Selling our house.....UPDATE

[tzolkin]

I don't think any schools really care about when you start. As a parent *I* wouldn't want to have a child change schools during the year unless I absolutely had to.

The school may not "care" when the student starts (as in, they will allow them to enroll at any time), but they may not really be able to accommodate them academically. We moved to a different state when our oldest was finishing 10th grade. The old school had a "traditional" schedule with 8 class periods per day, but the new school had block scheduling. Because new school only had 4 class periods, they would only have been able to enroll her in 4 classes so she would have had 4 incomplete classes and been behind. We decided to leave her to stay with family to finish out the school year.

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

Five years ago, I sold one that was a blessing and curse. I was on a backpacking trip in the middle of nowhere New Mexico Gila National Forest and started getting text via a Satellite phone. We were just testing the market and never expected an offer at my asking price. I got a full offer at my asking price, but there was one catch. It was a cash offer and they wanted me out and closing done in 28 days. It was a mad scramble to pull that off, as it was a large place with a shop and even some livestock I had to sell.

The last one I sold FSBO and it was a ton of work, but I saved all of the real estate agent fees. I knew it was a desirable property, but I quickly grew tired of showing the property to people that I knew wouldn't make an offer. I showed the property 17 times in two weeks. I ended up with 8 offers and the one I accepted was a full 25% above my asking price. It was at the height of the recent housing boom, and I just got really lucky. We made enough on that property to pay cash and are free and clear of a mortgage in our current home (downsized a bit).

 

[sam_gordon]

The school may not "care" when the student starts (as in, they will allow them to enroll at any time), but they may not really be able to accommodate them academically. We moved to a different state when our oldest was finishing 10th grade. The old school had a "traditional" schedule with 8 class periods per day, but the new school had block scheduling. Because new school only had 4 class periods, they would only have been able to enroll her in 4 classes so she would have had 4 incomplete classes and been behind. We decided to leave her to stay with family to finish out the school year.

And what would have happened if leaving her in her old school wasn't an option? Let's say you had to move from California to North Carolina in February and were an only parent?

 

[MonBam]

We sold our house several months ago via the 72 sold website. I loved it. But it was too small for all of us and my husband was offered a new job, so we decided to move. I still haven't got used to a new place, though it is nice.

 

[DisneyHardin]

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.

We had a similar experience when we sold in February of 2009 - the market was terrible. Our realtor suggested a price that was considerably lower than what we were hoping and was really just a break even after her fees on what we bought it for. We begrudgingly went with her price and sold it within a week for right at our asking price when other houses around us were sitting on the market for months and months. Even though we didn't make much on the sale of that house, we were able to buy a new house at a bargain price and have now lived there for 15 years and have built good equity and appreciation in the value of that house.

 

[dvcgirl67]

We had a similar experience when we sold in February of 2009 - the market was terrible. Our realtor suggested a price that was considerably lower than what we were hoping and was really just a break even after her fees on what we bought it for. We begrudgingly went with her price and sold it within a week for right at our asking price when other houses around us were sitting on the market for months and months. Even though we didn't make much on the sale of that house, we were able to buy a new house at a bargain price and have now lived there for 15 years and have built good equity and appreciation in the value of that house.

Good for you! We got out of that house in Orlando with over 100k in profit as the market was just starting to implode, made an even bigger profit on the house we sold in NJ in 2004.

But the house we bought in NJ in 2007 took well over a decade for us to break even because the market in the northeast fell a bit later than the market in Florida. Still, by the time the crash was over, the house in Orlando dropped another 50% from when we sold! The NJ house dropped about 25% after we purchased it and was a long slow climb back.

I really don’t look at my primary home as an investment any longer….haven’t for some time. More like a big piggy bank that I live in. …with modest returns if you’re lucky

 

[tzolkin]

And what would have happened if leaving her in her old school wasn't an option? Let's say you had to move from California to North Carolina in February and were an only parent?

She would have wound up with four classes on her transcript as incomplete that she would have had to repeat. So, we would have had to figure out how to arrange her junior/senior class schedules to make sure she had enough credits to graduate (perhaps through taking extra in the summers and/or online through the community college) or she would have to complete an additional semester and not graduate on time.

 

[ronandannette]

UGH. This is the 5th house we have sold in our marriage. They have all been stressful. I hate selling/buying. Anyway, our house is on the market and has been for 6 days. That isn't a lot, but typically our neighborhood sells quickly and we honestly thought it would sell right away (typical for our neighborhood is 0-5 days, although. few have been longer.)

We put a lot into getting it ready and 3/4 of our stuff is in storage and we even hired staging furniture this time around. Between the repairs and new carpet in some upstairs areas and all told, the total was $15k to get it all ready. I had budgeted $10k so that should have been my clue to budget 50% more. Sigh. But some of that had to be done anyway, we had just been putting it off.

I just need this to SELL!

Tell me your selling stories. I need some distractions.

Hey Dawn - how's it' going with the house? Ours sold a week ago Friday after about 20 showings over 4 weeks. First offer, best offer! We bought a new one last Sunday at almost exactly the price we wanted. Finding it AND having our offer accepted without competing was an absolute gift from the Lord. Both deals waive conditions next week and we move in a month.

 

[DawnM]

Hey Dawn - how's it' going with the house? Ours sold a week ago Friday after about 20 showings over 4 weeks. First offer, best offer! We bought a new one last Sunday at almost exactly the price we wanted. Finding it AND having our offer accepted without competing was an absolute gift from the Lord. Both deals waive conditions next week and we move in a month.

Congratulations! We have had over 20 showings now and nada. Main complaints are about the fact that our house doesn't have as open of a floor plan as many would like and that the kitchen is too small. We can't change either of those things. We have lowered the price, we have staged. Every single feedback form says "Stunning home" or "gorgeous home" or "beautiful" and then is following with a. great big BUT. "My buyers want a more open floor plan." "My buyers don't think the kitchen will work for them."

When they click the button on pricing, only one person has given it a 3 out of 5. The rest are 5 out of 5 and often comment, "Priced well."

Our house is one of the lowest prices per sq. ft. in our area.

One family said our home was at the top of their list. We have a MIL suite and they were Indian and often had family stay for months so they thought that would be great. And they came, loved the house, but then went to another house and the wife liked the kitchen better.

Our kitchen does open up to the great room, but apparently not well enough. Sigh.

Not much we can do but wait for the right buyer at this point.

But our house hasn't been on the market 4 weeks yet. I think we are at 3.

Our biggest issue is school. It starts in 3 weeks and I really didn't want to start him here and then have to move him in just a few weeks, but if we have to, we have to. He is starting kindergarten. Our other boys are in college!

 

[DawnM]

We're in a similar situation to yours but we're selling an "apple" and trying to buy an "orange". The price-band our condo is listed for (low $500's) has a lot more inventory available to buyers than the price-band we're looking to buy (mid $300's). While we're chasing all over town looking at places only to find them sold before we even view them, ours has now been on for 12 days with lots of showings and verbal interest but no firm offers. Honestly, our feelings were a little bruised because like you, we put a TON of effort into prepping the place and are very proud of it. Fact is though - 12 days, or even a few weeks is nothing - the professionals and all other trusted advice we've gotten, are very confident it will sell at or above what it's listed for.

What has happened though is that since a sale was not instantaneous, we are now firm on NOT buying before we sell (a common practice in this hot market). We just don't have the stomach for it. So we've backed off looking at new places. We just have to trust that when the time comes, the Good Lord will work the details out and compatible possession dates will fall into place.

This is EXACTLY what the professionals here are saying. It's literally the slowest month in the calendar every year. We decided to let ourselves off the hook and have gone away for vacation ourselves. There have been 3 showings booked in the past 24 hours and it's great to be elsewhere and not have to worry about accommodating them. It was so stressful trying to keep everything pristine and get ourselves and the dog off-site at the drop of a hat.

Dang, I don't think you can even get anything here in the 300s that is in any sort of a decent area. Prices have just shot up so high. Our town actually has gone up about 40% in the last couple of years.

 

[DawnM]

Try to relax this isn’t your first rodeo. It’s only been 6 days. Why do you move a lot? If it’s not for a job try finding a house that you will know you will love for a long time. Been in my house for 29 years and plan on being here till I die or forced into a nursing home. Good luck

We have moved for various reasons. Sometimes a job, sometimes, like this current house, it was because we had outgrown our previous home. We upsized and it was quite fortuitous because for a while we had 7 people in the house. We took in my elderly father and we took in a foster child who we eventually adopted.

This particular move was a bit on a whim, but we are downsizing financially, moving to the next town over, but into a home with more land and no HOA. The house is a bit cheaper than our current home, but not smaller in square footage.

 

[DawnM]

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.

I work in a different district than my kids, but we live in the better district. I could enroll my children in my district, but I don't want to. They are in the best school in the surrounding greater area.

 

[DawnM]

My house is pending. It took about 40 days, a price reduction and some landscaping to get an offer. In my current area, the average DOM is about 80. Two years ago when I bought, DOM was about 6. Ask your realtor what the current days on market is for your area.

There are 3 houses near me that have sold in the past 3-4 months that I used for comps. They all had pools, like mine does and are in the same neighborhood. All sold for right around the same price, even though a couple had 200-300 more square feet. Price per square foot isn't necessarily a good barometer.

July is generally a slow month. Everyone is on vacation. Even in the areas people go on vacation, they are not looking to buy as much as they are in the spring. Things will pick up around Labor Day.

The house I sold in 2021 sold before it hit MLS. The house I sold in 2009 took over 6 months. Price had very little to do with how fast they sold. It was all about what the market would bear.

Congrats! Wow, 80 days. UGH. Looks like average days on the market is 12 for my general area. In my immediate area, 5 days.

But these were all pulled in June, when the market seemed to be hotter. Our realtor said things are slowing down a bit, not halting, but slowing.

 

[Christine]

Sounds like you've done everything correctly and just need that "right" buyer now. To some degree, the housing market must have cooled a bit in your area. Where I am outside of DC, people are just buying things they don't even like. They get no choice on the "perfect kitchen" LOL. But just an hour and 15 minutes outside the city area, there's a lot more homes sitting on the market or negotiations being made. One of my family members just bought a house about an hour east of DC and even got her price negotiated down and the house had sat for a bit (and it was beautiful).

 

[LeslieLou]

We’ve sold 3 houses, bought 4, built 1

First was 2006 in Louisiana and that went super fast (less than a week). Housing availability at our mid range was very low.

Next, in March 2008, owned the house less than a year and needed to relocate to enable spouse to find a job. We bought this house getting out of the military and admittedly didn’t know what we were doing from regional economy perspective
We had bought a house before selling, thus owning 2 mortgage payments, and I was expecting my second child. We listed amidst the brewing downturn and it took 60+ days. Talk about stress!!! We actually got very lucky.

Fast forward - we bought land in 2014. We weren’t taking risk again that we lived thru in 08. House sold in <30 days for asking price in 2016. Originally we considered taking a heloc to start our house and the appraiser said our home value hadn’t changed since 08. We balked at that, moved to apartment and sure enough our house sold for a significant increase over that appraisal. Would make the decision to do an intermediate move again even though it was a pain. Moved in 2018 and hoping we stay here a long time.

Bought a second home-condo early in 2021- that home was on the market for a little bit but everyone’s home in the area is a 2nd so you’re looking for a specific buyer (60daysish). Able to buy just under asking and was excellent timing.

We’ve been through the wringer and also had great luck. Timing is everything.

 

[BlovesC]

We sold our second home earlier this year as we moved into our third home. Our first home sold in a day back in 2017; this second home, we accepted an offer contingent upon the sale of the buyer's own home, which was a massive mistake. We had a 90 day close, and then THEIR offer fell through the day before close. So we went back to market, took another offer within 15 days, and that too had a 40 day close, but at least no contingencies! I'd never accept an offer again with any.

One good thing is we've used the same realtor for 4 transactions now and we LOVE her so much, she's made everything seamless for us. Also, it may not be typical but once again we moved to our new home (we've had 3 homes, all new construction) before the sale of our former home was complete. Which definitely reduced a lot of the stress for us!

 

[ronandannette]

Dang, I don't think you can even get anything here in the 300s that is in any sort of a decent area. Prices have just shot up so high. Our town actually has gone up about 40% in the last couple of years.

You couldn't touch a single-family home here for that price either, but we are going condo-to-condo. Sold a townhouse in a fantastic neighbourhood and have now bought an apartment condo in another part of town. The condo market has gone crazy here in the past 6 months specifically because a lot of buyers (especially first-timers) have been entirely priced out of the single-family market.

We didn't have to move; our entire goal was to take advantage of the condo boom to pull equity out of our current place. It only made sense if we could also get into something new without having to sink it all back in. Expecting ours to sell around 500K, we set a maximum purchase budget of $350K. Of course we knew compromises would have to be made on what we would get, and where. I will say though that we feel VERY satisfied with the new place and EXTREMELY satisfied with what we got for our current one, even if it did take a little bit of time. I hope it works out the same for you, in the end. Hang in there.

 

[DawnM]

Sounds like you've done everything correctly and just need that "right" buyer now. To some degree, the housing market must have cooled a bit in your area. Where I am outside of DC, people are just buying things they don't even like. They get no choice on the "perfect kitchen" LOL. But just an hour and 15 minutes outside the city area, there's a lot more homes sitting on the market or negotiations being made. One of my family members just bought a house about an hour east of DC and even got her price negotiated down and the house had sat for a bit (and it was beautiful).

We are 19 miles from the city center and definitely considered the suburbs. We are in one of the nicest areas in the greater city area though, so that is in our favor.

And yes, I believe our home will need a certain buyer. One that doesn't want a huge open floor plan apparently. But like I said, most our neighborhood is similar and most sell. Our neighborhood is considered "highly desirable" except my house apparently! Ours is not much different, we have quite a few upgrades, we take care of our house well. Yes there area. couple of quirky things, but it is funny because none of the buyers have commented on what I consider to be "quirks" they have only commented on the size of the kitchen. I am not even sure it is the size as much as the layout and the huge island in the middle that is not removable without major renovations which we will not do.

A friend of mine said the two level countertop is out, but I haven't seen any potential buyers comment on it. However, after she said that I thought that if the top part of the countertop were removed, I bet it would look bigger.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Congratulations! We have had over 20 showings now and nada. Main complaints are about the fact that our house doesn't have as open of a floor plan as many would like and that the kitchen is too small. We can't change either of those things. We have lowered the price, we have staged. Every single feedback form says "Stunning home" or "gorgeous home" or "beautiful" and then is following with a. great big BUT. "My buyers want a more open floor plan." "My buyers don't think the kitchen will work for them."

When they click the button on pricing, only one person has given it a 3 out of 5. The rest are 5 out of 5 and often comment, "Priced well."

Our house is one of the lowest prices per sq. ft. in our area.

One family said our home was at the top of their list. We have a MIL suite and they were Indian and often had family stay for months so they thought that would be great. And they came, loved the house, but then went to another house and the wife liked the kitchen better.

Our kitchen does open up to the great room, but apparently not well enough. Sigh.

Not much we can do but wait for the right buyer at this point.

But our house hasn't been on the market 4 weeks yet. I think we are at 3.

Our biggest issue is school. It starts in 3 weeks and I really didn't want to start him here and then have to move him in just a few weeks, but if we have to, we have to. He is starting kindergarten. Our other boys are in college!

When we built our home in 2014 one of the things our builder had us pay out of pocket vs rolling into the mortgage was switching the one sided gas fireplace from against the outer wall in the great room to the middle of the room and making it a dual sided, then adding a wall on one side. Anything they considered would make it a lot harder to sell in customizations they had us pay out of pocket for (we chose other things).

That's because all new homes are open floor plan here, I personally wanted a tad bit of separation and while our home isn't the only one around that had that tad bit of separation it had been out of style already. In-laws's old home was like that but had been built in 2004 or 2005. But you just won't see things without that open floor plan at least for the kitchen and great room and dining room. Our dining room had round pillars that we made small walls with still an opening between the two small walls and that still leave the dining room very open but those walls are load bearing for the second story. You would never see that dining room closed in unless it was actually an office or den or flex room (something that could count as a bedroom but is most often used as an office).



Question: in your OP you said "typically our neighborhood sells quickly and we honestly thought it would sell right away (typical for our neighborhood is 0-5 days, although. few have been longer.)" Was this when the market was super super hot or under less hot conditions? Asking because my assumption is those homes are also older homes with more closed in, small kitchen layouts. Was the market the only reason they sold super fast or did they do something different like a prior remodel or an aggressive priced to sell type situation?

 

[DawnM]

You couldn't touch a single-family home here for that price either, but we are going condo-to-condo. Sold a townhouse in a fantastic neighbourhood and have now bought an apartment condo in another part of town. The condo market has gone crazy here in the past 6 months specifically because a lot of buyers (especially first-timers) have been entirely priced out of the single-family market.

We didn't have to move; our entire goal was to take advantage of the condo boom to pull equity out of our current place. It only made sense if we could also get into something new without having to sink it all back in. Expecting ours to sell around 500K, we set a maximum purchase budget of $350K. Of course we knew compromises would have to be made on what we would get, and where. I will say though that we feel VERY satisfied with the new place and EXTREMELY satisfied with what we got for our current one, even if it did take a little bit of time. I hope it works out the same for you, in the end. Hang in there.

That is essentially what we are doing. We do not have to move and if we can't sell in 90 days, we will prob just try again in March or just stay here, depending on the market.

We have a contingent offer on another house and we will lose it if we can't sell in 90 days. It's ok, we have mentally accepted that it may happen.

But we are trying to pay cash for our next house and not have a mortgage at all. That is the main goal in all of this for us.