Callista's Discussions

I will probably be in the market to buy soon...depending on how long the it takes the bust to play out here in Sacramento Ca, and I would definately be more interested in using one of the discount services. More info on them would be helpfull.

Definately not in Sacto...the market is falling like a ton of bricks!

As a potential buyer I would advise you to leave the improvements to me. I'm so tired of viewing houses with cosmetic upgrades that the seller tries to overcharge me for. I'm particularly tired of laminate flooring granite countertops, and travertine, they are in EVERY house. Fix any major problems (ie. mold, structural, etc.) leave the rest the way it is, and discount for the cost of the upgrade. I personally will be looking for a house that I can rennovate with my own tastes, and that is what you have going for you. If your house is older it can be rennovated to taste by the next buyer, where as the others are kind of as is.

I agree with Aldreth,...I find staging to be a distraction. I tend to want to see just the home..uncluttered by furniture professionally placed or otherwise. Also, when I see furniture in a home in this market it gives me the impression that the seller is not ready to deal. Either he is still living there and doesn't need to sell, or is looking for too high a price and thinks fancy furniture will get it for him. This post is refreshing...I had been posting on the Sacbee (sacramento, Ca) but the dialogue is much higher brow here...nice.

no one with a brain listens to the NAR. They have consistently proven themselves to be a bunch of clowns with no idea where the market is going.I can assure you that here in Sacto California we are nowhere near the bottom. Foreclosures have just started piling up.. and we are at the epicenter of the voodoo loans fiasco. Hyper-inflated house prices aside I love California BTW. Sure we have idiots in our government...show me a state that doesn't..and in case you forgot it was crooked energy companies gaming the market that caused the artifical "energy crisis" here.

From reading this post I am glad to see that agents are beginning to refuse listings from unrealistic sellers, that will save everybody some time. I went open housing last weekend here in Sunny Ca and about 40 percent of sellers were asking almost realistic prices, the other sixty still have 2005 firmly planted in their head. Mpal if you are unwilling to drop your price..good for you..but in this market (at least in California anyway) I wouldn't be surprised if your agent dropped you. I hear the Mantra "I'm not just going to give it away" from a lot of sellers who seem to have forgotten that house prices went up about 125 percent in 5 years (again California example). Even though they will have to lower their prices significantly (and they will) I don't see what they're compaining about. They are still getting good prices based on historic appreciation rates.

I am in Sacramento,..and in response to Ruthmarie, I would rather risk not being able buy at all than be taken to the cleaners. It's easy to search a property and find out what it sold for just a few years ago. Sellers are squealing that they don't want to "give their homes away" even though they are asking 200,000 dollars more than what they bought it for 5-6 years ago. How realistic is that? I admit I don't know much about niche markets in real estate, but if most people find a certain type of house, or area to be overpriced won't they just choose something else? How bad do people really want antiques, or craftsmans, or high rise condos before they look elsewhere? Your house may be appropriately priced Mpal..I don't know, but there are some hard doses of reality being swallowed here in Sacto.

Well as someone with an MS in a scientific discipline Bubble-burst I'm feeling flattered this evening... I also have to agree that obtaining post-secondary education not only makes you a little more informed than the average bear..it also changes the way you think in general. I also have to admit that there are some real dopes that graduate college, most of the ones at my university went for their degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies...Can you believe that's a degree?

Well they probably won't take a 250,000 dollar offer all that seriously...yet...but if that is what you're willing to pay for the place I say go ahead and pitch your lowball. All they can do is say no. I am in a similar situation in Sactown. I just saw a house that I would love to have for about 275,000 but the asking is 350,000. I chose not to offer because in *todays market* their asking price is one of the better ones in the neighborhood I want. They would not have accepted my offer. The people you are getting ready to offer too probably won't either...but who cares? No skin off your back, right?

Aratinga I'm a little late to this thread but one of the things you said early bothers me. You said that they bought the home for 440,000 in 2003 and that they borrowed against it and now owe 675,000. Since it is now priced at 659,000 you claim that they are selling at a loss. This is not true. They are selling for 235,000 dollars more than they bought the house for only four years ago. Huge gains! The fact that they were dum enough to take that equity out before it was realized doesn't mitigate the fact that they are trying to get 50 percent more than they paid for it after just 4 years!!!Additionally, if there is one housing market falling faster than northern Ca, (where I am) it is southern Ca (or so I hear). I think it would be a huge mistake not to wait on this one.