OT - Anyone a realtor or into realestate? Need advise - long.

I am trying to decide if we should start looking for a new home or not.  With the economy the way it is and such it is hard to figure out what to do.  We currently live in a small 3 bedroom 2 full bath ranch - approx 1100 sq ft - first floor laundry (w/ extra hook up in basement) on approx 3 acres.  Forced air, central air, new water heater (or will be once we tie into the natural gas in a few weeks), new water softener (2-3 months old) and soon will have natual gas! (not normally found in the country and wouldn't have it if a big company hadn't paid to have it ran to their building down the road.), full unfinished basement.

We are in the country, close to I-96 on a paved road.  We have 3 out buildings - 1 stall garage w/ patio, pole barn (probably 20 X 24) w/ one OH door and a shed.  We have quite a few trees, but not so much mature ones (unless you count a row of blue spruces that run along the west side of our property).  Huge lawn and our house sits back so it is good for kids - they won't be playing by the road.

It is a basic house.  Nothing fancy.  Could use some updating, but is quite liveable as it is.  We have updated the carpet in 2 of the 3 bedrooms and also in the living room all within the last year and 1/2.  I may even part with my huge fridge and brand flat top stove....but only if I have to.  Washer and dryer can stay.  Depending on where we go, we may be able to throw the zero radius mower in the deal (it is a year old).

We are running out of room with 2 infants and a toddler.  The bedrooms are quite small so the living room doubles as a play room. The toys have taken it over!  We really need a 4 bedroom house.  I am thinking about approaching DH about buying a fixer-upper closer to his work (Lansing area - so thinking around Grand Ledge).  It will be a much smaller mtg pymt in case something was to happen with his job.  And as long as his job is good we could remodel the house without taking on more loans.

Is that a good thing to do right now or should we at least wait to see what is happening w/ Fanny Mae and stuff?
ETA:  Is our house worth putting on the market now?  Like is it too basic or not enough of what people are looking for?

If you get free natural gas then DON'T MOVE! Believe me, it would be worth it to stay and add on instead of moving. I know that up in the Big Rapids area people get free natural gas if the pipelines run through their property, so you should check it out.

We sold our home in March, and we very fortunate to do so. There is such a glut of houses on the market and so few jobs, or so many people whose jobs are threatened that the market is really bad for a seller. But now sure is the time to buy. If you really do want to sell you could ask a good price if you get free natural gas!

You mean they don't pay for the gas they use?!  Heck yeah we'd sit tight on that.  The gas line was ran down the road for the buisness (so they paid for it to be ran) and we can tie into it for a fee....and pay for what we use.  My parents had to pay like $5,000 in their town when the gas line was ran.  The fee to hook into it is well worth it because natual gas is so much cheaper than propane.  It will cut our heating bill in about 1/2.  (we also switched out our gas stove for an electric)  I will also be happy to get that  big ol 1000 gallon pig our of our yard.

I thinik it is really hard to tell right now what will happen with a home. I know people who have had homes on the market for 2 years and others who have sold in a matter of days or months.

I would find a few realtors and have them give you some figures and show you what similar homes have sold in your area and for how much and how long they were on the market. And then go from there...don't go into willing to take whatever to get out of your house.

Good luck!

Wow.. your place sounds nice.. I know small.. I raised my kidlets in a small house too.. but you know what.. during these times heating and cooling a smaller house is cheaper..

I put my house on the market a month ago.. the realtor told us not to expect too much for a while.. we're priced right but there is no money.. people aren't buying.. I think we've showed the house 3 times in a month which for our area is a lot..

you could put it up for sale and see what happens.. you could add on to your home to give you more space ..  the best part is.. you don't *have* to move if you choose not to.. hopefully the market will turn around in a few months.. i don't think we all can go on like this for another year.. things are just too tight..

Good luck in your choices.. I think I'd sit on this one for a while and see what happens..

Thanks for your input everyone!  For once we dont' 'have' to sell.  This house has sold well in the past (only weeks on the market the 2 times it has been sold.)  I have a number of a guy who came to the door wanting to buy it shortly after my son was born.  Weird huh?  He stopped several times and the last time my husband told him pretty sternly that we were not selling it.  I thought about giving him a call to see if he was still interested.   The only thing is if he thinks we want to sell it then he may low ball us.

Living where we do, finding a fair asking price will probably be tricky.  The house next door - a 4 bedroom Victorian - very nice home - has been for sale for over 2 yrs.  They are asking $269,000.00 for it though.  Way out of our price range - it would be great if we could just switch.

I did contact a realtor to see if they could do an assesment - we'll see if they'll do it without us signing anything.

Gwen

It took 6 months to sell my house in Stanwood after we moved to AZ.  Even then we had to pay 3% down payment for the new buyer plus all closing costs and even a $400 fee for him to the bank.  Now really isn't a good time to sell but if you have someone who will buy, then go for it.  I'd just contact that one guy and tell him you're testing the waters, not sure if you want to sell or not but you'll entertain an offer.  This way if it's lowball, you don't get locked into anything.  Also, make sure he's got financing set up beforehand.