Jackie,

Food for thought ...

Most of the buying market has left the building, the rest are on their way out - and you know what happens after spring break and Easter .. you'll be able to fire a shotgun down East Hillsboro and not hit anyone after 9 in the morning ... so you've diminished the buying market by 75% if you wait much longer.

Renters are great, when you can find good responsible ones with a strong credit history and a very decent deposit ..

The negative part.? .. Florida laws fall in favor of the tenant and trying to get the bad one out is like having a 4 month root canal ...

So ... where in North Carolina are you moving.?


: ^)

Jackie, if you are willing to take $315,000 for the house...tell the world! Then if it does not sell when you get it down to that price, then consider renting it. Although that could be a potential headache since you are moving out of state.

I am in Michigan where we also have a high foreclosure rate. I am not trying to be funny, but I use this analogy with my sellers. You need to be in front of the train and not running beside it. If you run beside it, you are going to have a harder time selling since 50% of the houses being sold are bank controlled purchases.

Ultimately, it is your choice. I hope this information helps! Best Wishes!

cut your losses
if you can break even, you are probably very lucky

anyways

good luck

Hello Jackie, Sorry to hear of your dilemma. You got some good advice from the other agents below. The truth is, no one knows for sure when the market will bottom out and start coming back. But you can bet with all the foreclosures hitting the books daily there will continue to be a negative impact on our prices. You can rent if you are willing to rent for at least 2-3 years or more or cut your losses now. That decision is one only you can make. If you decide to continue trying to sell. Reduce your price by about $10,000 every couple of weeks until it sells. Have your agent do another market analysis to update what is going on in your immediate area. Good luck.

Jackie,
The sad reality.....since the market is so flooded with owners such as yourself, it might be difficult to find a renter.
As many smart investors are doing..."Stop the Bleeding." Investors are selling at a loss and moving on. To accomplish this your property must be aggressively priced to get the buyer's attention. The way to sell fast is to be the absolute, best opportunity, for the buyer.

Good luck,
The "Eckler Team"
Century 21Almar & Associates
Venice, Fl 34285

Jackie
I like J. D.'s answer. It sounds as though renting is the best bet right now. My wife and I became accidental landlords the same way...it was a big financial benefits. Check with a CPA regarding the tax consequences and implications. It may be this is a great opporunity disguised as a problem. We experienced a lot of stress, then it worked out better than we had hoped...over time.

You need to look at long term goals, and realize that in the long term values historically have gone up....

Personally I would have asked you to have your home sold before buying..but life is not perfect.

Good luck1

Hello Jackie,

Here are a couple of options.
1. Lower the price with a lease purchase option .
2. Lease with a lease purchase option.

You determine what the option money will be. That was you can stil have it on the market for a while and see what happens.

Jackie,

I have several customers in similar situations to yours and we have been renting their unused homes for the very reasons you say.

If you embark into the rental arena please download for your own records Florida Statues Chapter 83. This is the Landlord Tenant Law in Florida and I make sure each of my owners have a copy so that they will be able to know what can and cannot be done regarding the tenants.

Also, since you will relocating you will want a property manager. Some real estate companies only do property management others only do sales. We do it all but, alas, too far away to help. Let me suggest that you keep the agent you presently have if they have been trained in Property Management and their own brokerage policies regarding Prop Mgmt. I say this because with the knowledge of a future sale the agent should work harder to make sure you are satisfied throughout the rental period.

Good Luck to You

JD "Dan" Weisenburger, GRI
Broker-Associate
Vanguard Realty, Inc., GMAC Real Estate
Jacksonville