Danilo's provided excellent advice, as usual, especially as regards the prospects for the market--especially condos. (Not sure if the condo is in Alexandria, per your posting, or in Falls Church, per your Zip code. But I agree with Danilo's assessment either way.

I also agree that if it was on the market for over 200 days--either with no offers or no offers even close to what you were asking--then it was overpriced. However, it shouldn't be that difficult to come up with comps on a 1 bed/1 bath condo. Though, during that time period, in many areas of Northern Virginia prices were falling sharply. So it's possible you started off with a reasonable price; by the time you took it off the market, it could have been substantially overpriced. Be sure you stay on top of price trends.

One thing I'd add is that if the condo is cash flowing, or coming very close to breaking even, you at least should consider holding. Over the next few years (depending on the type of your mortgage), you'll build up a little bit of equity from the principal paydown. And, with depreciation and other expenses, it can offer a nice tax shelter.

You also might consider offering it as a lease-option. I haven't had much success doing so with condos, but I know others in Northern Virginia who have. (They've had a lot more success lease-optioning single family homes, but that's another story.) Finding a tenant-buyer could increase your monthly income a bit, and would possibly help in locating a buyer for the property. And you can test the waters by putting listings on CraigsList.

Hope that helps.

Sat May 10 2008, 08:10

There are really too many unknown variables here to give a truly relevant answer. I think the most important is whether or not you are renting it at a loss. If not, why sell? Perhaps you don't like being a landlord, which is certainly understandable. But the occasional inconvenience may be worth it. Especially if you are considering selling at a loss. If you are literally looking at a short sale, meaning that the sales price would be less than what you owe on the mortgage, then this could have seriously negative consequences on your credit rating for years to come. This is really a worse-case scenario. (Unless you have the cash to make up the difference. Still painful, but at least your credit is not damaged.)
But I think it comes down to questioning what in the status quo might be pushing you to make a change. If your rent covers your mortgage (or even if it comes close) you might very well stand pat until something changes to push you to sell.
And I 100% agree with Danilo - if you had it on for more than 200 days without an offer, then it was definitely overpriced.

Sat May 10 2008, 08:10

Unless you can hold on to it for at least 3 more years, then sell it now. Unless you wait at least that long, you will probably end up selling it for the same, if not a less than what's it's worth today. It'll be at least 3 years (if not more) before we start seeing prices start going up again.

Looking back historically to the '90s, the market went sideways for almost 5 years before starting to reboun in the latter part of the decade. It'll probably be the same this time around.

Btw...if your condo was on the market for 200+ days without and offer, it's overpriced. It all comes down to price in this market.

Sat May 10 2008, 07:57