[quote=CA renter]We agree about certain *truly special* properties commanding their own price. The problem is that every seller thinks they have one of these “truly special” properties, so they list at bubble prices (or higher!!!), and play the list/relist game, sometimes for years, as they chase the market down. If they had priced correctly in the first place, they’d end up with more money, but they refuse to acknowledge that the prices they cling to only existed because of a CREDIT/housing bubble, and are not going to be seen for a long, long, long, long time, unless we have a currency collapse (IMHO).[/quote]
CAR, can I suggest you approach some of these *recalcitrant* and moderately delusional sellers with terms compelling them to sell for less? Perhaps some owners of highly desirable properties ARE looking for income if they can’t get their price. Why not ask them to finance a 1st or 2nd TD at a =>6% interest rate in exchange for a lower price? There’s more than a few ways to “skin a cat.” Just make sure any prepayment penalties you agree to don’t exceed 3 years so you can refinance or pay it off at some point in the future if you are able to do so.
[quote=CA renter]In the case of my parents’ homes/properties, the homes were their primary residences; they had sold off all their investment real estate as they aged. We also sold some land in the Sierra foothills and farmland in another state.
My mom’s house would have made a great rental, but my dad lived in a senior community, so it was best to sell that ASAP.
At the time we sold my mom’s house, there was a house across the street that was in escrow for about $60-70K more than what we were priced at (much to my realtor’s chagrin…she didn’t like that I insited on pricing so low). A year later, the next-door neighbor’s house (slightly smaller than mom’s) was listed for ~$160K less than we had sold my mom’s house for, as this was one of the neighborhoods that got slammed very hard and very fast before the PTB intervened. The house that was in escrow when we were selling mom’s was foreclosed on within a year or two, and sold for ~$60K less than what we sold for. Selling was the right move, except for the fact that the rental would have given us a much better return than our savings/investments, which I’ve been keeping liquid in case we find a house we want to buy. Can’t win them all, I suppose. ;)[/quote]
CAR, it sounds like you and your sibling(s) were still smart to sell when you did because the market everywhere has tanked or completely stagnated since 2007.
Was your parent(s) land in the Sierra foothills in or near Colfax, CA (between I-80 and Grass Valley)? I have some friends there on an acreage and I think this area is so “bucolic” with the private roads and meadows all around and the crisp mountain air (plus easy access to Sacramento for “big” shopping) :=)
