I am not a buyer but someone who would REALLY love to sell their home and move and I must say I feel not only powerless but hopeless at this point. It is pretty damn depressing! I feel like I would have an easier time finding a buyer for a piece of heavy exercise equipment in my basement than this house.

Gina, I feel your pain. I'm about to craigslist out many of the non-moving components of our home -- and for them there will be interest -- but buying interest my my home, now on the market for 10 weeks, has been zero (0).

Not one person has returned to our home for a second look. Not one person has even mentioned a number to our agent. A $20K price drop on our sub-$200K house has done zippo. The ownership cost of the house is also under the price-to rental ratio as well. No one seems to care!!

So, I'm turning to the rental market, and at least that seems to have a normal heartbeat. What I've learned here is that many of the folks who would love to buy my home have credit ratings in the 500s.

Medical issues, job losses, divorce, student loan debt -- are killing the working poor and lower middle class, and now I really see how their economic health is an important part of the US's demand factor for goods and services.

Anyway, the microcosm of trying to sell my home has been like trying to pull a weed with very long roots. I feel I'm looking everywhere for the causes and reading everything I can find to explain the economics of it.

I will breathe a huge sigh of relief when I can finally pull my home off the market and get it rented out. That's looking line the only viable option right now.

@smithbaltimore~

a sub-$200K house???

Where? Haven't seen anything reasonable/safe for that price.

I am a home seeker in the $500K+ area, but honestly, as has been indicated in this section before, most sellers are not pricing their homes accordingly. If I'm going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a home, I will want it to be essentially move-in ready, updated and accurate for comps not just today but tomorrow as well. Looking for six months, I've seen one house sell. I've looked at over 80 homes - all with some "problem" - either a bad kitchen, bad bathrooms, highway, bad floors, etc. which would require an additional influx of tens of thousands of dollars. Homes should be "perfect" not projects, unless they are priced as projects.

I truly believe that most sellers (or their agents) should take a course on selling/marketing/price strategy. Sellers should start with honest Product Comparisons - you can buy "new" mcmansions (if you want one) for $600K, thus if your home is priced at this level or above, better have a great reason. And note, these homes still don't move - indicating they are still too high.

Also, I think home sellers don't understand Opportunity Cost or Carrying Costs well. Homes that sit for even weeks carry real costs that add up, and can create an even more stubborn attitude from sellers. I understand that homes carry emotional value and "acceptance" value, but that's not reality anymore. Homes are dwellings not measures of worth. Kenny Rogers said "Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away." - sorry for the bad country reference.

I will not buy in until I see adjustments of 10-25% even if I have to wait three to six months. I do believe rates will rise but then prices should adjust as well.

I've accepted the fact I'm stuck with my house for longer than I wanted to be but oh well - I refi'd it down. Renting it out may be the only choice I have if I get to a point where I have to move.

The problem with seemingly over priced houses is that the owners are underwater and can't lower the price without being left holding the bag for the difference.

For many, it's simply a strong desire to move for whatever reason, but not being able to do so if they sell their house below the mortgage amount plus real estate agent fees and taxes.

In the boom boom days, folks got the strange notion that you could buy a house, hold it for less than 5 years and make enough of a profit to move up and/or to another city. Those days are way over and the impact on our economy is devastating.

Home owners will now longer be able to just up and move at their whim like Renters can. That plays out in the job market, the changing faces of cities and people's own emotional health and financial well being.

It's going to get worse. Much worse not just in the housing market, but in every faced of American Life.

I'm like Gina, ready to sell and move -- have been for a while. The depressing part for me is the lack of a place to move TO. The open houses I've been to in the $180k-$250k range are all crap. The construction is terrible, neighborhoods have issues (boy, crime sure is everywhere today, and there are bad rentals ruining many streets), and locations near jobs are tough to find. I finally came to realize that I could spend $250k (the absolute cap of my budget) and still not get the right house in the right location. Again, construction and quality MATTER! I also noticed that the homes with good bones but which need a few updates are severely overpriced, negating any investment value on my part. These $10,000 reductions in price by sellers are a joke. Drop it $25k and then we'll have a conversation.

I decided to re-devote myself to my current home, stick it out longer, wait for the market to improve, and do some key projects in the meantime -- the heating, windows, floors, and indoor/outdoor paint. We won't get a dollar-for-dollar return on the investments but these are all components we need to stay in the home for any period and will help move the house once we're ready to sell. Fingers crossed!

That graph says a lot. I had my confrontation with the current reality and it was not pleasant. At least I did not have a lot of debt so I walked with $ rather than the other way around! l agree a lot of houses are still overpriced given the work they usually need. A lot of the so called renovations are junk also.

Jamie, did you notice the loft building in Remington is up for a foreclosure sale? I spotted that in the Daily Record this week. That building was controversial from day one and it is an abomination to the eye and the area.

Hi, Bob -- I'm glad to hear you were able to get money at the settlement table.

I've been so overwhelmed with news these days that I didn't see the foreclosure ad. This the one? http://realestate.alexcooper.com/featured/details/1248

Not trying to pile on here. I realize there are some people in difficult situations. As Darwin and I have articualted multiple times. Prices will eventually revert back to 1999 and maybe worse. Look at this now famous graph. Home prices follow median income- always. Gravity works. Things always overshoot on way up (bubble) and overcorrect on way down (inverted bubble).

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/12/classic-case-shiller-hosuing-price-chart-updated/

We got a long way to go.

i've commented here a few times in past months--yes, buyers hold most of the power, if not all of it. we're in the entry-level market for 2-3 BR house in the city. not all houses have a lot of pictures available online so you can't tell what condition they're in, if they've been updated, etc. more important than ever for sellers to make some updates, post good pictures online OR use an aggressive price from the beginning. there's such a huge inventory of houses out there, if your house looks horrible and has a high asking price people won't even waste their time

worst of all (for sellers) is that for every house in the 150-200k price range we've looked at, there's a foreclosure/short sale/motivated seller within a few blocks selling for 80k, 100k, 120k.

unless your house is updated, with a couple new things (not everything new, but not everything in need of repair either--i.e. roof, water heater, basement) you're not going to get anywhere near your asking price. why buy the 200k townhouse that needs to be re-worked when you can buy one for 100k a few blocks down, gut it yourself, and come out way ahead on the deal?

today we looked at 8 houses between canton, greektown, and graceland park (some single family homes right at the city/county line). it's so sad to see older people, who should've sold 3-4 yrs ago at the peak and now they still think they should get peak or near-peak prices. i feel so bad telling these people that there place is overpriced... by 50k. even if everything was brand new and modern, they're not going to get a peak price anymore. but most of these houses have significant problems with flooring, closed-off floor plans (lots of small rooms instead of a more open, modern plan), and other expensive fixes. many lack central air, which is fine--but price it to reflect that! if you have window units, you can't sell for the price someone down the street with central air is asking!

anyway, it's actually frustrating but in the end it will be worth it. all these sellers can't hold out forever. the fairly-priced homes are selling. so maybe more sellers will wake up and smell the coffee. we showed this kindly elder gentleman the MLS listings we were using for the other houses in the area--it broke his heart to see that his neighbors were all reducing prices. his house was listed as 198k, he told us straight-out he'd be willing to drop it to 193k... we made up an excuse that we couldn't afford that and then showed him that just a block away one of his neighbors was listing a house with the same floor plan for 168k. the rub? the cheaper house was in better condition--wood floors (not old carpet), water proofed and wide open basement, newly painted, new kitchen, stainless steel energy star appliances, huge walk in closet, etc. i feel so bad for these older people trying to sell now... the houses are in need of serious re-working but they need the money to move somewhere else

>@smithbaltimore~

a sub-$200K house???

Where? Haven't seen anything reasonable/safe for that price.<

I'm in Guilford; hard as it is to believe, there are houses in here for under $200K built by the Roland Park Company. Most newly constructed homes are total crap in comparison.

My wife and I developed a theory for bargain hunting, namely look for homes that have a "perceived flaw" that does not matter to you. This how you get a greater bang for the buck.

As Jamie's graph shows, its a great time to be a buyer; any seller who is motivated will consider any legitimate offer. I would pay very little attention to asking prices an stamp your own value on the home you target.

This is absolutely not the time to BUY! The comments made by buyers thinking they are in drivers seats now, are ridiculous.

This is a good sampling of how human perspective is so easily jaded, and corrupt marketing machines, namely NAR, will pull out all the stops to exploit that.

From a purely statistical standpoint, and that is all it is; From the 2006 highs, the market needed to correct 53% to normalize appreciation to a curve that has held rock solid since 1903 when it was created. On average we are approximately at 34% down leaving 16% more to go! Most, if not all bottoms in any market correction; over correct. So, it could be more than 16%, until the curve normalizes.

Make no mistake, this is not the bottom. If you need to sell, don't be sucked in by empty promises of realtors, betting on next spring, it 'ain't' happening!

To the buyers, recently I've encountered attorneys representing buyers, that are recommending their clients have the Realtor, and sponsoring Broker sign an affidavit, guaranteeing that the chain of title, has been verified absolute bu the title company! Now needless to say, I'm unaware of any realtor, or broker, that has signed one of these affidavits, and rightly so! Unless you are buying a property whose mortgage was originated, and serviced by a small savings and loan, and your realtor won't go on the hook with the title company, that tells you how much confidence there is that MERS has a huge problem, and that your realtor is simply in it for the fee. There is incomprehensible liability looming for the real estate market. You think just because you paid the premium for the buyers protection policy from the title company, you can sleep at night? Think again!

regarding 200k houses in safe areas---

we have houses at or below 200k in safe areas over here. i would post some examples, but i'm looking at everything in this price range in my area for myself, so no thanks. these houses aren't perfect. but what i've learned from watching my parents and others do real estate transactions is, "building equity" or "building wealth" by owning a house isn't an easy proposition. i'd rather just own a starter house with a very manageable monthly payment so i can save my money *outside* of the forced "savings" of a mortgage. in other words, why buy a 300k-400k house (although we can afford it) when you can buy something with half the payments, fix the flaws, and save up as much as possible for a larger house in 5 yrs or so (when we have kids). if the house goes up in value, great. if not, no big deal because low payments helped us save cash and cash is king.

Here's the hard reality: It's not the buyers' faults that the sellers are underwater on their properties or may take a loss they have to pay out on. The seller often doesn't even deserve any sympathy. In most cases, they acquired equity when they bought 10 years ago and then refinanced and bought a boat or car or paid off credit card debt. Nothing wrong with that, but why should the buyer foot the bill for a bubble blip that the seller can't pay off?

On the other hand... there are sellers who still do have tons of equity. They bought back in the 1970's for 5 figures and are now trying to sell for six. It's easy to see. Just go to the country assessment webpage and type in the address. When I go on house hunts, I even like to bring my notebook and punch it up right there when talking to the realtor.

It appears that the floor on real estate prices needs to be cracked and hard. This can only occur, apparently, via foreclosures and lots of them. Not even short sales will do the trick since the banks don't want to do many of them and help lower prices. Only when the bank is forced to foreclose and the buyer is forced by the sheriff to leave, at gunpoint, will prices be fair to the buyers.

If someone still has equity in their property and refuses to give up their million dollar lottery ticket, wake up and smell the coffee, NOW! Taking your property off of the market until the price YOU want is back will probably not work for at least 15 to 20 years. In the meantime, you're going on that same ride and may even see all your equity vanish.

I would buy a house, but only at a price I can afford, in a place I want to live and that is not overpriced for what it is. The days are over where it does not matter what you pay because the price goes up 5% or more per year and the more you pay the more you gain. I'm not going to be the greater fool that bails out somebody who vastly overpaid. Renting is just fine unless and until I find a house worth buying.

Here's a perspective from someone living in SoCal (I was linked here from Patrick.net, an excellent blog about the Housing Bubble/Crash):

In a span of around 5 years back in the early 2000's, most areas of Los Angeles appreciated by about 300% - that's TRIPLING the value of a house in far less than one decade.

Now, the market has "corrected" about 30-40% and sellers are whining like its the Holocaust - even though they are still AHEAD 250%.

Where was all the whining and hand-wringing when prices were going ballistic, making housing unaffordable for all but the rich and deluded (i.e., those taking out huge honking loans)?

I've got no sympathy for Sellers who are whining about their mediocre properties no longer selling for $800/sqft.

You had your party. Now it's the Buyer's turn.

Anybody having a great under 200k house in a neighborhood like Guilford, please post an external link - Jamie would probably agree as it would be for comparative purposes.

I think if you look closely at the chart is shows an inverted shortage of homes so, clearly now is the best time to SUY, er i mean BELL. Well what i am trying to say is that there is never a time to HOLD. Because, well did i mention BRAC. Yes! That's it, BRAC! You see we got these soldiers making 40k/year that are goin to drive this market up up up. You better sell now or get bought in forever, er um, i mean didnt you see our NAR commercial, "Honey our REALTOR, Suzanne called. She said can do this,I researched it".

Did i mention that my team is number two in the country at talking people into paying 97% of asking price? You see, when you win an auction, what you have effectively done is pay what no other buyer would rationaly spend to buy a property. Nice "win".

I agree with most of the comments above (except the NAR advocate). I have most always owned a house and have been through bubbles and housing crashes. In 1998 my employer moved from California to another state. At that time, you couldn't give your house away. Luckily since I have always used conventional financing and was still in a "good" area I put my house on the market. Real estate salesmen did nothing. I asked my next door neighbor if he wanted to buy - AT MY ASKING price- and he said yes. I still lost 6% to pay for the sales commission for no work. I moved to the other state, and within 6 months, by employer went bankrupt leaving me houseless. I visited my recently sold house and it had already appreciated 50%. That tract house had gone from 90K in 1985 to 135 k in 1998 and now was at 210 k by January 1999. I couldn't even buy this old house back! I found a new job in California at less than 1/2 my regular salary and swore to myself I would NEVER have a mortgage again. This time, I will PAY MYSELF first., not a bank. I work too hard to throw away good money. So I rented like I did when I was in college. I ate beans and rice and saved most all of my income, drive an old 1992 clunker that I am still driving today. Every single time from 1999 to 2005 that we started house hunting I heard the same sales lies: You better buy now- house prices only go up. Don't be a loser as "only" a renter and buy my future estate. I didnt believe a word of it since I have heard all these promises before. My solution? Research research and more research, and save save save. I planned to save for a huge down payment so I would not be in debt to a bank for 30 years.

In 2005 my old house had now sold for $725,000 and it had not been kept up. That house was barely worth 135K in Spring 1998. It calculates to $65/sq ft. I learned that that is the present (2010) cost to build my own custom NEW house. A good friend of mine just built her own custom with all the fancy amenities - 4,000 sq ft single story house one one acre in the San Francisco Bay area for --Guess what it cost her including the lot? $350,000 including exclusive landscaping, a slate roof and a concrete driveway with 3 car garage. She was offered $1.2 Million for it while she was building it AFTER the bubble popped-- in 2008 . Her secret? save your money, pay cash, and cut out ALL the middlemen for HUGE savings. NO general contractor, no developer no salesmen. She paid $75/sq ft in 2008 and building costs, especially labor costs have declined. I see sellers in misery trying to sell their money pits. I know, I had the nicest house on the block. Never again ! That is s a good way to lose equity---all your comps are lesser structures.

Guess what? I am now out of work...and I still rent, and am very happy...no problems. Why? Because the person who OWNS the house I rent is in pain...the house of pain. He has a choice---rent to anyone with the rent money...and handle the late night calls about stuck sinks and overflowing toilets...or rent to a former home owner who handles the small stuff...and is NEVER late with the rent. THIS GIVES ME--a lowly renter a huge power. Why? because house in my neighborhood are renting for three times my rent. Why do they charge more--? They owe a mortgage. my landlord owns the house and every nickle (except for property taxes and garden service) is his to keep- as a profit. What do I get out of the deal? HE VOLUNTARILY lowers my rent--- to keep me in the house. There are NINE foreclosed houses on this street...AND NO ONE will lower the asking. So I rent and watch. I CAN NOW PAY CASH---for any house I want ...BUT WHY PAY HIGH? Real estate salesmen are still rude to me ---there is nothing they can say that will make me believe their "stories". I have the cash...and will only buy ON MY TERMS. I am praying that mortgage interest increases to 9% so that house prices will drop more. There are empty lots on my street with asking of $250k, NEW houses under construction for $900,000 and I know what they are really worth. I need no credit report, job verification, or loan approval. I need to be treated properly---it is MY TIME to gloat...like the salesmen and mortgage loan hucksters. I am still calling the shots, as I encourage my landlord to lower my rent AGAIN. The money he loses from a few months of vacancy and the uncertainty of all the late night complaining about house problems, plumbing etc etc etc...puts me in the drivers seat. To you future landlords out there---do you know how "bad" some tenants can be---and how their presence will lower property values further? Lower your price to less than the cost to build and you will sell it to someone like me. Why should I pay more? What would you do? IF YOU ate beans and rice and hot dogs for ten years, instead of playing the game and overpaying. As an unemployed renter , I can qualify for renter assistance and tons of government goodies. I won't but I can RETIRE TODAY IF I WANT...I saved that much. BTW, I saw the BS on wall street and pulled out ALL INVESTMENTS in 2007 two weeks before the first crash. I am in my own investments that I can control...precious metals, not certificates have value everywhere. So keep paying your mortgages and your other non essential expenses---cable TV, internet, cellular telephone bills...etc etc. Everything I do is free or at extremely reduced cost...you can do that...ONLY IF YOU HAVE CASH. Good luck sellers---I have been there---and done that. Sell now, before house prices drop more! There are millions of people like me...just waiting...for a NO MORTGAGE DEAL to help you out of your pain. BUT you must have EQUITY...no short sales...and you must be able to think about MY POSITION...I know yours---I was there. No hard feelings...I have been forced into being frugal by our bankers and real estate "professionals" who must believe their own stories.

Anyone who thinks BRAC is going to be the magic answer for Baltimore City home sellers, you need to quit smoking whatever you're smoking.

Military people aren't going to move into the city -- they want good schools for their kids and low crime rates. They'll move to the 'burbs and take their money with them.

If you are so happy with your decision to rent why does your post translate so bitter?