Sorry to hear about your lack of success. Where are you located? I've forgotten. Good luck with your next listing.

In my area, the "common wisdom" is that the market picks up the weekend after SuperBowl Sunday. Don't know if that's really true or not.

I've heard that it picks up after super bowl sunday too. I am not sure why though. It really doesn't make any sense. I am sorry your house sat for so long. But at least you know the price was right because you got 3 offers. You just weren't getting the qualified buyers you should have. Sounds like your agent wasn't making sure the buyers were good ones. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and hopefully a quick sale next year!

3 couples couldn't get approved?? Wow, loans are so easy to get now too, that is really weird. What state is this?

Last year at this time, we had a townhouse in Fort Collins, CO sitting on the market, vacant. We tried selling it ourselves from May through September of 2005 without any luck, and then passed it on to a realtor when we needed to move out of state. It sat on the market until the end of February 2006 without a nibble except for this totally dumb guy who had come through and made an offer on a whim (surprise, surprise, he couldn't get financing and ended up not returning phone calls). We were about to let the listing contract expire when a legitimate offer (20% down and everything) came through from someone who was moving from California. We ended up only coming down $1000 on price ($173,500), and the deal was done on 3/31/06.

I guess my point is that it only takes one buyer. It's frustrating showing the house when you're still occupying it, but that's a heck of a lot better than carrying the mortgage on an empty house. If you really want to move out, then don't get discouraged - list it, price it reasonably, and hope for the best.

Also - we just submitted an offer on a house and got it accepted. We offered only slightly lower than asking. The market is also generally slow out here, but I feel that the house was priced fairly. And besides, we just liked it. It was only listed on 11/28/06 - so, basically a week on the market. Who knows if someone else would have come along and liked it as much as we did or thought it was worth what we did? But it doesn't really matter, because we liked it. Good luck.

Where are you located? This info is helpful. Thanks

Take a holiday break and then relist in the new year. I would list Jan 2 and get rolling again. In CHicago they said most listings and buyers get active after Super Bowl (if that's true you don't want to go on at the same time necessarily) but I am a buyer and am very actively looking now and hoping for some good listings in Jan.

Smart move taking the house off the market for a while. Some buyer only look at new listing so it will get fresh interest when it goes back on the market.

I live in SW Kansas. Alot of immigrants who assume you can just walk into someone's house and buy it with nothing to in the bank, etc.

I sold a house about a week ago to a Mexican immigrant. This guy came here about 5yrs ago and works as a roofer. He has never owned a home in his life.

When we showed him the house two times and he negotiated with us during the second showing. We came to an agreement which was $10k below our very competitive asking price of $369k with the caveat that he close in under 30days. We figured this would flush out his real intentions and would not hurt us much if he didn't close. We actually did not think he would close so it was a shock to us when our lawyer called and said the closing is tomorrow morning. In short, he bought the house for $359k with next to no money down and a first and second mortgage. Our buyer worked with a mortgage broker that specialized in dealing with immigrant first time buyers.

The bottom line, don't count these immigrants out. How this guy is going to pay a $3700 a month, I have not got a clue. But it goes to show you how easy it is to get money.

"How this guy is going to pay a $3700 a month, I have not got a clue."

$3700 is nothing when there's 10 people living there to split it! Don't kid yourself, these immigrants could teach our native homeless a thing or two about personal finances!

Very common in SoCal to have several families living in one house. By state law cities cannot control this - CA law says up to 24 people can occupy one 3-bedroom house. Doesn't specify the size of house, either. Cities are able to limit the garage conversions - making a garage into living space - but most don't enforce the rules on that.

Our house there was just 1130 sq ft with 3 bedrooms, but when we bought it 3 separate families (families, not people) were living there, one family for each bedroom. Two rooms had little electric cooktops on the dressers. 3 refrigerators, one in the kitchen and 2 in the garage.

I imagine the same has happened to our house now that it's been sold. The mortgage payment on it will be well over $3k a month and that's on a low-rate adjustable. What happens when it "adjusts?" The buyer's financial situation wasn't that great.

I find it remarkable how hard some immigrants are willing to work to create a better life for their families (and escape awful conditions in their countries of origin).

Many of us are descended from immigrants. I'm sure not all the ones who passed through Ellis Island were perfect.

Well said Dreamgarden.

Which message disparaged immigrants? Whose post are you referring to, dreamgarden?

Minet,

dctireman wrote I live in SW Kansas. Alot of immigrants who assume you can just walk into someone's house and buy it with nothing to in the bank, etc.

I think that set off the chain reaction. I'm not sure what he's referring to - it was just a random statement.

I guess I took his statement to mean that the people didn't understand the buying process here. I wouldn't assume his statement meant other than that.

And who can blame them, with all of the tv and radio ads that talk about buying houses with no money down?

My buyer bought his home with $14,000 down. According to his mortgage broker many of the large banks are picking up on the fact that many of these new-arrivals to the US are less likely to walk away from the credit obligations then their US counterparts.

As far as my buyer having several families live with him to pay the mortgage as someone suggested, I sure hope that wasn't his plan. The HOA will be all over that if that does happen. In our County, its one family per household (not counting immediate family) and they enforce it heavily in most of the county.