Real Estate: What to Do when Your House Doesn't Sell

What most people had feared all along has finally come, yes, the bubble has burst! The real estate bubble, that is. We can see it in the news, in Market Watch, in our neighborhoods. Homes that had been on the market for more than a year, some almost two years like the one in my neighborhood. Homes going into foreclosures, we haven't seen it this bad in years.

I live in the San Francisco bay area where the prices of median have skyrocketed in years, a Mecca for real estate investors who would like to buy low and flip homes for a profit. In the past year, I have seen the same flippers flipping' out because they have not been making enough money to recoup their investments. It is quite disheartening to see that even well maintained homes, renovated to perfection, sit in the market for months only to be sold at a lower price- much lower than what the sellers would have wanted to sell them for. Some opt for selling even at a loss, just to avoid further paying the carrying costs. Those who make money selling are those homeowners who have owned their homes for a long time and no matter how much they go down in their asking price they know that they are still making a profit. Those who are losing are those recent owners or those who bought a couple of years ago, with an adjustable rate, who cannot pay new adjusted rate. They tend to panic and are forced to reduce their asking price just to sell their properties, much to the dismay of the neighbors waiting for the prices to go up again so that they can possibly refinance.

So what should you do if you are selling your home and it doesn't sell? You've done everything, renovate, hired the best realtor, reduced your price, but still your home is not selling. Here are some tips to get by while you wait for the real estate market to heat up again:

Homes for rent like this one are very desirable.

Credit: Josie Borlongan

Copyright: Josie Borlongan