We're in the same position as you are. We just passed one month on the market and we lowered our price a bit ($485 to $479,900--thought maybe a drop into the 470s might attract more buyers). We've had about 12 showings with one lowball, contingency offer we turned down. Same thing as you--people gush about how beautiful the house is and have measured for furniture--then we don't hear back. One swears they'll make an offer on the house when theirs sells, but it doesn't do us much good. We just put a downpayment on a new construction in-town condo (last kid in college--we're downsizing) that we're due to close on Feb. 1, so we're pretty nervous and are not taking the house off the market for the winter. If serious buyers are the ones who look in the winter, I want to be available to them. I think some people take it off and then put it back on to get that "new listing" excitement that supposedly goes along with it.

Houses were selling like hotcakes in our area over the summer, September came and the housing market pretty much stagnated. One neighbor lowered her asking price by $40,000 and it's still sitting on the market. It's just a very slow market out there, a real buyer's market. A friend of mine sold her house last week after only 1 day on the market, but in my opinion, she gave the house away. I think things will have to heat up after the first of the year and I'd just wait it out. I remember 16 years ago, we had to relocate in December and there were so few homes on the market in the area we were moving to that we had to compromise a lot on the home we purchased. You want to be available to buyers that are in the same situation.

orchid junkie wrote: Also, does it make sense to pull it off the market now and wait until after the first of the year? I have heard of people doing this, but I just don't understand why. I think if someone has to relocate, they will make an offer whenever.

I agree and very much hope what you wrote is is true!

We listed our house in NoVA last April, right as the market began to slow down. We had a lot of initial interest/showings but no offers. We did lower the price a total of 105K during the original listing period. We had a home under construction in an adjacent county and went ahead and moved into it in August. So we've been doing the two mortgage thing for three months now, NOT fun.

The house isn't on the market at present, our original listing expired and we have a new Realtor with lots of ideas for sprucing it up (read $$$) since it's now vacant. So we're going to do those things (well, have them done, some but not all) and then meet with him to decide on a pricing strategy for the new listing. I don't want to wait till Spring to relist because I feel that there will be an inordinate number of homes being listed then, into an already glutted market.

I hope to appeal to someone moving to NoVA due to the recent political shake up or a military family relocating because of BRAC. Those kinds of situations don't wait until Spring or Summer.

Good Luck with whatever you decide!

laura1202 wrote :or a military family relocating

Really? My husband is a senior military officer and we could not afford your house, Uncle Sam just doesn't pay that well. I know you were expecting an offer from a military family that didn't pan out, and I was amazed then too.

the thing about affordability is that to buy Laura1202 's home is to roll out of another home that had a decent runup in value..Very few people buy a home 800k+ as a 1st home or relocating from a less expensive area...I am sure it is a beuatiful home, and will make some buyer very happy

qdognj wrote: I am sure it is a beuatiful home, and will make some buyer very happy

Thanks qdog. :)
It will be even more beautiful after we do all the things the new Realtor wants us to do! grrrrrrr...lol

dekeoboe wrote: My husband is a senior military officer and we could not afford your house

ugh, I'm sorry my h is retired miliary (AF) so I understand. In this area, most families are double income partly to be able to afford to buy a home.

orchid_junkie-
Many of us are in a similar situation. I don't know what to do myself. I have one horror story after another relating to the sale of this house.

I'm at my wits end. I don't know what to do. NOBODY complained about the price of our house. Yet, it's not selling. Same scenario...they all say beautiful home, immaculate. They spend an hour to two in this house & don't buy. All this is happening since the sale fell through ( I sold it first day on the market in Aug).

This market is very frustrating. Only the small houses are selling.
I'm thinking of taking it off the market for Xmas & putting it back on the after the first of the year.

There should also be contractors moving in because of the BRAC (Fort Belvoir?) and they probably have more money, especially if they are retired military.

I never understood taking the house off the market if the listing hasn't expired yet. I understand if the listing has expired (Laura's case) or the contract to buy has expired (Talley Sue's situation) but lots of people have posted selling their house after 3,4 months on the market.

About 7 years in a Western state we listed our house. Make 2 BIG mistakes--having first realtor a friend, did not know rural area, and gushing listing of house. Second realtor refused to list in closest town, kept listing in BIG city, where no one wanted rural areas. Even after the listing expired, she kept saying she had someone to show the propery who really really wanted the property. We refused and kept the property off the market over the holidays and We removed the lock boxes, in fact when we did sell the lock box was still there. Third realtor, great professional, week later sold to a person who had been looking for 6 months and had been told there were sales pending. This realtor also sold 3 other parcels in same area. 45 day escrow, no problems. Boy was she busy.

Orchid, take the hit now and lower your price. 15 people have been to see your house; this indicates that the market is alive, but that your price is too high. Notice that buried inside Cordovamom's lament about her failure to sell is the remark that her neighbor sold after a day, but that she, "gave it away." That phrase is the sign of a seller who has failed to accept her market.

This may be a buyer's market, but houses are still selling by the thousands. If you want your house to be one of them, price it so that it is just below recent comps. If you can convince a buyer that he can't get a comparable house at that price, you can stand your ground while negotiating closing costs and any other sweeteners.

Actually Kaleberg -- you misquoted me, my house isn't on the market, it's a neighbor that has not been able to sell her home.

I'm sorry, Cordovamom; I should have read your post more carefully.

The OP wonders why some pull off the market. Here's why I once let the MLS listing expire. I needed to sell a country home in the upper midwest at this time of year (really slow time), so I took a low-key marketing approach during the holidays. I put a FSBO sign in the yard and did a little advertising, in case the right buyer was actively looking. I didn't really expect to sell, but I felt I had more control over the process. Taking any phone calls directly allowed me to control the scheduling of showings, so we could still do holiday activities and minor home improvements (like painting, etc) without fear of a surprise showing by an agent. And, if the right buyer did come, I had more room to negotiate on price. We listed with an agent again after the holidays, and the house looked better for the sprucing up. Nevertheless, the house did not sell until the spring thaw.

My situation differed from the OP. The OP is in town and lives in a milder climate, so winters may be more promising for the OP. De on how busy and how decorated a holiday season you expect, you may want to stay on the market.

Thanks everyone for your replies...glad to hear there are others out there in similar situations. I think we will wait and see what happens after this weekend before we lower it. We had a couple through the house today and hopefully there will be some activity tomorrow. We'd probably lower it to $230K if/when we do. But then part of me thinks, if someone's max price is $230K, they'd look at a $236K in hopes of them coming off the price and would make an offer, so that is why I don't know if lowering it will make a difference. I guess it can't hurt though...I'm tired of living between two houses and making two payments!

Jboling, laura1202, dabunch ~ Good luck selling your houses!!

Mariend ~ Our realtor is a friend too..I hope that doesn't end up being a mistake..though I've been hearing that a lot.

Thanks kaleberg for the advice...still chewing on it!

Orchid_junkie,

If you're going to lower your price, you really should set the new price BELOW $230K - say, $229,900. At $236K, you're capturing the buyers who are looking at homes up to $240 or 250K. But at $229.9K, the market changes to those whose budgets only go up to $230K. Don't ask me why, it's seems that the zeroes set some psychological boundaries that just aren't crossed.

We're on the buying side and to be honest, we kinda laugh when we see price drops of less than $10K. If I'm interested in your house at $230 I'll make an offer at $236. I also think there's less competition for you to sell now, many of us want to buy, just cant' find the right place. It does also depend on your market. In Chicago, low ball offers could be extended and negoiated to a middle ground. We've learned in Portland that we have to offer askign or close to asking or the seller won't work with us. So we have to wait til they drop the price to offer what we would have originally. Very frustrating.

Good luck!

emb7, we have seen the same thing in the area of Tx where we are looking.

emb7 wrote: We've learned in Portland that we have to offer askign or close to asking or the seller won't work with us. So we have to wait til they drop the price to offer what we would have originally. Very frustrating.

Are you in a declining market in Portland? If not, the sellers may not "ever" drop the price. That is not a given in home selling! If you are in a seller's market but are making "lowball" offers, most sellers will not take you seriously, and will decline to counter.

Have an agent run the comps for you and make a reasonable offer based on the recent sold prices of similar homes.

We are also on the buyer side and we hope to find a home after the holidays and we have been to open houses and we seen a few that we are interested in, but as sit here and think about moving and preparing for the holiday ( we host christmas eve dinner every year)I can't imagine how hectic it would be.

I just hope that some of the homes will still be on the market after the new year.

In the NE its exactly like Emb describes Chicago. I never realized how regional everything is. Even in a decent market of 2003, people rarely offer asking unless its undervalued and then there was that whole deliberatly undervalue stradegy that everyone was raving about a year or Two ago

On a 750k house I would think nothing of offering 675 or even less

I wondered about $229,900 vs $230,000...that still baffles me!

emb7 wrote: If I'm interested in your house at $230 I'll make an offer at $236.

See..that is what I was thinking too. But, I don't want to lower it much more in case some crazy buyer comes in and wants to try to get closing costs and everything under the sun. But then again, I guess we'll have to do whatever it takes (within reason of course).

I am just so frustrated because I know if we would've put our house on the market in the summer/early fall, it would have been gone in no time. Houses with less updates sold within a week back then. But our new house just kind of came out of nowhere (an older home, owned by a church who no longer needed it, in a very good area, but needed lots of updates...we got it before it even went on the market and got it for quite a bit under market value).

ma28 wrote: We are also on the buyer side and we hope to find a home after the holidays and we have been to open houses and we seen a few that we are interested in, but as sit here and think about moving and preparing for the holiday ( we host christmas eve dinner every year)I can't imagine how hectic it would be.

I'm hoping to find a buyer that doesn't host christmas eve dinner :o) I know for us, being between two houses, we won't have much of a christmas this year. Luckily, this year we won't have to host anything, or I would be stressing out. All of the christmas stuff is in boxes at the new house. Won't be putting up anything there because it is still a mess from all of the workers. It is actually kind of nice not having to worry about putting everything out, but I do kind of feel like a scrooge!

ma28...as a buyer, what does DOM really mean to you..knowing that you've looked at houses now and want to wait until after the first of the year?? I kind of think that people will take the time of year into consideration when they see a higher DOM. But, I do know there are people out there who will not look at a house if it has more than "X" amount of DOM.

I am really beginning to hate this whole process...thanks for letting me vent a bit!!

Since you bought your present house "for quite a bit under market value," that should tell you something about how to price your old house. If you want a quick sale, you should price it a little under what you think the market is for two reasons.

First, the market has no doubt cooled and what you think is the "market " price is too high. If you price it somewhat lower, you may well hit what the true market price presently is and sell sooner, rather than later. Second, you got a good deal buying so you can afford to sell your house for a lower price than you could otherwise.

Also bear in mind that houses sold during the slow winter season go for a lower average price. So even if your local market is steady, you still shouldn't ask as much for it during the winter as you would have last summer.

I see what you're saying feedingfrenzy. Actually, I think we would've priced it higher had we put it on the market back in the summer...hard to say though. And like you said we can afford to sell for less since we got a good deal on the other one.

I can't really compare it to our other house though..it is in a different area. It was owned by a church who didn't want to do *anything* to it..they wanted to sell to get the cash for the church..quick. There were builders bidding against us for over what we offered. The church liked the fact that we would be living there and doing the work ourselves and not just flipping it.

In this area there are bidding wars going on for these houses because they don't become available too often. Two of our neighbors are original owners. The neighbor behind us got their house the day it went on the market (2 years ago) for over asking price. There are $2.5 million houses across the street...$800K houses a couple streets behind us (with smaller lots) and ours and the ones right near us are $550-$600K (a few years older). We just happened to be in the right place at the right time...for once in our life. So, now I guess we're paying for it by not selling our house...

So...we will lower it and see what happens I guess. AHHHHH...this is making me crazy!!!

How low can you go? How much is the extra mortgage and hassle costing you? I'd seriously consider dropping as far as possible to get it sold.

It's hard but you can end the craziness!

We sold in Chicago in June. If we had sold last year could have sold for $385K. Ended up taking $362 to get out off it and on with our lives. (I had already moved to Portland and hubby was in Chicago working and trying to sell it).

Someone asked about our currert Portland market. Prices are dropping in many cases. Many sellers priced forward based on the rapid appreciation and when the market slowed in August they got caught priced way too high. Fairly priced homes are also dropping a bit too but we do check comps and make what we think are decent, fair offers. I do think my husband tries too hard for the "deal" sometimes. :)

Good luck!

We listed our home in Aug 05 and didn't sell until late April 06 when the market began to pick up again. We left it on the market and the end result was selling for 25000 less than original price (nearly 40000 below bank appraisal). I feel that if we had waited until early Spring to list then we would have sold quicker and for more money. Even the buyers realtor said her clients were getting a bargain for that price but we had found another home and were in danger of losing the contract if we did not sell quickly.

On the other hand, we would have offered on a home that we liked very much when we were house shopping in November 05 but the sellers took it off the market in December and did not relist it until May 06-after we had the contract on the other home. So we missed out on the home we liked best and the buyers missed out on the sell by removing it.

I don't know if there is a right or wrong decision in this...