Following the footsteps of IPO and Trojan in Chicago: Panda's quest to unload his townhome.

[quote author="BlackVault CM" date=1234594260][quote author="PANDA" date=1234527330][quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1234501193]Dude... if you really want to follow in the steps of IPO and USC... you need to give us more updates!



It would be interesting to compare the Chicago real estate process to Irvine's.</blockquote>


Dudes and dudettes, let's just say that the Panda is not pimpin it like IPO and USC, who closed the deal in less than a week. I only had only two showings so far :(.... I am crossing my fingers that the massive stimulus package allows banks to start borrowing again. It seems that no one is lending right now. What is a Panda to do? Give away my town home for FREE?</blockquote>


Maybe it's a blessing for you to stay in Chicago, which I might add is my favorite city. I would trade places with you. The weather here is fantastic, but the latest stunt to increase my taxes in order to support 3.2 immigrants that add no value to the system is taking a toll on me.</blockquote>


BV, Don't say that man!... Ms. Panda is already happy living in Chicago as she is starting to grow some serious roots here, and I'm telling my wife everyday... Baby, we're moving to Irvine whether you like it or not! :)



In a more serious note, I am also getting the same vibe. Arnold cutting 10,000 jobs, seeing my highly competent Cali friends losing their jobs, Cali tax refund issues / Cali taxes rising. Part of me just wants to move to Irvine in 2012, when there is real blood in the streets. I want to pick up an FCB's Irvine home for 40% less than he paid for it in '06.
 
[quote author="PANDA" date=1234593552]IR2, does it help if i had 20 pictures instead of only 9. I brought this up to the agent and he told me that 9 is more than enough. I am not sure if it was a cost issue or not. My agent gave me 400 emails of the buying agents in the area. I am working on an email campaign to send out to these buyers probably one a month. IR2, what are some guerilla marketing strategies where i can bring my home up higher in the search ranking in realtor.com. You can have a wonderful product, but if no one knows about it, you can't sell it. My ideal time to move out of Chicago would be June of '09.



Thank you so much for the feedback IR2.</blockquote>


Des Plaines! Des Plaines!



<img src="http://www.cincinnatiwriters.org/images/HerveVillechaize.jpg" alt="" />



25 photos will bring your home to the <strong>first page</strong> of the <strong>largest search engine</strong> through its <strong>most common search method</strong> (# of photos).

Anyone looking in 60016 will see your place first. Even if they are just pix of parks, shopping centers, repeats of the first nine, or of your shoe collection, they will get you noticed sooner.



Maybe it would be clearer to picture yourself as a homebuyer, looking for a 3BR home in your area. How does yours stack up? How easy is it to find? How easy is it to show? Would you buy this place?
 
[quote author="PANDA" date=1234593552]IR2, does it help if i had 20 pictures instead of only 9. I brought this up to the agent and he told me that 9 is more than enough. I am not sure if it was a cost issue or not.

</blockquote>
Why would it cost more to put the maximum number of pictures? I'm not familiar with how your MLS system works over there, but as long as it's not like eBay, you should be able to max out on the eye candy.



Is your agent old school? Mine was, and he said the same thing when I gave him 20 pictures to post. He said 8 was enough. He also did all caps which I made him change (I actually have a theory about that... I think it's related to the old computer systems that MLS was on prior to Windows... the listings actually carry over previous listings and so if it was all caps back in the 80s... they just carried it forward.... maybe IR2 can confirm).

<blockquote>

My agent gave me 400 emails of the buying agents in the area. I am working on an email campaign to send out to these buyers probably one a month.

</blockquote>
Shouldn't your agent be doing that for you? Some guys are so spoiled nowadays, it's not just doing an occasional Open House and making fliers... that was back when housing was booming... nowadays, they have to be more active (like IR2).

<blockquote>

IR2, what are some guerilla marketing strategies where i can bring my home up higher in the search ranking in realtor.com. You can have a wonderful product, but if no one knows about it, you can't move it. My ideal time to move out of Chicago would be June of '09.

</blockquote>
Maybe you should rent IR2 for a few weeks... heh.
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1234595381][quote author="PANDA" date=1234593552]IR2, does it help if i had 20 pictures instead of only 9. I brought this up to the agent and he told me that 9 is more than enough. I am not sure if it was a cost issue or not.

</blockquote>
Why would it cost more to put the maximum number of pictures? I'm not familiar with how your MLS system works over there, but as long as it's not like eBay, you should be able to max out on the eye candy.



Is your agent old school? Mine was, and he said the same thing when I gave him 20 pictures to post. He said 8 was enough. He also did all caps which I made him change (I actually have a theory about that... I think it's related to the old computer systems that MLS was on prior to Windows... the listings actually carry over previous listings and so if it was all caps back in the 80s... they just carried it forward.... maybe IR2 can confirm).

<blockquote>

My agent gave me 400 emails of the buying agents in the area. I am working on an email campaign to send out to these buyers probably one a month.

</blockquote>
Shouldn't your agent be doing that for you? Some guys are so spoiled nowadays, it's not just doing an occasional Open House and making fliers... that was back when housing was booming... nowadays, they have to be more active (like IR2).

<blockquote>

IR2, what are some guerilla marketing strategies where i can bring my home up higher in the search ranking in realtor.com. You can have a wonderful product, but if no one knows about it, you can't move it. My ideal time to move out of Chicago would be June of '09.

</blockquote>
Maybe you should rent IR2 for a few weeks... heh.</blockquote>


That's the problem! You can't find an agent like IR2 these days. You have to work with the best of the worst. Seriously, I am going to bust out my own digital camera and take my own pictures of my backyard.
 
Panda my man, I don't know much about Chi-Town RE, but two showings during the first two weeks of listing seems scary low to me. To me that screams that your price is not low enough to compel would-be buyers to come see the house... You sure as heck aren't going to sell it if people aren't visiting once, twice, three times a lady. This market ain't getting any better any time soon. Move that product Panda!
 
[quote author="PANDA" date=1234595629]



Seriously, I am going to bust out my own digital camera and take my own pictures of my backyard.</blockquote>


Ten was looking for some rental investment and happened to look at your place PANDA. He just wasn't convinced.

So slap on some red briefs with knee high black dress socks and snap a few pics. Replace them with the ones of your home, and I bet his interest flares up.



Just don't ask questions cause you don't have time. Seal the deal!
 
[quote author="BlackVault CM" date=1234601273][quote author="PANDA" date=1234595629]



Seriously, I am going to bust out my own digital camera and take my own pictures of my backyard.</blockquote>


Ten was looking for some rental investment and happened to look at your place PANDA. He just wasn't convinced.

So slap on some red briefs with knee high black dress socks and snap a few pics. Replace them with the ones of your home, and I bet his interest flares up.



Just don't ask questions cause you don't have time. Seal the deal!</blockquote>


BV,

Perhaps you and Ten can do some "OC Male Prostitute Style" poses in your G-Strings and flex your muscles in my town house and I can post up those pictures as one of my 25 pictures on the MLS. I am sure you guys will attract all the 40 year old female buyers in my area. Panda would get his townhome sold in no time.
 
Panda, it sounds like you may be priced a bit high because you aren't getting many showings. I think I got about 10-12 showings in 5 days before the buyer accepted my counter offer. You should try the strategy that I tried with success....a range price ($349,000 to $399,000). The range price will enable you to get more foot traffic because buyers who search for properties up to $350k will still pick up your property. I did a range price of $599k to $649k knowing that my reserve price was $620k so the lower end of the range doesn't have to the minimum you would accept (have it be 25% less than the bare bottom price you would accept). Also, if you can pick up some stainless steel appliances on the cheap from craiglist then do that because kitchen and bathrooms are important to potential buyers.
 
Panda-



Perhaps your price could be lowered, but it is winter there, and being from Chicago- I know noone seems to buy when it's winter. I have noticed after living here 3 years and seeing IPO's list of homes going into escrow that the SoCAL market remains more active in winter months than Chicago. Maybe you've been seeing IPO's posts and think it should be happening to you- but there is definitely a spring selling season in Chicago and it's dead winter there now. Be patient.
 
IR2 and USC, thank you so much for your advice. I will definitely talk to my agent on Monday on some of the changes. Trojan, I really like your strategy of pricing the home in a range of $349,900 - $399,900. My goal is not to lose the equity that i had put into the home so far. The price i am willing to sell without losing any equity is $375,000. Trojan, if i go ahead with this price structure, can i reject any offers coming in below $375,000? or am i forced to take an offer if some offers $355,000? My agent did tell me yesterday that if i dropped my price to $360,000 that i would be in escrow in 30 days.



I want to let all of you know that the neighborhood i live in is nothing like Irvine. Des Plaines, IL is more like La Habra, CA and my decision to buy here was solely on the fact that I was 5 minutes away from where i was working at the time, 10 minutes away from Ohare airport and HMART, and 25 minutes from the city. There is no way in my right mind i want start a family in Des Plaines, IL. Also, like Joon said, in Chicago, there is not that many people shopping for homes in january and february because of the cold weather, whereas Irvine is sunshine all year round. I asked my agent yesterday if the price is the issue, and he told me that there are hardly any views for all of his listings in Jan/Feb. Few of his listings are getting 1 view a week and March/April is when more serious buyers will start looking. Comparing my townhome to IPO and Trojan's home is like comparing a JC Community College to UCLA.



Disclaimer: Panda's opinion only.....

From an economics stand point, I think we are going to get an artifical boost in consumer confidence once the $1 trillion dollar stimulus package gets passed. Everything we see in the media right now is negative about how we are headed for the Great Depression. I am willing to predict that by Spring / Summer Time, this year, we will start seeing the media / CNBC shouting out to everyone that the $1 trillion dollar stimulus package was a success and how we are just starting to get out of this recession. Consumers will start borrowing and buying again and companies will starting hiring again, an artificial euphoria. I do believe that the mortgage rates will get down to levels we have never seen before by Spring/Summer this year and the DOW making a huge dead cat bounce to 10,000 - 11,000 range before the house of cards totally collapses. Again, I know that some of you (like Graph) may disagree with what i am saying, but this is what i think will unfold this year. May-August timeframe is when i am ideally hoping to close.



IR2 - can you please move to Chicago?

Panda also needs a good Realtor!
 
Panda, one thing that I have noticed as a buyer using ziprealty.com:

I use their search engine and every morning I receive the houses that are new or changed in my search criteria.

If the description of the house is changed or new pictures added, then the house gets resent to me as part of that search.

Some houses have interested me the second time I received the email when they didn't stand out to me the first time.

Just a thought.



Did you interview different realtors before you chose your current realtor?

I only ask because you need a realtor that is current with the current Internet selling trends.

Old School Selling doesn't work any more.

IR2 may be able to confirm, but I believe 80-90% of buyers use the Internet to search for their homes these days.



Also, have you considered removing the "4-story" in the description and simply list it as "townhome"? I know a lot of people won't even consider a 3-story, nevermind a 4-story. But, they may fall in love with your townhome once they see it in person. IR2 - what's your thought process on this?



IR2 - can you <em>please </em>move to Massachusetts.

I need a good Realtor!
 
[quote author="BlackVault CM" date=1234594260][quote author="PANDA" date=1234527330][quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1234501193]Dude... if you really want to follow in the steps of IPO and USC... you need to give us more updates!



It would be interesting to compare the Chicago real estate process to Irvine's.</blockquote>


Dudes and dudettes, let's just say that the Panda is not pimpin it like IPO and USC, who closed the deal in less than a week. I only had only two showings so far :(.... I am crossing my fingers that the massive stimulus package allows banks to start borrowing again. It seems that no one is lending right now. What is a Panda to do? Give away my town home for FREE?</blockquote>


Maybe it's a blessing for you to stay in Chicago, which I might add is my favorite city. I would trade places with you. The weather here is fantastic, but the latest stunt to increase my taxes in order to support 3.2 immigrants that add no value to the system is taking a toll on me.



Business is fleeing out of California faster than our economy is sinking.</blockquote>


BV,

Can you tell me some before/after changes in the recent tax hikes in California. I know that we are paying a 10% sales tax for everything we buy in a retail store or dining in Chicago. Before, it was 7.75%. I don't think we have a gasoline tax. Prices are still around 1.99 per gallon here. Business taxes are still reasonable here in Chi-town. How bad is it getting over there?



Layoffs are bad here, but not to the point where it is in your face. It seems that the situation is much worse over there.
 
[quote author="PANDA" date=1234658461]IR2 and USC, thank you so much for your advice. I will definitely talk to my agent on Monday on some of the changes. Trojan, I really like your strategy of pricing the home in a range of $349,900 - $399,900. My goal is not to lose the equity that i had put into the home so far. The price i am willing to sell without losing any equity is $375,000. Trojan, if i go ahead with this price structure, can i reject any offers coming in below $375,000? or am i forced to take an offer if some offers $355,000? My agent did tell me yesterday that if i dropped my price to $360,000 that i would be in escrow in 30 days.



I want to let all of you know that the neighborhood i live in is nothing like Irvine. Des Plaines, IL is more like La Habra, CA and my decision to buy here was solely on the fact that I was 5 minutes away from where i was working at the time, 10 minutes away from Ohare airport and HMART, and 25 minutes from the city. There is no way in my right mind i want start a family in Des Plaines, IL. Also, like Joon said, in Chicago, there is not that many people shopping for homes in january and february because of the cold weather, whereas Irvine is sunshine all year round. I asked my agent yesterday if the price is the issue, and he told me that there are hardly any views for all of his listings in Jan/Feb. Few of his listings are getting 1 view a week and March/April is when more serious buyers will start looking. Comparing my townhome to IPO and Trojan's home is like comparing a JC Community College to UCLA.



I would like to share couple of details with all of you that i did not share before that sort of effects my timing. My wife's company is going to have another round of layoffs in April, right after her busy season. She did express to me her concern that if she asked for a transfer to the Irvine office before then, her manager may think that she is not as committed to her client in Chicago and may let her go. So for my wife, April - June move would be the ideal time for her. Also my current mortgage payments right now are $491.91 which will drop to $350 once my 5 year ARM resets in June. We don't have any car payments or debt, so we are to able sock away a lot our income towards our savings for our Irvine down payment fund. 2012 is the year I am planning on buying my first Irvine home.



Disclaimer: Panda's opinion only.....

From an economics stand point, I think we are going to get an artifical boost in consumer confidence once the $1 trillion dollar stimulus package gets passed. Everything we see in the media right now is negative about how we are headed for the Great Depression. I am willing to predict that by Spring / Summer Time, this year, we will start seeing the media / CNBC shouting out to everyone that the $1 trillion dollar stimulus package was a success and how we are just starting to get out of this recession. Consumers will start borrowing and buying again and companies will starting hiring again, an artificial euphoria. I do believe that the mortgage rates will get down to levels we have never seen before by Spring/Summer this year and the DOW making a huge dead cat bounce to 10,000 - 11,000 range before the house of cards totally collapses. Again, I know that some of you (like Graph) may disagree with what i am saying, but this is what i think will unfold this year. May-August timeframe is when i am ideally hoping to close.



IR2 - can you please move to Chicago?

Panda also needs a good Realtor!</blockquote>
Of course you can reject any offers below $375,000...hell you can reject any offers including ones for $500,000. The strategy behind the range pricing is to get showings and for one of the buyers to fall in love with your place. Once you get a few offers, you can use the other strategy that I used (somewhat risky)....do a best-and-final counter offer to the buyers who put offers in for the amount you want to get ($375,000) in this case. It worked for me and it may just work for you.
 
[quote author="PANDA" date=1234665212][quote author="BlackVault CM" date=1234594260][quote author="PANDA" date=1234527330][quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1234501193]Dude... if you really want to follow in the steps of IPO and USC... you need to give us more updates!



It would be interesting to compare the Chicago real estate process to Irvine's.</blockquote>


Dudes and dudettes, let's just say that the Panda is not pimpin it like IPO and USC, who closed the deal in less than a week. I only had only two showings so far :(.... I am crossing my fingers that the massive stimulus package allows banks to start borrowing again. It seems that no one is lending right now. What is a Panda to do? Give away my town home for FREE?</blockquote>


Maybe it's a blessing for you to stay in Chicago, which I might add is my favorite city. I would trade places with you. The weather here is fantastic, but the latest stunt to increase my taxes in order to support 3.2 immigrants that add no value to the system is taking a toll on me.



Business is fleeing out of California faster than our economy is sinking.</blockquote>


BV,

Can you tell me some before/after changes in the recent tax hikes in California. I know that we are paying a 10% sales tax for everything we buy in a retail store or dining in Chicago. Before, it was 7.75%. I don't think we have a gasoline tax. Prices are still around 1.99 per gallon here. Business taxes are still reasonable here in Chi-town. How bad is it getting over there?



Layoffs are bad here, but not to the point where it is in your face. It seems that the situation is much worse over there.</blockquote>


You may not want to discuss this publicly, but I've long wondered why you want to relocate to Orange County. If my business was portable, I don't think I would consider moving to a place with such a high cost of overhead (anti business laws in California, and cost of living and the impact on employee compensation for workers)



With no emotional ties to a region, I'd probably consider Nevada, Arizona or Texas long before California. Of the 3, Arizona would be my emotional favorite.
 
Personally I'd stay in Chicago, but that's just me. Don't you own a home in Atlanta too? After all the other posts and such I'm not sure what is true but I thought I remember reading you had a home in Duluth. Why are you holding on to that one and selling the one in Chicago. I'd rent the one in Chicago and sell the one in Atlanta. Come out to Irvine, rent for a year or two while renting out your Chicago home then buy here if and when you are ready. Then you can sell your Chicago home, keep it for a rental, or move back if it's not working here. I know you want to sell before the market tanks even further but you are probably going to also lose if you buy a home here in the next few years so what's the difference.
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1235491351]So now that Pandito is back... what's the haps on the sale?</blockquote>


Mi espanol as muy mala. Lo Siento Pandito "for leaving you hanging" :)



Don't laugh IHO.. my townhome has still not sold yet so i decided to follow my gut and go with Plan B which is to borrow enough equity out of my house where my townhome will be cash flow positive if i rent it out. I had no purchase offers, but 4 offers to rent my townhome for $2250, so it seems that it will not be that hard to rent out my place until the market recovers in couple of years. My current loan balance is $53,000 and carrying cost is $491(mortgage) + $500(taxes) + ($126 HOA) = $1117 per month. I will be taking out a cash out loan for $240,000 at 30 year fixed 5.125% with $1425 closing fees where my carrying costs will now be little less than $2000 a month. I know that I may not be getting the best loan deal, but freddie and fannie would not do a cash out loan for me since i had my townhome on the market within the past 6 months so i found a small private bank willing to give me this loan since my credit score was above 760 with good stable household income.



I am planning on renting out both my atlanta and chicago property (cash flow postive) and buying the third starter home (maybe 1600-1700 square feet) in Irvine in 2010 with my cash out as my down payment. This will allow me not to put anymore of my personal savings into real estate and allow me to purchase my third property in Irvine while renting out my atlanta and chicago property. When the market recovers in 3-5 years, I am planning on selling out my atlanta and chicago property and buying my Irvine house #2 and #3. This is my 5 year Plan B for now.



I hope this will put some closure to this thread.



Panda
 
[quote author="PANDA" date=1240827147]... and buying my Irvine house #2 and #3. </blockquote>


Not sure how to read that. Do you mean you will keep your first Irvine starter home and buy two more Irvine homes... or do you mean, you will sell the first one as you sell the other two out of state, and move up the property ladder into one larger Irvine home?
 
Thanks for updating and I have to say that I miss all of the craziness you bring to the IHB. Welcome back (?).
 
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