We know the market is terrible right now... but my husband thinks we should just list the house by owner for what we wanted to make about 3 years ago when things were good. and just see if we get any bites (besides from realtors). For instance - we live in Destiny West. The value has decreased, but had we listed it 3 years ago, we could have asked for at least 900,000 and have wiggle room.
What are the cons by listing it at this price? If anything, I would think the other houses would look like a deal in comparison.
Replies
76
Beach Fanatic
I agree with SJ here. Everyone who is overpriced right now is hoping that someone will come in, fall in love, and be willing to pay over market value for that property. There are plenty of sellers out there that don't need to sell and have unrealistic prices on their property. They always say it just takes one.
Of course it doesn't help my situation, but they're free to do what they want.
Of course it doesn't help my situation, but they're free to do what they want.
SoWal Expert
scooter, what is the price point where a property goes from being dishonest in its price to honest? The honest price is the price at which buyers and sellers agree upon and make an exchange, so back to my point, all listings which are not selling would be dishonest, or so it sounds. What is the difference between listing a property, leaving wiggle room? I saw a lot which recently sold for $200K, which was listed at $300K. Was the seller dishonest?
Let's get away from real estate for a moment. Isn't price all about marketing and showing how a property is worth a particular amount? Is a bar of Dove soap really worth $4 a bar? Yes, but only because buyers are willing to pay that much for it. They perceive enough value in it to justify the price.
That said, I agree with Joe Mammy regarding a good and honest appraiser not valuing the property enough to make that sale close.
Let's get away from real estate for a moment. Isn't price all about marketing and showing how a property is worth a particular amount? Is a bar of Dove soap really worth $4 a bar? Yes, but only because buyers are willing to pay that much for it. They perceive enough value in it to justify the price.
That said, I agree with Joe Mammy regarding a good and honest appraiser not valuing the property enough to make that sale close.
Beach Fanatic
The over pricing practice really turns off would-be buyers. I looked at the market in the summer and again this fall and decided that I will rent when I move to SoWal. No interest in trying to catch a falling knife. My conclusion is that many sellers, if not most, are not that motivated to sell. I believe there is still a reckoning process that the SoWal market needs to go through.
Beach Fanatic
Here is a quote from my website that I wrote a while back. Thought it fits this situation pretty well.
"The Price" With the large inventory to choose from you must price your home to sell. The price is the most important factor in selling a home in any market and you must price it correctly the first time. The idea of pricing a home high and hoping for a buyer to magically appear does not work. Price reduction after price reduction will only hurt the potential sale of your property in the long run. The first 8 weeks on the market is the most critical time for your property. After much time on the market and several price reductions your property becomes stale. Potential buyers begin to wonder if there is anything wrong with the property and why no one has purchased it. Let me show you what your property will bring in this market. I will show you what has sold, what is currently for sale, and what could not sell and at what price. I will give you a total evaluation on the property and give my professional suggestion for a listing price.
"The Price" With the large inventory to choose from you must price your home to sell. The price is the most important factor in selling a home in any market and you must price it correctly the first time. The idea of pricing a home high and hoping for a buyer to magically appear does not work. Price reduction after price reduction will only hurt the potential sale of your property in the long run. The first 8 weeks on the market is the most critical time for your property. After much time on the market and several price reductions your property becomes stale. Potential buyers begin to wonder if there is anything wrong with the property and why no one has purchased it. Let me show you what your property will bring in this market. I will show you what has sold, what is currently for sale, and what could not sell and at what price. I will give you a total evaluation on the property and give my professional suggestion for a listing price.
SoWal Expert
What are the cons by listing it at this price, hoping that someone that doesn't know any different (maybe from out of state or out of the country)? If anything, I would think the other houses would look like a deal in comparison.
I think it is this statement that makes the whole thing just icky. The same icky feeling I get from multi-level marketing.
SoWal Expert
It's not the price point as much as the motivation. You can argue semantics and varying levels, but Hollibird's and my ideas of honesty/right & wrong will still be very different.
Beach Fanatic
My shirt sums it up. "Its all about Price" I wear this when I deliver offers to the selling agent! 😀
SoWal Expert
scooter, I understand why people would feel that it is "dishonest," but everything that is for sale has a price at which it will and will not sell. Intent means a lot, and trying to pass on an over-priced egg to someone else will eventually come back to bite you in the booty. I see most every industry in the same way, except many of those industries actually convince others to spend more, for inferior products. It is called marketing.
Beach Fanatic
scooter, I understand why people would feel that it is "dishonest," but everything that is for sale has a price at which it will and will not sell. Intent means a lot, and trying to pass on an over-priced egg to someone else will eventually come back to bite you in the booty. I see most every industry in the same way, except many of those industries actually convince others to spend more, for inferior products. It is called marketing.And in my eyes it's dishonest (at best), legal or not. That's why I mute the TV when commercials come on...that and the noise. Maybe it would be a better world if this kind of practice would go away. Wishful thinking?...maybe.
Read my signature line. Call me an idealistic, naive man, but it works for me. The golden rule comes to mind, as well. Maybe more should try it and see what the world could become.
Beach Fanatic
scooter, what is the price point where a property goes from being dishonest in its price to honest? The honest price is the price at which buyers and sellers agree upon and make an exchange, so back to my point, all listings which are not selling would be dishonest, or so it sounds. What is the difference between listing a property, leaving wiggle room? I saw a lot which recently sold for $200K, which was listed at $300K. Was the seller dishonest?
Let's get away from real estate for a moment. Isn't price all about marketing and showing how a property is worth a particular amount? Is a bar of Dove soap really worth $4 a bar? Yes, but only because buyers are willing to pay that much for it. They perceive enough value in it to justify the price.
That said, I agree with Joe Mammy regarding a good and honest appraiser not valuing the property enough to make that sale close.
If homes are being priced so far over the market price in some misguided attempt to make an excessive profit, would that not be price gouging? Or is there some difference between a home and a gallon of gas I am missing?
Beach Fanatic
What I find shocking is not that she would over price her house or that she is looking for a uninformed sucker to purchase it. . . .it's that she typed it in a public forum. I not surprised people think like this, I'm surprised that someone would readily admit it. Especially when the same person has posted another thread looking for clients. Not someone I'd want to get into a business relationship with -- I'd always be thinking that they were trying to take advantage of me.
SoWal Expert
wrobert, maybe you could report it to the State as price gouging, but trying to prove that would be difficult at best if the seller wasn't making a profit. As I stated, over-priced properties take care of themselves -- buyers avoid them. If a buyer doesn't avoid it, and purchases the property, there is perceived value to justify the price paid, which may, or may not be the asking price.
Again, at what price does anything become "over-priced?" I beg the answer of you. My personal answer is that a property is over-priced when there is no buyer at that price point.
Regardless of the names you want to call buyers, eg - "sucker," most everyone who purchases a property for investment, wants to find a buyer who is willing to pay more than the sellers paid. Same with stocks. Calling them a sucker doesn't make a person less honorable, does it?
Again, at what price does anything become "over-priced?" I beg the answer of you. My personal answer is that a property is over-priced when there is no buyer at that price point.
Regardless of the names you want to call buyers, eg - "sucker," most everyone who purchases a property for investment, wants to find a buyer who is willing to pay more than the sellers paid. Same with stocks. Calling them a sucker doesn't make a person less honorable, does it?
Beach Fanatic
wrobert, maybe you could report it to the State as price gouging, but trying to prove that would be difficult at best
I won't be reporting it to the State because I do not believe there is such a thing as price gouging. Like someone said earlier, pricing the property however high the owner wants is their business, asking if it would be wrong in a public forum is what I find so disconcerting. I will go and meditate on it a bit and may change my mind later.
SoWal Expert
The problem will take care of itself. Who is now going to buy from this person w/o thinking they are being taken advantage of?
There are currently more than 600 views on this thread, which means hundreds of people who live in or visit Sowal now associate this person with dishonesty/trying to cheat people - definitely not good for business!
There are currently more than 600 views on this thread, which means hundreds of people who live in or visit Sowal now associate this person with dishonesty/trying to cheat people - definitely not good for business!
Beach LoverAuthor
wow.
You totally didn't get what I was saying. I am not trying to be dishonest. We just don't want to get screwed on the money we put into our house. Maybe someone will see it and love it. and pay the asking price. thats it. no more.
You totally didn't get what I was saying. I am not trying to be dishonest. We just don't want to get screwed on the money we put into our house. Maybe someone will see it and love it. and pay the asking price. thats it. no more.
SoWal Insider
You totally didn't get what I was saying. I am not trying to be dishonest. We just don't want to get screwed on the money we put into our house. Maybe someone will see it and love it. and pay the asking price. thats it. no more.
You could list it, but looking at the prices in there you're going to have to get pretty lucky to sell at that price. If you do get an offer, you'll most likely get a low ball more in line with value. Then all you've done is waste time and effort keeping the place in shape for showings.
There are other options depending on what your situation is. What type of loan you used, do you live there full time, etc.. A possibility would be to rent it out to cover some costs and sell in 5 to 10 years. Depends on how much interest you've paid / are paying. If it's paid off you're in the best shape. Average 20K-35K in rental income over 5 years plus some appreciation might bring you up closer to break even, plus you get to stay there in the off season. Selling right now at the price people are likely to offer though sounds like you're assured a major loss. However, loosing 200K today might be better than being bled dry over the next three years by interest on the loan.
Overall, I'd just suggest running all the numbers on all the options, be very precise and conservative in your estimates, and pick the option that saves you the most income long term. Try to be practical, not emotional. That's your best bet.
added - if you have a loan, don't forget about the option of a short sale, talk to your lender.
Edited
SoWal Insider
(a loan modification might be possible too if you have debt on the house. lots of options out there to consider..)
SoWal Insider
Sellers with the mentality that a rube will come along and give them what they want are seriously deluding themselves.
...and the pendulum swings--right Joe?
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Banned
We just don't want to get screwed on the money we put into our house.
SoWal Insider
Personally, I think Hollibird is saying out loud what a lot of folks who bought during the frenzy--and currently have their properties listed on the market--are thinking. What she is planning on doing is not a crime...but neither is it going to get her house sold.
Don't these people "get it" that the RE frenzy was a fuke, is over, kaput, never coming back in their lifetime?...apparently not. :idontno:
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Don't these people "get it" that the RE frenzy was a fuke, is over, kaput, never coming back in their lifetime?...apparently not. :idontno:
.
SoWal Insider
Personally, I think Hollibird is saying out loud what a lot of folks who bought during the frenzy--and currently have their properties listed on the market--are thinking. What she is planning on doing is not a crime...but neither is it going to get her house sold.
Don't these people "get it" that the RE frenzy was a fuke, is over, kaput, never coming back in their lifetime?...apparently not. :idontno:
.
No, I see this in all sort of "out of whack" active listings. The scary thing is, folks hoping for the best often find themselves in worse situations down the road as prices continue to fall. (..and imho will continue to do so for at least another two years or so.)
SoWal Insider
You totally didn't get what I was saying. I am not trying to be dishonest. We just don't want to get screwed on the money we put into our house. Maybe someone will see it and love it. and pay the asking price. thats it. no more.
Yet ... if you sell it for more than you admit it is worth according to the current market, someone else is "getting screwed on the money they put into" it. The only exception would be the type of property that is so unique and spectacular that paying over market value would not be unusual. If you think there is a concrete reason that someone will see your house and love it more than your neighbors', then go for it.
Perspective helps. It is not about you. It is about the market as a whole, and how to live with what you got.
30ashopper gives some great advice.
Incidentally, I don't think there are many people (anyone?) who would pony up whatever your asking price is in this market. They'd have to have cash, for starters, and be willing to sink it into real estate. :roll:
Christini Zambini
You can put a FSBO sign up and "ask" as much as you want, but that doesn't mean that you will have anyone look at your house let alone make an offer. Buyers right now are few and far between and they have done their research and know what property values are. In the very unlikely even that you did get an offer for the amount you are asking, there is no way that the buyers would get financing after the bank does an appraisal and your property comes in at 50% of what you are asking.
I'm not being negative, just realistic.
I'm not being negative, just realistic.
Beach Fanatic
Yet ... if you sell it for more than you admit it is worth according to the current market, someone else is "getting screwed on the money they put into" it.
stock market traders call this the "bigger fool theory."
[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory[/ame]
Math really is the universal language. It's amazing how the practices in the stock market correlate with repeating patterns found everywhere else. In one word, fractals.
Beach Fanatic
You can put a FSBO sign up and "ask" as much as you want, but that doesn't mean that you will have anyone look at your house let alone make an offer. Buyers right now are few and far between and they have done their research and know what property values are. In the very unlikely even that you did get an offer for the amount you are asking, there is no way that the buyers would get financing after the bank does an appraisal and your property comes in at 50% of what you are asking.
I'm not being negative, just realistic.
I agree with everything you are saying CCK but buyers are not few. They are everywhere! We did not lose buyers. We lost value. They show up when they see a value. Until then it is a giant waste of time to list unless you can take a serious unbiased look at true market value based on recent sale data.
I don't even like to look at actives when pricing a home. New definition for active: Homes currently on the market not selling!
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