How is the house selling season going?

Parent Cafe
1161

<p>Found this thread cause my D & SIL may be selling their house when they go abroad for his Fulbright. Or they may opt to rent, if the market is as bad in their area as I suspect it is…just looked at the MLA listings for their Cleveland neighborhood, and they are GIVING away houses. </p>

<p>I am surprised more young people aren’t buying instead of renting. It’s way cheaper, at least in some areas. Unless they aren’t sure of their jobs and would rather have the freedom to move easily. The market really sucks.</p>

1162

<p>We live in central NJ, but we would love to live in NYC and for H to do a reverse commute to work. We have an older dog, who needs to be outside a lot, and she can where we live now. When she goes, if H has not yet retired, we will sell the house (if possible) and have a city adventure. However, my older (60’s & 70’s) friends who live in Manhattan have lots of problems with every facet of health care. Physicians are highly specialized and specific to insurance plans, logistics are all over the place, and no one is satisfied with how it is working for them. That does give one pause.</p>

1163

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<p>Knew nothing about Cleveland, but are they giving houses away near Case Western? friends S is going to med school there…</p>

1164

<p>^Well, yes. Cleveland Hgts. & University Hgts. Probably cheaper than renting, and on the bus line. :slight_smile: Or an easy 1-3 mile drive.</p>

1165

<p>here is some thing about Manhattan:</p>

<p>[Rich</a> Americans Opting to Rent Instead of Own | NewsGeni.us](<a href=“http://newsgeni.us/?p=103557]Rich”>http://newsgeni.us/?p=103557)</p>

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1166

<p>I think that is a very smart plan, if you can afford the payments. You keep your capital…</p>

1167

<p>Then ther is this bad news:</p>

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<p>[Home</a> Value Declines Pick Up in Fourth Quarter, But Zillow Forecasts Smaller Declines in 2012 - Feb 9, 2012](<a href=“http://zillow.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=159&item=259]Home”>Home Value Declines Pick Up in Fourth Quarter, But Zillow Forecasts Smaller Declines in 2012 - Feb 9, 2012)</p>

1168

<p>^Given the general inaccuracy I have seen of their “Zestimate” guess about house values, I don’t know that I would give a lot of credence to their long-term predictions.</p>

<p>Did they make a prediction last year? How accurate was it?</p>

1169

<p>Today they announced foreclosures rose again, and the belief now that the settlement has occurred many more properties will go through the process, increasing the inventory.</p>

<p>That means more prices dropping. Remember appraisals are made from 3 Actives and 3 sold within the last 6 months. There is a box that they get to say foreclosures, shot sales, etc. There is also the opportunity to state if the market is trending up or down. Both of these issues will impact sellers that are moving because they want to, bot forced to, i.e. Short or foreclosure.</p>

<p>My sister lives in Cleveland and she got her home for a song. Her DH was transferred there from Cincy, and she now has a much larger home, more acreage, and paid @ 200K less than her Cincy home is worth now, which is already a 200K loss from when they purchased it in 2004.</p>

1170

<p>Well, one hurdle down, one to go. Got the title glitch straightened out so they will release the funds the title co. held back (and it was the bulk of the proceeds from the house). Now awaiting a call from the plumber to find out the status of the problem radiator. The new owners were asked by the plumber to vacuum out the radiator which they did not do (they claimed they didnt have a vacuum) and the day the plumber wanted to return was “inconvenient”. I guess this isnt such an emergency to them, but there is a time limit, which they could be trying to butt up against. Jerks.</p>

1171

<p>^^exactly what we are doing right now. am fixing a title issue for my mom, while she is still alive it is much easier to fix some thing they “forgot” for over 20 years. Had it been in an Estate, it would take a while to fix it in the probate court.</p>

<p>vball has not updated her thing, I guess it is closed.</p>

1172

<p>WAHOO!!! Just got a call from the plumber. The radiator is working fine and the new owners thanked him for his work. The ()#$)(*%^$^ buyers/attorney insisted on a $5k holdback for the radiator (which should hopefully now be released/paid out along with the title holdback $$). The radiator repair cost less than $200. :)</p>

<p>So, it is a good day in whoville. Now on to do my dads/the estate 2012 taxes. Will it ever end?</p>

1173

<p>jym, it will end. Really, it will. Congratulations on selling the house. You must feel much lighter.</p>

1174

<p>Congrats, jym, it really seems like the end is in sight. Are you back home from the other coast now?</p>

<p>We haven’t closed escrow yet. We negotiated a 60-day close, so that puts us at the end of March. We’re hoping to have the mortgage finalized soon. I can’t imagine what else the bank could possibly need. Meanwhile we’ve had several meetings with our architect and have gone over city’s zoning regulations with a fine-tooth comb. We can add 454.5 square feet and our current plan is at 454.0. We’ve been looking at windows, cabinets, microwave drawers, tile…it’s rapidly becoming overwhelming :)</p>

1175

<p>Good luck vballmom. Sounds exciting. Yes I am back now. Had a wonderful time.</p>

1176

<p>good luck, vball… hope for the best…</p>

1177

<p>Let’s see if this tangent goes anywhere: does anyone have any think-outside-the-box tips on selling a TIMESHARE apartment?</p>

1178

<p>re: timeshare … $2,000 on the beach just north of Lahaina? I’ll take it!</p>

<p>[Translation: Any useful marketing advice would require some particulars. The question is worthy of its own thread IMHO.]</p>

1179

<p>Yay! My next-door-neighbor’s house just sold after a year and a half on the market. Five months ago, they brought in two men with nice furniture, through one of those staging companies. It cost them $500, total, and the guys have been paying the utilities.</p>

1180

<p>JYM, here’s hoping that you are done with that house!</p>