What The !@#$ Should We Do? Help Please!!!

[freebirdz 0]

Hey everybody. I haven't checked in for a couple of weeks, but I figure now is a better time than any. I need some advice from you guys. I've read Michael's book cover to cover and have yet to do a deal due to fear and procrastination. I'm wondering if this is where I should start. Please read about our situation below.

 

Here's the situation:

 

Had a buyer for our personal residence that was supposed to close next month. Surprise, surprise he wasn't able to sell his house and has decided to take it off the market. Now we are left with our house with no prospects, and our plans of moving out of California are quickly going down the drain. We were looking forward to cashing out and getting the heck out of Cali.

 

We don't want to go through the whole listing with a Realtor bit. You know, having open houses every weekend, showing the home to a bunch of "Lookie Lous", and then having to pay the Realtor an outrageous fee if a buyer does somehow magically stumble into his/her lap.

 

The market has literally flatlined out here and we are panicking.

 

My question is what is the best thing to do in this situation? I know some of you will say just wait it out, but we have been planning this move for almost 2 years and have made several important life decisions around it. Not to mention the cost of living around here is outrageous!

 

What do you guys think is the best way to sell our house in this type of market? We live in a smaller town about 30 minutes from Sacramento and Stockton. We have thought about trying to sell the house ourselves, and have even considered a lease purchase sale. We don't want to take less than market value because we are not in financial desperation, but we really want to get out of here.

 

The market looks very scary because none of the Realtors are selling anything, and they do it for a living. I don't do it for a living and it makes me wonder if I can do it if they can't.

 

FYI: Our house is a beautiful, 2 year old 2200 sqft 3 bed 2 bath 2 car garage home, with all the upgrades on a .20 acre lot in a new upscale subdivision.

 

Please help. Thanks.

 

Jerod

[MichaelC 160]

The market has literally flatlined out here and we are panicking.

Jerod, first, try not to panic. Doing so will all but guarantee you do something rash and make a wrong decision. Not to mention that buyers can smell it and you'll be swimming amongst sharks. So relax, because your situation isn't as problematic as it may seem today.

What do you guys think is the best way to sell our house in this type of market? We live in a smaller town about 30 minutes from Sacramento and Stockton. We have thought about trying to sell the house ourselves, and have even considered a lease purchase sale. We don't want to take less than market value because we are not in financial desperation, but we really want to get out of here.

You have a number of choices. First, you must know for sure the value of your property in today's market. What it could have sold for last year during the sellers market is not a factor now. So be sure you know what it's worth. Once that is determined, you can sell it quicker by offering seller financing. You are the bank, Jerod. This alleviates the need for a buyer to jump through the hoops typically associated with getting a mortgage. If you refi your property and pull out some cash, you may then have what's needed to make your move. And in the meantime, your house is sold and you have some income each month.

Or, yes, you can set it up as a lease purchase, and do the safe refi as above. You have your needed cash in hand, and the property has a t/b in it who is paying you monthly.

Personally, I prefer the latter because you still hold title and will receive all the tax benefits of ownership. Not to mention if something goes wrong, (and that possibility exists), it is easier to evict the tenant than foreclose on the owner.

The market looks very scary because none of the Realtors are selling anything, and they do it for a living. I don't do it for a living and it makes me wonder if I can do it if they can't.

Hehe. Don't think for a moment that just because someone has a Realtor's license that they know what they are doing and can sell your house quickly. You'd be surprised as how much better a job the average homeowner can do of selling their own home.

[freebirdz 0]

Thanks for your input Michael. Before I do anything else, I am going to contact the buyer and see if we can put our heads together and figure out a way to make this work. The problem is that he can't sell his house in order to buy mine. So I thought that if he was willing to get a little creative in the marketing of his house, then we might be able to get his sold.

 

I just found out that the whole time he had it listed with his realtor, he didn't have heating and air. He has now scheduled the installation of it and I'm betting that this will help.

 

I know he won't go for doing anything creative such as lease optioning it, but is there any good suggestions for making his house stand out among the 50 other houses that are like his for sale? As far as I can tell it is priced right, and maybe even a little under market. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

Jerod

[MichaelC 160]

My suggestion is to not tie your fortunes into those of this potential buyer. Suppose he does sell his house and then decides he doesn't want your's? You need to concentrate on selling your house, not someone else's.

[freebirdz 0]

My suggestion is to not tie your fortunes into those of this potential buyer. Suppose he does sell his house and then decides he doesn't want your's? You need to concentrate on selling your house, not someone else's.

 

 

Yeah, your right Michael. But if we try selling our home we really don't want to do a lease option. We want to be done with it and not have to worry about it. Not to mention we will be 900 miles away should something go wrong. Any thoughts or suggestions about how we can move it without doing a lease option, or is this the only logical choice?

 

Thanks as always for your valuable input.

 

Jerod

[MichaelC 160]

A lease option is a good choice, but certainly not your only choice. As I noted earlier, you can offer seller financing to some extent to get things moving. Write an ad touting "seller financing", "no bank qualifying", etc. That's sure to get the phone ringing.

If you are also opposed to that, then your other choice is to sell conventionally. In the buyers market you are in, you'll need to key on marketing. Place a sign on your property, along with directional signs around the neighborhood. Any apartment complexes nearby? Hit 'em with flyers. There are probably renters who want to be owners. Ask some local businesses if you can leave your flyers in their store.

Place an ad with some pics on Craig's List. And consider bandit signs for selling your house. The more, the better. But as you know already, you'll need to stay a step ahead of code enforcement.

[freebirdz 0]

A lease option is a good choice, but certainly not your only choice. As I noted earlier, you can offer seller financing to some extent to get things moving. Write an ad touting "seller financing", "no bank qualifying", etc. That's sure to get the phone ringing.

If you are also opposed to that, then your other choice is to sell conventionally. In the buyers market you are in, you'll need to key on marketing. Place a sign on your property, along with directional signs around the neighborhood. Any apartment complexes nearby? Hit 'em with flyers. There are probably renters who want to be owners. Ask some local businesses if you can leave your flyers in their store.

Place an ad with some pics on Craig's List. And consider bandit signs for selling your house. The more, the better. But as you know already, you'll need to stay a step ahead of code enforcement.

 

 

Thanks for your advice Michael......Great as usual!!

 

Jerod

[freebirdz 0]

Hi all! I haven't checked in since exactly a month ago. For any of you that have read this thread I have an awesome update and a few questions.

 

Since I last talked to everyone we were able to sell our house to the original buyers by working with them on the price a little! They were able to drop their price and get their house sold because we dropped our price for them. Not to much but enough to do the trick!

 

Ok, now I have a new problem. Since we were able to sell our house, we are now off to Idaho! The market in Idaho is very different than out here in Cali. In fact it's a hot market right now! My problem is that I have been use to the mood of the California market and know what strategies work in this market, but now that I'm moving out there I got to start from scratch again.

 

What strategies are best in a hot market where sellers don't have to turn to creative real estate investors to solve their problems? They can list their house on the mls and sell it traditionally. What do you guys suggest as far as the best strategies for this type of market?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Jerod

[MichaelC 160]

What strategies are best in a hot market where sellers don't have to turn to creative real estate investors to solve their problems? They can list their house on the mls and sell it traditionally. What do you guys suggest as far as the best strategies for this type of market?

Aggressive marketing, for starters. With a sellers market, creative deals will be more difficult to unearth. Not impossible, mind you. There will always be motivated sellers in every community, in every market type. You just need to get the word out that you're in town so these sellers know who you are, what you do, and where to find you.

Also, keep in mind that most of your "competition" are strictly of the "Buy low, sell high" mindset. You, on the other hand, have some tools at your disposal that will enable you to prosper in such a market as you describe. CA's and Pure Options are an excellent fit for a hot market, because they allow you to pay top dollar and still profit.

[puls1234 0]

Jerod,

 

I live in Montana and my market here is very similiar to yours.... red hot and will be for years to come. Everyone is moving here! Anyway... I do a majority of pure options with some CA's intermingled. Both will work well.

 

Peter

[freebirdz 0]

Thanks Michael. I'm looking forward to being in a hot market again!

 

 

Jerod,

 

I live in Montana and my market here is very similiar to yours.... red hot and will be for years to come. Everyone is moving here! Anyway... I do a majority of pure options with some CA's intermingled. Both will work well.

 

Peter

 

 

Peter, what part of Montana are you in?

 

 

Jerod