Housing Market - Rant, Vent

[Jamauk]

Ok, I just need to vent a bit. This housing market SUCKS.

As most of you know, our house is on the market - it's been there for four months. We've lowered our price almost THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS. Our asking price now officially puts us upside down. Even if we get a full price offer, we'll still have to take a check to the bank

We've had a lot of showings. Way more than average for our area. We've had several couples that expressed interest. Our realtor seems to have a horrible sense of follow through. She keeps saying "well, lets let them percolate for a bit" - then they just fade away....needless to say, she's been fired, we're now working with her broker. I got sssooo fed up with her last week I just completely went into denial and quit working on the house. Literally, I took a whole week off. I'm paying for it now. My house is a mess and I'm completely stressed out. Every time the phone rings I want to almost throw up because I'm afraid its going to be someone that wants to see the house. HAH! In this market, yea right!

We have completely stalled out on our debt snowball because once this house sells, we have some large expenses associated with moving onto our property, so we're just hoarding money right now....and paying minimum on our debts. I feel like we're just spinning our wheels and are going to be living here forever.....

Because of the airline industry and state its in, DH is working every possible hour this summer, as hours are getting cut wwwaaayyy back come this fall. So, in other words, I'm stuck at home with the kids, having to keep the house spotless ALONE.

I hate that I can't get out and run the errands I need to run today because I can't leave the house on a weekend and not have the house "show ready". I hate that I've become a stressed out raving lunatic and lose it if my kids forget to put some toys away. I hate that I don't have the time to sew/craft/relax because I always feel like I should be dusting or vacuuming or laundry or something. I hate always being stressed out, crying at the drop of a hat, feeling like a failure, yelling at my kids so much.

I hate it I hate it I hate it!!!

Thanks for listening, if you made it this far.....

[frugalfriend]

Oh sweetie, I feel your pain! Having the house "show ready" is extremely hard, especially with kids. I was in that boat not too long ago, ours took four months to sell, so maybe that is the magic number and yours will sell SOON!!! I hope and pray . . .
It is definitely a roller coaster ride and not a fun one. I say, clean up the best you can, and go run your errands . . . Is there a lockbox on the door? It can't always be perfect. They know you have young kids. I was the queen of stashing things in the dishwasher, oven, dryer, washer, under the bed, and hoped they didn't look there . . . Most did a quick run through . . .

Sending hugs and prayers for a quick sale your way!

[i.m.cheap]

I am sorry you are having this stress. I hope your home sells soon.

[Lady_V]

Oh how I know what you are going through... in a way.

The market is SO bad right now that nothing is moving in my complex... what does manage to sell is WAY below value. 2 years ago, I could have put my place up for 180K and had people bidding UP to get in here... now my neighbor managed to sell his for 145K... and he took a 20K loss on it. Luckily we got ours for 70K so we still make some profit...

I too am afraid I will be stuck here forever because I can't sell... I already found the place I want. I think part of the reason I don't have the place up for sale is... I'm scared. Because of that, my house is no where close to listing condition... it's a mess... not just a toy out of place, absolute hell-hole mess... people would break limbs and I would have to have them sign a waiver as we tethered them on to a bungee...

The reason I am saying this is... DON'T BE LIKE ME!!! Don't self-sabotage.. don't give up! Your house WILL sell, you just have to have a little faith and smile as you dust the doohickeys again, and pray that it's the last time you have to dust it in THAT house.

Hold it together, women are the (sometimes not so silent) foundation of the house. Get the house done. Finish what needs to be done... and then GO AWAY.

Do you have any friends or family members you and the boys can stay with for a week, or at least a weekend?

Let the new broker plan a massive open-house marathon... and you won't have to worry about it because you won't be there! You will know that everything is in it's place.

Let the phone ring, grab a bucket if you must. Do whatever it is you have to do to keep moving forward in all this... JUST KEEP MOVING!

[janelane]

I don't have any advice really just wanted to send good vibes your way. Buyers will come along eventually

[earthymom]

Tough spot.

Any chance you could rent your home out or do a land contract deal?

A co-worker of mine, a very unsuperstitious type, heard that if you bury a St. Joseph statue facing your house, it will draw buyers. He thought it was stupid, but his wife did it when he wasn't home. Their home sold 7 days later.
It can't hurt, and just maybe the act of doing someithing/anything will make you feel a little bit better for a minute.

All I can say is good luck. The economy is not healthy right now -- no matter what our president says. We can work hard, make what we think are sound investments (like purchasing a home), pay our bills, be good neighbors, etc. etc. etc. and still get screwed. Playing by the rules doesn't guarantee everything will work out the way you expect.

On the bright side, at least your husband has a job and you all have your health. There are many people out there (& on this forum) who have neither.

Try to relax and know that somehow in the end all will be OK.

I'll keep you in my prayers.

[Jamauk]

Thank You everyone! I feel much better now! My in laws stopped by and I just sat and relaxed and didn't worry about the dishes in the sink, or the mess on my desk....it was nice.

Lady V - I know where you are coming from. Our house could have been classified as a National Disaster Zone! It took me a good two years after my second child was born before I could back into a routine of even basic housework. I think part of my frustration is that I had to go on several marathon cleaning sprees just to get the house to the point where I could actually think about what needed to be done in order to get it ready to list. I feel like I'm slowly sliding back there - and I don't want to go back!

Earthymom - thanks for reminding me about the St. Joseph's statue, I completely forgot about him...I'll have to pick one up. He did help the last time we sold a house!

[Jamauk]

Oh Yea, I forgot to mention. DH and I have started tossing around the idea of renting....we're doing some research to see what the rents are in our area. Thanks again, everyone!

[Darlene]

Hope this is all a distant memory soon. It's tough while you are going through it but before you know it you'll be on to the next thing and living it up. Hang in & Hang on!

[Frugal Nurse]

YIKES!!
Glad you feel better. Funny how throwing something like that out into the WWW kind of makes you think and solve on your own.

Be looking into books, tapes, online- on POSITIVE THINKING.
Your intentions will manifest itself into what you really want.

Yeah, yeah..... I know- you really want to sell your house. There is a process- it's a mental process.
Envision.
Look into it.

{{{huggs}}}

[Greebo]

Oh Yea, I forgot to mention. DH and I have started tossing around the idea of renting....we're doing some research to see what the rents are in our area. Thanks again, everyone!

If you're going to do that, LAWYER UP FIRST.

Property Management for Dummies, and anything by Robert Irwin, I found very useful when I was deciding whether to make that leap.

http://www.rentometer.com - nice tool for evaluating rental potential.

[Mom23boys]

I just wanted to send good vibes your way! I hope you have a buyer soon. Good luck!

[forHISglory]

Well, you know that we are in the same boat. Our house has been on the market 2 1/2 months and we've had a total of 4 showings. Four.

We had the grandkids stay with us this week, and their sweet little fingerprints were on everything. I had decided that since so few people were looking that I would not clean this week and just enjoy the kids.

You guessed it..... we had a showing with about 30 minutes notice yesterday. The grandkids were living out of duffle bags and suitcases in the spare rooms, toys were scattered about, fingerprints on the doors, windows, cereal flakes on the breakfast bar and floor, toothpaste drippings in the sink, a muddy footprint... You get the picture.

I yelled at the kids to get their stuff in the suitcases. Hubby grabbed the windex while I swiffered. The little girl began to cry, wondering where we would sleep that night since these "people" were going to get our house. That made the little boy cry that he didn't want those "people" to play with his toys..... And that made me cry because I was putting my priorities in all the wrong places. So I quit, loaded up everyone in the car, and we went to the park. The house looked awful. Oh well........

All this to say........ you are normal (at least I hope so, 'cuz otherwise I'm in trouble, too... LOL). Let's breathe.........

Want you to know that I care, and sure hope that it evens out for you.

[bluebird728]

I know exactly where you are coming from. I'm in hard hit CA and I just sold my house and took a (thankfully small) cheque to escrow to close. It is a hassle and a half to sell a house.

I had lots of lookers at first, but no takers. One thing that really helped me was small cosmetic upgrades. Some new light fixtures, faucets, fixing a couple of window screens, and some paint makes a big difference - silly I know, but true.

I can say from the other side that it is totally worth it. It does end eventually. And I absolutely love renting. It is sooooo much less expensive and less stressful. It also gives you the freedom to make choices to relocate (which I am planning to do) or whatever you need to do to.

Good luck!

[Jamauk]

If you're going to do that, LAWYER UP FIRST.

Property Management for Dummies, and anything by Robert Irwin, I found very useful when I was deciding whether to make that leap.

http://www.rentometer.com - nice tool for evaluating rental potential.

Thanks for that link! We already have one rental property, and we did a lot of research before we jumped in with that one. We aren't 100% sure renting this one makes sense as we won't be able to get our full mortgage payment for rent....but we'll see.

We're going to give it until the end of July and then reevaluate....

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and support. It means a lot, it really does.