The neighbors sold their house in 12 days!
To show that the housing market isn’t totally dead, as long as you price the house right, our neighbors sold their house for $900 less than their original asking price in just 12 days! They listed the house for sale almost two weeks ago, and I was concerned that it would kill our own home’s value (see “And We’re Officially Stuck“).
They had a number of couples come through the home, and one came through a second time this past weekend. They put in an offer of $5,000 less than asking, and the owners countered with $900 less and the buyers accepted.
Overall, I think if we stay in our home for another 2 years, we’ll be ok (i.e. we might break even after seller’s costs). But who knows what’s in store with the economy over that time. All heck could break loose (even more than it has now) and we could lose even more on our home.
As for the other house (the cheaper one), we haven’t seen anyone checking it out. Something tells me that’ll be on the market a bit longer.
I’ve come to realize that what your house is worth only matters if you’re planning on selling.
Until you sell, you haven’t really gained or lost anything. Same with stocks, etc. Yeah, the current value may be down, but, until you sell, you haven’t lost a dime.
@Shawn, unfortunately it also matters if you need to refinance and don’t have 20% equity in the house anymore thanks to the falling values.
I know real estate is gradually supposed to increase over time, even though the times are bad now. So of course holding onto it can only benefit you. I am curious though, how much % profit does one hope to gain when they sell their home after all of the sellers fees? Is breaking even considered good? Or should you have a big net gain even after the fees?
Craig
www.budgetpulse.com
@Craig, obviously breaking even is the minimum you would want out of your house if you need or want to sell it. At the peak, I think we were looking at a $30-40k profit after fees, but again, that’s only if you sell for what it’s appraised at.
@clever dude
Thanks, I am no where near the point in my life to even be thinking about buying a house, much less selling. But I was curious to see what type of profits one expects to make.
Wow they sure did bite on such a high counter offer. That means that they either really liked that house or needed a place fast for persoanl reasons (work, etc.)
That’s great news! But then in a way, I rather have all the home prices come back to affordable levels here in Southern California so I can buy!
Glad to hear something positive in this market!
Clever Dude, what did you think of the asking price then? Was it higher than you thought it would be?
@Jon, they listed it for about $50,000 less than I would have hoped for, and $25,000 less than I expected. But they wanted to sell fast as they had a contingency offer on another house. They were moving due to his job change to a place about 35-40 miles away.
I just found out that ANOTHER house in our neighborhood is up for auction due to someone walking away… it’s on sale for $150k LOWER?!!! wtf.
Keep in mind that Clever Dude lives in the D.C. area, which means that many people in that area have spectacular job security (government). This makes the housing market much more stable than other places.
We too are in a bit of a pickle. We could sell for what we paid but would have lost money after closing costs.