Mummy in the foothills

I check back here hoping for some good news, and that ExBritFL has a buyer
We have a lot of foreclosure homes around us, one behind us hasn't even finished being built. all closed in so the work is inside. People see the price and get all hot and look, then realize $299,000 sounds great, 1 acre four beds, but they'll need another $50,000 to finish it.
So ExBrit, Don't feel bad about the house down the street, most normal buyers will turn and run when they see all the work that needs doing. Most want to spend a few bucks more and have it all done ready to move in.

exvj

That is absolutely the case.
These mega cheap houses that need renovating are usually bought by small builders or speculators and they are a very small part of the market

It will not affect the current price of a nice house in nice condition because that is the larger part of the market

britmomma

We are about to join you in the quest to return to the UK. Kids passports arrived today, new UK citizenship. As to selling I've read all these posts with great interest. We live in the same house we bought fresh from London 14 years ago on Miami Beach. To those people living in other states you have no idea what has happened in Florida, even our neighborhood is down 55-60% of the heyday. We to hopped on the equity line bandwagon, thinking these prices are crazy but leaving 60% equity there and using the money to educate the children, open our own business and buy a small home back in the UK seemed sensible at the time. We will just clear the mortgage and if we are lucky, have our original down payment back. Anyone want to live next to the BeeGee's? Call me. LOL

As to the comment about realtors telling you anything to get a listing. Well to that bright comment I as a realtor would say to you. OH yes let me list your overpriced house as I have nothing better to do than waste my money on advertising, listening to you complain it has not sold and think up excuses why we are not getting any showings. Why would you think anyone would want a listing they had no chance of making any money on, just the oportunity to spend money on it. After all being a realtor is a job that you want to get paid for!!!!

Englishmum

Oh you poor thing!

I'm afraid I can only offer you my sympathy....but there is a very popular website for property info and forums for all US States with a high turnover of Q's and A's. Perhaps you can glean some advice from the Florida forums, I do hope so:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/florida/

(Home page - http://www.city-data.com )

dunroving

I don't think this thread is about you.

dunroving

There have been a few programs on British TV recently about the negative stories (well, they've milked the "home improvement", "make a million on housing", "fix it and flip it", "homes at auction" storyline, partially contributing to the feeding frenzy, so naturally they're now making programs about the mess that has resulted).

One program last night was about houses in Florida and the drop in prices (it was also about Brits on E-3 visas, but that's another story).

The other was part of the "Houses from Hell" program (who thinks up these titles?), and focussed on what has happened in Northern Ireland. This poor couple in their late 20's had bought a £175k house on a new estate outside of Belfast and on moving in, found that none of the other houses had sold (due to the housing crisis). Subsequently, as you can imagine, the vandals moved in and the rats migrated to their house because it was so much warmer than the others. They eventually moved out because they were worried about their safety.

They ended up declaring bankrupcy, which ultimately was the best thing for them.

So, my point in saying all of this is a) some places are a lot worse than FL, so keep up your hopes, b) that homeowners are not the only ones who are reluctant to drop prices (surely if the builders dropped their price far enough, the houses would have sold? They're certainly not making money from an unsold house), and c) I can't understand why the NI government doesn't step in to help get all these empty houses sold - I mean there's supposedly a housing shortage, at least as far as some experts are telling us ...

sallysimmons

This makes perfect sense to me, and yet there are 4 houses for sale on my street, all very nice houses, but all way over-priced. Of course, I'm no expert, but when I saw the prices they were asking, I thought they sounded high, and now months later they sit there. One has been for sale for over a year, two of them have been listed twice with different agents, and the most recent is just in the last few months.

Why does this happen? Is it just owners who are determined to ask that price and won't listen to reason? Or are the realtors too inexperienced to know the market?

If I wanted to sell my house now, I'm pretty sure I could do it quickly because I'd just put it on the market for significantly less than all 3 of them (two of them paid small amounts for theirs because you can see that online now, so surely they can afford to come down in price).

I just wish people would get real about how much houses are actually worth now so we could get the economy moving again.

ExBritFL

The problem in my sub-division is that about 60-70% of the sales were from investors who bought the houses from the builder to "flip" and were succesful at doing so until the market collapsed. And then, of course, they couldn't afford to keep these "investments" so they just walked away. So now, the banks are releasing these houses, one by one, at the ridiculous prices that I see. The condition of some of these, once beautiful homes, is sometimes appalling. Air con units have been teared out, there are mould problems, unkept yards etc. etc. People are still residing in some houses without paying their mortgages and are just waiting for the banks to repossess the properties. Well the banks don't want alot of bad debt on their books either, so they're in no rush to take on these houses.

To be fair, my realtor is very realistic (that kind of rhymes!). He's made us aware about how bad the market is here in Florida and this latest reduction is actually less than what he suggested. What benefit is it to him to accept houses that are overpriced? He'll not sell them which in turn will reflect his figures and most importantly, his commission.

The mistake I made was buying this property, I wish I'd rented first...but hindsight of course is a wonderful thing! Learning from this experience, I'm going to rent for a while back in the UK before making any commitments to purchase. If I ever get there that is.

dunroving

I'm sure you'll make it, just give it time.

charleygirl

dunroving, was that programme called Florida Paradise Lost? A friend was talking about it to me last night......so many Brits in trouble there.

ExBritFL

Some optimistic news on the UK economy at least!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/e...ine-years.html

dunroving

Yes, I think Ray started a thread on it in the US Forum (Immigration sub-forum).

Mummy in the foothills

Ours have dropped by that much around here too. Luckily we bought long enough ago we should still make a small profit
Our home was valued at $400,000 and now our neighborhood homes go for between $145,000 and $200,000 the home behind us the builder lost in foreclosure so the bank is trying to sell that unfinished home.
We also found that the home we sold in 1990 for $100,000 double what we paid, the homes around it are now selling for less about $65,000 to $90,000
It's a really drastic fall.
If the UK picks up a lot and we don't we won;t be able to buy once we get home, which will be sad for us. it was a big part of the plan.

ExBritFL

If the UK picks up a lot and we don't we won;t be able to buy once we get home, which will be sad for us. it was a big part of the plan.[/QUOTE]

My sentiments exactly - from the news this morning it seems as if they'll see a quicker recovery in the housing sector (12 month predictions) than we
will.

sallysimmons

I suspect that house prices won't increase much in the UK over the next few years. The Tories 'austerity measures' haven't kicked in yet. When they do, I think the economy will take a hit and unemployment will rise.

I realize they claim that the opposite will happen and only time will tell, but I'm not worrying about UK house prices at the moment.