The Atlantis of Home Values

We started this past week on a high note.  Last Sunday morning our agent called.  He had someone contact him to see the home, and they wanted to come by just after lunch that day.  I really didn't think they were a serious buyer since they called after driving by; they didn't have their own agent.  Of course, I let them see the house.  We did some cleaning and cleared out to take a walk through the neighborhood and to play at the park, figuring they'd be in and out in about 20-30 minutes.  Over an hour later, after circling the block several times, we finally saw our agent leave the driveway,  allowing us to head home with three worn out little girls.  Not much later, we were given a run-down on the potential buyers and on what seemed to be a stellar showing.  Their living and financial situations as they presented them seemed perfectly suited to wait out the process of purchasing a short-sale.  They wanted to return that day or the next to take a second look.  In fact, about an hour later we received another call, requesting access at 5 p.m. that evening.  Once again, we cleaned up and cleared out, grabbing some fast-food for dinner and letting the kids run free at yet another park.  Again, it was well over an hour before our agent called with the "all clear."  And again, he indicated that they were seriously interested.  They wanted to take the evening to talk it over, and would get back to our agent on Monday.  So we went home to wait and to start our week, finally feeling good, hopeful that we would have an offer to present to the bank this week. Monday morning came and went, with no call.  Monday afternoon became Monday evening, and still nothing.  Tuesday morning I e-mailed our agent to ask the status of his conversations with them.  He had attempted several times to call and to text them, but they had not responded to any of his calls.  So we waited some more.  We've heard nothing from them all week, indicating to us that they've moved on, for one reason or another.  As they won't return any phone calls, it's difficult to know exactly why, but I'd say it's a safe bet that they, like several others that have viewed the house, decided they want nothing to do with the short-sale process.

The house has been on the market for over 7 weeks, with relatively few showings.  We dropped the price substantially, about $30,000, just over two weeks ago in an attempt to stimulate some more interest and to bring it more in-line with comparable properties that had closed in June (prices in our area are continuing to fall, unfortunately).  Traffic definitely picked up - not hard to do, really, as we'd had only one showing in the whole month of June.  Clearly, though, the fact that the house was already bargain-priced is not enough to combat the malady of being a short-sale.  So we now drop a bit lower.  We don't really have much more room to drop after this, I'm afraid.  The house next door is also a short sale.  Same floor plan, but not quite as many extras, and it has an offer pending at just $1000 less than where we now sit on the market.  We're told by the potential buyers of that property (we know them) that the bank had pre-approved their offer price.  However, they have heard absolutely nothing from the seller or the seller's bank in the six weeks since the offer was submitted.  This is exactly the reason why so many short-sales become foreclosures: too many buyers simply refuse to deal with the long, drawn out process of waiting for the bank to even acknowledge an offer.

Now, we sit.  Our current listing price is just shy of $100,000 less than what we owe.  That's not just an underwater mortgage; our home value is Atlantis.  It used to be grand, glorious, thriving.  Then it plummeted to a depth beyond reach or repair.  At some point, I suppose that it'll return, or at least stabilize.  Unfortunately, my family won't have the privilege to be the proud explorers that will reap the beauty of that discovery.