“Taking Longer Than They Expect”
A report from Newsday. “Hector Rodriguez sits in his nearly empty home in Hicksville longing for his wife, Annalucya, and 4-year-old son, Daniel. They have been separated since the spring, when Annalucya and Daniel moved into the family’s new home in Atlanta. Rodriguez says he anticipated a fairly quick sale on the house, for which he is asking $380,000.”
“Instead, the 45-year-old baker sits puzzled, wondering why his nice corner property hasn’t moved since he placed it on the market earlier this year. He wonders how long he will be able to carry two mortgages.”
“Rodriguez, like many homeowners trying to ride the wave of the long-running seller’s market, says he didn’t expect things to change on Long Island. ‘The market runs in cycles, and for a long time it’s been a sellers’ market,’ says Susan Fromm, a licensed sales associate in Plainview. She says real estate agents often will advise their clients not to buy before they sell. Some choose not to heed their agents’ advice and become frustrated with the wait.”
“‘People are getting impatient,’ she says. ‘It’s taking longer than they expect.’”
“‘Everyone said I could sell the house in two to three months,’ says Rodriguez. He says visits to Atlanta are few and far between. Between working long hours at his job at a bakery and trying to support two homes, he says he only averages a long weekend trip about once a month.”
“Enrique Bonilla of Smithtown also finds it hard to be separated from his wife, Veronica. After visits to his brother and sister in Scottsdale, Ariz., the newlyweds say they thought living in Arizona would be an appealing change of pace.”
“The couple put their Victorian on the market in May. By June, Enrique got a job in Paradise Valley. Veronica, a real estate agent, stayed behind to sell their home. ‘I moved down there thinking I have a really nice house in New York,’ Enrique says. ‘Somebody will see it and fall in love with it. I got down there [to Arizona], and it wasn’t selling.’”
“They did not buy a house in Arizona, so they are not carrying two mortgages, but their only income now is the recent sales commissions from when he was working in Arizona and the income Veronica brings in from temporary jobs.”
“Denise Frobey of Bayport, says she stayed behind to sell her waterfront home, for which she is asking $749,999, while her husband, Stephen relocated to their new home in Pinehurst, N.C. Frobey says she suddenly found herself dealing with household responsibilities Stephen used to do.”
“‘I never had to do the bills before. This winter I will have snow. I never used the snowblower before because he was always here,’ she says. They put their home on the market in May.”"Rodriguez says in hindsight, he regrets buying the home in Atlanta before selling his Hicksville property first. ‘You never know what’s going to happen. … Everyone should move together,’ he said.”
“Instead, the 45-year-old baker sits puzzled, wondering why his nice corner property hasn’t moved since he placed it on the market earlier this year. He wonders how long he will be able to carry two mortgages.”
This story has been repeated again and again. Which raises the question: If I am moving from one house to another, and don’t want to make the same mistake as this 45-year-old baker, what is the optimal strategy for selling my current home and buying a new one without moving twice or carrying two mortgages while I wait for my current home to sell? My wife and I solved this a few years ago with a contract provision to enable us to rent back the home we sold from the new owner until we were ready to move into our new home, but I am wondering if anyone has even better solutions to recommend?
I think that is a great solution, although how many buyers would agree to it? I would imagine a large portion would like to take ownership upon closing. If the new “owners” (used very loosely), would not agree to a rent back situation, I think that I would like to use those POD storage containers instead of a moving truck(s). Then, there would be no need for a storage unit, and it would eliminate the double move thing. I would then just live in a nice hotel with all of the amenities until I found my new house. Of course, there are other problems like pets, etc.
“… although how many buyers would agree to it?”
At what price? Everything is negotiable.
And the other thing: It doesn’t matter whether many buyers would agree to it. You only need to find one buyer.
That used to work in the sellers market. Now that buyers are in the drivers seat, you’d have to be lucky to find someone who didn’t have to move right away or wanted to rent. Both seem slim now.
Our attorney specifically told us that it was best to try negotiating after-closing possession away, because it can cause a lot of problems. Most home buyers (myself included) do not want to be land lords.
I’ve moved a few times to different cities. I think the best thing to do is sell first and then find a short term rental in the new city; about six months or so. This lets you “discover” your new city before you commit. You can evaluate the new job, evaluate the commute times, evaluate neighborhoods, schools, etc.
If you have to, store a bunch of your stuff. I just think it’s nuts to commit to that significant of a purchase without living in town for a while.
I agree with you ric. I sold first , but than I made a offer subject to my sold house closing . Anything could happen to upset a sale . Than after I could see everything was going to close I than asked my new buyer if I could rent back for a couple of weeks while I got the new house ready for me to move in . That way I saved on a double move .
If I had to do it over I would of rented for a while ‘
My real estate agent wanted me to go out and buy another house before my house sold . I said “no way”.
I think alot of people are under pressure to perform when they put the chart before the horse . As it was, I felt under pressure to find something after the house sold in 2005 .
When I tried to get people who made an offer on my place in South Florida last year do this they refused and I rejected the offer. The countered with a longer closing date which gave me time to get settled in a new city. A week after closing Wilma hit.
I can’t believe how close I cut it.
It may not be optimal, but I’ll tell you what my family is doing right now.
We moved into a rental apartment in the new city, and left the house behind with almost everything in it so it is properly ’staged’ for showing. We took very little, partly because we were limited to what we could carry in our vehicles, and partly because we did not want to have to move twice.
Apartment life is very rugged compared to what we left behind. We joke that it’s like when we first got married: 2 broke kids sitting on lawn chairs with a few pieces of cheap furniture purchased just to get by. It has also served to remind us of how materialistic we became over the years, and the importance of family and being together.
We are now in escrow on the sale and soon we will have the movers come and take our things to storage where they will remain until we find a new, more permanent place. We are in no hurry, partly because we do not wish to move our child in the middle of the school year, and partly because we are waiting for the right moment to buy. Storage is cheap compared to a mistake in this RE market.
Because we are ‘between things’, at times it feels like we lead a ‘double life’, that there is this whole other parallel universe we exist in. I have made one trip back to the house to pick up a few things. A favorite toy, a few books, some warm clothes, etc. I took the two biggest empty suit cases and filled them using everyones ‘wish list’. It was sad staying in the old house, like one of those horror movies where everyone just disappeared and it is earily quiet.
It has been a real adventure to say the least.
Well the thing that gets me are these people that say “we moved here because we loved it but miss the east coast and want to move back after six months…” or some crap like that. Well then they should expect to eat the loss, and a pretty hefty one because of their stupidity and whimsy. Even when I was much younger, I knew that one doesn’t buy a house with les than a five-year window. If they do need to sell before that period, then one can expect to realize a significant loss.
Yeah I understand that the added volatility of the market compounds things, but still…
And one would think the baker, if so stressed out, would take his hits and lower the price. But again, I am sure the realtor has a hand in this by keeping the price artificially high.
I dunno, the last home we sold we could’ve gotten market for, but took a 10% hit just to get out and not have to deal with the aggravation of dealing with a home 2,500 miles from where we were moving. But we too wouldn’t have had two mortgages, as we were renting in our new place.
How about this, Enrique…Lower the Price…when it’s low enough, you will find a buyer. Or, you will lose it to foreclosure, when you can no longer carry two mortgages.
“we moved here because we loved it but miss the east coast and want to move back after six months…”
I don’t know how many times I’ve heard iterations of this from various dumbasses that have “fallen in love” with Maine. It always has been my contention that these people stay for a max of 6-8 years, sell at a loss and go back to where ever they came from. And us locals couldn’t be happier to seem them go.
The reason the house is not selling is because the price is too high!!! How about lowering the price??? Has the baker thought of that??
Maybe he needs to get a certain amount of dough out of the place to make this housing recipe doable …..
(sorry)
” Everyone should move together ”
Or…everybody should stop being greedy fools and come to the realization that a house is an illiquid asset. I’m counting on knuckleheads like this to bring the market down in NW California.
“Greed is good.” once said on of these scccummmbags president at Solomon Brothers. Or whas it Rubin or Paulson. People think like pigs. People when it comes to money and the way they make it or lose it are pigs. Next year will be the Chineese Year of the Pig. And I think a lot of pigs, big and small, will be slaughthered.
I believe it was Gekko who said that (Gordon Gekko, that is…)
“…he anticipated a fairly quick sale on the house, for which he is asking $380,000″
Uhh, no. He anticipated continued appreciation figuring the longer he held two houses the less baking he’d have to do. This baker has learned a valuable lesson — if you stick your hand in the oven of real estate speculation you may get burned.
He’s going to open the oven and find out his souffle has fallen.
Bakers in $400,000 houses. Well I’ll be. I definitely missed something.
Last night I was in the Stop & Shop in Oyster Bay (on Long Island). After I slid my Visa through the card reader, the clerk said, “Press Enter.” I looked confused and a man behind me in line said, “The green button.” I said, “Sorry, long flight from LA today, I’m not thinking well.” With a straight face, the clerk said, “In that case, your bill is forty-two thousand dollars, please.” I said, “I guess I’m thinking well enough to know that’s not true.” (My bill was $25 and change.) She said, “Things are more expensive in New York.” Anyway, apropos of bakers in $400K houses, this morning I paid $18 for a pair of USED shoes.
That baker didn’t pay $380k for his current house; he should just cut the price and take his still-substantial profits. I feel sympathy for their emotional loss due to separation from his wife and child; however, they are the architects of their fate.
And this is just the beginning. ‘07 will no doubt bring an unending litany of stupidity and greed-induced disasters. The previously boom market had protected the ignorant from their own mistakes, but a bust market (or even flat) shows no such mercy.
I feel absolutely no sympathy. This guy has a choice between money and family, and he chooses money.
“‘Everyone said I could sell the house in two to three months,’ says Rodriguez.
“Hello, Mr. Rodriguez…this is Phillygal. I was just wondering, could you give me Everyone’s phone number, so I remember not to call him when I need real estate advice?
OK thanks - bye!”
It is stories like these that may come back to haunt the industry. With their constant chant that prices can’t possibly go much lower, imagine how these couples will feel if the prices are much lower this coming summer?
david lereah should be fired.
Better yet, kick him in the balls.
you misspelled fryed, you put fired.
Or “fried” or “skewered” or “hand-pulled” or “roasted” or “toasted” or “broiled” or “smoked”. What else can you do to prime, aged meat? -
“real estate, like yeast… always rises.”
ben my cousin lives in hciksville and the prices are going lower than 380k there trust me on that one
what does he bake? fresh $100 bills?
lots and lots of inventory in hicksville
this will end badly
“Between working long hours at his job at a bakery and trying to support two homes, he says he only averages a long weekend trip about once a month.”
All we’ve got to hear from now is a butcher and a candlestick maker as FBs to make this never-ending double mortgage fairytale complete.
“Susan Fromm, a licensed sales agent in Plainview … says real estate agents will often advise their clients not to buy before they sell.”
Oh sure, an agent who is trying to sell a house for a client who wants to move far away might occasionally tell his client not to buy before he sells. An agent who is trying to sell a house TO a client who owns another house is more likely to be the “Everyone” who tells the buyer that the old house is bound to sell in a couple of months. Ha ha. Susan is kidding whom?
As far as I’m concerned , the wonderful RE industry could not be writing up these contracts right if people are in binds like this . You always make everything subject to your house selling and closing so you don’t end up holding the bag on 2 homes . No house is worth putting yourself in a position of not being protected .
I think alot of greedy people thought they would get the builder discounts ,yet they wanted to get top dollar for their POS that they were going to sell after they bought .
And that will be one more component to RE gridlock that keeps more sellers holding on by their fingernails as they as slip over the price cliff.
Veronica, a real estate agent, stayed behind to sell their home. ‘I moved down there thinking I have a really nice house in New York,’ Enrique says. ‘Somebody will see it and fall in love with it. I got down there [to Arizona], and it wasn’t selling.’”
“They did not buy a house in Arizona, so they are not carrying two mortgages, but their only income now is the recent sales commissions from when he was working in Arizona and the income Veronica brings in from temporary jobs.”
I just had to point this out, because it made me laugh. Veronica is a real estate agent, and yet her income is from temporary jobs? No bubble here, folks, just move along…
Veronica is toast. No brains needed to buy a house, just good piggish greed.
“Although she is a real estate agent by trade, she is working at temp jobs because she knows she eventually will be moving and didn’t want to commit to a full-time job on Long Island.”
Oh that’s the reason?