Selling our house.....UPDATE

[tvguy]

The district where I teach is very strict about residency. The school I am at is near the county line, so several of our teachers live in the next county over, and there own kids can't go to our school because they are out of district and there are no exceptions.

Wish we had that here. Youth sports often use school borders to establish if a child can play in their league and I hated having to tell parents their child can't play in the Little League that uses the fields next to their child's school because they not only don't live in our borders, and in one case, didn't live in our region or city. Fortunately Little League now allows parents to use their residence or child's school as basis for whether they can play in a league.
Apparently, many parents with open enrollment don't enroll their child in their home school, or a school even in their district, they enroll their child in the school closest to where they work.

 

[china mom]

I dont' understand. The showings started when you called a realtor? Were you trying to sell on your own first? I can't make people come just because I call a realtor. I must be reading this incorrectly.

I am just taking a wild guess here but I am thinking that they had a realtor all along who had signed them to a 90 day contract. The realtor didn't put any effort in other than list on MLS. They called the realtor at day 80 and the realtor said oh ____ if I don't start trying to sell it, I am going to lose the listing.

In a slow market, when houses were sitting, I listed with a realtor and refused to sign up for 90 days. I said we will do 60 and if I see that there is marketing and showings (in other words, effort), I will sign up for another 30 days. Some realtors know they got you so don't do the work until the last 10 days of the listing agreement.

 

[DawnM]

I am just taking a wild guess here but I am thinking that they had a realtor all along who had signed them to a 90 day contract. The realtor didn't put any effort in other than list on MLS. They called the realtor at day 80 and the realtor said oh ____ if I don't start trying to sell it, I am going to lose the listing.

In a slow market, when houses were sitting, I listed with a realtor and refused to sign up for 90 days. I said we will do 60 and if I see that there is marketing and showings (in other words, effort), I will sign up for another 30 days. Some realtors know they got you so don't do the work until the last 10 days of the listing agreement.

Those "contracts" can be meaningless. You can get out of them.

I had someone come to my house yesterday for a showing. Her realtor stood her up completely! I let her in anyway. She was so upset. The realtor had a health issue but didn't bother letting anyone know and just didn't show! She is going to get out of her agreement with that realtor.

I felt so bad for her.

 

[DawnM]

Sold only one house, in 2016. Had a great real estate agent. Up for sale, open house and offer all within 3 days. I live in a desirable area with a very highly rated school district. This year is the least amount of homes I've seen for sale in my neighborhood. There is a 50+ community in town. Very popular. Homes would sale even before being put on MLS. Now seeing them listed and then with price drops.

Similar here. Not a 50+ community, but top rated schools, highly desirable area, etc...homes typically have been selling within a few days.

We are at day 8 now. Another house in our neighborhood was just listed 3 days ago. We will see how that one does. It is cheaper than ours, but significantly smaller and less updated. And the price per sq. ft. it higher.

But if things are cooling, we will have to figure out what to do (move or stay).

 

[DawnM]

Yeah that’s a sad way to teach, but I can see where it might be necessary in transient areas.

Honesty, curriculum here isn't that different. All the English, Math, SS, and Science are on the same topic and pretty much the same day of the curriculum at all times. Changing a student from one teacher to the other isn't a big deal. They will jump right in to where the class is and it will be where the other class is for the most part. Occasionally a teacher will spend an extra day on something, but overall, it is the same.

I am no longer a teacher, but the creativity has been so stripped from teachers it is frustrating.

I used to love rabbit trails and would make lessons based on some of them as they engaged the students more since they are the ones who came up with the rabbit trails.

But now, it is just Day 1-do this, Day 2-do this. No choices in novels to read with your class, etc....

 

[sam_gordon]

I thought one of the goals of Common Core was to keep kids/teachers on the same track, so that someone switching schools (whether in same community or across the country) is at an equal level (learning the same things at or around the same time).

Whatever happened to that?

 

[DawnM]

That is what happens here. Parents camp out to get a slot for their child at the desirable school.

No camping out here. It is all online. Most do a lottery type system.

As an employee in one district and having my kids go to a different one, I can pull my kids to my district, but I don't want to. They are in good schools and if I pull them, I have to provide transportation, etc.....just easier to leave them where they are. And the schools are better where we are.

And I only have one left in school. The other 3 have graduated.

 

[DawnM]

I thought one of the goals of Common Core was to keep kids/teachers on the same track, so that someone switching schools (whether in same community or across the country) is at an equal level (learning the same things at or around the same time).

Whatever happened to that?

It is still in place. At least it is here in NC.

 

[barkley]

Things have changed in CA. I haven't worked in public education since 2005 in CA. We had students barely even come to school and nothing ever happened.

one of the biggest impacts on enforcing school attendance in california came as a result of a change to public assistance regulations. we had to start verifying school attendance for kids in order for their parents to receive cash so the schools were required to start reporting to dshs. well............when local client rights groups started seeing the mass numbers of kids being placed on ineligibility status and their parents prosecuted in accordance with existing california law they (rightfully in my mind) demanded that ALL attendance records be reviewed to ensure equal treatment/application of prosecution. the results were staggering-horrific attendance accross the boards-from the best performing schools to the worst. local district attorneys were LIVID that schools were not reporting attendance violations as they were mandated to (and some districts were investigated for grossly misreporting and defrauding the state of funds).

i worked for the 2nd largest county in california at the time-it was a horrific wake up call on issues front line teaching staff had been complaining about for years (but had been swept under the carpet and/or outright covered up for the purposes of funding fraud by their higher ups).

 

[Living42Day]

I know this is awful for everyone trying to sell, but gives me a little more optimism about buying in the future. The market was so insane that I backed off, maybe we'll be able to get a reasonable price when we're next ready to look at homes.

 

[DawnM]

one of the biggest impacts on enforcing school attendance in california came as a result of a change to public assistance regulations. we had to start verifying school attendance for kids in order for their parents to receive cash so the schools were required to start reporting to dshs. well............when local client rights groups started seeing the mass numbers of kids being placed on ineligibility status and their parents prosecuted in accordance with existing california law they (rightfully in my mind) demanded that ALL attendance records be reviewed to ensure equal treatment/application of prosecution. the results were staggering-horrific attendance accross the boards-from the best performing schools to the worst. local district attorneys were LIVID that schools were not reporting attendance violations as they were mandated to (and some districts were investigated for grossly misreporting and defrauding the state of funds).

i worked for the 2nd largest county in california at the time-it was a horrific wake up call on issues front line teaching staff had been complaining about for years (but had been swept under the carpet and/or outright covered up for the purposes of funding fraud by their higher ups).

Well, most of our kids were undocumented. I am not sure how this affects that, do you know? They didn't qualify for public assistance, at least not when I was there. Maybe that has changed now. The other issue our school had was transiency. At the main HS I worked in, there were 6,000 students and about 2,000 of them left and a new 2,000 came throughout the school year. They would move up from wherever (El Salvador, Central America) and live with family for a few months while they looked for jobs, etc...and enroll their kids, and then would move on when they found jobs and a place to live.

I think many things are different since I left. Our schools were so overcrowded we had to have year round schools just to accommodate everyone. That also made attendance issues difficult as police didn't know if the kids were skipping school or off-track. There are far more schools now and year round is gone.

I worked in LAUSD for 17 years.

 

[china mom]

Those "contracts" can be meaningless. You can get out of them.

Yes, you can get out of them, and I have. But it is a pain and a new realtor will not sign a listing agreement with you until you get out of it because they would do all the work and have to give at least part of the commission to the former agent for doing nothing.

If you are taking your house off the market, you can just let the contract expire but if you are trying to switch realtors, you need to get the agent to let you out of the contract, in writing.

 

[JLTraveling]

@DawnM I thought about you when I read this yesterday (not sure if a subscription is required). https://www.nola.com/news/business/...cle_f679ca1a-2d56-11ee-ab26-efae310d6fa7.html

Obviously my area isn't your area, but the article confirms what I've been seeing around here: a year ago, homes had multiple offers within hours of listing. Now they're sitting on the market for months with zero offers, even after price drops. Selling prices across the region are down by more than 3%, and in the city by more than double that.

Again, I don't know if this is applicable to your area or not, but it's worth paying attention to, because I'm hearing similar things from markets across the country that had been red hot.

 

[Jeannie]

Northern NJ here, and market is still hot! We were the first people to see our now current house on its listing day, a Friday morning in mid March. Put in an offer $40k over asking and had it accepted within hours. They had several more showings that had been scheduled before our offer and kept them, receiving two more offers higher than ours. Luckily, they stayed with our offer and didn't back out.

We then listed our house on a Thursday afternoon, the last weekend in April. We had 50 showings between Friday and Sunday, with no open house. We received 11 offers and accepted one for $76k over asking! Just closed on June 30.

My brother listed his house 3-4 weeks ago. His was 'for sale by owner' and 'as is'. There's nothing wrong with it, he just wasn't going to change or fix anything! He got an offer from the first people who saw it for $50k over asking. They had put in offers on other houses and kept losing out, so they went in super strong.

 

[DawnM]

@DawnM I thought about you when I read this yesterday (not sure if a subscription is required). https://www.nola.com/news/business/...cle_f679ca1a-2d56-11ee-ab26-efae310d6fa7.html

Obviously my area isn't your area, but the article confirms what I've been seeing around here: a year ago, homes had multiple offers within hours of listing. Now they're sitting on the market for months with zero offers, even after price drops. Selling prices across the region are down by more than 3%, and in the city by more than double that.

Again, I don't know if this is applicable to your area or not, but it's worth paying attention to, because I'm hearing similar things from markets across the country that had been red hot.

I can read the headlines but there is a paywall to read the article. I don't think we are in quite the same boat. Inventory is still low. However, I do think the prices are falling a bit, the article I read said 3% drop in home prices from last year at this same time. It doesn't really say much about how long things are sitting.

The other house in our neighborhood, listed for more per sq. ft., sold in 4 days. It was higher priced per sq. ft than ours.. And it needs more work than ours.....there is no rhyme or reason it seems sometimes.

we are willing to lower the price to a certain point.

 

[Disney Ella]

I sold my house in summer 2021. It went up for sale on Friday evening and we had an offer on Monday. I was worried that the market had peaked and we had waited too long to sell, but that wasn't the case. I would have gotten even more for it if I sold it today (in NJ).

 

[dvcgirl67]

Northern NJ here, and market is still hot! We were the first people to see our now current house on its listing day, a Friday morning in mid March. Put in an offer $40k over asking and had it accepted within hours. They had several more showings that had been scheduled before our offer and kept them, receiving two more offers higher than ours. Luckily, they stayed with our offer and didn't back out.

We then listed our house on a Thursday afternoon, the last weekend in April. We had 50 showings between Friday and Sunday, with no open house. We received 11 offers and accepted one for $76k over asking! Just closed on June 30.

My brother listed his house 3-4 weeks ago. His was 'for sale by owner' and 'as is'. There's nothing wrong with it, he just wasn't going to change or fix anything! He got an offer from the first people who saw it for $50k over asking. They had put in offers on other houses and kept losing out, so they went in super strong.

I'm in central NJ close to the shore and it's the same thing here. Very low inventory and houses are selling. It's not the summer of 22' when there were multiple bids on the first day, but houses are moving.

 

[gmi3804]

I can read the headlines but there is a paywall to read the article. I don't think we are in quite the same boat. Inventory is still low. However, I do think the prices are falling a bit, the article I read said 3% drop in home prices from last year at this same time. It doesn't really say much about how long things are sitting.

The other house in our neighborhood, listed for more per sq. ft., sold in 4 days. It was higher priced per sq. ft than ours.. And it needs more work than ours.....there is no rhyme or reason it seems sometimes.

we are willing to lower the price to a certain point.

There’s a rhyme AND a reason: You’re not selling square footage. You’re selling a commodity (much like a share of stock), albeit one with potential emotional attachment, at today’s market value. This commodity is only worth what the market dictates, and square footage is but one of the factors that play into this value. Remember, an appraiser has to see that value as well, if the buyer is going to need a mortgage.

 

[dvcgirl67]

There’s a rhyme AND a reason: You’re not selling square footage. You’re selling a commodity (much like a share of stock), albeit one with potential emotional attachment, at today’s market value. This commodity is only worth what the market dictates, and square footage is but one of the factors that play into this value. Remember, an appraiser has to see that value as well, if the buyer is going to need a mortgage.

Yup, it's a very emotional transaction, more so for the seller. I'll never forget when we sold our house in Orlando, way back in 2007. The housing implosion was starting to pick up steam, but we had a number in mind. We chose a realtor based on a recommendation from a friend. I remember being a little bit shocked when she showed up for our meeting as she appeared at least ten years older than her heavily photoshopped pic. I almost feel like she should have left it untouched because she'd been in the business for years and years and what those fine wrinkles and mild age spots proved....was expertise. We told her our number and she immediately responded...."do you want to *list* your home...or do you want to *sell* your home?". She told us everyone in our neighborhood was listed at least 50K too high and were living in the past....that the market was dropping 2% per month at that time. So...went with her number, 50K lower and got two offers immediately that took the price back up by another 25K. She knew what she was doing.

 

[gmi3804]

Yup, it's a very emotional transaction, more so for the seller. I'll never forget when we sold our house in Orlando, way back in 2007. The housing implosion was starting to pick up steam, but we had a number in mind. We chose a realtor based on a recommendation from a friend. I remember being a little bit shocked when she showed up for our meeting as she appeared at least ten years older than her heavily photoshopped pic. I almost feel like she should have left it untouched because she'd been in the business for years and years and what those fine wrinkles and mild age spots proved....was expertise. We told her our number and she immediately responded...."do you want to *list* your home...or do you want to *sell* your home?". She told us everyone in our neighborhood was listed at least 50K too high and were living in the past....that the market was dropping 2% per month at that time. So...went with her number, 50K lower and got two offers immediately that took the price back up by another 25K. She knew what she was doing.

An overpriced listing guarantees your neighbor's sale.

We don't price homes. We "position them in the marketplace."

Buyers buy from the bottom up. You can skip the line. Where do you want to be on the list?

You're entering a price war and a beauty contest. And you have to win both.

It's not my job to make you whole.

You have to sell the house three times: first to the agent, then to the buyer, then to the appraiser.

I can go on.