Your Distressed Property and Short Sale Expert in Maryland
The struggle continues, and this is probably the biggest barrier to selling besides the difficulty many folks have in becoming pre-approved for a home loan.
The market sets prices, of course(the "Invisible Hand" of Adam Smith), but buyers and sellers often cannot come to terms in sales price.
It is hard for sellers to understand, since historically, prices rose gradually.
However, since the "bubble" in housing burst, the huge run-up in pricing necessitated a huge drop in home prices, because the demand largely dried up. Credit disappeared, lending returned to responsible parameters, the economy crashed.
The Frederick Maryland area real estate market has begun to stabilize, or even find home prices rising, being part of the Washington DC area of influence. However, many parts of the US are still seeing dropping prices and weaker demand.
So why can't buyers and sellers agree on the "market price" for a home in question?
It seems sellers can understand this in principle - until it comes to their home!
Even Realtors have done the same thing - it's personal.
Sometimes Real Estate Agents bear responsibility. They will often take a home listing at a price unlikely to bring any buyers, and hope they can wear the sellers down to a price the market will accept.
Two dangers here; the listing may get stale and cause a greater eventual discount in sales price than starting with an acceptable market price; and Real Estate Agents risk losing their credibility - and wasting time and money marketing an unsellable property.
Education helps, but as I wrote above, it is personal and difficult to bring sellers around - they are losing their nest egg!
Too, many sellers have seen so much equity eroded that they cannot sell without taking a loss. Stories abound of sellers needing to bring tens of thousands of dollars to the table to get rid of their home.
On the buyers side, they often "smell blood in the water", and try to discount every property they look at. Here again, education is important. Agents can explain to buyers what the market is saying about pricing. Unfortunately the fact is that many buyers feel, or know, that they will go in and be immediately, or soon thereafter, underwater on their investment - owing more than the market will bring, and/or watching their equity erode too.
A difficult situation - often unsolvable - and frustrating for sellers, buyers and agents.
Perhap we need to quit looking at our homes as investments, and as a place to live and raise a family, as historically they were. The issue has become that Americans have become so mobile, moving every five, or so, years, selling at a loss is an impediment to job mobility, and a drag on the economy.
Dennis
Keeping People From Experiencing Foreclosure
www.MarylandDistressedProperties.com
www.Frederick-MontgomeryCountyHomes.com
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