Hi ya,
I'm the person who posted this question in Jan 09...I just. read all your replies and I've come to the conclusion brokers suck....One broker answered my question by saying "our yard won't sell our house" WRONG! Our yard is 80' of water, floating docks, fishing and landscape that was done quite nicely....

Anyway we did list in Jan- 09 so the brokers exposed our home on MLSLI and every other real estate site but we had the option to "sell by owner" I sold our house to a couple from this area who are perfect buyers...They just redid their house then decided they would prefer living on the water....No one can sell a home like its owner..I'm sorry guys but some of the brokers I've met in the past year were morons! They give the word "broker" a bad rap... We did find one honest fab broker but our listing expired so I sold the house on my own for 4k more then asking price....
AND BTW Another brokers reply on Yahoo stated that most of the homes on the market are in need of repair...NOT TRUE- where do you get your information?... We're not broke, we paid cash for our house 9 years..We're selling b/c of our desire to retire...

Had we accepted an offer for in 2008 I can guarantee we would have spent more for ANY house we purchased..OR we would of invested in stocks -with my luck I'd probably run into Bernie Madoff on my way to the bank ...Whether it's a buyers market or a sellers market- its all relative.. The property we're thinking of buying is half the price then it was 2 years ago..
So my favorite answer is from the guy who mentioned his wife having taken photos of their yard to remember it by... BUT NOW he gets to kick back and relax while the new owner does all the work..

Motto? When you feel the need to retire and you will- don't hold out for housing prices to rebound - just sell and go enjoy life....

Hello Mrs. Roman,
My name is Susan Monaco, I am the Owner/Broker of J.E. MONACO REAL ESTATE, located in Seaford. If you were serious enough to list your home before, then you must be serious about selling; the answer to your question is to list your home now. The reasoning is simple and two-fold: First, we know what the market is now, we don't know what the market will be in the Spring (anyone who says they know, well, I think you know the answer to that one). Secondly, there are always buyers (365 days of the year) who are looking and ready to buy, but if your home is not on the market and "available" then you'll be missing the boat (sorry, couldn't resist that one). There are always a pool of buyers looking and you don't know when the right buyer will come around; if you wait until Spring '10, you may have lost the perfect buyer. If you have any questions, you can always feel free to call me or shoot me an email, I'd be more than happy to help.
Just as a side note, I teach Real Estate Marketing at one of the local colleges and the students Term Project is to choose a property and do a comparable market analysis. They then must provide a price and their reasoning, together with a marketing plan. One of my students who came from Massapequa, chose your home for his project.

Hello, I am a real estate agent in Wantagh and pair up as a mother daughter team with my mother, who has been in the business for a number of years. If you are still interested in listing your property, we can help you out as we are very active in the Massapequa area. My name is Brittany and my number is 516-376-2580. My mother's name is Lucie and her number is 516-353-9965.

I had several showings on my listings already this year. If it isn't on the market it can't be shown and therefore can't sell. Usually inventory is lower this time of the year, so you will have less competition. It sounds like you did the right thing by updating the kitchen. Find a good experienced real estate agent and price it ahead of the wave. Before accepting an offer be sure that the buyer is pre-approved. Follow up with the lender is extremely important. Also, be sure that the buyer is using a reputable local lender and not someone out of state or on line.

All the best to you,

Paul

What is on the market is usually a home that is in disrepair or in a bad neighborhood. The excess inventory is disproportional in neighborhoods that most people don't want to live in. In good neighborhoods, quality homes at reasonable prices are virtually nonexistent. If anything, the prices of these homes are going up. Records of homes for sale and "inventory" are nonexistent for more than a couple of years ago. Supposedly there are 18,000 homes for sale on Long Island, down 20% from 4 months ago. I don't know if this is a lot or a little, The fact is no one knows because these records did not exist a couple of years ago. I do know there is a scarcity of GOOD homes that I would want to buy out there. There is a lot of media hype, as always. 5 years ago, Newsday, Pearl Kramer and LIA were screaming about how we needed to build more homes. Good we did not listen to the hype back then and we should not listen to it now. Unless you are desperate to sell, don't let someone steal your house. Many brokers are looking to make a quick buck and are telling the sellers to lower their prices. Brokers are generally pretty lazy people. It's easier to sell a $600K house than a $700K house. The difference in their commission is small. Don't always believe in the hype. You market your house the best way you see fit and do not be pressured to list it if you don't want to.

Depending on the reason (s) you are selling and unless you can afford to wait for another 2 to 3 years you should definately relist immediately. If you were happy with your past Broker then use them again but market more aggressively. If you want to try something different then there are many of us to choose from. The current market on long island has so much inventory that when the buyers that are ready come out this spring they will buy one that's out there.
Either way, i wish you the best of luck and much success

Sure there are buyers out there now, but that does not mean you can get your best price now. I would skip January (as I am doing). Here is why. My property, like yours, is water view and it does not show well in the winter. Interest rates will probably keep declining or at least remain low for several months. There are a lot of bottom feeders out there now that will low ball you on the price. Contrary to what so-called "experts" say, I do not believe prices will continue to fall. Remember, these same "experts" such as Pear Kramer from the Long Island Association, were saying for the past 10 years that we needed more homes built on Long Island to keep up with places like Las Vegas. Can you imagine if we listened to these "experts" and glutted the market with houses? I am also in the market to buy a house and believe me, there is hardly anything out there worth buying. The homes that are not selling are usually in very bad shape or in bad areas. The good homes in good areas are still selling at nice prices and they are going. Give yourself a break in January and go in with a bang in mid-Feb before other sellers. Definitely use the best pictures you have; and insist any broker to use them. 2009 will be a turnaround year for many reasons. Do not follow the herd. Remember, people are like sheep, and sheep get slaughtered.

Hi Marietta,

My heart goes out to you. As the owner of the house - I understand you feel (and probably rightfully so) that the yard is the greatest selling point...however - I can tell you with much certainty - that this means very little and will not get you any more money in Spring, then if you put it on the market right now.

Read the reference - and other articles I've written about the market.

The cold truth is the market is losing approximately 1% - every month and the experts (people that are alot smarter than I am) are predicting a minimum of 10% decline in equity values for 2009. Do not hesitate - I have a pretty darn good formula for selling houses and I'd be more than glad to share it with you.

I'd also love to see that wonderful yard you have - it must be really nice.

Best of luck to you...

NO!!!!!!! Now is the best time to list...beginning of February, buyers swamp the market. It's the sellers who wait until Spring. Much better chance to sell if you list immediately!

You said you adjusted the price...hope you did not adjust upwards!

Happy New Year to you and your family Marietta. I understand you may want to "wait until Spring" but almost everyone else is thinking the same thing. Besides that, the real Spring market starts in about a week. If you wait until the weather warms up, there will be much, much more competition. If there's anything I can to assist you, please contact me.

Ralph Windschuh
Century 21 Princeton Propereties (Long Island)
631-467-0009
rwindschuh@c21princetonproperties.com

Marietta
I am little puzzled by your post. You mention that you hired a Realtor to sell your home. Did you ask your Realtor what they thought?

The reason I ask is that when you post a question like yours, you get responses like below. These are no doubt experienced and knowledgeable Realtors, however They do not know two things that your Realtor knows:
1. Your home
2. Your personal situation - why it is important to sell, when you need to move, how much you need to net, etc.

One of the things that makes me want to ask this question is the link below. It appears that you are in a very strong buyers' market. Only people that need to sell are selling, so you must have a very good reason to sell.

Without asking you to publish your answers on line, here are some questions that I would ask you:
- Which is more important to you, when you move or how much your net?
- If you knew that now was the time to sell to make the most money when you sell, would you?

It appears looking at the Trulia data that few homes are selling, compared to last year. The number of sales is down 87% and the average price per square foot is down 16%. That means a couple of things to me: Only the homes representing the best value sell, and that the market appears to be heading downward.

If these things are true, then it sounds like your first Realtor would be in the best situation to offer advice. Now if you are looking for other advice, my recommendation would be to talk with a few top agents that work in your area. I would be happy to refer you to a top Realtor to discuss analyze your situation. You could them compare their responses to other Realtors and develop your plan from there.

Hope this is helpful.

Happy New Year!

If you are anything like my wife, you have plenty of photos of your yard. We had an absolutely great back yard that backed up to a wooded creek bed. It was her pride and joy with beautiful landscaping and flowers. We sold in the dead of winter in the midwest. Have some photos of the yard available for the potential buyers to view. The guy that bought ours was a total yard guy, which I was totally not. I hope he had fun cutting that monster sloped yard this past summer that I dealt with for over 30 cutting seasons.

I have to agree with Barbara, now is the time to list your home. Buyers are out the now and it's not too early for the spring market. Coldwell Banker works with the largest relocation company in the counrty. Please let me know if I may assist with finding a top Realtor in your area to get your home sold.
Good Luck and let me know if I may assist.

Regards,

Liz Caplan
Coldwell Banker Real Estate Services
5887 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
412-302-2645

Hi Mrs. Roman,

Now is the time. The interest rates are low, prices are low and the buyers are out. I am seeing a lot of buyer activity. Why wait until the spring when there will be more homes (competition) on the market? The prices will not be increasing in the spring but the inventory will .

I would love the opportunity to meet with you and discuss the current market. I am located in Massapequa and know your home and the market very well.

Please feel free to visit my website.

Thank you,
Barbara McDermott, ABR, GRI, SRES,
Licensed Broker Associate
Century 21 Wittney Estates.

I look forward to exceeding all of your expectations!