The Jantzens are trying to sell their house, located in the woods of Kentucky. This house is an hour outside of Louisville, inconvenient for the owners, so they want to unload the property, downsize to fit their lifestyle, and move closer to town. For some reason, their house isn’t attracting any local interest among potential buyers. The Jantzens think their latest asking price is “fair” at $214,500, despite the recent median sales price of homes in the area of only $142,500.
Perhaps getting their story on CNN Money will induce local interest, but they might just have to accept the fact that the housing market in their area has gone south. It’s only a “fair” price if someone is willing to pay.
The couple is not in a rush to sell, so they’re holding out for an offer. I believe everything has a price at which interest will materialize, provided they get the word out. Obvisouly, $214,500 has not been the right price for this house at this time. Nevertheless, they are worried about the house’s longevity on the market bringing the value of their house down. I think their value is already down, and the house’s time spent without offers is an indication of that.
Published or updated December 1, 2006. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
They’re getting “fair” and fair market value confused. They need a good realtor to set them straight.
They are forgetting that something is only worth what others are willing to pay for it.
And this at the same time tens of millions of Americans cannot find anything on the market they can buy – and nobody even trying to tap this unmet demand. Looks like market failure.
People are only having trouble because they are only looking within a defined geographic area. I’d be having trouble finding something to buy in Beverly Hills, but I could buy plenty in the Kentucky woods.
I’d like to try to tap this unmet demand, but I can’t move all the features of Beverly Hills to the Kentucky woods. If you can, you’ll probably make a lot of money.
Their price doesn’t seem too bad… the median in their area is $142,500, but the average house doesn’t have 24 acres like their house.
I say what is keeping their house on the market is the fact that it is damn ugly. The outside is boring and blah and, judging from the background of their photo, they overcompensate for the exterior blahs by with technicolor curtains on the inside.
I’m waiting for the comic book market to turn around too and I’m getting desperate… I’m waiting for a fair bid on my collection one day. Maybe CNN Money can help. :)
I could be wrong, but I don’t think there is an existing home in any U.S. market I could afford to buy including rehab if required.
I completely agree with your comments — perhaps their $214K asking price might have generated interest 8 months ago when housing was still somewhat hot, but if you always ask for the top range, you’ll always run the risk of disappointment.
Having said that, it never ceases to amaze me the geographical differences in housing prices. The article doesn’t talk about the house’s features, but it looks nice in the picture, and 24 nicely wooded acres would be fantastic.
Actually it depends on area where house is located , if there are lot of rich peoples livin near house , they may get high price
I wonder why they don’t rent.
I think a lot more people are going to be running into this problem in the coming months where their perception of what the value should be and reality aren’t going to meet.
This is common when the market turns down: It takes time for seller’s expectations to catch up with the reality of declining prices. Sadly, especially as the market continues to decline, most people eventually realize that they’ve gotten less for their home (and suffered a much longer sell) than if they’d priced it realistically in the first place.
Let me also add: Selling is all about supply and demand. How much demand can there really be for a house in the woods an hour outside of Louisville? That is, I would expect this sort of place to sell slowly even if well-priced, given how few people are probably looking for a property in this location.