't gotten any feedback from them, waiting...

Thankfully there's not much more we can do to the house. The deck is newly stained, everything is spotless inside, walls newly painted... so hopefully now my husband and I can relax a little and just keep the house clean.

Kathy

[WDWFanatic]

Best of luck Kathy! Hope it sells quickly for you.

[A Big Kid]

Be flexible. Think creatively.

We put a contract on our new house before we even listed our "old" one. With 6 months left till the closing date on our new house (it was a new build), I had the offer I wanted on my old house.

I gave the buyer a "deal" after she made her offer. I told her I would take off $7,000 off the purchase price if she allowed us to live in it rent free until the the closing date on my new house. She took the deal!

But, her financing fell through. The next day my realltor called and said she would take the same deal if I offered it to her. I jumped at that.

I didnt pay rent for 6 months, nor did I have to move twice. Everyone was happy.

Think outside the box and be prepared to think about all offers and ideas.

[Dsnygirl]

Kathy, sending you loads of pixie dust!!



I hope everything works out just right for you guys!!

[DizNee143]

goodluck!!! we just put out condo up for sale 2 weeks ago and you have had waaaaaaaay better luck than us!!! lol..

[crazeedizneefinatic]

lots of pixie dust heading your way...we sold our starter home in july 2009 on a whim...after it listed we sold it in 9 days, even before our first open house and we had 2 offers! It was very stressful since we did not even start looking so we did not get attatched to one certain house. We moved in with my parents till our dream home was built. Good things will come to those who wait.

Words of advice...I am not sure what was going on with our realtor but she wanted to start it way below what it sold for and keep reducing the price weekly. She definately was not on our side. We didn't have to sell so time was on our side which she didn't like. Do some research yourself and take their advice but price your home with what is comfortable for you. Our house sold $1,000 below asking which was $10,000 more then our realtor wanted to start it at and it still sold in 9 days. Good luck!

[TikiGoddess]

Well, we got an offer on the house today. BUT -- it's a very low offer, almost $19K below asking AND they want us to pay for closing costs. So basically $25K below asking!

We countered with lowering our price $1000 and agreed to pay closing costs. We've had quite a few showings in the week that the house has been on the market. The feedback we've received has been great -- that the house is in excellent condition. We are willing to go a little lower in price (or pay closing costs, as this house will attract first-time homebuyers). But $25K lower? Um, no.

We'll see if they counter-offer. I'll keep you updated.

Kathy

[RedSoxFan]

Gee --- they're really lowballing you on your price. It hasn't been on the market long enough for you to even consider that much of a price decrease.

[DizneyRox]

hehe Gotta loe first time home buyers...

When we sold (which I neer want to do again) we had a couple of offers on the table. One we felt good about (lower) the other we got an idea that they were going to try to squeeze every last nickle out of the deal, although it was an initially higher offer. Their agent was a idiot...

We outright rejected their bid and went with the lower, no last call, etc. Their agent was FURIOUS, the names we were called (my agent was a friend). It made the rejectio so worth it!

Closing went without a hitch, eeryone was happy and we sold our house in a horrible market with tremendous competition.

I wouldn't do it again, but it doesn't hurt to play hardball with these sellers. They believe the doom and gloom stories all oer the news. If you don't have to sell RIGHT NOW, it doesn't hurt to wait and reject stupid offers. That offer right after going on the market is an insult.

[TikiGoddess]

Thank you for the justification! We haven't heard anything from the buyer about our counteroffer, as the buyer had surgery yesterday. We should hear something today, but I'm sure it will still be low.

We have had a few more showings and expect more this weekend as it will be the 2nd weekend on the market.

My Dh and I had a long talk on Weds. We are lowering the top limit of our price range in order to be more comforatble financially. We are putting in a bid on a short sale, an interesting house that is in an amazing neighborhood, on a culdesac. It needs a little work but if we can get it for a good price it will be so worth it.

And if this house doesn't work out, I think we're going to pull our house off the market and stay here. The houses that are out there are (with a price tag we feel comfortable with) just don't feel like much of an upgrade from our current house, which we love.

Kathy

[DizneyRox]

I'm sure you've been warned, but a short sale can be a long process. I know someone doing one now, and between the primary mortgage, second mortgage and (yup) third mortgage, getting an answer is taking FOREVER.

I guess they really were giving out houses like candy back in the day.

[TikiGoddess]

I'm sure you've been warned, but a short sale can be a long process. I know someone doing one now, and between the primary mortgage, second mortgage and (yup) third mortgage, getting an answer is taking FOREVER.

I guess they really were giving out houses like candy back in the day.

Funny you should post this. I got a call from my realtor this afternoon saying it's pretty much impossible for us to make an offer on the house. It would take 30 to 45 days for us to know if they had even accepted our offer, then another 6 weeks for inspections, etc. No person buying OUR house would wait that long.

We haven't heard about the counteroffer. But we did hear feedback from a showing two days ago. They really liked the house (gave it a 5 our of 5 rating!). They are going to see more houses this weekend, but who knows... maybe our house will be the one to beat in their minds!

So we're back to pondering whether we should stay put or make an offer on our dream home, which means stretching our budget just a little out of our (conservative) comfort zone. We'd still be able to save money, just not as much as we would if we stayed in our current house. Plus the new house has a pool (maintenance costs and electricity) and a hot tub (more maintenance and electricity).

Oh dear. I've never had such a tough dilemma. How will we decide??

Kathy