9435 LAFAYETTE AVE
MANASSAS, VA 20109
List Price: $129,900
Prior Sale: $355,000 3/6/2006
Listing Date: 02/22/08
-63.4%
7802 APPOMATTOX AVE
MANASSAS, VA 20111
List Price: $153,000
Prior Sale: $390,000 9/7/2005
Listing Date: 02/20/08
-60.8%
15034 ALABAMA AVE
WOODBRIDGE, VA 22191
List Price: $165,000
Prior Sale: $393,000 7/13/2005
Listing Date: 02/23/08
-58.0%
1264 EVERETT AVE
WOODBRIDGE, VA 22191
List Price: $169,900
Prior Sale: $400,000 7/27/2006
Listing Date: 02/27/08
-57.5%
1616 WOODSIDE DR
WOODBRIDGE, VA 22191
List Price: $170,000
Prior Sale: $390,000 7/18/2006
Listing Date: 02/22/08
-56.4%
See Prince William County 2/27/2008 for more comparisons from this week's listings.
(Links by FranklyMLS.com)
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Prince William County -- On the Market
Posted by Harriet at 10:40 PM
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17 comments:
Here's one for your next Fairfax update if you dont have it:
FC6674977
10600 ORCHARD ST, FAIRFAX, VA - $399,900
Last Sale: 08/30/05
Sales Price: $800,000
An 800k "fixer-upper" in FAIRFAX CITY?! No, no bubble here.
Note: ***listing agent is directly related to owner***
Wonder if that's how they got into an 800k hole?!
Once again,
None of those homes are my home, so my property is still increasing in value.
None of those homes are my home, so my property is still increasing in value.
Lol. Good one. Its true it doesn't matter until you want to sell. Then the market price determines the sale price. :)
63.4% drop... Ouch. No wonder the CMBS mortgage market has frozen up. With certain cities telling bond holders how they're going to 'discount the interest paid,' its also no wonder why the municipal bond market has frozen up too.
Sadly, its not a question between a hard and a soft landing, but how hard the landing will be.
Got Popcorn?
Neil
*2 BR, 1 bath* fixer upper??? Owned by a relative of an agent?
A attorney once told me that of all the occupations he deals with, no one knows less about their work than people in real estate. Obviously that's an over-generalization, as there are many outstanding agents, but whenever I see examples like this one (and they aren't that rare), I think about his comment.
I've also heard that 20% of the agents make 80% of the money, and that's not hard to believe either.
“A attorney once told me that of all the occupations he deals with, no one knows less about their work than people in real estate.”
I would certainly second that opinion – a 3 week course & test and suddenly you are authorized to negotiate & transact for items worth $1 Million or more?
The thing that bugs me the most is how their interests are misaligned because they don’t get paid unless a deal is done. While not all of them are like this, I have seen many instances where when a deal is getting close (and payday is coming), and they will sell their clients up the river – “oh, don’t worry about that – we’ll take care of that post closing – lets just go ahead and close – NOW). Suddenly post closing has come, and the now paid broker is nowhere to be found!
The worst is when I represent a client and they have a broker too (usually in commercial settings). An attorney gets paid whether or not the deal goes through – so I have more incentive to make sure a deal is done right, (or not done at all). The broker sometimes doesnt, and in these cases, the client hears conflicting advice from their broker and their attorney - never a good outcome.
Unfortunately, attorneys are too expensive for most people to hire in residential settings (where 99% of the time, there are no real problems) so I don’t think that is the answer. That said, if you have an attorney friend who does even some real estate work, you should ask them to look at your contract (always before you sign it) and ask them if somehting your agent tells you doesnt "seem" right.
9211 ROBIN LYNN CT
MANASSAS, VA
asking $449,900
on market 112 days
last sale $495,000 7/26/2005
sale history:
$180,000 11/21/1996
bank takeover 8/22/1996
$190,000 7/27/1990
10221 PETTUS PL
MANASSAS, VA
asking $459,900
last sale $505,000 4/28/2005
sale history:
$152,850 8/4/1987
9598 SHANNON LN
MANASSAS, VA
asking $429,900
last sale $173,500 5/31/1996
sale history:
$125,000 1/6/1992
These are three nice little homes in a couple nice little neighborhoods a bit over a mile from the Manassas VRE stop. I just find these vignettes interesting, in that the first two are trying to sell their homes for a loss, while the last one is trying to sell for a huge profit because he bought a while ago, and all three of their houses should actually be worth something in the low-$200Ks.
My one-year-old just dumped out my folder with last summer's brochures. One of them caught my eye, because I was certain I had seen the same picture for a new listing a few days ago. The brochure is actually for a different house, at 8376 Tillet Loop, Manassas, but it is precisely the same model, in a development called Sumner Lake. Asking price last March? $599,900. Asking price for 8370 Tillet Loop this February? $360,000.
Sometimes having hard copies of listings is helpful for this reason. $240K would pay for many years of rent. 8370 Tillet Loop
The yard looks like it's accessible from a walk-out basement. I have a friend with a walk-out yard from the kitchen, which I think is helpful with children, pets, or gardening.
"Asking price for 8370 Tillet Loop this February? $360,000."
You going to take a run at it?
This is FOAF but a telling story.
One of our out-of-town consultants has moved from a Crystal City condo to a 6/5 SFH spec home in Arlington.
The builder couldn't sell and had a choice of renting to a "group of 10 people" or this guy, two adults.
Word is, he's loving life, paying less rent, got a big house, home office set up, garage, fancy kitchen, everything.
It can work out well.
kh:
No...that neighborhood has no yards. We need a yard.
We actually did make an offer on a short sale house...did a little extra research to make sure there was a chance it wasn't a total waste of our time. We can nix the offer anytime, and have a drop dead date in April, so we're still looking. Seems that short sales in PWC are happening with some regularity, and the lender that needs to make the decision is Indymac, and they seem to own every other foreclosure around here. We'll see.
"We actually did make an offer on a short sale house..."
Good for you. You have the gold, you make the rules.
Don't take any c*rp from them. A quarter million bucks (or whatever) is not chump change.
Their choice, let the weeds grow, the vandals pull the pipes out, maybe rent as a flop-house like the spec 6/5 I mentioned.
This is business. You might leave a little cash on the table but so what. You've done your homework. You'll do well.
Short sale offer update:
The current owners of the house came back and said they wanted their asking price. We had offered 10% less. We are flabbergasted. They are getting foreclosed on this month, there has been no other interest, and they want to play hardball when it is the bank that will make the decision anyway?
Are we cursed?
Tabitha,
You are their lifeline. They need you.
A fair low price is better than no price at all.
A sale at a "loss" is better than a foreclosure or repo on their credit record. That will cost them much more over the years.
Remember too you are assuming debt and an unknown risk.
They are not going to get out of this whole. They need to suck it up, sharpen their pencils and work the deal, maybe come down half-way, put $5K toward closing, or something.
If I'm going to give someone a quarter mill (whatever the amount is), I expect them to work on their end of the deal.
10% suggests that you are within fair-low range. Figure too that the spring sellling season is starting slow and if they only have a month, they don't have time to find another buyer.
...unless bidders are lining up to buy that place. No? Then what are they playing hardball with?
Truly, kh, I do not know what the deal is with this situation.
Are they afraid of the tax consequences? The house is filled with very, um, humble furnishings, though they have a lot of flat screen tvs and two nice cars. Their "short sale" asking price is $100K more than they paid for the house in 2000. Could they have gotten a home equity line of credit and bought lots of stuff with it, thereby becoming ineligible for the new tax rules for short sales? If that is the case, it is more like them giving us their money.
The seller's agent said he was frustrated with them, that foreclosure is imminent, and that there has been no other interest.
We keep on asking ourselves if we are missing something. What do the owners care? Why aren't they more anxious to avoid foreclosure?
Our offer allows for the deck/porch they added onto the back, and generous appreciation. But again, this is the bank's decision, not theirs. What could be going on?
They are underwater.
2 cars = $60K
deck = $20K
TV junk = $10K
Other = $30K
===============
Damage $120K
Is anyone is talking sense to them?
They are facing foreclosure. That's serious with expensive consequences.
You've done your homework, made a fair offer, can't do more than that.
"The seller's agent said he was frustrated with them, that foreclosure is imminent, and that there has been no other interest."
This is not standard practice but I have been in last ditch negotiations in which everyone "gives" something to make the deal work.
You push money (Five thousand dollars is not a small sum.) onto the table, they do the same, the realtors shave their commissions. Everyone gives a little, all the while watching the clock tick.
I do not understand how someone facing foreclosure thinks they can play hardball.
My view - if they escape without the foreclosure on their credit history but have to sell their cars, TV junk, sell everything, liquidate investments, and they walk away with their credit intact, they are ahead.
-kh
Tabitha,
Put yourself in their shoes for an instant. If they are in foreclosure, that foreclosure is but a symptom of a much larger financial problem. Your buying the house from them won’t solve their bigger problems. (From what another poster said, it might even hurt them.) What they’re looking for now from that house isn’t a financial solution to their money problems, but rather something to sooth their bruised egos. Were you to offer them their full price with the proviso that they pay closing costs (or something else), I bet you they would take it. Bottom line is that you would still have the house for that 10% less you want it at. And they’d leave the situation with their dignity intact.
Selling is NEVER a one way situation. Both the buyer and the seller must walk away happy for a transaction to occur.
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