What does it take to sell a place in this market?

[seattle-relo]

Well I thought I had at least another 5-7 years without having my babyboomer mom come live with us, but it looks like it’s going to come much sooner. 🙁

Our place is way too small to have her live with us longterm (and I don’t think we can build-on to make room) So I am trying to brainstorm ways to help her (let her live with us) without making the rest of my family crazy. I am considering selling my place and hers and then renting a much bigger place for all of us to tolerate being under the same roof. So I am asking the RE agents on here what kind of price reductions are needed to get a place sold – 10%, 15%, 20% of peak? Incentives?…I think I can afford to cut my price from what we paid 6 months ago by 15% plus commission, anymore than that – I don’t think I can come up with the cash. Her place is in the Phoenix area and is paid for, so we can offer a super low price (for her place)if we need to. I’m an only child so I don’t have any siblings to help me out with her. My husband and I have been supplementing her income for the past few years to keep her from having to live with us, but she’s having more and more difficulty being on her on. Any thoughts?

Thanks

[Alex_angel]

Look for comps in your area and undercut them all. If the area average for a home similar to yours is $700k then put yours up for $675k and then go to costco, buy a 50 inch visio plasma and offer it as an incentive to buy. You’ll be surprised at how many jackasses out there will drop $700k on a home for a “free” $1500 TV.

[seattle-relo]

I like the TV idea 🙂 I live in Rancho Bernardo and the comps are all over the place! I live close to 4S Ranch and there are some foreclosures that aren’t even selling. They are newer and nicer than my 80’s house, but they have no lot which makes it hard to know whether I should use them to compare.

[patientlywaiting]

seattle-relo. You’re not in a good position to sell having just bought 6 months ago. I don’t envy your situation.

Best wishes to you. You’re doing the right thing by taking care of your mom. She’s lucky to have you.

If you have a big lot, you might be able to build a guest suite with a separate entrance. It might cost you $60k to $90k but that might be better than taking a bath on selling your house. Plus rather than bring cash to escrow, you can finance the construction. The proceeds from your mom’s house could pay for the addition. Just a thought.

[seattle-relo]

Our lot is pretty small. Not as small as the new construction lots, but not really big enough for a bed/bath addition. I might consider consulting with an contractor to see if reconfiguring the bedrooms/baths and bumping them out a little to make room for another would make sense. Our house is a single level and if our homeowners assoc. would allow, we could consider building up – but my guess is that they won’t. I need to look into that. The timing is just bad. We really thought we had a few more years of her being on her own, but it just doesn’t look that way anymore. I think the amount of cash (60-90K) it would take to add-on vs sell at a loss would be about the same. Argh…aging parents!

[NotCranky]

Have you thought of advertising a trade? I really have no concept of how it would work but in your shoes I might consider figuring that out. Offer to trade for a larger house with you making up the difference in cash from the sale of your Mother’s place. If you find somebody, pay a Realtor a nominal flat fee to help put it all together.In this market it might just work. Rumor has it builders are doing it(more or less). If you get the right place it is easy to modify it so that you mother has a private entrance and a little kitchenette if that is desired.

Disclaimer: Consider this along the lines of shoot from the hip brainstorming.The idea is that you have already lost your downpayment if you sell and all parties will avoid big commissions and perhaps get into a more suitable situation.Somebody out there must want to downsize but is facing the same problems in the market that you are.

Best wishes

[sdrealtor]

There are lots of Independent living/Sr living facilities in your area. There are also apartments. Why not find her a place to live nearby?

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

Along the lines of Rustico’s trade idea, but less complicated …

If you wanted to hold this house long term, consider the costs to rent out your home and finding another place to rent. To make the numbers work, you’d have to move to a less expensive neighborhood.

[seattle-relo]

My husband and I wondered if a senior living situation would work for her. I have been afraid that she’d run out of money – she has no savings at all, didn’t work much so her Soc. Sec. is very low (which she can’t even get yet)and only has her house, which I think is worth 150-175K. But I am certainly not opposed to having her in a senior apartment situation. I just don’t want her to run out of money in a few years. She’s only 60, but hasn’t been very successful at taking care of herself.

I have never heard of the trade idea, but it sounds interesting…

We have talked about renting out our place and renting a bigger place, but I think we’d be in the hole 500-700 dollars a month (because our mortage is way more than what we could rent it for). However, the 500ish a month is probably less than what she would need to live on in senior apts and could be taken from the proceeds of her home. We aren’t attached to our home, so selling it at a loss now or holding onto it in the longterm is more financially driven. So that’s why I am wondering what kind of price drops seems to be necessary to get a place (in decent condition) sold. I am happy to talk to a RE agent around here, but I’m afraid that they are in denial about how things need to be priced and I need solid info. to make a good decision.

I apprechiate all the ideas. Thanks

[Sandi Egan]

Most of people on this blog are positive that the prices are going down significantly. Irrelevant to your situation, it might be more prudent to sell now, realize loss, and later recoup the loss on account of lower home prices. Don’t take my advise to seriously, though. I don’t own a home and for me it’s all very theoretical.

[NotCranky]

Relo,
You should look at FSD’s proposal over a couple of years. Your Mother is actually going to add to you cashflow and youmay buy the bigger house at a steep discount in 2 years.The scenario absolutely looks different from there on out.

The trade would probably work. You might even be in a good bargaining position going into it if enough people would gladly trade down (to something affordable) and rid them selves of a nightmare about to happen. A few ideas come to mind, again just quick rough draft form. You could list your house as a trade, with a realtor who accepts the flat fee idea and target expired listings by having your agent call them . You could also use the union tripe. Of all things that can be said about it it is effective for advertising. Maybe Craigs’ list? I haven’t used that and some of the rest of the piggs will find your add and drag it over here to make fun of you!

The big downside of the trade is that you give up the opportunity to buy the larger house after prices come down….but you get rid of your own already depreciating asset. Yo could work the trade idea in conjunction with a straight forward listing for sale and take which ever one comes first in a suitable fashion.

I nominate SDR to get you through this :). I believe he lists for 1%.(Let him get a referral fee from the Arizona agent if anybody still bothers with that)

[surveyor]

For the renting-out-the-house idea, if you take the lowering of your taxes into consideration, it could break even or at least minimize your negative cash flow. Also, with you renting out your house, you get access to all sorts of tax deductions.

Rough estimate, assuming you got your house for $500k, your income tax rate is around 30%, you could lower your income taxes by around $500 or more.

=shrug= Just a thought.

[bsrsharma]

Seattle-relo:

Since many of us may have to face this, I am trying to understand the situation:

1. Is she not well? Since you say she is only 60, hence can’t get Social security/medicare. I am wondering how you are planning for healthcare? As an aside, if she is in good health, might it be a good idea for her to get some employment to get some health insurance. That will also ease the cash flow. It will help her a lot if she can complete the minimum credits for social security since she has such a long retirement to face.

2. Since big bucks (i.e. losses) are involved in home selling/buying in these unstable times, (a) Why can’t she continue to live in AZ (b) How about renting out AZ home and renting a small apartment here. The cash flows may be closer to match.

[sdrealtor]

I’d look into senior affordable housing options also. They are pegged to your income so it may surprise you how affordable it would be for her. You wont know until you check into one.

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

Additional thoughts:
At age 60, if she is unable to take care of herself, could she be considered disabled ? That’s awfully young to be too old.
You don’t have to provide details. Just consider the fact that if she has a condition that impairs her ability to work and/or take care of herself, she is likely eligible for disability payments from Social Security. Even before retirement age …
http://www.ssa.gov/dibplan/index.htm

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