Brian Sullivan kidnapping before the end of October

[dawn]

Right - if a house is priced "right", it will sell. Of course it makes sense to start a little high, since you never quite know where that threshold is. If it sits, it's overpriced. Also depends on how motivated the seller is as to how quickly they will get the price into the right range.

When I was looking at houses, I was looking for a good deal and made low (not ridiculously low, mind you) offers on the properties I was interested in. It was kind of funny - when one house was new on the market, they scoffed at my offer (I think I was their first). A month later, when another deal I was working on fell through (due to a rotted sill!) my realtor told me they were now interested in negotiating (but still at a level I was uncomfortable with). The house I live in now started out with an asking price of about $10K more than what I paid for it, with the upstairs unfinished. I got it for $10K less *with* the upstairs finished. For me, it was all about value for my dollar, as well as an upper level maximum that I had available to spend.

So, price it right and get the heck out of NY! The snow will be flying soon and I'd hate to see you have to unpack your winter clothes!!!!!!

[FSPinNY]

Thanks for the inspiring advice, I needed it. I hate to lower the price after just a month, but there's a cold wind blowing todayl. I'll call my agent.

"Price Reduction" 

[Russell Kanning]

Also depends on how motivated the seller is

Kidnapping threats are very motivating.

[Lex]

Well you guys all made me smile!  No offers on the house yet in 4 1/2 weeks on the market... oh please, it's a nice old house.  Free me. 

Ask Lex how to price a house to sell. He sold it days after he left.
We will kidnap you and tell your real estate agent to price to sell right away.

You have no choice but to price to sell when faced with the option of paying a huge mortgage, home insurance, etc, etc on a house you're not living in and ontop of that paying for the same things in a new place in NH. Few of us are made of gold 

Surprisingly, we did not tell our agent to price to sell (we would have though if the house didn't sell in a month or two). I think we just got lucky because before we left we did some rennovating and the biggest thing we did was replace all the carpets with laminate. The buyers had lots of allergies and they were specifically looking for a house that did not have any carpet. Our house was the only one in the town that was on sale, without carpet and in their price bracket.

[citizen_142002]

Brian, did your agent give you a market analysis when you priced the house? He should have been able to tell you a competitive market price based on what similar houses were selling for. A well priced house should move in about six months, if you need to sell in a month or two a relatively small reduction might work.

If it isn't critical that you sell right away, then I would recomend that you reduce the price gradually. You can always go down in price again if it's taking too long.

Of course, the market has been softening recently, sadly it's a buyer's market.

[FSPinNY]

Yes, a market and neighborhood analysis was done. I've been doing it at the assessment office on and off for two years too, so I think we've got it pretty good.  The real problem I'm told is that the huge selling 'season' here in this college town (Cornell) is April/May.  I missed it, but all I need is one buyer and houses DO sell all year.  another ad came out today and I've got a showing tomorrow!   

Got to go clean up!

[Lex]

Yes, a market and neighborhood analysis was done. I've been doing it at the assessment office on and off for two years too, so I think we've got it pretty good.  The real problem I'm told is that the huge selling 'season' here in this college town (Cornell) is April/May.  I missed it, but all I need is one buyer and houses DO sell all year.  another ad came out today and I've got a showing tomorrow!   

Got to go clean up!

Are you still living in the house you're selling?

From what our real estate agent told us when she was showing our house to people the first thing they noticed was that it was empty and somehow that made them feel very comfortable. I guess this way they don't have to worry about the house being damaged while the owners move out. Basically what they see now is what they will get at buying time which isn't always the case after the movers have gone to town in a house often leaving scratches and other damage in their wake.

Ian's story with his rental house is a great example and most people who have gone through several houses probably experienced something similar so for them an empty house is a much better buy than a full house.

So, I think your house would gain a significant selling advantage if you were to move out before it is sold. And the other advantage is that you could be in NH sooner 

Just a thought.

[FSPinNY]

Yep, still here, downtown office in the front and live in the rest. It's really not in the cards at this point for me to move before it's sold.  I did go through the house and got rid of half of my stuff (that feels real good!). There are two empty rooms now and the rest is fixed up as nice as I can make it!

I appreciate everyone's input, keep it coming. I'll use this thread to let you know what's up!

Thanks.

[John]

I appreciate everyone's input, keep it coming.

Please come HOME.
We miss you, Brian.

[John]

. . . and get the heck out of NY! The snow will be flying soon and I'd hate to see you have to unpack your winter clothes!!!!!!

Unpacking in NH is somewhere I think we can all agree is the only place worth unpacking anymore.  Unpacking in NH is the best thing I've ever done!
And as you know, your friends love to help people unpack their trucks . . . 
We're here when you're ready.

[Dreepa]

sadly it's a buyer's market.

Only because it has been a seller's market forever.... bad for Brian... good for those buying houses.

Someone in my town said she *only* doubled her money and she was seriously upset because she *lost* $10K in the last 2 weeks.

[cathleeninnh]

You can't lose something that you never had. Buy and sell points are the ones that matter. The ones in the middle are no more than stress points.

Cathleen

[9thmoon]

I think I sold my house in Seattle at exactly the right time (next week).  I made a 60% return in 3 years... if I'm doing my math right.  And apparently this is a great time to buy in NH 

[mlorrey]

Well you guys all made me smile!  No offers on the house yet in 4 1/2 weeks on the market... oh please, it's a nice old house.  Free me. 

I have my Winter clothes all boxed up from when I sorted through everything pre-move.

We're going to have some fun locally - the local libertarians are going to protest the League of Women Voters Gubenatorial Debate at Cornell next week.  The LP candidate John Clifton is specifically excluded from this debate.  Green party too.  The local progressives are hoping to mobilize 500 people to march from the Ithaca Commons to demand free health care for all!  So we'll all be outside the hall at Cornell, protesting.  What fun!
John will be there too.  He's going to try to ask a question at the mic. http://www.electclifton.org/
Can't wait to join you all.

Brian   

Brian, That would be a really dramatic occasion to tell New York what a shitty state it is, and this exclusion of your candidate, disenfranchising you this election makes it clear that you are not wanted other than for your checkbook, so you won't stay where you are not wanted, you are moving to the Free State, and encourage all the other libertarians to leave the state with you...

[FSPinNY]

Indeed Mike!  I do plan to write up a LTE for the local Ithaca Journal and perhaps arrange for a radio interview. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see 6 or 8 of my local libertarian friends join us in NH as well. They have not chosen to join yet, but they will. Me moving will help in the process. I'll be coming back here quite often with a couple hundred clients in the area, so I'll stay in touch with them too!

...someone toured the house today and my agent reports that he's 'interested'.

Brian