Options for selling home

[helpme111]

My wife and I are about at our wits end. Here is the situation. Any help, advice or info would be greatly appreciated.

We have a home in Michigan which has been for sale for about one year. The whole market is oversaturated with other homes and foreclosures. We can manage the payments, but since we had to move to Wisconsin for jobs, paying the rent here and the mortgage there is just getting us by every month. We want to get rid of the home, but it seems that the only option is foreclosure. Are there any other options we can utilize which are not as devastating? Renting is not an option since we are too far to manage the property and the market is oversaturated with rentals. We also realize we will take a loss, that we can handle, but we would like to minimize the loss, while also getting rid of the mortgage.

[Scanner]

There are "property management" companies out there that sometimes will act as "co-owners." They'll buy half the property, manage it, and rent it out while you build equity vis-a-vis a LLC. You would share in the job of marketing it, finding tenants, and collecting rent.

The problem for you will two-fold:

1. Find a company/person you can trust

2. How strong is the rental market in Michigan?

I really don't know the answer to the second one.

There are really no easy answers to this - given that my suggestion will be a lot of "sweat work", it may be just the best business decision to just sell it and take a loss.

[zetta]

I don't know if this is an option for you, but a friend of mine bought a house through some sort of rent-to-own contract with the previous owner. Still, it does have most of the hassles associated with renting the place out...

[FrugalFish]

Can you afford to put it on the market at a ridiculously low price- the kind that can't be refused by buyers? If so, I would go that route just to get rid of the house. Every month you are paying any sort of mortgage, insurance, or utilities, you are losing potential profits anyway. Price to sell at any cost is what I recommend.

[PrincessPerky]

Are those 'we buy houses' places legit? I see signs for them all the time in Charlotte..prolly priced below market, but it would get it off your hands (and how long do you have to pay two mortgages before selling below market is actually benifiting you?

I would though prefer to sell below market to a person who will benefit rather than a company, call get a quote then price the house at that rate....

[mom-from-missouri]

I rent mine "from a distance" I do my own advertising when it is vacant with my number, and screen the potential renters by phone. Then I have either my trusty friend or my parents show the house if the person is still interested-thus, saving me the trip back. They also have copies of the lease as well. I have 2 handyman who handle the repairs and bill me. If the renter calls me with a problem, I call the handyman.
You can rent thru a home management company, but they keep a percent of the rent.