klarek the realist's Discussions

I'm sorry to hear of your situation. You and thousands of other people out there. It sounds like you don't really have any options, but just out of curiosity, where did that money you took out go? Banks are taking their time approving short sales, and buyers are wisely staying away from them. The bank will want to get at that money to avoid taking too big of a loss.

Race shouldn't be a factor, with any decent buyer. But not to sound too controversial, there is a problem if the place is PACKED with people. I think we all know what I'm talking about, and yes that will not help your place sell.

Simple solution: lower the price. In this market you absolutely have to be competitive. I'm listing at a price well below what I thought I should. In fact, it's below the assessment value. It's not an easy thing to do, but you have to be realistic about the situation.

I'll be quoting everyone that's saying "now's the time to buy" in 6 months or a year when things really bottom out. As was said before, it's all about supply and demand. There are very few buyers out there and every hour a new house is foreclosed upon. Those that lose their house won't be buying again for a long time, so they aren't in the pool of potential buyers. The home however is now empty and selling low enough to hurt the values of everything else around it.

Krismer,I agree, and my perspective is based more on what I'm seeing in my area (northern VA). There's a lot of new homes that are being practically given away, and the pool of buyers seems to be shrinking. With so many of those ARMs about to mature, I just see this problem compounding unless the feds lower the interest rates significantly.

Krismer,I agree, and my perspective is based more on what I'm seeing in my area (northern VA). There's a lot of new homes that are being practically given away, and the pool of buyers seems to be shrinking. With so many of those ARMs about to mature, I just see this problem compounding unless the feds lower the interest rates significantly.

I don't know what property you're referring to, but if I had to guess I'd say it's as likely that the values have actually dropped 20% in your area that it is a zillow error. What are the comps for your home?

Parissa, fact is that prices are coming down and have been for a while. I'm listing my home below the assessed value and 20% lower than what I could a couple years ago. Just because a smaller house in your area has sold "much higher" than your zestimate doesn't mean yours is forever worth more than that. It's a crazy market right now.

momjoe's comment wasn't too far off. I don't know that they're all "illegal", but a lot of barely english-speaking folks were ripped off and didn't even know it. Too many people in the NOVA area bought homes they could barely afford, then with property tax increases and interest rates going up they will have a tough time holding on to. This on top of everybody else desperate to sell will drag prices down further. If the original poster is opposed to renting, they can find fairly priced homes on the market. But they won't stay on the market long, so keep your eye on them. The current trend of buyer agents seems to be the "below assessed value" rule. The best deals are the homes listed below the assessed values that aren't short sells.

time4sax, what happened to the money you took out when you refinanced? The bank is going to do whatever it can to get some of that back.