Sell My House: Real Life Confessions from a Seller
In a time when it’s incredibly hard to be a seller in Orange County, I thought it would be good to hear from sellers that have had recent success.
Meet the previous owners of 7157 E. Magdalena Drive in Orange. Due to a relocation out of state from a job transfer, this family was forced to put their house up for sale. It was a gorgeous newer home in east Orange: five bedrooms, three baths, and 3,662 square feet.
Their house was listed for 93 days before they accepted an offer. They put the house on the market in August and escrow finally closed in mid-December, selling for $865,000.
After no activity for months, the family had reduced their price from over $1M to $899,000. While they bought in 2001 for only $582,500 and had room to go down even further, their goal was to leave with enough for a down payment for their new home. Eventually, they received three offers. And, as they were told repeatedly throughout the whole selling process (and were getting a little sick of hearing it), “It only takes one!” finally applied.
When asked if they had any concerns about how the market was fairing when they decided to put the house up for sale, they responded, “Yes, the market had been falling for the past year so we were concerned that it would continue downward and we would not get as much for the house. We were also concerned about people not wanting to buy now and wait for prices to drop further. The amount of foreclosures on the market was also a concern since that drove our price down.” The sellers were dealing with a foreclosure just a block away, which can be crippling to nearby prices as many consider foreclosures fair comps.
Selling a house is stressful. If you’re a seller, I don’t need to tell you that. How do you think these sellers responded when asked to rate their house-selling stress on a scale of 1 to 10 (with a 1 being no added stress and a 10 being the most stressful experience you’ve ever faced in your life)? They responded with a “9″. Yeah, that stressful.
Does having experience selling a home help? These sellers had sold a residential property before (in San Diego in 2000). They remarked, “That experience was less stressful since the market was better and we did not have any children.” If that isn’t an understatement, I don’t know what is.
Lastly, when asked what would you say to someone who is currently trying to sell their home, these successful sellers said, “You will get frustrated, but as long as you are a conscientious seller by keeping your home clean and neat, there will be a buyer for it.” Inspirational words from a true success story.
Recent Sweet Digs Posts:
Singing for Condos on Singingwood
At least you didn’t move to Santa Ana?
Ellie at Redfin said:
Thanks for the great interview, Julie. As a home-seller in this market (also forced by a new job) it is frustrating and stressful. But there’s comfort in knowing that others are just as anxious, there are buyers out there- albeit slow-moving ones.
January 30, 2008 1:01 PM
Julie Lance said:
Yes! Buyers are out there, somewhere.
I think these sellers are definitely inspirational. They definitely had some trying times, but they made it.
January 30, 2008 1:11 PM
Red said:
So the answer is to reduce your price to $236 per square foot? Should we tell 7059 E. Magdelena, who are listed at $284 ? ( $925,000 for 3,261 sq. ft.) Since they are 4 doors away, do you think they already know? Just think, drop the price by $155,000 to $770,000 and sell the house!
But no, that would be waaaay below market, the average list price is over $300 sq. ft. in the neighborhood; 7059 already HAS the lowest price per foot in the neighborhood. Only been on the market 99 days, just needs more exposure.
Yes, the buyers are out there somewhere, and there is a way to find them….
January 31, 2008 12:04 PM
Julie Lance said:
Eventually 7059 is going to have to deal with this comp. They only have four bedrooms while the one featured in this post had five… quite a difference. They’ll also have to deal with a foreclosure near by that has yet to show up on the comp’s. While the price per square foot is a good indicator of value… banks will be looking at what actually sold nearby.
January 31, 2008 1:19 PM
Tips for Home Buyers: Know Your Money | Redfin Orange County Sweet Digs said:
[...] (New Year’s Resolution: Sell My House!, Disclosing the bad and the ugly, Get out of the house!, Real Life Confessions from a Seller). Now, I think it’s time to focus on other side… the buyers. Since it’s a [...]
February 26, 2008 7:50 AM