Real Estate Questions???

With today’s real estate market, I’m not certain whether I should sale (attempt) and purchase or hold my cards? I purchased my home in 2003 and was lucky to afford a 20% down payment and paid all closing costs up front. I’ve upgraded or paid out of pocket: kitchen/dinning pergo floors; garage door opener; fridge (standard 18 CU); interior paint, plantation blinds (faux wood); some lighting fixtures; microwave, solid surface stove (rarely used as I don’t cook; cats like to lay on it to keep ‘cool’); landscaping (additional trees, shrubs, perennials, raised garden bed); and additional sod (builder placed 3 pallets and I later placed 5 pallets, yet not entire yard is covered yet by centipede on .39 acre). My home is 1225 sf, and although I’m fine with the square footage, spreading across 3 bedrooms takes away from each room. If it were only bedrooms and a jack/jill bathroom, it would be much more spacious. Also, I’d like less yard. Why? Because in a few months I’ll purchase my own horse and don’t want to spend time in yard when I could be at the barn!

I purchased my present home new in 2003 after my divorce as I did not want to pay rent when I could have an investment and tax write-off. Also, I wanted to learn to live on my own.

I’ve always wanted a house in the country where I’d have my own horse on site, yet being single this is difficult b/c the work involved would leave little time for riding. Also, horses are social animals and would need a companion, i.e., another horse, donkey, goats, etc. All of which would require more money and care! Additionally, I’ve looked at ‘horse friendly’ or equine communities which are very expensive, above $250,000 for lot & home, not including fences and barn! So, have looked at townhouse communities around mid $150s. There are new concepts such as ‘villages’ with grocer, physician, business, parks, pools, walking paths, etc. all w/in walking distance and encompassed within the ‘village’ and mixed with single family and varied condos/townhouses.

My mortgage is $600, less than rent on a 2-bedroom apartment.

My vehicle is 7 years old with 85,000 miles and I’ve not had a car payment since 1995. Thus, I’m a bit frightened about having a car payment. I like to drive my vehicles 8-years, then sell rather than trade as I usually come out better. However, Fall 2008 I’d like to purchase a new vehicle with towing capacity for a 2-horse trailer. Thus, car payments.

So, guess I propose my question as should I sell/buy now with today’s real estate market (buyers rather than sellers market) and have a higher mortgage and drive my car 2 – 3 more years, or wait and purchase new vehicle and pay off then sale/buy new home while earning more equity and hoping market will improve and make a profit? Either way, I’d really like solid surface countertops, upgraded counters, plumbing fixtures, wood floors, etc. Perhaps by then, I could build my own cottage of my design and specifications on a smaller lot with the same square footage now and a 1-car garage. Who knows, perhaps I’ll come across an ‘antique’ home with original wood floors that I could up-date with ‘green’ materials?

Here I’ve exhibited the facts, thoughts that will affect my decision, yet local realtors don’t really care about a single woman’s thoughts that affect her decision making. They simply want to make a sale, especially with the present market.

I’d appreciate your thoughts and suggestions, let me know if you need my zip code. Having typed these scenarios, I find myself leaning towards waiting a few years until the next vehicle is paid off – for those who wait good things come! Yet, I would like your inputs. Thank you ladies.

Hard to expect any real estate agent to have the expertise to advise you on investment options. Maybe you should see a financial planner.

My instinct after reading your situation and without super-analyzing the facts, is to determine how long you can carry a mortgage like yours.

I suppose you bought a home that large as an investment. I know several single women who each have a large home and is the owner.

It does require time, money and effort to maintain a home beyond 2 bedrooms if you are single. I know a single woman who even manages and owns 2 homes --her parents that she inherited and a cottage 100 kms. away. She rents neither property. Each home has 3 bedrooms, garden and large lawns.


In the long-term it is always better to own a nice smaller residential property. after all, better to spend more time with horse than on the house???

When the market is a good buying market,…buy

When the market is a good selling market,…sell

If you have to sell in order to buy another piece of real-estate, do it only if you get a profit from the transaction.

My advice to you, MustangGal is to put your real-estate on the market at the price you need , in order to buy the real-estate you want . If you don't get that price, then don't sell. You have nothing to lose if you just try, but everything to gain. Also put your real-estate on the market as a private seller. If the market is bad, buyers will want to avoid real-estate fees.

I'm in the real-estate business in Germany, but the principle remains the same. Good luck to you. Hope you can full fill your dream.

Right now, it's a buyer's market, not a seller's! Also, many new subdivisions have homes not sold -- empty with no families! Sadly, phase 3 will begin soon in my neighboorhood, and there are unsold homes rented out -- seems one can tell the difference between a rented and owned simply by the yard's care.

Guess I had the bug. I'll hold my cards for now and hope for a better market letter where I'll profit and not break even.

Thanks for ya'lls help Orchid and Hannelore, good idea regarding FSBO, too!

Mustang, you wrote" local realtors don’t really care about a single woman’s thoughts that affect her decision making. They simply want to make a sale, especially with the present market." I am a real estate broker in Colorado, and I would say that the above statement is not at all true here. We really care about a person's position, and it is a matter of ethics to be absolutely truthful. The brokers I work with agonize over how to help a client to the client's best interest. This is a buyer's market. That means that buyers can and will ask for the moon and the stars. In real estate terms, that means the buyers will ask the sellers to pay closing costs, to fix anything that needs repair, to pay for a home warranty for the buyer's first year...etc. For every home that is on the market, there are 7-10 just like them for sale too. Have you heard today's news that home values have declined for the first time in history. FSBO can be a nightmare. Yes, Mustang, I would agree that you hold your cards for now. I looked at horse properties over the weekend for myself. It is my dream too! And for now, it will remain a (sigh) dream. L, PL

What is FSBO?

For Sale by Owner

Thanks Kathy. I came up with the wierdest things, like: Freaky Sellers BO, or Fouling Shack, But Out!
But not that one. ...Time for me to go to bed.

Hannelore, you don't use FSBO in Germany? Do you speak German? Is the buy/sell process as complicated as it is in COLORADO! I mean here, you can't even breathe in the house without disclosing that you took a breath. The contracts are pages and pages long. How about overseas?

Oh yes, Lenora, FSBO is done a lot in Germany…but of course we don't have the same abbreviation. I never sold real-estate in America, so I'm not familiar with the terms. And yes, I speak fluent German.

Selling privately in Germany is not difficult, because as soon as the seller has a buyer, then they go to the notary, and he does all the paper work. Real-estate agents in Germany don't have as much authority as they do in the States. Our job is primarily getting buyer and seller together. The contracts and so forth are all done at the notary for which he gets 1,5% of the sales. We don't get as high commissions as the real-estate agents do in the States. We usually just get a commission from the buyer, and that is 3,5% of the sales price.

Hi Hannelore, that is a very different way of doing business!

Yet another test...sorry!

Ladies, how's the real estate market in your locality now?

Hi Mustang, I like the new picture. As you know my day job is real estate agent in Colorado. Starving real estate agent. The market is not good. It should be because interest rates are at a two year low, and there are plenty of homes on the market. The media hints at recession are frightening to buyers. Foreclosures are causing short sales; the bank will take whatever it can to get a house out of its foreclosure inventory. In Arizona, I hear there are a lot of "walk aways" which means that owners who cannot afford the rising interest rates on the ARM (adjustable rate mortgages)... the owners just leave their homes in the middle of the night. These are middle-class subdivision homes being left vacant. Retirement communities have houses on the market for over a year. Another thing that happened is that when people bought their houses two-five years ago, they figured that within this time frame they would have received promotions, pay increases, etc. Instead, there are lay offs. Yikes! Doom and gloom! I glanced at your original post. I don't know the southeast market (although I do know a good agency in the Carolinas). What are you thinking of doing? Selling, moving on, staying put? Ask a question, I give you an essay! PL

after decades of going up, up, up, the Socali housing market has screeched to a halt. Not totally, but houses are taking a year to sell where they used to be on market for a month, and prices are remaining steady.

Since I'm neither buying nor selling, I read about this in the newspaper but am not impacted very much.

Construction is going as crazy as ever.
There was just a real estate special on TV lately, about the market in the Houston area. It told how people were selling out on the coasts and moving to Houston. The market for the big $$$ houses (custom mansions) is the strongest. Lower end housing, @ $150k and below, is moving slowly. Mansions are being bought up, and the buyers are paying cash... per the reporting.

I wish everyone would go back home. We bought here, going on 15 years ago, because it was rural. Now you can hear the trains and highway noise, and we're a good 2.5 to 3 miles away (drive wise). I hate it. They are whacking down trees, taking away the very reason for living in a country setting... and laying more concrete - lots and lots more. There are shopping strips popping up everywhere ... I say Go Away!!!!! Leave the trees alone!!!!! Go trade dollars elsewhere!!!! You can leave the college and hospitals, though.

Anne, that is what we all want: mortgage free, debt free. I would not want to look at what I will pay for this property over time including the interest. As with any investment you have to be in it for the long haul. I have heard that Houston is a popular place, Gims.

Too popular, in my opinion... lol, even tho it's not the most popular Texas spot (either, Austin or Dallas-Ft. Worth would probably grab that title). I think it's just a good area in which to invest... that's the real draw, I'm thinking... that, and the fact that we have a developing and diversified economy - we're not all about oil, any more. We have major medical complexes, the port, tech sectors, manufacturing companies (all around the city), major financial institutions, great colleges and universities (Rice, Baylor, St. Thomas, etc.), big name companies - HP, which bought out Compaq, for one,... the list goes on. We don't have the bubbling house prices, either. You can get a 5k sqft home for what you'd pay for a 900-1200 sqft home in southern Cali - customized, to boot.

OK Gims, you sold me on the place. It sounds like a good area not only to invest in home but also for me to sell real estate! I love what I do as a Realtor I just wish there was a hopping market here in CO. The only thing about TX? I am weather sensitive: it's either too hot or too cold or too wet or too sunny or in the case of TX, too humid. We lived in Dallas for 6 months, the land of big hair and long nails, booth tans, and tornadoes! I hope you love where you live!

The market in Baltimore is extremely S L O W right now. Realtors and builders are hurting. Let's just hope they saved from all they made on the market for the past several years. The market was on fire with people bidding above the selling price, but that has changed drastically.

PL, it is humid!!! here. Almost unlivable, at times. I remember when I got off the plane after returning from the panhandle in '72, before there was parking in garages. I stepped out from the building and a wall of humidity took my breath away, literally. The heat is even worse now, with all the concrete around... at least, it seems like it. It might be that I'm just older and can't deal with it, anymore.
The roaches are as big as mice.
The misquitos are so big, they need landing strips.
We have two languages, now.
The crime, although improving, got worse after Katrina's transplants arrived (some decided to stay).
Many other bad aspects.
Would I like to move... YES! but, my babies and grands are here. But, you can bet if they move, I'll follow.

Gimster...I thought you were describing where I live...except you can add to the list of varments...yellow flies, deer flies...there are days one cannot stop out of one's home because they'll be eaten alive or carried off by some winged insect. And the roaches...here they call them 'tree roaches'. I don't care what they call them...they freak me out and I cannot stand them...normally, the come out of nowhere and I end up on the ceiling, screaming for Larry to come kill the thing.

As for the home market here...it's a buyers market, not a sellers market...and the price of homes anymore is outrageous. I would hold off, if possible, on selling until the market becomes stronger and you can get top dollar for your home and afford a car payment comfortably. I, too, didn't have a car payment for about 6 years...oh, brother, when I did, it was frustrating...but, you adjust.