Need advice about selling condo

[kmillini]

After seeing all of the recent threads about selling a house, I thought maybe you guys could give me advice about selling my condo.

I lived away from my husband while I was finishing school and we bought a condo there for between $175,000-$200,000. Then I commuted home on the weekends. BIG MISTAKE! We put our condo on the market in July for $5,000 more than what we paid for it 4 years ago. Right before we put it on the market there had been a few sales that justified that price. We weren't expecting to get the listing price, but thought we might get our original price or about $5,000 less. We reduced the price $10,000 two months later. Our agreement with our realtor ended in January. We were contemplating renting it, but don't really want to mess with all of that stuff. The condo is 15 years old and the furnace could go at any time. We have already had to replace the water heater, dishwasher and refrigerator. Besides the appliances though, our unit was totally renovated right before we bought it. So, it is one of the nicest ones in the complex.

I recently e-mailed our realtor and said that we were ready to put it back on the market and asked what price we should list at. She came back with a price $35,000 lower than what she told us to list it for in July. Since July the only other unit to sell in our complex was a foreclosure. There are about 6 units on the market right now. At the price she suggested, we would be lower than all of those units. But like I said earlier, ours is one of the nicest ones. The price she wants to list it for is $30,000 less than what we paid for it (about 20% less than what we paid for it). And of course in this market no one ever expects to pay the full asking price. I think our realtor is okay, but am not in love with her. I just called three different places and she was the best of the three people I interviewed.

So...........WWYD? I guess our options are:
1)Rent it
2)Stay with same realtor and list at what she wants to
3)Stay with same realto and list higher than she wants to
4)Find new realtor

I would really appreciate any advice. My husband and I don't know what we should do. Right now we are paying about $1600 a month for it to sit empty.

[kijip]

In most markets in the US, what you paid for a condo in 2006 or 2007 was likely the high part of the housing bubble. Condos have generally lost more value than houses. What you paid has nothing to do with what it is worth now. While I have no idea about how right or wrong your realtor is about price, a 10-30% lower selling price 2006/2007 prices seems very common in this market, in some places it is even higher. If you are not willing to sell it at a big loss, I would look into renting, provided the rent is a big enough portion of the mortgage to make it worth it. How are prices doing in the area? Do you think that prices are recovering and want to wait out the market or do you think they could drop further in the area? Good luck deciding what to do and good luck with selling!

It never hurts to get a few different realtors opinion on the price before deciding who to list with.

[kmillini]

Yeah I know that we bought in 2005 right near the peak. I realize with the market that we aren't going to get what we put into it. But, I guess I don't know how to tell how the market is in our area. In June of last year 2 units sold in our complex for $10,000 less than what we paid in 2005. That is why we thought we might get close to what we paid for ours. In the last few weeks, a condo sold close to our complex for $10,000 less than what we paid for ours. However, it is a little newer and has a 2 car garage instead of a 1 car garage like ours. So, how do you figure out what the market is like in our area for condos in our price range? Nothing else has sold in our complex in the last 6 months except for a foreclosure. Our realtor said that she recently went to conference and they expect prices to be back at their 2006 peak in 2014. For whatever that is worth! However, we don't really want to hold onto it that long. We would like to buy land a build a house in the next 2-3 years. TIA!

[KrisM]

I guess it depends on how quickly you want to sell it. If you can wait, price it a bit higher and it might take another year or so. Or, price it lower and it'll go quicker.

Unfortunately, your buying price has nothing to do with the selling price. I know in my area, my house has dropped about 45% since we bought in 2005. It's really awful to think about how little we could sell our house for now, if we had to move. But, if we put it up for anything near what we paid, no way would it sell for years and years.

[TwinFoxes]

First, I'm sorry.

I agree with Katie though that the price your realtor is suggesting sounds reasonable. No one cares what you paid. They just care about what they'll pay. The fact that a newer condo with a two car garage sold for $10,000 less than your older one car garage condo with the furnace that's about to go says a lot. I wouldn't put too much stock in the fact that it was completely refurbished right before you moved in. A five year old refurbishment won't get you much $$ in this market.

Also, if owners in your complex are having trouble selling, and are renting instead, you may have a harder time selling. Some mortgage lenders won't write a loan for a building that has more than a certain percentage of renters.

Has your realtor given you comps? It sounds like it, if you know the price of the other condos. If your area is served by redfin.com you can look up past sales on their site.

I don't know where your condo is located, does it have a strong rental market?

If you list it higher, be prepared for it to sit and sit. Be realistic about how much the renovations that were done were worth (the fact that you had to replace all of the appliances after the renovations makes me think the kitchen wasn't redone, and kitchen renovations are where you get most of your money back).

I personally would probably rent it. My DH would want to sell it and be done with it.

Good luck! We sold our house last year, I know how nerve wracking it can be. We actually got our money back and made a slight profit, but we had put a LOT of sweat equity into the house, and it was still in a desirable neighborhood. We didn't get anywhere near what we would have if we had sold 6 months earlier, but what can you do?

[kmillini]

Thanks for the advice. I realize that like a lot of other sellers right now it is just hard to accept the facts about the market. It is so hard trying to compare yourself to other places on the market and ones that have sold recently when they are all so different.

Here are the renovations that were done right before we moved in (2005). Hardwood floors throughout. New tile floors in kitchen. New oak cabinets in kitchen (the ones in the other units are those 80's looking white ones with a strip of wood on them). New solid countertops (but not granite or stone). They did not replace the appliances. However, we have now replaced the refrigerator and dishwasher. They are white though not stainless. Both bathrooms have new tile floors and new vanities. They also installed heating under the tile in the master bathroom.

The 6 units in my complex on the market now range in price from $169,999-$184,999. My realtor wants to list at $164,999. I would prefer to list more in the middle like $174,999.

So, do you think the renovations done are enough to catch a buyer's attention. Or do I need to be the lowest one on the market?

This is in a suburb of Milwaukee. I checked on redfin and they don't have milwaukee on there. I honestly don't know how the market is in Milwaukee right now.

[tiapam]

The 6 units in my complex on the market now range in price from $169,999-$184,999. My realtor wants to list at $164,999. I would prefer to list more in the middle like $174,999.

So, do you think the renovations done are enough to catch a buyer's attention. Or do I need to be the lowest one on the market?

This is in a suburb of Milwaukee. I checked on redfin and they don't have milwaukee on there. I honestly don't know how the market is in Milwaukee right now.

If your unit is nicest of all of these, you really should be priced a bit higher. Unfortunately, if your realtor is recommending a price in the middle, then the other units are probably inappropriately priced. Personally, I am always surprised when people think a 10 year old condo is old and needs "updating". So some people may not care about the renovations and will go for the other condos if they can get them for the price they are willing to pay. *Well done* renovations do make a difference, I think, so if you decide to put it back on the market, make sure you have plenty of photos showcasing the improvements.

HTH and good luck.

[BabyMine]

You could always have an appraiser come out. If the people decide to buy it and it doesn't appraise out the banks will not finance. This happened one to my mom when she was a realtor. The only other thing another realtor is going to do is pull the comps. The difference might be in how they advertise.