Immense Discounts Found in a Flat Housing Market

Everyone has heard the bad news about the housing market: foreclosures, beautiful houses gone unsold, house prices lower than the home’s equity, called “short sales”, and many other nightmares.

You may be asking yourself, “Can I sell my house in this kind of market?” The answer is, yes you can, but under certain conditions.

Of course, your house must not be in foreclosure. New York State, for example, has a backlog of three years of foreclosed property. In Las Vegas, Nevada, fifty three percent of all sold homes are under some kind of foreclosure. REOs, or “real estate owned by the bank” makes you no money. Therefore, it is imperative that you’ve kept current with your mortgage payments.

There are several ways that you can sell your house, but you must have had the foresight and have done certain things, or else you must be flexible with interested or “motivated” buyers.

Many people, when buying their houses, were uncomfortable with large home mortgages hanging over their heads. In their case, they “rounded up”, meaning, for example, if their monthly mortgage was $1100.00 a month, they paid $1200 to $1500.

In this case, they have more equity, or own more of their home. These people have several options. They can do a “For Sale by Owner”, without having to resort to this tactic because of missed payments and not get as good a deal as they should have.

Other things sellers can do are to set up a lease program or “lease to own”, or take over the financing of their home to interested, qualified buyers. As you can see, those who had the foresight and fiscal discipline regarding their mortgages are the sellers who have the advantage now.

Everyone has seen those huge, empty houses. In the property boom, these houses were called “Mc Mansions” and were very popular with the buying public, especially with blended families needing the space the house could give. These are one of the most blighted areas in real estate.

However, if you are in the market for something large, and in some cases, custom built, your large equity in your smaller home might be just the deal the bank, which owns the Mc Mansion, would be happy to accommodate.

Catch the eye of home buyers by making your house look as homey and welcoming as possible. Find the kind of buyer as fiscally disciplined as you, cut a fair deal, and your wish to "sell my house" becomes reality.