The Official HomeRoute Blog

Back on the market

Note: This is the fifth in a series of posts regarding my personal home-selling and buying experience.

Well, our buyers have really disappeared. Their real estate agent has had no word from them. We’re sending the buying agent a formal notice to say that we consider the buying agreement void because the buyers are in breach of contract (not to mention missing!)

So we’re still on the market and trying to keep our house in showing condition, which isn’t always easy with two working parents, two toddlers, two cats and a dog.

It’s funny how the home buying and selling process becomes so emotional. When we put our house on the market, we were prepared to wait months for a sale. After an offer came in quickly, we switched gears and stepped up our research and visits to the area we plan to buy a house.

Now we switch to neutral again as we await our future buyer.

-- Tonja Deegan

Have you seen my homebuyer?

Note: This is the fourth in a short series of posts regarding my personal home-selling and buying experience.

In my above note, I said my process was going to be a short series. Looks like I was wrong.

Our buyers are still missing. Yes, missing. My agent and their agent both say they’ve never seen or heard of anything like this before.

Their agent has called them at home and at work and has been to their house a couple of times. He just can’t get in contact with them. The final move this week was to send them a certified letter. We’ll see if USPS can track them down. And the kicker is: technically, the buyers have to sign a “release of purchase” agreement to opt out. And they can’t sign it if we can’t find them.

So our agent has taken our house off of the pending list and returned it to active. We have a showing today.

So I’m really at a loss as to what happens now. What if we get an offer? Can we accept it? The missing buyers haven’t released the purchase agreement. It’s such a strange situation.

-- Tonja Deegan

When an offer becomes iffy; and shopping for a new home

Note: This is the third in a short series of posts regarding my personal home-selling and buying experience.

So, the buying agent says we still have an offer but he cannot get in touch with his clients. To be fair, there are things out of anyone’s control, such as the purchaser’s wife being in the hospital unexpectedly.

The inspection was scheduled to be within seven days of the offer. Today is day eight with no inspection. So we wait. And wonder.

The buyer’s agent says he is going to the buyer’s house today. He called the husband’s work and he’s not scheduled to be in until Monday, in order to tend to his wife. However, a call to the daughter finds that the wife is doing well and the husband will call right away. That was three days ago.

My agent, the seller’s agent, is about to change our listing from pending to active if we don’t hear anything today.

On the personal side, I understand what the family is going through. On the professional side, a short courtesy call to the agent to ask for a few extra days for the inspection is in order.

On the other hand, I continue to look at homes and learn neighborhoods to decide where we’ll relocate.

Now, I have nothing against dogs and have one of my own. However, if you have 24 hours’ notice that someone is going to look at your home, wouldn’t you do some scooping? Too many danger spots while walking around the yard, and of course my shoe became a target.

At another home, I noticed the steps to the finished basement looked steep, and sure enough when I started walking down, I slipped and landed on my wrist.

Those were two signs that those weren’t the houses for my family.

Next up: three more showings today. Stay tuned.

-- Tonja Deegan

The Open House

Note: This is the second in a short series of posts regarding my personal home-selling and buying experience.

We had been on the market for 10 days before we had our open house on Sunday. We had no showings before then, and our real estate agent told us that four couples came through. We had one offer by Sunday night.

So right now, I’m obviously in favor of an open house. The couple was with their agent, on their way to offer on another place when they drove by our open house sign. They came in and said forget the other place, let’s offer here.

So, is an open house a waste of time? Not in this case.

The Los Angeles Times has a recent article that says an open house is a good part of any marketing plan.

And the Rain City Guide blog is talking about the benefits of an open house.

Hat tip to the Matrix for the L.A. Times article.

-- Tonja Deegan

Home selling 101

Note: This is the first in a short series of posts regarding my personal home-selling and buying experience.

The first time I sold a home, the market was booming. It was 1998, and my small house sold in less than two weeks for more than the asking price after a quick bidding war.

My, how times have changed. I now live in another town in the same state, and neighbors have pulled homes after the market after not selling for six months or more.

So why am I even trying to sell now? Well, I have a new job here, and my husband already works nearby. So our jobs are now 40 and 50 miles from home. Add in two small children to the mix and our family spends too much time on the road.

So now I’m researching the selling market much more intensely than I did the first time around. I used our HomeRoute service to find a Realtor.

I checked Zillow to see home prices in my area. Unfortunately, none are listed there yet. I also checked RealEstateABC and they do have sale prices in my neighborhood. I also read the local newspapers, which publishes sold prices by city.

I’ve also started reading about staging a home and various tips to make it more appealing. I’ve read opinions regarding open houses that range from “complete waste of time” to “you never know if that one person will stop and that’s your buyer.” I took the home sellers quiz at our Homes101 site and read up on some other tips there, too.

And of course, I’ve talked extensively to my Realtor and have asked questions about my area and the market in general.

The ride’s just starting and I have a feeling it’s going to be an interesting one!

-- Tonja Deegan