The Real State of Our Real Estate Market in Northern Virginia

To sell or not to sell. That is STILL the question I am faced with nearly every time I talk to a homeowner in Northern Virginia. For some of us old-timers who have been in the area for more than 10 years and bought when the market was expensive but not INSANE, we have found ourselves wanting more STUFF so we have re-mortgaged a few times and have virtually no equity. What is even worse is the way some of us used some of those interest-only or ARMS mortgages just to get into a property we wouldn't otherwise be able to afford. Why does no equity and interest-only/ARMS mortgages pose a problem? Easy... home sales have dropped in quantity and value. If you are to put your house on the market in Northern Virginia, according to December 2006 statistics, it will take you an average of 91 days to sell it and you will sell it for about 3 or 4% less than what it would have sold for a year ago. Perhaps the last time you refinanced was a year ago and for 3 or 4% more than what you will be able to sell your house for today. And my fellow Realtors aren't helping matters any either when they walk into their clients' homes and list these houses for way more than they will sell for. Everyone in the Real Estate profession knows that the bulk of the traffic hitting your for-sale house happens the first two weeks it is on the market. If during those first two weeks your house is overpriced because either your realtor or you think you will sell it for more than a buyer is willing to pay, the homeowner is forced with reducing the price again and again until it finally sells. This is a frustrating experience. I have turned down listings from folks who are insistent on selling in a certain range. To date, of the four listings I have turned down, other agents have taken the listings at the price which I said was WAY too high. Three of those listings have come off the market after changing agents at least once while the fourth did sell... 6 months later, in the range I originally recommended.