I HAVE TO SELL MY HOME BUT NO ONE IS BITING, WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS.

The answer to that question all depends on how bad you need to sell your house, what your future plans are and how motivated you are to do what is needed to get the job done.

Are you facing foreclosure? Has the value of your home dropped below what you owe on it? Are you looking to buy once you have sold? Are you moving out of state? Are you downsizing or moving up? All situations require a different approach. In a downward market, if you need/want to sell you might have to make a desicion that can be a hard pill to swallow. The number one reason that your house has not sold is....price. To be in contention to sell, your home needs to be priced right to even have a chance of being looked at. But even homes that are priced right are not selling. This is simply because there are currently not enough buyers for all the houses for sale, not even enough buyers for all the houses that are priced right.

You might also have to think out of the box to get your home sold or off your books for a while, here are some options to consider:

- Lease with Option to Buy: A lease with an option to buy is simply a lease agreement where the buyer has the option to buy your home when the lease is up. The price of the sale is usually set upfront, when signing the lease agreement. The buyer also pays you a non refundable option payment on your home. This payment is paid for the buyer to have the first option on buying the home. If the buyer chooses not to buy your home when the lease is up, the seller gets to keep this money. Usually you can demand a higher than average rent for a lease option, however portions of the monthly rent usually go towards the downpayment of the home once the buyer chooses to buy the home. A lease/option is usually signed for a 1 year term or a 2 year term. All these terms are negotiable. A lease option has benefits for both the buyer and the seller. The seller knows that the renter is one that has a vested interest in the home, and is more likely to take better care of it than a regular renter. The buyer that chooses to go with a lease/option is usually currently not able to buy a home outright, either because of lack of downpayment, low credit score, in a divorce situation etc.

- Lease Purchase: A lease purchase functions the exact same way as the lease/ option, except the buyer actually agrees to buy your home within the lenght of the term on the lease up front. The non refundable option payment that is used in the lease/option, is now considered a downpayment on the home. So whatever that downpayment is will be applied to their downpayment when they eventually buy your home. So if they bought your home for $300,000, and the put $10,000 down, they only need to pay $290,000 when they buy your home. Even if they do not follow through with the purchase of the home, you get to keep this downpayment.

- Renting your home: You also have the option of straight out renting your home for a period of time, to get your payments covered and hope that the market gets a kickstart. It is much easier to get a regular rent agreement then it is getting a lease/option or lease/purchase agreement. This is because the renter does not need to come out of pocket with as much money as they would have to with a lease/option/purchase. Usually your deposit is first, last and 1 months rent, but this is of course negotiable as all other terms are.

- Seller financing: Seller financing is a very viable option, if you have equity in your house, you can choose to carry all or some of the cost of the house. In other words, you function as a bank to your buyers. This option is very complex and there is not enough room to cover all aspects of it here. But, you should know that the option is there. A seller financing option opens your home up to buyers that might not have the required downpayment, or for some reason can not get conventional financing at this time. It can be risky, but can also pay off in the long run. There are buyers out there that might have a blimp on their credit, or some other issue going on in their life, but they can afford to pay your payments.

- Trade: Trading your home with another seller is also a viable option. Not very widespread, it can be hard to find the perfect match. But they are out there, you just have to look hard and have patience. You can either do a full trade or a partial trade.

- Shortsale: A shortsale means that you negotiate with your bank to accept less money for your house than what you owe. A shortsale is time consuming and complex to negotiate. However, if you are upside down in your home, it is an option for you if needing to sell your house. A shortsale WILL affect your credit score negatively, so you should only take this route if you really need to and after you have expired all the other options. If you need to do a shortsale, you really should consult with a real estate professional, as there are many pitfalls to fall into, and it needs to be done correctly to be successful.