Current home is not selling

**Bob B.** · 07-16-2013, 05:01 AM

Originally posted by emanon1501 View Post

We moved 1,000 miles to Austin, TX for a new job. We are currently living in a camper while our house is on the market in Illinois. We have not had a single offer in the last 60 days and we dropped the price aggressively to get it sold. We think we may need to rent it out, so we can move on with our lives here. Any suggestion on how I should do this? I prefer to have a company that will screen out potential tenants. What legal documents do I need? What kind of insurance do I need? I have no clue, so any suggestions would be appreciated.

We were in a similar situation for several years (five I think), and just sold our old house this last April.

Do you have your house listed with a Realtor? They may be able to help. They may be able to suggest some rental management companies. They may ask for a commission.

As far as insurance, we carried the same insurance as we did when we lived in the house.

Good luck!

**riverwed070707** · 07-16-2013, 05:05 AM

Renting is tough in general. Renting from afar is much tougher, especially if you don't have anyone in the area you know and trust to help look after the property for you. You'll need to evaluate the local rental market and determine how much you can reasonably rent your house for, then compare that to expenses (mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance and upkeep). Will you make money? Lose money? If you decide its the best move to rent it, I'd definitely look into a property management company. They usually take a percentage of what they rent it for, but they will help screen tenants, conduct background checks, and act as a liason between you and the tenant, meaning when a pipe bursts at 3 a.m. you don't have to find someone to come fix it from thousands of miles away. Not all property management companies are the same, make sure you find a good one with lots of positive references. Chances are if you have a mortgage on the property you won't make much (if anything at all) after the management expenses are taken into account but the tenant will still be paying down your mortgage so you are still building equity and its hopefully not a total wash.

Talk to your insurance company about insuring the property only. Typically when you rent you can change your policy to only cover the house and land since the renters will be responsible for insuring their property. You may need to shop around. When we switched ours it was going to be MORE expensive for less coverage. We found another company much more reasonable and were glad we didn't take the first bid.

You'll also need a lawyer to draw up a legal agreement. Its important they be in teh state you're renting. You can find templates online but it really needs to be state specific and up to date with current tenant-landlord laws so its best to have a new one created. This shouldn't cost more than a couple hundred dollars.

**97guns** · 07-16-2013, 07:16 AM

have you had any interest in the property? maybe a change of realtor is in order, when my mom sold her house in hawaii she had a realtor try to sell for 6 months, she changed realtors and it sold that same week.

be careful of long distance landlording, the property manager will know this and take advantage of it, i guarantee you will not find a 100% honest manager. do you have a relative or friend you can have manage? property management fee's are usually 8-12% of the rents.

in california you can take a fire only policy for a rental, this covers dwelling only, it runs me $40-$55 a month. all you need is a rental/lease agreement between you and the tenant, no need for a lawyer unless you want to spend money.

i have a bag of tricks for screening if thats the route you take.

**Jerry91** · 07-16-2013, 09:42 PM

Rather than doing things on your own, it will be better if you could contact a realtor or a real estate broker. They have list of interested buyers and may help you sell off the house easily. In case this option does not work, then you can think of renting the property.

**Blessed** · 07-17-2013, 05:33 AM

I the house empty? Is it staged and totally decluttered? Those things make a huge difference as does the Realtor you use. Ours had 5 offers for us within a week. He was fantastic! Dont be afraid to offer bonus or a higher commission to get the realtor to hustle hard.

**emanon1501** · 07-17-2013, 05:48 AM

The house is empty. Its been totaly repainted, cleaned, etc. Its turn key. I have a realtor as I am not selling it myself. The house is not the issue, its the slow market there. I just need to think about a backup plan if it does not sell by the end of Sept.

My other option is to cut the price again. We owe 146K and it is on the market for 210K and it was on the market for 225K. We have more room to cut the price, but we could use the money for downpayment for the next house. The question is how much more should I cut before it is too much and I would be better off renting it and try it again in few years.

**Gailete** · 07-17-2013, 11:59 AM

Be very sure that your insurance covers the house as it stands now--empty. You may have to have a rider of some kind. Hope it is out of your hair soon. I too would suggest a new realtor as this one doesn't seem to be doing much.

**JoeP** · 07-17-2013, 12:18 PM

Is there a way you can get a gauge at how many people are stopping by to look without the agent's assistance? Reason I ask is because you might have some casual potential buyers who turn away, and if so, it might be a curb appeal issue that can be addressed. You can buy an inexpensive video surveillance system that has cameras you can stick to a window, but without internet access, you'd need to go there to see the footage.

**emanon1501** · 07-17-2013, 12:22 PM

Our house has one of the nicest curb appeal (based on my guests' comments) and the only one with 6 foot private fence. The realtor has been very aggressive. Its not the house or the realtor. None of the houses in my area are selling. My goal is to look into renting it out for few years. This is what I need help with.

**snafu** · 07-17-2013, 10:38 PM

If your Iowa area is a s-l-o-w market, nothing is selling etc. it suggests that homes are priced higher than buyers feel comfortable spending. Housing is one the last bastions of a market place where both buyer and seller must agree on value [price]. It doesn't matter what houses in your neighbourhood was selling before the 2008 crash. The housing market has changed. What houses have sold and how much was the per foot selling price?

What is being advertised For Rent? How does it line up when you translate rentals by cost per square foot? Then add or subtract for features your home has like stainless appliances, AC, wood floors, 3+ bedrms, X bthrms, developed basement, garage, freshly painted, landscaping services, utilities included etc. Write your ad pointing out the best features and post with pictures of primary rooms.

In our city absentee landlords are having a huge problems as agencies are renting to 'families' only to later discover it was fake, the renter created a 'grow' operation. The heat and moisture wrecks the structure

**emanon1501** · 07-19-2013, 04:36 AM

Well. Looks like we sold it. Its under contract. The buyer is getting it for 25K cheaper. I am happy with that since the market is slow there.

**97guns** · 07-19-2013, 05:30 AM

congrats on getting rid of it, you can do a 1031 property exchange and pay no taxes on the sale.

**emanon1501** · 07-19-2013, 06:58 AM

Originally posted by 97guns View Post

congrats on getting rid of it, you can do a 1031 property exchange and pay no taxes on the sale.

I dont have to pay tax becasue I lived there for more than 5 years. Correct?

**Gailete** · 07-19-2013, 07:33 AM

Congratulations on selling it!

Current home is not selling