Dropping The House Price - Friday - September 16, 2011

I woke up this morning and Nancy was already on the treadmill.  It was certainly cooler and windy today, so Nancy had decided on an indoor walk.  I did my walk outside and she was right it was really breezy!!

Nancy had to work at 11am, so I resigned myself that today would be an easy day.  Just some routine cleaning and housekeeping to be sure all is ready for the next potential buyer.  About 11:45 the phone rang and it was our Realtor.

We have had 13 showings in the three months we've had the house listed with him.  No showings in the last couple of weeks.  After a lengthy conversation with him, I agreed to lower the price of our home again to attract more showings and hopefully, an offer or two. His argument was that with all the showings we have had, we should have had some offers.  We haven't!  That tells him based on his experience that we are at least 5 to 10 percent high on the price.  We are relying on his expertise and experience to get our home sold. So we need to lower the price ;o((

I was reluctant to agree to the price drop without calling Nancy at work.  However, I also know how she feels about selling the house... Just Do It.... Get It Sold...  Get Her Retired!!! 

I kept thinking about our time at Cheraw State Park last week and how we just love the RVing lifestyle.  I also was doing some mental calculations and analyzing how much the house was costing us each month :-(  How long were we willing to stick to our listing price?

Deep down I know the sooner we sell this place, the better we both are going to be.  The market still stinks, but we aren't getting any younger.  It is time to get this show on the road!! I hope our Real Estate Agent is right about his analysis.  Only time will tell.

To lighten my frame of mind, I spent an hour or two on the Internet looking at RVs.  That's always a pick me up! When Nancy got home I told her what I did. As expected, her reply was "What took you so long? Just do what you need to do to sell the house!!"

13 comments:

  1. Fingers crossed and hoping it sells soon! It's only been three weeks in but we really really like this lifestyle!!!

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  2. We sincerely hope this is the last time you have to lower the price. Your buyer is out there -- we just know it!

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  3. Oh Bill,

    Do we ever feel your pain. We're in the same boat and our realtor's only answer is to lower the price again for the third time, we've already dropped $30K and he says we need to go down another $20K. We trusted him when we listed and he set the intial price based on his "vast knowlege" of real estate pricing.

    When we asked what is going on, all he did was make excuses and blaming everything. To date, we've now had 21 showings from other realtors and not a single offer, not even a low ball. Our realtor has not brought a single client through our house.

    I've talked to another realtor, who is much more aggressive in selling strategy, has more resources so we're looking to break our contract and relist.

    The second realtor says we're going into a slow sale season so if we don't get sold by the end of October, we need to remove the house from the market and put it back on the last week of Feb 2012.

    I hope your price drop will be the key to a quick sale, We want to see you out there soon, too.

    And, we can't stress enough how much of an encouragement you've both been to us. But then that's what (RV-Dreams) family is all about. :c)

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  4. GO Nancy! Absolutely - Just do what you need to do to sell that house.

    Whatever you sell it for, It really will all work out.

    What rigs are you looking at????

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  5. Good for you guys! When you think of the months of $$ you will save when you finally do sell the house, the drop in sales price will definitely be made up.

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  6. We're getting close to 4 months on the market and no offer. I don't know how y'all have stayed upbeat for over a year. Good luck!
    Syl

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  7. Just do what you need to do...for you. Only you and Nancy know what you can and cannot do to accomplish this goal. I sure hope that goal is accomplished soon though :)
    We want to see you down the road! :)
    Were your ears ringing this afternoon???

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  8. Thanks to all of you for your kind words and encouragement. There is no easy answer. This market is all about 'shortsales' and 'foreclosures.' Unless you are willing to let someone steal your home, it is difficult at best :-((

    However, having such good friends that share their journeys and keep us inspired makes this all worthwhile!!! We will keep exploring the local area and finding cool things in our own backyard for now. I believe that could keep us busy for a long, long time, but hope that will not be the case.

    Dan and Trica: Congratulations and love the blog!

    Mike and Terri: Can't wait to see more of the West through your blog!

    Paul and Marti: Not sure lowering the price will make a big difference. It has been 10 days since we lowered the price and we have not had a single showing. We too find it interesting that neither of our listing agents have ever shown the house?!?! Hope you find your buyer REAL SOON!!

    Sherry: Our first choice is a Newmar Ventana 3434 followed by the Winnebago Journey 34Y. However, every year we go to the Tampe RV Supershow we find our next best favorite!! However, if we keep lowering the house price it will be whatever we can afford ;o((

    Gin and Syl: We learned from you two how to stay upbeat!! We find beauty in the ordinary:o))

    Gail and Rick: We're doing it, We're doing it, don'tcha know!! Now splain why my ears should be ringing??

    Hugs to all....Nancy and Bill

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  9. Laurie and George: You have been a real inspiration. Seeing what you have been through recently puts our situation in perspective. Watching the way you have dealt with the flooding disaster and just turned it from a negative into a positive has moved us. We have decided to find the positive in our situation also. Glad you will be getting your full-time rig before us ;o)) Well, almost!!

    Hugs to you both...Nancy and Bill

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  10. Hang in there. You will eventually sell the house. We feel your pain. We changed realtors and lowered the price more than three times before it eventually sold after 18 months. We did take it off the market during the winter months and relisted with a different (better) agent. We did not get what we hoped to get out of the house, but in the long run, it did not hurt us that much, and we are sooo happy now.

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  11. It is a brutal market. There are so many choices for buyers. We took a beating on ours in St. Louis but I am now glad we just sold it.
    In Tampa, we worked out a deal with our yard guy and threw in yard and pool service for a year, just to draw attention to the house. That house was set up for a professional couple -no kids. So we had to think of something that would attract that kind of buyer. We also had a decorator help us with staging. She used mostly our stuff but just rearranged it. (We used the same concepts for the house in St. Louis) Just some ideas-
    Hang in there.

    Love your choices for a home on wheels. We love the 34y as well but we are really happy in our
    gas guzzling girl right now so we will keep her rolling for a while.
    We can't wait to see you guys on the road so like Nancy says - get it sold.

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  12. The market is so blech. We have friends who just sold after two price drops, but they are so thrilled to be getting on the road and out from under the house like the Wicked Witch of the East. Best of luck!

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  13. Sounds like you have a realtor that knows what he is doing. It is a brutal market, however you have done everything possible. It will happen soon, I can feel it. :) You mention to others how inspiring they are. You two have inspired us all on how to live life to the fullest! You are right, it's the people you meet in this lifestyle (even though we aren't there yet) that makes it so worthwhile...and you two are exemplary of that!

    Bruce and Laura

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