SELL! Wait what out?? We are in a declining market, it may be 3-6 years before prices are above where they are now in most markets.

BeerGirl,... Terry has a good point,.. it does depend upon what your market in your town is doing. The best person to answer this question will be your agent,.. if you are beginning to wonder about their judgment,.. contact another agent and get their opinion relating to your individual market.

If your market is indeed still crashing, and you can not afford to hold the property, a short sale may be a viable alternative,.. your mortgage company may also be willing renegotiate your note for an amount that is more favorable than your current payments.

A short sale is certainly a better alternative than simply walking away from the mortgage and allowing the property to go into foreclosure, but in this agents honest opinion, the short sale should not be the first alternative that you search for. They are long, cumbersome transactions that are often unsuccessful with at least the first buyers as most buyers want to buy and move in on a specific target date and the red tape makes that an impossibility to forecast.

In our area, buyers are beginning to be asked NOT to see short sales, even if they perfectly fit their needs.

Real Estate is Local,... and your very best advice should be from an experienced and trusted broker in your area.

Take the loss now before the market goes even lower. Ask the bank what they will take - better to pay the IRS tax bill at the end of the year-you can make an arrangement with them to pay it off. Assuming you are in the 28% tax bracket loss of $20K would be approx $5600.00 to the IRS(talk to your accountant)

Call your bank first- see what they will do. if you have had your loan for many years-you have already paid your loan 2-3 times what you borrowed.

Beergirl; If there is an alternative solution to a Short Sale, it is worth investigating. When a property is sold for less than what is owed and the bank takes the hit, the borrower remains liable for the difference. In some cases Deficiency Judgments are filed for that amount and in some cases, when the bank writes it off,.. the Borrower ends up with a tax bill based on the amount of the loss.

My recommendation would be to pull the property off the market,.. talk to some people who have property managers in your area and let them manage the property. Yes, there is some cost involved in this, but in the end that cost may be less than putting the wrong tenant in the property, having it sit vacant for extended periods, or the headaches involved with being a landlord.

Costs for Property managers vary,.. our fees are 50% of first months rent and then 10% thereafter. You may be tempted to price shop,.. DON'T DO IT. This investment is worth protecting,.. go by reputation and find a manager who is focused on keeping the property in good condition and finding solid tenants.

Then in a year or 2,.. and while you are in between leases,.. put the property back on the market for sale or rent,,.. whichever comes first.

Debbie-
We have already purchased another home and have been there since last fall. We tried renting and it was a nightmare! Then we tried to rent again a few months later to people we knew, then they backed out of the deal. No one really wants to rent a house that is for sale around here. [Not that I can blame them]
Our contract is up in July and I wondering if I should take it off the market just to get a renter, we desperately need the income. But on the flipside, I'm not the landlord type.

Hi. It depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If you are looking to buy another home you maybe able to make up the loss on the buy side. If you need to move to another area, are you willing to be a landlord? Renters don't always care for your house like you'd like and this direction does have some downfalls. I'd contact a local agent and find out if your area is just in a temporary slow down or worse and then make a decision based on that knowledge...Real estate is very localized. But from the little info you told me...I'd wait it out. My area is already in recovery mode. Thank You Lord!!!
Debbie Barnard

We need to sell because we are paying two morgages and do not have the cash difference. It would have to be financed. My agent is busting her butt trying to sell this house and we have had lots of traffic for almost a year now, no offers! We have adjusted the price twice and come down 25k.

That all depends on your reason for wanting to sell and whether or not you have the 15-20k to pay off the difference at closing.