gee. may have messed up

went ahead and put our house on craigslist yesterday evening. damned if we didn't get three calls and have two people coming to look at it already. one from missouri that says they have cash to buy  and have been looking to move here a while and will be here tuesday or wednesday to check it out, sounded very serious and excited on the phone. I think we priced it too low. 

of course if we didn't get calls I would be whining so I just need to count my blessings I guess, but now I'm going to always wonder if we could have got more for it.

No, Leah, it doesn't sound like you messed up! It sounds like you did everything just right! You have intelligence, wit and style, so I'm sure the price was right on target and that your ad was likely much more enticing than others. Plus, you need the traffic, and the competition so that you don't have to lower the price. That would be bad.

Plus, if it's priced just so, there could be bidding wars, or what's that other thing called, a contingency clause? You know, if two buyers both offer the asking price, then the one with the larger contingency amount in their offer gets the home--above the asking price!

My last point is that for true happiness, just tell yourself you did everything right, whether or not it's objectively true. Science has actually proven that little delusions like this make us healthier, happier people. 

It's SO stressful to sell a home and move. (Stating the obvious, aren't I?) Give yourself lots of latitude and lots of kudos for getting things rolling so well!

You can only guess at what would be a reasonable price in today's market.  Trying to second-guess yourself is pointless.

You only need one buyer who has the desire for your place and the money to buy it.  Until your place has been on the market for a year, you don't know how hard it can be to find someone with BOTH those credentials.

After much soul-searching and reading about people who over-extended themselves buying property, they came up with an amount that they could pay, and your place fell within it.  Some people don't realize that a price can be negotiable, and if you happened to be asking a lousy ten thousand dollars more than their maximum price, they may not have even bothered contacting you.

So, congratulate yourselves on deciding on a price that someone with money could afford.  If they love it, you've just possibly made a sale in a climate and an economy that is making other home sellers clench their fists and grind their teeth, wondering if they will be able to sell ahead of a foreclosure.

You just don't need the additional stress right now of having a place that won't sell.

I sounds like you did good!  Pat yourselves on the back!

My fingers are crossed.

Sue

thanks guys, that makes me feel a little better. even at this price (89k) we break even with what we have in it and should walk away with enough to buy the last 16 acres for cash at the new place so I should just let it go and be glad. I put in our ad that it was a "no haggle" price and unless this gets drawn out forever then we are sticking to our guns. the lady from missouri is having a hard time finding someone to watch her animals for a day to get down here and now is looking at either saturday or next week and I am chomping at the bit! its agonizing! she still sounds like our best bet so far. she wanted to know how fast we could be moved out and told me this morning she is contacting a realtor to put her house on the market. we have had a few look see-ers but no one that is speaking money yet.  we need an emoticon showing someone pulling their hair out  I won't be able to handle much of this without completely losing my mind 

You never know, you may have just found the ONLY person on the face of the earth who COULD pay your price.  Many people are just Looky Lous, it's a hobby.  They just go out and look at houses they have no intention of buying, just for something to do on a weekend.

Hope it works out.

Sue

going to sign a contract for it tommorrow at 11am. dang. that was fast. put the ad up sunday and have a contract signed on  friday. these people are also paying cash but can't get the money out till april 17 but heck I'm not complaining!  now I feel bad because I have to call the lady in missouri and tell her not to come she seemed so excited to come see it....

BE SURE to keep the phone number of the lady in Missouri.  All kinds of things can happen.  And do.  There have been people who have signed the papers on a house and didn't have a prayer getting a loan for it!

I have a friend in real estate, and she has told me all kinds of horror stories about sales that have fallen through.  NOW she doesn't take a step until they show her paperwork from a bank that indicates they are pre-approved for a certain amount.

Sue

Hey Leah, just think of all the hairs you're keeping IN your head by having this done with!  Yea!

Sue is right to keep the Missouri gal's info just in case, but you done good, m'dear!!

yes I am definitley keeping the info of the lady in mo and any others that call between now and closing. these people are going to pay cash and have hired a representative that has told me the same so I don't think there will be any issues with financing. but......I know that lots of wacky things can happen so I'm doing my best to not be too excited and just be matter of fact about it. if it works out, awesome, if not at least it seems that we are in the right ballpark for getting it sold 

I do prefer to keep my hair so this is a good thing.

teh best thing....when I told my husband about these people coming to look at it as well as the lady in mo he said if I can get it sold in a month then I can buy as many asparagus plants as I want  I think I may be more excited about that then selling the house! I should have negotiated more, I could have ended up with a whole orchard!

MIL died in 2006, Aug, people kept telling us the house should sell for like $50,000 to $80,000..it was 1970's ugly and in need of repair..we thought we were smart..we took $40,000  of inheritance money and totally redid the house, flipped, new doors, siding, appliances, refaced cabinets, gutted bathrooms, the whole 9 yards..

thought we would be able to sell it for $200k..easily...

well we ended up selling it 2 years later on CRAIGSLIST..for $120k...a huge loss..but hey, we are so glad we have it out of our hands now..what a pain ..a totally wasted 2 1/2 years we could have saved by selling it in 2006 when prices were up.

If our ESP and foresight were as good as our hindsight, we would all be rich.

Sue