Michael Pierce

Hi Shoshanna,

I would love to help but that is not enough information for anyone to be able to give you a figure that is anywhere near accurate. Values change signifigantly from street to street, let alone across a zip code. You also did not mention if the home was on a Basement, Crawl Space or Slab, the square footage above grade, square footage finished in the basement, age of the mechanicals, type of floorplan, address, street, or subdivision, etc. With that information, someone should be able to give you a ballpark but to be really accurate one would need to see the home. - Sat Jul 26 2008, 19:23

Check with your agent to see if it is a foreclosure or a short sale. In my experiences, a short sale can sometimes even take longer then a foreclosure. - Tue Jul 22 2008, 14:59

I am sure you will get a lot of responses from agents wanting to show you homes in your area. That may be a good oppurtunity for you to find someone you are comfortable working with. If you are getting started in the process that is fine, a good buyers agent will not rush you along. Your first priority should be finding an agent who is not only a good fit for your personality but also someone who is knowlegeable, experienced, and trustworthy. If you are using an agent to look at homes but do not intend on using them as a buyers agent then you are not only wasting their time but your own. If you were looking at those homes with your buyers agent that time is not wasted because even if you dont like the home, you are learning from someone who is representing your best interest and also allowing your buyers agent time to get to know your likes and dislikes so they can better help you in the home buying process. Good luck with your search.

Mike - Mon Jul 7 2008, 09:01

Hi Lina,

There is nothing wrong with trying to sell FSBO. When trying to find what the homes true market value is, dont get hung up onthe hoems currently on the market. Make sure you concentrate on comparables that have sold in the area or subdivision, those will be the best indicator of value. The county appraissal is often irrelevant to value as well so dont worry about what that price is at or what it was at. Good luck with your sale.

Mike - Fri Jun 27 2008, 17:48

I orignally responded to this post to help Lina with the question at hand, not defend myself from Joe's response that insinuated to question the honesty in my answer..so this is my last response and Im done with my point:

Of course buyers look online for homes (83% actually as of the last survey by NAR), the internet is by far my number one marketing tool, but if you noticed I said..."if you do not have an agent with a business plan that can effectively market your home (by many means) then just putting a home in the MLS is almost worthless". This does not mean the MLS is worthless or that people dont use the internet to find homes. If you put a home in the MLS, that doesnt automatically mean it is effective marketing. The MLS is only a small part of the marketing of a home (since the MLS itself is actually not public) the IDX feed I assume is what you meant since that is what is public but lets just use the MLS data that is entered as an example here...lets not get into how important it is to have a user friendly website that allows for many different search features (of the homes in the IDX feed) and maximizes the exposure of your listings. Since it is the website itself , not only its content that attract buyers to the site. But again, I wont get into that right now, lets just talk the listing being entered in the MLS itself.

Is the information thorough, accurate, and descriptive? Are there the maximum images aloud by the MLS? Are these quality images preferbly taken with a wide angle lense that maximizes the features of the home? Is there a virtual tour or video to set your homes apart from the other 100's of homes on the market? Is the school information filled out so the home will show up on School searches? Are the marketing remarks descriptive and filled out in a way for optimization on search engines and other IDX sites with keyword search capabilities? Is your listing effectively being marketed to attract the most amount of showings from buyers agents as well as buyers? Is your listing buyers agent friendly? Is the home priced properly in the MLS? Did one's agent use comparable solds to determine what price to put the home into the MLS for? Does one's agent have comparable data prepared to use as ammunition in an attempt to get an offer from showings that have taken place on the home (or when negotiating with a buyers agent when an offer does come in?) . And that is just a small example of how different the range of effectiveness of listings in the MLS can be. - Fri Jun 27 2008, 15:42

In response to Joes remark:

"an honest real estate agent would tell you that the majority of activity is on the MLS"

If that were the case, sites like Trulia would not exist. Agents who do not know any better would tell you that. Real Estate 2.0 has changed how people find homes.

Mike - Fri Jun 27 2008, 14:45

Hi Lina,

It is important to remember that if you do not have an agent with a business plan that can effectively market your home (by many means) then just putting a home in the MLS is almost worthless.

While the slow market and low demand for half duplexes does hurt...It seems to me that one issue you also are having is that the only half duplexes to sell in your subdivision in the past 2 years for over 100K each had a garage and were 14.795% larger then your home. I know you have recently refinished the entire home but the 85% increase is asking price from when you bought it 4 months ago is probably a stretch. If your improvement costs were such that you have to sell your home for its current asking price then you probably over developed the home for its size (especially since the home does not have a garage). I am not trying to be harsh or offend you, I am only being honest.

Mike - Fri Jun 27 2008, 13:49

As far as the MLS is concerned here in KC, a home's days on the market will continue to run even if the home is listed with another agent. So when agents see the home in the MLS, it will still show that it has been on the market for a year, no matter if it has a new agent or even a new mls number. - Sat Jun 21 2008, 09:24