This Kentucky home just won’t sell
By Melissa Wirkus
Unless your home is selling
at the deepest discount possible, or you live in one
of the very few areas in the United States that is fairing
just fine during the housing slowdown, then you are
probably going to run into trouble when selling your
home.
In fact, there is such a surplus of homes for-sale on
the market, that many experts recommend taking your
home off the market unless you must sell because you
got a new job in a different city or already bought
a new house.
But despite this, many people continue to keep their
homes listed during the slowdown despite the difficulty
of securing a buyer.
One such couple is Paul and Rosanne Jantzen who are
looking to sell their three-bedroom two-bath brick home
in Bardstown, Ky., to no avail whatsoever.
A December 1, 2006 article by Les Christie of CNNMoney.com,
“Help! Home for sale – The Jantzens,”
discusses how their home has attracted almost zero interest
in the time that it has been listed for sale.
“At this point, however, they would like to move
closer to family and jobs and take a rest from household
chores. That wish has been made difficult by a very
slow local real estate market. Their house has been
for sale for more than eight months and has attracted
near zero interest. At this rate it will be a long time
before they can move.”
“‘We're just sitting and waiting,’
says Paul. ‘I've never seen houses sit on the
market
for so long.’”
Their house was built in 1986 and sits on 24 acres of
beautiful Kentucky land that is mostly wooded area.
The couple wants to move to a condo near Louisville,
but they cannot do so until they sell their home, and
at the rate of speed things are going right now, it
is not looking too good.
The couple not only wants to move to be closer to their
jobs, which are about an hours commute away, but they
also no longer need the space their home provides now
that their two sons are grown and on their own.
“When they put the property
on sale in March, their agent did a market study
and decided that $229,500 was the right price. They
held a couple of open houses but these events drew no
lookers. In eight months, the house attracted only one
serious buyer, who ultimately opted for another place.
Dropping the price to $214,500 has not improved things.”
Even with a fairly drastic price drop, the house still
sits on its wooded land with no buyers in sight, which
is probably due to the overall health of the market.
“The region is not a hot housing market and the
general slowdown of the past several months has made
it even cooler. A median house in the greater Louisville
metro area now sells for $142,500, according to the
latest figures from the National Association of Realtors.
Around Bardstown (the Jantzens are in New Haven, a few
miles away), prices are probably a bit lower.”
The Jantzens are not extremely motivated to sell because
they can continue to commute until they find a buyer;
but they are concerned about the fact that keeping their
home on the market will decrease its value. “‘The
longer it's on the market, the more buyers will wonder
why,’ says Paul. He's not sure what they'll do
if the home continues to languish. ‘We've talked
about dropping the price again,’ he says. His
agent has told him, ‘Nobody's out there buying.
All you can do is sit.’ They don't want to sit
forever; they want to get on to the next chapter in
their lives. ‘We can't move until we sell the
house,’ says Paul, ‘but we feel the price
is extremely reasonable. We're not going to give it
away.’”
Back to Articles
|
