I have noticed this in my area. We officially put our house up on the market last week (after we had a buyer back out before it actually went on the market, but thats another story). On our street, there are 4 older, smaller homes and about 10 2 story newer homes. Over the past year, 4 of the larger homes have been on the market, one which was about three years old just went under contract after being on the market for 9 months, two others were on the market 4-6 months and the other house recently went on the market right before ours went on the market.

Our house sold in less than 7 days. I also noticed this trend throughout my town, of the houses that are modern, the under 200K houses are selling at lot faster than those over 350K. The high tax rates in NJ could have a lot to do with it too.

There may be some decrease in sales of "starter" homes because people who qualified for no-money-down, 100% financing, no questions asked -- won't qualify now that some mortgage companies have tightened rules. There are also foreclosures coming on the market -- from those same "qualified-but-not-really" buyers -- with more to come as ARMs taken out in 2006 reach the point where their interest rates adjust upwards. If sales numbers don't drop, prices may. Just my guess -- not an "expert".

I'm in the process of buying a rental home about 1.5 hours from my home. This little town where I'm purchasing has boomed. The little houses are going like crazy. And your house sounds like it fits the old saying, buy the worst (or cheapest) house in the best neighborhood. I am buying a sweet little old house that is one street from the old mansions of this town. A great location which sounds similar to you situation. When we bought our first house 14 years ago I thought it was expensive at $100k. Now the little 2 bedrooms in my town are from $225k to $279k. It became so expensive in my area that the areas of low end homes became so much nicer from first time buyers looking for a good deal they could fix up. But I'm an hour outside of Seattle. We are still in a little bubble here.

in today's market, low-end homes sell faster?

Not here... low end houses are languishing, while the new developments are chugging along (houses $200K and up.... ).

It's not so much of a buyer's market here, as an investor's market. Investors purchase, then rent out, furthering the decline of what once was, a nice neighborhood. So, to answer your question from my own perspective, those with the money will still spend it. Those without money, can't afford to buy anything anyway. So, they'll rent.

By what I have seen, anything in up to $300,000 moves quickly. Anything over is taking a long time.

In my area (the NE), the lower end & the highest end sell. The lower end moreso.

When I was selling last Fall, I noticed (in my town), the ones under 450k & over 700k, to a lesser extent sold.
The hurting ones were the 450k-$650k.

My house was listed for 579k , which was way under comps. There were no comps on my street. My entire town is desirable. There was a house for sale almost identical to mine (in worst shape),on another street & it sold for 725k. They didn't even look at my house, because it wasn't in their price range. Their range was 700-800k. That's what a realtor told me.
My point is that last Fall, the realtors were still busy showing low end & high end homes. The in between took a beating.
When looking on Realtor.com, it looks like that trend is still going on.

My theory is that the group of buyers who fall into the midrange are really scared or hurting financially. That seems to be the way it is here, anyway.

Gosh...what a mystery. I guess I'll find out when I put it up for sale.

I am considering doing an owner financed thing to make the sale easier... or even a "rent to own" thing. I'm just not sure how that works. This might make it more attractive to those who don't easily qualify.

On the other hand, I don't want to subject my neighbors to irresponsible people (In my experience, people who are in financial dire straights also tend to make poor life choices in other areas of their life...some of which result in unhappy neighbors!).

This is probably fodder for another thread.

Personally I would put it on the market first before offering financing, why take the risk

dabunch - My house was listed for 579k , which was way under comps. There were no comps on my street. My entire town is desirable. There was a house for sale almost identical to mine (in worst shape),on another street & it sold for 725k. They didn't even look at my house, because it wasn't in their price range. Their range was 700-800k. That's what a realtor told me.
My point is that last Fall, the realtors were still busy showing low end & high end homes. The in between took a beating. When looking on Realtor.com, it looks like that trend is still going on.

Now, that's really strange. Personally, if I were in the 7-800K range, I would still want to look at 500's and above because you never know where a deal might be.

I wonder if this price range is a mindset that they must spend that amount, yet houses just as nice, in the same area are available for a lower price.

Well in today's market in my area it is a seller's market, particularly for the lower priced homes. So I don't think it matters if it is sellers or buyers market, but rather a bigger pool of buyers in the lower ranges.

Low end homes almost always sell faster since there are more buyers for these homes then any other segment. Investors find them as great investment vehicles where you can actually make money on the rental. Low end homes are also usually priced more realistically to the market then higher end homes.

I am always scanning the MLS and newspaper for low end bargains. Some of the best priced gems are found in this market. I would also be more likely to buy a low end home as an investor in a buyers market vs a sellers market. Just to be clear when I am saying "low end" I am referring to a home that is basically a starter home, not a home in an impoverished neighborhood.

The only negative to the low end market is that there are many more scammers (investors, r/e agents, appraisers and lenders) that inflate the prices with scam sales to renters. You have to really know your market before you buy.

So, to answer your question from my own perspective, those with the money will still spend it. Those without money, can't afford to buy anything anyway. So, they'll rent.

Not necessarily so. I am relocating and while it seems sensible to rent for awhile before buying I am reconsidering buying at all. All my real estate buying and selling have been in the Midwest in low appreciation markets. I have lost money pretty much every transaction. With the coming recession and my relocation area being one of the worst - I am serious reevaluating my desire buy at all. I am thinking of taking the cash and just investing it. Its hard though. I don't like the idea of renting.

Once again..it depends upon where one lives...I know someone that sold a home in less than a week of being listed in Darien CT...over 50 years old..less than 2000 sq. ft...average condition...needing some work...for... drum roll please...one million dollars. This in a supposedly soft market.

This seems to be the norm there...not sure what the huge appeal is...but it seems all the homes there fly off the market almost as soon as they are listed...

I will most certainly lose money if I decide to sell my home within the next year.

So where should I look to figure out how to do a "rent to own" kind of deal. Surely, it can be arranged fairly for the renter and yet prevent me from losing if things go wrong.

My home is pretty funky, so they won't be able to damage my "nice fixtures and floors"... but the neighborhood is rather nice..it's the location.

Behavior: If you don't like being a homeowner, then you will HATE HATE HATE being a landlord. You are not only a homeowner, you also have to maintain something that someone else doesn't usually care for as much as you would. And, you have to maintain for someone else and because of this you often have to do so faster than you would for yourself. renters won't weed or put out mulch, and the list goes on.

It is hard work and worry and a lot of responsibility to be a landlord. I was a landlord and am telling you from hard learned experience. It is, in my opinion, three times harder than being a standard homeowner for a home that you live in. And I had good renters.

My advice to you...either sell it outright, or stay there. Don't rent it out (even as option to sell) and don't do owner financing either. just make a clean sale unless you want to carry extra worry (with small amt of control) with you for the next few years.

Please tell...why do you no longer want to be a homeowner?

I'm not entirely sure why I am uncomfortable being a homeowner although I have some guesses.

I don't like the commitment...knowing that if I want to move, I have to find a buyer and go through a song a dance before the deal is done.

And when the home is sold, there is a reasonable chance that you will have been economically better off if you just rented (and avoided the fees involved in purchasing, and the stuff below)...
... the labor/time involved, the basic expenses of maintenance, the unexpected emergency expenses,...shew!....and then the amazing accumulation of STUFF that is required to maintain the house...and then other STUFF that is required to maintain the STUFF!!!!
(this all leaves you further trapped under heaps of stuff that you must either store somewhere or sell off)

Perhaps if I felt like I lived in the perfect place for me, I would be less uncomfortable and all of the above would vanish.

behavior: You are quite right with your details about all that is required for home maintenance. I must agree with you on many parts.

It seems that 95% of my life is spent either working or taking care of the house or something related to one or both (decorating, furnishings, tools, buying work clothing, landscaping, etc.)

A few weeks ago I was driving through a manufactured home community. It sure looked nice and I had thoughts of selling my house, taking early retirement and buying a doublewide manufactured home(i.e. downsizing) and then traveling around the world with all the free time, living off the boatload of money I would make from selling the home(because real estate has appreciated enough over the years that I have a lot of equity, like most folks that have owned homes for many years.).

But I am still working and still owning the home. But that "freedom" sure is a nice thought.

It's not a mystery. Each area is different. It depends on inventory and demand. In Reno currently (I was visiting friends), there's a glut of high-end homes - about 30 months worth of inventory. So those folks who really need to sell that high-end home is going to have to lower prices, and indeed that's what's happening.

On the other hand, the lower-priced inventory is high also but demand is stronger for those, so they are selling faster and the inventory is not as high as the more expensive homes.

Check the stats for your local area.

Low end homes tend to have a larger pool of buyers and most often go faster.
The pool of buyers decreases as the price goes up.
Local variations can change things sometimes, but unless there is a declining population in an area there is always demand for 'starter' type homes.

Definitely lower end homes sell much faster here in Honolulu. But lower end home to me means not so nice house or apartment in a decent neighborhood. If you have a dump in an even dumpier neighborhood, the place probably won't move at even a very low price. I think people are more willing to buy fixer uppers now and deal with the renovation themselves after they buy or down the line when they have more cash.

I've bee reading that also, but 'home' is never specified as a detatched dwelling or a condo/townhome unit.

I'm sure hoping this applies to condo's as well, since mine will be priced in the $400K range, cheap for CA standards. A single family detached home at that price wouldn't even exit or would be classified as a real fixer-upper. ;o)

patty_cakes