Not that it matters to us right now, but I see that Germany has once again blocked Albania as a "high risk" country, yet Netherlands (right next door to Germany) still considers Albania to be a "safe" country. There is nothing stopping you from crossing the land border from Netherland into Germany.
It's the lack of consistency that bothers me the most. There is no mask wearing in Netherlands. Yet their numbers are lower than Germany's. None of it makes any sense, and nobody can explain it to me.
We've been in nine different countries since this whole Covid thing began. Each one of those countries has handled things so differently, and yet not one of them appears to be any better off than any of the others.
The next three weeks are going to go by quickly. I finally got together with one of my friends for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon, but there are still people we want to see. And then of course we've got our Toronto Zoo trip coming up in 9 days, and then my guys weekend away on the 24th.
The house sale is not going well, and we're at a loss to explain why that is. I've talked to about 8 or 9 people on the phone, almost all of them as a result of the road sign out front. Two more from the MLS listing were real estate agents asking if we would "co-operate" with them if they brought us a buyer. The ones I spoke to asked some questions, and I answered them. Each call was left with "okay, I'll talk to my husband/wife and I'll get back to you", but none of them have.
It's very odd.
But, we'll keep plugging away. It only takes one buyer.
Today is a beautiful day. We're going for a hike!
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And in Canada...
I wonder if it would be worth your while to hold an open house?
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't think so. From what I've read, most real estate agents who do open houses do them to make it look like they're actually working for their client, or to meet prospective new clients. Very few homes are sold as a result of an open house.
DeleteIt's not surprising at all to take longer to sell a home due to economy. Never know when a person loses their job. Yesterday, I drove by a family owned a/c business that's been there for years and years and I see it shut down. No one around to ask what happened. Parking lot and offices empty. Retail stores are have reduced their floor space and long lines at check outs for lack of cashiers. Until covid is gone and the economy recovers, I'm sure people will start buying major items again. I took a risk and bought a used car for which parts might be available for future repairs. The car is in good condition now.
ReplyDeleteWell, here around Ottawa the real estate market has been hot. Nothing to do with the economy in general because Ottawa has a lot of government and business employees who haven't lost a dime as a result of the economy.
DeleteIt's really puzzling about the house. We are in the US, but homes of average price are still being really sought after. Even mis pricing isn't a barrier unless it's way out of line. Also, still a lot morevjob listing than unemployed.
ReplyDeleteThe different countries in Europe are like the states here and provinces up there.
With few exceptions all their different political ideologies don't result in any good solutions.
It really is strange about the house, the market is still quite hot here, especially for homes out in the country but near enough to the city. We don't quite get it and we don't think that it is priced too high, in fact we think that it is priced at the low end of the scale. Maybe we are just being impatient but we really thought there would have been more interest in this house!
DeleteYou are spot on with your thinking about the different countries/states/provinces!
Sorry the house hasn’t sold. Will you still go back to Germany before it sells? Might be time to work with a realtor after all. We live in a hot seller’s market but the for sale by owner homes do not sell quickly. Not sure why.
ReplyDeleteWe are too, we really thought that it would have garnered more interest and yes, you may be correct, it might be time for a realtor. Kevin is thinking now that he should have gone a slightly different route but we think that with us leaving at the end of the month if may be too late for us to take that route and instead just get a realtor.
DeleteIf it doesn't sell before we leave we will hand it over to my brother to look after and I know that he will have a realtor sell it so there is no need for us to be here at that point.
Glad not being sold won’t interfere with your plans. You watch, someone will be a serious buyer just days before you plan to leave!
DeleteNo it won't interfere at all with our plans, we were just hoping to have sold it or at least an offer on it before we left.
DeleteThis is what we are hoping will happen! :-)
I was wondering about the house sale. It looks like such a charming property, and with the hot market, it is surprising. However, it can definitely be more difficult to sell FSBO. Lots of real estate agents won't bring buyers to FSBOs, as you're finding, and if I were a buyer wanting to go it alone, I would be nervous about buying a FSBO, simply because of all the legalities involved in the transaction. I wish you the best of luck with it!
ReplyDeleteIt is surprising but maybe it is just more difficult to try and sell a house by yourself when it is out in the country compared to being in the city. Also we think the key to selling a house yourself is to get it onto the MLS listing and that is where we found a problem. We probably should have done things a little differently but now with us leaving in less than three weeks and being busy over the next two weekends we think that it is probably too late to change the way we did things and that yes, it just might be time to bring in a realtor. I don't think that people buying the house need to worry, they can have their realtor with them, we weren't saying that we wouldn't deal with a realtor, just that we weren't going to use one.
DeleteSome FSBO properties offer in their listings to give a reduced/half commission to buyers' agents. That way nervous 1st time buyers can feel more comfortable. I think I'd try that before giving up entirely on the FSBO route.
ReplyDeleteThe buyers are welcome to use a realtor, they would just have to factor in the price of commission of the realtor into the price that they were willing to pay for the house. If we were to have a better offer from someone not using a realtor to someone using one then we would most likely go with the one not using the realtor, however if the one using the realtor came up with a better price factoring in the commission price then we would take that offer. We just think that the listing isn't getting out to potential buyers and perhaps it is just harder to try and sell a house out in the country compared to the city when you are trying to sell in privately.
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