We have now had five shows of the house. No offers yet.
The whole process has been interesting. From our vantage point, it is a buyer’s market. There is a huge inventory of houses on the market here.
The big discussion we have been having is whether there are buyers out there who can afford the cost of today’s homes. We bought our place from $180,000 and it looks like it is worth around $300,000 today. A $1000 monthly payment is very different from a $1700 payment. We just wonder if the only way you can afford to get into a new house is by selling one.
The Business 2.0 Blog feed was screwed up today and they listed some really old posts. One was from a NYT article from August 2005. The important part is the graph.
I think this pretty much tells the same story.
UPDATE: Here is the link to the original NYT story.
I posted on your old site as well but wanted to wish you good luck with the sale of your existing home. You are 100% correct! It is definately a buyer’s market right now. Additionally, houses in your price range and in the Mukwonago area are sitting on the market much longer now because there aren’t as many buyers who can afford the monthly payment.
Last, as an “Exclusive” Buyer’s Agent, licensed real estate broker and mortgage loan officer in Elm Grove, I’d like to offer 2 of the biggest points to remember when selling on your own. (I’m not sure if you listed your home or are selling on your own.)
1)Remember to only show your house to pre-approved buyers. You don’t want to waste your time getting the house ready and showing to someone who’s not serious or can’t afford it! Being pre-approved is completely different than being pre-qualified!
2)Hold short open houses and figure on spending around $1000.00 on advertising when all is said and done.
As far as looking for a new home, consider working with an “Exclusive” Buyer’s Agent. This way you can guarantee that YOUR best interests are being protected during the home buying process.
Best of all, the fee is usually paid for by the sellers as they’ve already agreed to pay 2 agents’ commissions -1 of those agents might as well be working FOR you!.
Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have and Good Luck!
Greg Szablewski
http://www.yourhomebuyingagency.com
http://www.whiteoakmortgage.net
gnd@yourhomebuyingagency.com