You may be entering the world of Short Sales. Here's an article that may help.
http://www.realtor.org/rmosales_and_marketing/handoutsforcus…

Although you owe less than current value, it is likely that you will have to sell for less than break even in this market. Perhaps you should rent for a year or two and wait for the market to improve. Or, you could try to For Sale By Owner. However, that is a very frustrating effort in a buyers market. There is so much competition and most buyers want to be represented, so you would benefit from a professional realtors advice and assistance.

Hi Michele,

I'm entering the conversation late but just now saw your question.

I have had many customers wanting to sell their houses but the market is just not right. There is a small siver lining to all of this. Because so many potential buyers are locked out of the market because of tighter mortgage requirments these same buyers are becoming tenants. This has caused a higher demand for decent rental houses than we have seen in the past. Since you have to relocate you might shop for a REALTOR® that both sells homes and does property management for out of town owners. Not all agents do both. This allows you and the agent to establish a long term relationship, provides income to offset most if not all of the mortgage costs of the present house, provides a good house for a good person to live in and provides you with documentation to help with the mortgage on your new home. Overall a WIN-WIN-WIN!

If you have an agent helping you talk to him/her about property management. If they don't offer it at their brokerage then have him refer you to someone that does.

It's a tough market and going to get tougher (I saw the new mortgage requirements coming up soon)

JD “Dan” Weisenburger, GRI
Broker-Associate REALTOR®
Vanguard Realty, Inc. GMAC Real Estate

Johnny has an excellent point! Thumbs up for remembering that one! In this market, do not, under any circumstances, try to inflate the price. It will only delay your sale. Meanwhile the real estate values are still falling and you can eventually end up losing more money.

Being a retired Navy Chief I do understand your situation. Relocating due to a job does not put you in to much control of negotiation. But like Don said, you may be able to spruce up your home and make it more sellable than the house down the block. I believe what is very important is curb appeal. Your home has about 7 seconds to make a great first impression on a potential buyer and that is typically when a buyer drives up. Also, make sure the house is clutter free. Take family pictures off of the wall, I think a big MUST. Let them imagine there family photos on the wall. It will give them the ability to see them living in your home. While doing all of this, do not spend to much money, as you know, you don't have to much room in making a profit, if in fact you have a correct estimate of what your home is worth.

You say your house is estimated to be worth $173,000. Where did this number come from? If it came from a Realtor after doing a CMA, then the number should be fairly good. If it came from something like Zillow, it doesn't mean much at all--Zillow can be off 15%-20% or more.

Assuming your house really is worth $173,000 and you owe $168,000, then you're effectively "upside down." To sell, with those numbers, you're going to have to bring money to closing. There's no real way to break even if you have to sell now. You may be able to narrow your losses a bit by pricing the house right (aggressively enough that it sells quickly, but not so aggressively that you lose even more) and by making sure the house is in excellent condition. That may require some paint, some carpeting, some landscaping. That'll help bring in top dollar--still probably not enough to break even, but it should bring you closer, even after the expenses of painting, landscaping, etc.

Have your husband check with his company's HR department to see if they have any programs or arrangements for people in your situation.

Hope that helps.

Please please please see that this realtor does not inflate the price of the home (compared to FMV) so that his/her commission will fit into the equation. This will truly make your house unsaleable and sit on the market longer than you want.

Michele, Are you in an area that has depreciated? Using a REALTOR is the quickest way to sell, but you need to make sure you get one who is going to aggressively market your home. You'll need to try to have the buyer pay for the title insurance as well. There are a lot of things you can do to not have any surprise costs. Have your REALTOR calculate every little expense so you don't have any surprises.