We're in the Metro Detroit area. Went FSBO from August to January( admittedly without agressively marketing home) then with realtor from January to April. We had 3 different couples look with one returning. Currently FSBO while I interview agents. Our real estate market has tanked along with Michigan's economy. I can't see a recovery any time soon.Its challenging to say the least.

We are in eastern Iowa and have had our home on the market about 6 weeks now. We've had tons of showings, on average probably 3-4 a week. We had one couple come back twice, spending over an hour the second time but never got back to us. We've had one open house, which was well attended. We had one low-ball offer early on, which we accepted, but the buyer (a first-timer) backed out after having the inspection and finding out she wasn't getting a perfect house for $80k! We've dropped our price once and are prepared to drop it again soon. We seem to have a lot of interest, but I don't understand why people aren't making offers, esp. since it is definitely a buyer's market in our area.

Just sold our minneapolis subburb house in three weeks. It was a very well maintined starter home, priced right. Had 20 showing in threee weeks and competing offers. Wasn't expecting that much activity.

Things are slow here in Omaha. Even slower in my little town is what I hear.
I just signed with a realtor yesterday and while discussing things in general she made a comment that rang very true for me.
"Midwesterners just don't like to make offers"
I'm a born and bred Midwesterner. I think that there is a certain reserve, especially about money matters that makes this is a very true statement. It some markets people would be more aggressive, make an offer, try to get a deal whatever, Midwesteners are a little more 'oh that's the price, well ok' and if they don't want to meet it they just don't say anything. I think a Midwestern listing realtor needs to make sure that even if you don't have a lot of negotiating room that they try to get the buyer's realtor to get a buyer to just open their mouths:)

Marys1000...I don't agree with your logic. Our first buyer offered us $5500 less than our list price. We accepted her offer, but when the inspection turned up a couple things you'd expect a 60-year-old house to have (i.e. cracks), she ran for the hills. We DO have a lot of negotiating room and our realtor knows it. We're super motivated as we have an accepted offer on a new house.

We're in a small town in Southern Indiana--getting ready to sell. We'll go FSBO first. See what happens. The agents say that things are starting to pick up. There are a ton of houses for sale, but not much that's good. There seems to be a lot of inventory above the 200K mark and a lot below the 80K mark. In between, which is where we'll be, not so much. Good mid-priced homes do seem to be moving since there aren't that many here.

I guess we'll see what happens...LOL

I think my comment re not making offers applied more to FSBO in the mid-west. If they have a realtor to speak for them it helps. And obviously you do have some more outgoing types and transplanted east coasters.

Vivian31 - good luck - I think that quality starter home market (100-200 depending on where you are) is usually one of the strongest markets.

hi simplifying,

What state in the midwest are you in?

i'm in Michigan, and it was a a long painful process to sell our home. Buckle your seat belt!!

In the beginning we also had few showings..and a couple of super interested lookers ( i still think they were checking things out to maybe come back later w/a really low ball offer. We sat on the market for almost 2 yrs, but finally sold. We dropped our price twice. The house was paid for, so we had some give, and in the end we sold it and came out of the deal about even. We were just glad to sell it & move on with our plans for retirement.

Realestate in Michigan ( especially in the area we were in)
is so slow..that's why i say *fasten your seat belt!* it's going to be a long ride!

We were FSBO March-August last year and with a C21 realtor since. We started at $165k, went down to $160k, $155K, $152.5k. and now are at $149.4k. We have had a lot of interest lately. A nurse I gave a flyer to wants to buy, but needs a two-year rent-to-own. We need to close by November 2008 to have lived in the home two of the past 5 years, so her timeframe does not match ours.

We have had a good half dozen showings in the past two weeks, so I am hopeful. Our realtor talked us into offering to change our newly remodeled, fully custom kitchen in order to fit a small table or serving counter there. We will offer to pay for this to be done after closing if we are given a full-price offer. No eat-in kitchen and an awkard dining L in the LR are the two complaints we hear all the time. It sucks. The kitchen worked great for me, and tearing it up kind of makes me sick, but I will do whatever we need to sell at this point.

My job is now in question. I KNOW I will lose at least half of my hours in October, and I could lose the other half sooner. We have got to sell before this happens. As a contractor, there is no unemployment, and building a caseload at an agency takes time and pays less than half of what I am getting now! TIME TO SELL!

Hi Arizonarose- we, like terrig2007 are in eastern Iowa. Whenever I read an article in our local paper about the real estate market, the realtors all proclaim our market is still strong here. We didn't have the roller coaster ride the west coast and Florida had. Our market usually is pretty steady, with slight appreciation (1% to 2%) every year. I think there's a lot of inventory right now, though. It's like a bottleneck. Nobody can make offers, cause everybody has a house to sell first. I wish that domino effect would start happening! At least we are under no pressure to sell, it's just a personal choice for us to make a change. But, I'm still disappointed in how few showings we've had. We are FSBO, and in our area we have an excellent FSBO website, so I don't think that's the problem. I guess we will just have to be patient and wait it out. If not sold by late fall, we will take it off the market and start over next spring again.

I can offer some feedback from a midwest buyer about to close on a house on Friday. I wasn't looking particularly for an investment. Family issues made me want to make a move to a different area and I needed to find a home there. I'm in for the long haul so the present market situation doesn't really concern me.

It might help some sellers to know that your potential buyer may be someone like me. I'm not looking for an investment or something to 'flip' since I know the market sucks right now. I'm looking for a family home with good bones and potential...not to resell, but to settle in and enhance over time. During my search, I appreciated a realistic attitude about comparable values (they may not be precise but they are a starting point), a realistic representation of the condition of the house and a willingness to meet us halfway on any unforseen issues (the seller thought there was a washer/dry hookup and there wasn't, after the home inspection the furnace kicked on and refused to go off, etc.).

I'm not sure that I'm representative of the typical buyer, but that's what I looked for and was motivated by. Quality, potential and good negotiations with the seller were key.

Marys - "Midwesteners are a little more 'oh that's the price, well ok' and if they don't want to meet it they just don't say anything."

I think you're right in this. Midwesterners don't like to ask for favors, don't want to appear pushy. If your house isn't priced the way they hoped, they'll mostly likely move on rather than open a communication. What we need are some transplanted East or West coast agents to hold our hands and say what we're too proud/polite to say!

I think I really ran into this on my little half-a**ed FSBO venture. I myself should have been much more verbose on the phone and should have priced lower. Most phone calls just asked the price and then said thank you - not, "do you have a little room to negotiate"? I'm assuming of course that I wasn't sooooo far above what they could afford.
I should have said this is the price but there is a little wiggle room before I sign with a realtor - just to give them ol' taciturn midwesterners a little opening. Some of these farmers around here hardly talk at all.