Hi,
I am seeking advice, help, anything that will get our house in Jacksonville, FL sold. We have a 3 bedroom 2 bath single story house with 1 car garage fenced in back yard on a man made pond. The house was built in 1999, so not even 10 years old, has vaulted ceilings, all appliances included, with gas heating. Originally listed for $175K but has been lowered to $155K. MLS# 401749 Its a great home. The only reason we are selling it is because we were transferred to Hawaii by the military for 3 years. And we can not afford the house & to live here too. Unfortunately the military doesnt help to sell it or relieve us in any way. The house has been on the market since Oct 2007, the house has been empty since March 2008, hoping the house would have sold before we had to leave. Its financially hurting us, I do not know what to do. I am afraid we are going to lose the house. And at this point the house is listed at the price that we will break even. I have had the same married couple realtor thru Prudential the whole time. Do I need to switch realtors? I dont know what to do. And now we are expecting an addition to the family which is suppose to be a joyous time. But the house is such a major stress on me & the husband. I also read about Deed in lieu of foreclosure, but do not understand fully.I do not want to negatively hurt our credit rating. PLEASE HELP!! Any advice or help is appreciated.

Welcome to the boards, MT. :-) I am relatively new here myself and in a similar situation insofar as needing to sell my house. There are many posters here who are much more knowledgeable than I am and who I'm sure will be able to help you. :-)

What are the comps in your area? Is your house being marketed at all? Persoanlly, I'd drop the price even lower than what you've dropped it and just take the loss, forget about it, and enjoy living in HI (I'm so jealous!) and enjoy your new addition. That's IMHO.

Hi, and welcome...congratulations on the baby news...am so sorry you are having difficulties with the house situation. And...please accept my gratitude to your family for serving this country.

Can you post a link to pics of your house?

And please make sure to also post to the "Is Your House For Sale" thread. I'm trying to keep tabs of all of our sellers... :-)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Charcoalsmom,

Have you sat down and asked to review the marketing plan with your Realtor. Have ads been running, how many open houses have you had...etc. Have you asked your Realtor, if you could withdraw to try another Realtor? What is your Realtor telling you. The price seems very reasonable for what you say you have.

Does the home back up to commercial? Is there any aspect of location that could be preventing the sale?

"mtpickett17," Welcome to the Board! I'm just sorry that is under such trying circumstances for you right now.

Since you haven't posted before, I don't know if you have seen how many, many times it has been emphasized on this Board, that the fair market value of your house has nothing to do with "what you need to get out of it" and everything to do with what people are willing to purchase it for in the current market.

Accordingly, it is essential to sit down with your listing agents and go over the "comps" with them. Comps are the SALES price, not LISTING price, of other homes comparable to your home in the same general location. Note, these must be houses that have SOLD. It may be that a price reduction should be made to get it sold.

As for a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure, that is a voluntary agreement with your lender that they will take back the property for the amount you owe and not seek any defiency against you in the event that the market value at this time is less than what is owed.

It will get you off the hook, but the downside is that it WILL negatively affect your credit score as it is only one step short of a foreclosure itself. Myself, I would consider a price reduction along with an agressive marketing approach, even if it results in a loss, before doing a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure.

You need to consider the loss vs. the increased costs you will bear with higher interest rates you will have to pay for your new home in Hawaii with that Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure on your credit record. After all, that says to all potential lenders that you were unable to make the payments on your last home and they will not care why you were unable to make the payments.

If you can post a link to photographs of your house or the listing itself, perhaps posters could offer more specific advice to increase the marketability of your house. Good luck and post back how it goes....

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Idaho Resident,

quote:

Originally posted by Charcoalsmom:
I'm trying to keep tabs of all of our sellers... :-)

THANK YOU for doing this, CM!

You are so welcome! I misquoted the name of the thread to MT so I just corrected it. The correct name of the thread is: Is Your House For Sale." I think I will post the info on the other two sites so hopefully we can get every seller on one thread in additon to whatever threads they want to be on. :-)

I'd love to send you a PM but I'm unfamiliar with it. Does the PM get posted but only you can reply to it or is the PM unseeable by everyone else?

Oh, this is so confusing!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Charcoalsmom:


I'd love to send you a PM but I'm unfamiliar with it. Does the PM get posted but only you can reply to it or is the PM unseeable by everyone else?

Oh, this is so confusing!!!

I'm slowly but surely getting the hang of this PM system. But yes, the "PM" means just that, "private message." You have a "mailbox" in your profile here where you can send and receive pm's. No one can see the pm except the person(s) you send it to.

Hi,

Thank You ALL for your responses. I did list it under the other thread as mentioned. I havent sat with my realtors about a aggressive marketing plan, they sent me a list of houses in the area what they are going for or sold for recently. And they notified their other agents to keep house in mind for their buyers. My contract is up the end of July. So I didnt if I should renew or go with someone else. Its hard also since we are located in Hawaii & the house is in Florida, there is a 6 hour time difference. So I am not sure how to acquire another realtor. Since they were referred to me by another co-worker.

The house is in a great subdivision thats secluded, located 15 min from the beach, 5 min from mall, A+ school in the area.

Here is a link I found on this site:

http://www.trulia.com/property/1049101650-3367-Volley-D...L-Jacksonville-32277

Keep in mind now, the house is empty

Thanks, I still welcome any responses.

When I searched on realtor.com under your zip code your house did not show up. It did when I had the MLS# but it should show under zip. Most peoople look on realtor.com first.

IMHO the write up on your house is very poor. It lists it as a "starter home or investment property." People are going to translate that to mean it is small and plain.

It should mention the pond, how closse it is to beach, etc. In other words point out the good things about the house or location,

$121/sq ft sounds awfully high for that type of property. What's the current comps, actual closing prices, in your area?

Your home is darling - really think the Realtor presentation of the listing needs some help. For instance, the photo line up goes from exterior pix to kitchen then bedroom window. Photos should follow the course of the tour. Realtor don't take buyers directly to the kitchen.

The home description lacks creativeness - it should be a good read - there's no enticement.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: real estate lady,

quote:

Originally posted by metwo:


IMHO the write up on your house is very poor. It lists it as a "starter home or investment property." People are going to translate that to mean it is small and plain.

It should mention the pond, how closse it is to beach, etc. In other words point out the good things about the house or location,

I so agree with this, that was my reaction when I went to the site...the "starter home/investor" language has negative connotations imo.

And that pond/proximity to the beach is a big PLUS, it should be highlighted!

Hello,
I think the realtor did not do your home justice with their write up. The home is very nice and you've used beautiful colors throughout. What do they mean "Gas cooking, heat, and hot water"???? There was so much more they could have mentioned and failed to.
I feel your pain. My husband is in the Navy and has orders to New Orleans. Our home in Georgia is on the market and we've had little to no interest. We can not make it financially with him there and the kids and I here. I wish you the best of luck and I am so sorry for the stress this is causing you. Have you considered renting? It might be an option.
Congratulations on your pregnancy. Enjoy it.

Thank you again for the responses. I felt the pictures were disorganized too. I spoke with them today & we are lowering again to $149K. They said that we should let the mls run out this July & do a new one so it will show up on the HOT sheet as a new listing for everyone. They are blaming the market as being bad & all the competition. They are nice people & say they are trying their hardest to get it sold but its been almost 9 months. Any other suggestions about the write up. I think I am going to email them what I want in it. I do appreciate ALL the help.

MTP: with you so far away, who looks after the home for you?

I'm wondering if the "empty house syndrome" might be affecting your home...if it is closed up all the time, except for showings...? Are the utilities still on there?

Could you afford to turn the house over to a property management company, and try renting it for a year or so, in hopes that the market would improve? I know you would rather be out from under it...I fully understand...just throwing this out as an idea.

Is there any way you could get a whole new set of pictures taken, that would show better?

Hi,
Well the realtors go over & a friend of mine check on it for me.
Well the electric & water is still on, so the a/c & fans are running to circulate. When they have openhouse I know they open it up. I hav a yard & pest control company that still goes over there.
I did check into a management co but they have outrageous fees, I would still have to come out of pocket $5oo with a renter. And if I have a renter in a lease, I couldnt sell it & the property manager wanted a precentage if the house sold while they were managing.
So I was hoping to get the house sold, trying to hold out.

quote:

. I spoke with them today & we are lowering again to $149K.

I just looked at the listing and it's priced at $150K. Someone looking for a home up to $149,900 will miss it in a search. None of the pictures would download - I'm hoping lots of people were looking at the listing and it's just web traffic. Best wishes.

If a Buyer is looking in the 140's, the Buyers' Realtor will probably pull 140 to 150 or 155...to allow for offers.

Have you considered short term lease through your Realtor..buyers who are building moving into the new state need interim housing month to month. A discount on rent is given to allow the home to be shown, and the tenant is given 30-45 days to vacate if sold. Many relo companies pay the interim rental anyway, and they are thrilled it is cheaper than a hotel The listing shows month to month tenant EZ to work with and the listing stays intact.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: real estate lady,

We are in Woodstock, Ga . NE of Atlanta. We have a 5 bedroom house with garage large enough for 4 cars, but 3 garage doors. We have lowered he price 13K. We need to sell. Reak Estate agents call everyday. They come see the house then get mad when I won't list. They call back weekly asking "What can I do to help sell your house". What a dumb question. BRING ME A BUYER! dah!
Listed with Buy Owner listing ID ATL29383
http://www.buyowner.com/ATL29383

very frustrated with this market. I do not want to be on the forclosure list

Mom of 4.....


Well, you are only hurting yourself by not listing, and the Realtor can pull a full comp
search - to arrive at a price - maybe higher than what you reduced to.

Remember, we are having a gas crisis and buyers are not driving around like they used to and and going to search sites like Realtor.com.

By owner companies like for sale by owner or buy owner charge a upfront fee, regardless of whether you sell your home or not. With that fee...there is suppose to a marketing campaign. If you are "so called listed" with one of these companies.. I would call them and see what they are doing for you. Some take the money and run and you get very little for your hard earned cash.

A Realtor doesn't get paid until your home is sold. Realtors have been burned by sellers--bringing a buyer.. only to find the buyer and seller got together and left out the Realtor.
This is why Realtors are cautious when dealing with FISBOS.

If you want your home sold, I would suggest searching out the top Realtors in your town..interviewing a few and get your home on the market-- where it will get worldwide attention.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: real estate lady,

quote:

Originally posted by momof42girls:
We are in Woodstock, Ga . NE of Atlanta. We have a 5 bedroom house with garage large enough for 4 cars, but 3 garage doors. We have lowered he price 13K. We need to sell. Reak Estate agents call everyday. They come see the house then get mad when I won't list. They call back weekly asking "What can I do to help sell your house". What a dumb question. BRING ME A BUYER! dah!
Listed with Buy Owner listing ID ATL29383
http://www.buyowner.com/ATL29383

very frustrated with this market. I do not want to be on the forclosure list

Maybe I just missed it, but even if I knew where your subdivision is, I do not see a street address. People new to an area may have to look up addresses to find their way. In this market I believe it is important to make it easy for a buyer to see a house is for sale, then find it.

I'll stay out of the by owner v Realtor debate. There are several threads discussing that already. I'm consistently in favor of listing with Realtor, but that's not what you want to hear.

You might also start another thread soliciting opinions on what can be done to improve the sales-readiness of your home.

Back to the original poster, mtpickett what's the latest on your house?