I thought I was in Iowa before, judging from the comments made by my city friends :)

Yep, there was a short sale for 155K in the subdivision recently. The realtor already did the comps and research, hence her 239K ceiling. Unfortunate, but I also think I got a good deal on my new place, so to make myself feel better....I say.

Short sales and foreclosures are not good indicators of what your home may bring. Some buyers stay far away from them and will pay a greatly dispoportionate premium for a nice well-kept home that they don't have to jump through a million hoops to buy. So I say $255K, then quickly lower it to $249K and let it ride until the weather turns.

But I'm not a realtor....

Yep, when we were looking at homes a few months ago, the foreclosures and forced sales were in terrible shape. We saw one house on 2 acres that was a bunckruptcy sale, and they ripped out just about anything that had value from inside the house. It was a beautiful house too!

I only mention the short sale down the street to give an impression of the general market (or quality of our neighbors). The next subdivision over, with supposively better built homes than our development is selling for 230-250. The agent doesn't think it'll appraise for more than 240K. She's a college friend, and we've bought and sold 3 houses with her. So I don't think she's trying to force a quick sale with a low asking price in order to make this more lucrative for herself.

I look at at this way, the 239.9K will bring more lookers. I won't be so inclined to budge on the price...so if it doesn't sell above $235K...I'll rent it out to friends who really want the place, but can't afford it right now.

Will the rent cover the mortgage? Then do that for 14 months. If it takes you 5 months to sell the home, that's $10K of lost rental income. And next year will likely be a better year to sell. Just a thought.

You really think so? With the inventory, and slow job recovery, the proportions will still be off..or worst, don't you think? A lot of banks holding on to homes and a lot fo folks holding on to their homes too.

Every market is different, as they say. But yes, I think 2012 will be a better year. And up here, you'll show better and reach more people looking in Summer than Winter. Switching school districts, green grass, blue skies, sunshine.... Summer is better. Also, it doesn't look as good to a motivated buyer in June that your home has been on the market since January. The realtors bypass it too.

So yeah, I'd write a 15 month lease and put it on the market May 1, 2012. If you don't you'll be paying to heat the thing, shovel the snow, and keep it nice looking for the next three months before the 'real' buyers come out of the woodwork.

Didn't you think your friends would be in a better position to perhaps buy the home later? Giving them a little more than a year might help their position too. If you've tried to sell it and keep lowering the price and then they finally get their ducks in a row, what do you think they'll want to pay? Right, the lowest price you had listed it for. Whereas, if you agree on a price lease-to-own with an option that expires 5/1/12, maybe they're willing to agree to pay more to allow them the opportunity. And maybe no realtor fees as they are captive buyers.

Just thinking out loud for ya buddy

Not for those of us living in the "Wild Wild West" of Naperville (ie unincorporated). :) Good luck with the sale man. When it closes, I'm riding my Duc right into the livingroom.

All good points, Eric, and the comments are appreciated. Unfortunately, our friends are unside down on their townhome and may not be able to afford the house even if we wait. My wife would like to get rid of the house NOW! And I'm not sure I want to lease it out and then have to spend more money to refresh it after the renters move out. I'm willing to break even or take a small loss. I hate to say it, as it's said in a comforting tone too often, but what we lose at the old house we gained here at the new house. I'd like to think we bought this new place at the bottom of the market for a place like this, and in 5-10 years it'll I'll look back and smile.

The last house we sold, we had a bachelors party at the house after we moved out. :D

I got the same impression from my house-hunting efforts a couple years ago. My wife and I spent about 8 months and must have looked at (meaning physically walked through) 80-100 homes during that time. All foreclosures were disasters. As in, uninhabitable. Short sales were nicely kept, but you're left waiting on a bank to make a decision...which may or may not happen. Total gamble, albeit a risk free one. IMO, shorts and foreclosures aren't exactly comparable what's available on the traditional market.

yea it's tough in this economy. i'm still holding onto my old townhouse in schaumburg. hoping to rent it out for near my mortgage costs. if i tried to sell it quick now, i'd be losing a good 30-40g's

My reply to someone making an offer comparable to the short sale and foreclosures..

"Seller respectfully declines, but good luck on the short sale or fixing up the foreclosed home!"

That's probably $200k-ish here with annual property taxes in the $2k range. There are a few advantages to flyover country.

The other thing too is that unless it becomes normal for the area to have a lot of foreclosure sales it's just that- a "good deal" for now.

People don't understand that usually.

rjp

That is a lot of house for $240,000... :)

im going to miss living in the center of the country. this house sold for 54K last year (almost bought it). 2800sq ft, oversized two car garage, in one of the nice historic neighborhoods:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1294875564.jpg

Nice - what nice historic neighbourhood would that be? I am in the process of selling a house back here in Melbourne AU and that kind of money wouldn't get you the garage.

Golden Hill is an affluent and historic neighborhood on the near northwest side of Indianapolis; it is located about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) from downtown. It is located south of 38th Street, and is immediately south of Woodstock Country Club and north of 36th Street, and it is just west of Martin Luther King, Jr. Street.

Although platted in 1872, the area was not developed until the wealthy industrialist David MacLean Parry purchased the area around 1900 to develop into his private estate, which he called Golden Hill. Upon his death in 1915, Parry's family subdivided the estate into an elegant subdivision for the wealthy with curving streets and beautiful greenspaces. Prominent and wealthy Indianapolis families built grand homes in the area from 1915-1940. Homes in the neighborhood have generally stayed within these families or have been sold to family friends.

Golden Hill remains a very exclusive enclave for the wealthy. However, the area immediately south of Golden Hill contains mainly rather modest working-class households.


that house was livable, but needed substantial updating.

sorry for thread hijack

Thanks :)

Nice looking house. In my neighborhood a house like that in a tract house area with a 1/2 acre lot (mostly unheard of) would be $750K in today's market. However, if you want something NOT in a tract house area, you can get something like mine which is about $700K in today's market. 3,000 sq. ft. one story, with 18 acres that looks something like this.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1294891054.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1294891087.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1294891275.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1294891453.jpg

But you also get this:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1294891510.jpg

and this:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1294891786.jpg

BTW, I'm 2 miles north of the Los Angeles City limits. The snow pics are from last Sunday. Haven't seen snow here in 24 years. It will get down to about 30 degrees in the middle of the winter, but will get to 105 in the middle of the summer, but very low humidity.