Cleveland Real Estate: First Hand Account of Selling in Cleveland, Ohio

I recently read that the City of Cleveland has the lower median income in America. Selling a home in a market that is less then stellar is never a good idea, but selling your home in Cleveland Ohio in a down market, is nothing short of a nightmare.

The exact quote from The Other Paper was that, "New poverty rankings say Cleveland has the lowest median income of all major U.S. cities. Experts attribute this to the fact that, at just $916,667 a year, Indians center-fielder Grady Sizemore is woefully underpaid." As I am writing this the Cleveland Indians are ranked number one in the Central division.

I have spent the last year trying to sell my vacant home in this market and cringe any time any statistic about Cleveland Ohio and there housing market comes out. According to City Data , "Median price asked for vacant for-sale houses and condos in 2005: $86,900 (lower quartile is $70,000, upper quartile is $113,000)." Note that in 2005 the market was a lot better then it is now.

I have read report after report about how Cleveland also boasts one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. According to The Real Estate Blogger Cleveland falls at number ten when it comes to having the highest rate of foreclosures in the first half of 2007. It turns out that one in every fifty homes in Cleveland was foreclosed upon.

There are several reasons that selling a home in Cleveland is not a good idea right now. The high rate of foreclosures, the lowest median income around, and the ridiculous price per square foot that you will get for your home sale to begin with.

Why do I even bother selling when the market is this unfavorable and all of the statistics are against me? I don't live in the house, in fact I haven't lived there for four years. I don't even live in Cleveland. Like many of the bright minds of the city that is regaining it's infamous moniker of "The Mistake on The Lake" I graduated from College, heck I even got my Masters in Cleveland, then I moved to Columbus.

I kept the house for two years and rented it out, but then decided that I wanted to let go of it. I wasn't moving back.

I put my house on the market in August of 2006. The asking price was a steal at $126,900 for a three bedroom single family house with a two car garage. I had done a ton of upgrades including putting in a new furnace and a new water heater, getting the whole house painted inside and out, and the list goes one. The list might go on, but the price dropped. We went to 119K, then 114,900, then to 109,000, now we are at a rocking 105,900, and still a year later no takers.

When you hear stories like this it just makes sense why so many foreclosures happen. My house has been on the market for a year and I can't even break even on what I paid for it. My Realtor told me that I need to go down to 99K. That is five thousand dollars less then what I paid for the house seven year ago. So much for your house being your biggest investment. If you live in Cleveland Ohio it might just be your biggest liability.