Give up on trying to sell your house!

You want to sell your house. You are reasonable about the price. You are dreaming.

The housing market has changed and is undergoing a major correction. But instead of home prices declining, a major correction usually means that houses don't sell. Why? First, the buyers become skittish about buying and believe that there is no rush to buy. Second, the speculators disappear from the market. Third, people don't want to lose money on their house. Fourth, many people can't afford to sell their house at a lower price and so they wait.

A large percentage of current homebuyers have made downpayments of 15% or less. If the price of their home falls by 10% and they pay 6% in real estate agent commissions,  1% in closing fees, and do repairs on the house, the amount they receive is actually less than what they still owe on the mortgage. Since they don't have extra cash, they can't afford to lower the price enough to sell the house in a depressed market.

Those that can't afford the payment, have no savings sometimes are forced to sell at a loss. Many of these situations result in foreclosures. This drives prices down even more.

So hunker down for 3 years or so and try not to read the newspaper. Oh, and you might consider home improvements that make you happy since you will be there awhile.