Why is it you can't sell your house but U find the exact farm you want?--UPDATE sorta

[ChocoMare]

Le :sigh:

http://www.georgiamls.com/search/propDetail.cfm?LN=2583982

No, our current house isn't even on the market. Why try to sell when nothing is selling? But I still like to poke and dream. Found this beauty this morning.

Now if I could just convince my friend to buy my house (and she'd be perfect for it: single, one cat, one dog), we could move next month :winkgrin: :lol:

Oh well..... in His time :)

[LisaB]

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
2 house mortgages for 6 months is what we did and didn't regret it one bit.
Im' a total enabler. Sorry!

[ChocoMare]

Not! :winkgrin:

Just can't do 2 mortgages at once. We'd be more than broke.

[Ride2Dreams]

All THAT for 189K??!? Gee, I should look into moving to Georgia

[LisaB]

We looked at all kinds of mortgage options available. If you have some equity in the other house and it looks like the market is picking up in your area, contact a mortgage broker to see what options you have available.
We did the 2 mortgage deal because we owed little on house 1 and it was a very low interest rate. We got a loan from parents and gave them back the money from proceeds when we sold the house. We low balled our down payment because it was in the middle of the housing crash. Lucky for us! We paid off all other debt and put in fencing and that's all that was left.
Also, it looks like it's empty. Any thoughts on lease to buy? I bet the owners would be negotiable.

[JSwan]

ChocoMare-

At least call the broker and go see it.

You never know when He is opening a door for you.



When we bought this place - I'd been looking for a long time. I was distraught. Miserable. Feeling sorry for myself. My good friends bought a place and it lovely. Made me feel even sorrier for myself.

Soon after moving in they called me and said they saw a for sale sign on place near them - would I like the number. Yeah sure -ok, I whined. It will never happen - glass is half empty and may drain completely.... boo hoo. Sniff.

And here I am. It took us a long time to get the place looking as bad as it does now - it was a fixer upper and we had little money.

But here I am - spending the day (again) making more tomato sauce, chickens in the back yard, horses in the barn......

A door was opened for me and I walked through. Maybe it's your turn!

[ChocoMare]

ChocoMare-

At least call the broker and go see it.

You never know when He is opening a door for you.

Mmmmm, good point. Maybe they'll trade! :winkgrin:

[FatPalomino]

All THAT for 189K??!? Gee, I should look into moving to Georgia

I know!!!

OP: The Market isn't dead everywhere. Our place goes up for sale tonight, due to my husband's new and better job. The most similiar comp to ours- exact same house, nearly identical barn- sold last month in 10 days. There's a bank owned property with acreage around the block that's had at least 4 offers in the week it's been listed. Who knows what will happen with our property.

We've got a unique, affordable property in tip-top shape so we may be able to sell it fast. We're moving to an area, just over an hour away, where the properties we like have been listed for over a year. It varies from area to area.

If your not "into" your current property for too much, it's a good time to look and try to upgrade. With mortgage rates being so low, we can afford to spend more than we could 3 years ago, and have the same payment.

[ChocoMare]

I am thinking about calling/consulting with the agent that helped us buy/sell our first home and found us the home we're in now....just to get his gut feeling on whether he thinks it would move or not. When we considered it five years ago, he got the sense that the market was shifting and told us "not yet."

While I don't mind doing the self-care boarding (and we do have it good there), I just want my mares at home, where I can look out the kitchen window and see them happily being horses.

[FatPalomino]

I am thinking about calling/consulting with the agent that helped us buy/sell our first home and found us the home we're in now....just to get his gut feeling on whether he thinks it would move or not. When we considered it five years ago, he got the sense that the market was shifting and told us "not yet."



Call our more than one :)
We had about 6 agents look at our property. We got a 60K range in what we should list it for. Most agents thought it would sell quickly. One didn't (we would have never listed with him, anyway). Many gave us tips on how to best show our property, what to do to sell it quick, etc. They pulled similiar comps, showed us what our competition is (one the market now, etc). Look at the Days on the Market.


We are very excited about our upcoming move. It's something we wouldn't have been able to do 3 years ago. We love our current place very much, too, and will be very sad to see it go!

Good luck :)

[MadHuntMom]

OMG!!! That property is amazing for less than $200!!! I live in a townhouse with practically no yard for the same amount! Wish I could move to Georgia!

[1Walks1Trots]

ChocoMare,

Hang in there, it's possible!! We put our house up for sale and in the meantime started looking at small farms where we could have the horses at home instead of boarding. We found our dream place in November of 2008. Our house just wouldn't sell (took over 2 1/2 years) so we could buy it :( . We tried to talk them into owner financing so we could lease our house, a land contract, anything. I told them if we ever got an offer on our house I'd be there in minutes. We kept in touch and for "some reason" they never sold. We got a contract in June and sold our house. We closed on that farm two weeks ago. :D The owner said he always felt like it was meant to be our home. We're just astounded it didn't sell.

Keep hoping and looking for ways, and know it might take time but you'll get there! Keep us posted!

[2DogsFarm]

Chocomare - I firmly believe when a thing is meant to be, it happens.

Not once, but 3 times now I have found farms that would suit me just fine in the area I want to eventually retire to.
I have horsy friends living there already who keep me posted on places up for sale, sometimes before they're even listed.
It is just 2 hours East of where I am now, so I visit pretty regularly.
All 3 were setup for horses & listed for prices below - some waaaay below - what I could get for my place here.

And each time I backed down because:
1 - I was not ready to commit to making the move
2 - I couldn't get what I want to out of my present place (RE market being what it is these days) so I can retire with a nice nest egg & no mortgage.
And most important:
3 - because they were not perfect for me & my horses.

I built my barn here and converted bean fields to pasture and the way I set it up has been perfect for me for 5 years now.
I'm not sure I want to adapt to anyone else's setup and I can't recoup enough from a sale here to rebuild to my satisfaction there.

Like 1Walks1Trots said: when it is meant to be mine I'll know.

That place looks like a deal. I don't know pricing in your area, but the house appears well cared for & the setup is turnkey for horses.
I agree with those who said get creative with realtors.
Contracts that have a contingency clause can work in your favor.
If you feel ready to make the change Go For It!
What's the worst that can happen? You stay in your present place?

[ChocoMare]

That place looks like a deal. I don't know pricing in your area, but the house appears well cared for & the setup is turnkey for horses.
I agree with those who said get creative with realtors.
Contracts that have a contingency clause can work in your favor.
If you feel ready to make the change Go For It!
What's the worst that can happen? You stay in your present place?

Yeah, we tried four or so years ago. Looked, looked, looked and looked some more. Found one place that seemed almost perfect and asked for a "contingency clause." The seller agreed to it and we put in an offer with earnest money. It all fell through due to the shady/sneaky dealings of the sellers agent. :mad: - We just weren't supposed to move then.

Sooo, now four years later and I'm getting the itch to look again. Just dipping my toe in so to speak. ;)

[riff]

Wow! I live in the area and that place sounds like a great deal! If I was even thinking about moving I would be tempted. It looks like it's ready for the horses and a new family to move right in. Cute farm.

[ChocoMare]

Don't let me hold you back Riff. Go for it!

P.S. Since we're "neighbors," feel free to come visit/ride the Silver Comet Trail with me. I board right on it....just a short hay field walk down the fenceline and I'm there :D

[riff]

Thanks Chocomare! But I built the log house I had always dreamed of about 10 years ago on a 100 acre cattle farm that we inherited in Polk County. I've always thought about riding on the Silver Comet but my guy is afraid of bicycles. Not horribly afraid but they do unnerve him. Is there a lot of bike traffic? And feel free to come up here and ride! We are just down the road from timber tracts that back up to the Talledega National Forest area. During deer hunting season I ride at Berry College and would love to have company.

[ChocoMare]

The bikes are minimal very early in the morning, but they are there :(

Might just take you up on your offer tho, now that I have a trailer! :D

[riff]

I have a very cute guest horse as well. At Berry they have separated the horse and bike trails. Riff is a happy boy now. :)

[ChocoMare]

Every time I go up to Sunkissed Acres, right passed Berry, I dream of what it would be like to ride there. Now maybe I can :D

[Huntertwo]

Chocomare,
I do indeed feel your pain...:( We are also looking, have found some nice places, but nothing is moving around here. Had the house on the market most of last summer, tons of showings and just one low ball offer.

We are refinancing and will try again, but I'm not getting my hopes up at all.

Don't feel alone....:sigh:

[ChocoMare]

Oh pooh H2 :( -- Well, we'll hold each others hands through the process and pray for just the right place at just the right time :winkgrin:

[Huntertwo]

Oh pooh H2 :( -- Well, we'll hold each others hands through the process and pray for just the right place at just the right time :winkgrin:

Deal...:) Misery loves company, right? :(

[spotnnotfarm]

Chocomare don't worry. We found our farm and then placed our old house on the market. Needless to say it did not sell. We ended up taking our home off the market and gave up on owning a farm. A year later I saw our farm was still for sale so we made an offer contingent on our house selling. Our home sold in 4 weeks. Speak to an agent and see waht they say, you live in a growing area....

[inquisitive]

I'm not sure what the market is like in your area but around here it's really picking up. My parents' house sold in a week! (and had multiple offers)

They did the same thing and put in an offer on a farm (though no contingency) and put theirs on the market and really lucked out.

Best wishes!

[MistyBlue]

There's also the possibility or renting out your current home and buying your farm...IF your area can demand a high enough rent to cover the expenses of the first home (mortgage and taxes hopefully) and if you get in a good renter who's going to pay on time and not trash your house, run a meth lab, dump toxic waste in the yard or accidentally open a new portal to hell in the basement or something. :winkgrin: :lol: :winkgrin:
Ask your Realtor about that...you can use a Realtor to rent out your property and request them to do the credit check and background check/references. (If that's allowable in your state) The average commission on a Realtor doing your rental for you is one month's rent to the Realtor. Covered usually by having a first, last and security deposit required. Not to mention that having renters pay a first month, last month and security usually weeds out most of the moron non-payers.
You can also have it written in the renting contract that after a certain period of time the house will be on the market while it's rented...that time frame is up to you. If you get in really good renters you can wait a year or two to market it if you want to. Otherwise after 6 months of renting or so the house goes on the market and the renter has to make it available for showing ____ amount of times per week. (in the renting contract) Helps if those times for showings are during the day during the week when the renter is working or one weekend day every week.
That's what I've had clients do i the past when they've found what they wanted and their house wasn't selling fast enough to comply with the Hubbard Clause they had on the new property. We've done the same when we had a condo to sell and found our next house...that condo complex wasn't in the best area for sales and the builder of the condos never finished the complex so it never got the pool and club house, etc it was supposed to have. We knew if we sold it when we found the next house we'd take a huge loss on it, out of pocket. So we rented it for 4 years, I found a great young professional couple to rent it at enough to cover mortgage and condo fees and at the end of the 4 years we sold it for enough to break even instead of losing $35k on it.

[ChocoMare]

Welllll, rentals are moving worse than houses for sale in my area and I am REALLY not kean on renting. I've seen what happens and homey don't play that. ;)

I spoke to my agent just now and told him "Hey, this is just a poke to see if something happens. Dig around for us, see what they're willing to do. If they bite and it works out, great. If not, no big deal."

Soooooo, we'll see what happens. :winkgrin:

[To the MAX]

http://www.maxspann.com/assets/Holland-091009/holland-091009.pdf

This is the farm I want...of course not only do I not have any money, but I definitely will never have enough for this place. :D Anyway, I'm a big believer in "what's meant to happen will" so hang in there, I'm sure everything will work out for you eventually!

[ChocoMare]

WOW.... you dream big girlfriend! :D

[To the MAX]

Aha yes..I also dream I'll win the lottery :lol:
However, if I hang around my boyfriend enough there IS a 93 acre farm sometime in my future ;)

[CatOnLap]

well, I'd grab it. The market has already picked up here. We've had a 10% rise in prices since March and more sales in July than in the past 5 years. Same thing is happening in LA. My bro picked up a couple of rental houses in LA this winter and they've already appreciated in value another 10% over what he paid. Our two markets tend to lead the way so it can't be long before prices start to rise everywhere.

[ChocoMare]

THE FARM (http://local.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=493+Stringer+Rd,+rockmart+ga&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=52.505328,59.150391&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=493+Stringer+Rd,+Rockmart,+Polk,+Georgia+301 53&ll=33.987553,-85.106556&spn=0.003465,0.006947&t=h&z=18)is still on the market. Other pics/info: http://www.metrobrokers.com/listingdetails?listingid=988662&clicksourceid=2&listingsearchid=a5b841f3-88e9-de11-9097-0015c5e6cb62


We're going to do some sprucing up, put our house on the market for real and see what happens.

We've been getting feelings/hints that the farm owner where we self-care board is getting weary of us and the other couple who board with us, so we're gonna put a toe in the water and see what happens.

Lord willing! :D

[seabreeze]

It will all work out :)

[spotnnotfarm]

Good Luck!!! I will say lots of prayers for you AND look around my area to see if anything is for sale:D.

[JanM]

Chocomare-neutral everything (but you know that), if the switch/outlet/cable plates aren't uniform and nice looking replace all of them to match-it really makes a difference in appearance and I mean using the cheap contractor pack plates too. During showings have all window curtains/blinds open-you want them to have to put on sunglasses! (If I hear one more person on House Hunters HGTV say "it has so much natural light" while standing next to a d#($ window I'll barf). Steam clean the rugs (professionally)-I think Stanley Steemer has their usual $99 special, but if not the other big outfits do. Declutter in the extreme (have a picky friend drop over and check the place out-preferably a HGTV junkie). The outside should be very neat and tidy. And make sure every light bulb is working, the furnace filter is changed, and everything looks well maintained. If people see a broken switch plate or a messy storage room or a garage full of junk in piles they figure you don't maintain the place. If you have to do your own packing the best thing is huge garbage bags for soft clothes, linens, and light things, and the cheap Sterilite containers for bigger things-the handles make it much easier to move things and if you take a week or so to move you can fill, move, empty and reuse the containers especially for kitchen things. Get one very colorful container for instruction books, remote controls, shelf pegs for book cases, and include an alarm clock/radio, one hardwire phone and answering machine.

Interview several agents if you previous one doesn't have a great marketing plan. The right agent who is an aggressive marketer can make the difference between selling in a week and selling in a year.

Good Luck.

[ChocoMare]

Thanks for the tips Jan! :yes:

Fortunately, I own my own Bissell Carpet Cleaner, so can do it myself :D

Every room will be painted neutral creme and down come the curtains :D

[JanM]

Another note-all paint including bathrooms and kitchens should be flat latex. Modern flat paint is easy to clean and durable and it is more up-to-date than egg shell, semi- or gloss. Cream is a great neutral color and if the new owner wants to repaint it will serve as a primer coat too. I've looked at places with accent walls or (worse) dark strange colors and if I had a choice of two houses I would pick the one I don't have to repaint. Of course, all trim should be high gloss white unless it's natural wood color of course.

I should probably go to HGTV rehab-but watching all of these shows comes in so handy

Good Luck.

[tle]

Yep... another "don't give up" here. We started casually looking and found a great place... so we put our house on the market. NOTHING for almost 3 months. When we did get a showing and subsequent offer, the house we'd looked at was off the market (rented because it has been for sale for so long). That weekend we found what we all consider to be an even better place for us -- almost 18 acres with a 3bed, 2 bath farmhouse on it. Has taken til now to get our buyer qualified (her agent let her submit an offer without knowing her credit was crap). One more check on the 1st, then inspections and appraisals... we're set to close on the 26th of February on both places. I signed all the papers with the mortgage broker today. :)

Good Luck!!

[mainerinmd]

We have had our farm in Maine on the market for over 2 years! Lovely cape with 3 stall addition on an older barn, while we are getting some looks, have gotten no offers. Hard part is that we relocated to Maryland and bought a house here, so are juggling to make things work. Thank goodness for good tenants.

Hope you have better luck than we have had. Guess we picked a horrible time to sell a home in Maine.

[MunchkinsMom]

Good advice from all above. When we found our dream farm and put our home on the market, we had no bites for 3 months. Panic was setting in. Then we got this (http://www.stjosephstatue.com/). It worked (or at least I think it worked). Had real estate agents and other folks swear by it.

[JanM]

ONe more thing. Selling and buying real estate is a business transaction and nothing more. I see so many people who have an agent, the agent doesn't market, has an open house and lies about the number of visitors (they told my neighbor three visits from people with agents, next door lady who was sewing by her front window saw no visitors), puts an ad without pictures on realtor.com and the local mls (in this market you better have a ton of great pictures or else I wouldn't even look at your house). Iinterview at least three agents and ask about their rate of sold properties and how they will price and market your property--pick the best business person. Don't keep an agent because you feel sorry for them, or they are related to someone and you don't want to offend someone---proper pricing is everything and if the agent loses interest in you and your property dump them for nonperformance and get another agent from that agency or if your contract has expired get another agent who is a better salesperson from another agency. An agent is not your best friend, they work for you and they should be hungry for the commission and want a quick sale, so don't pick someone to sell your property because they seem 'nice' or you feel sorry for them--pick a shark who will sell your place quickly. And decide exactly what the lowest price you will accept-and price accordingly, instead of having to pay months of double mortgage. And for heaven's sake don't be at your place during open houses or showings-the visitors may (some will-mostly tire kickers) say the worst things right in front of you about your taste and decorating, and I think it's a negotiating tactic. Some people also try to use things that aren't even problems in the inspection report to try to cut your price-apparently in some markets this is a new but disturbing tactic bordering on the unethical. Also I would have a table by the door or a prominent kitchen counter area with fliers, and contact information where they can call you with questions (preferably cell) to avoid endless rounds of phone tag, and if the realtor you want doesn't know about marketing farm properties don't use them-find someone who will market your place and emphasize the great features of your property. And don't just market as a horse property, maybe your buyer will want to have cattle also, or raise llamas, or run a big boarding/training dog kennel, so you need to know what the zoning for your property will allow and not be too narrowly focused and eliminate potential buyers.

[spotnnotfarm]

Good advice from all above. When we found our dream farm and put our home on the market, we had no bites for 3 months. Panic was setting in. Then we got this (http://www.stjosephstatue.com/). It worked (or at least I think it worked). Had real estate agents and other folks swear by it.

I did this too!!! Our house was on the market for 2 months and nothing and we took it off the market. In the spring we re-listed it and did not have any bites. We had one couple who liked it but went with another house that needed the siding replaced (Our siding was new). I buried the Saint Joseph and had an offer in 1 week! The man who bought it had looked at over 300 houses (No joke! confirmed by his realtor!)

Choco-I can let you use mine once your house is on the market. I will have to look for the directions, because there is a prayer that goes with it and a certain way to bury it.

[chai]

spot, we did the same thing and our farm sold within two months after two years on the market. I had never heard of it before, but a friend bought the statue and buried it for us. It was quite amazing, especially when you consider the way everything fell into place: a couple who had moved from China to Canada wanted a house in MA, so they bought the house that our buyers had to sell in order to buy our farm in ME. And the farm we wanted in MA is less than four miles from the house our buyers sold to buy our farm. The farm in MA that we wanted was under agreement with a different buyer, but it all fell apart right around the time we got the offer on our farm.

And, to top it off, I got lost driving from a supplier to my office twenty five years ago, and i remember driving by the farm I live in now, thinking, "What a cool farm! i wonder if I'll ever have a farm like that." And now here we are. To make it even a little bit more bizarre, mr. chai's father did the family geneology and one of mr. chai's ancestors bought this piece of property from Chief Masconomet back in the 1600s. Too bad he didn't hold onto it and keep it in the family so we didn't have to buy it!

[Gnalli]

I am thinking about calling/consulting with the agent that helped us buy/sell our first home and found us the home we're in now....just to get his gut feeling on whether he thinks it would move or not. When we considered it five years ago, he got the sense that the market was shifting and told us "not yet."

While I don't mind doing the self-care boarding (and we do have it good there), I just want my mares at home, where I can look out the kitchen window and see them happily being horses.

I am so right there with you. Jeff was looking at pics this morning of our place in MS, and made mention of how much easier it was with everything at one place.
I loff the "new place"