The Unexpected Consequences of a Cooling Market
Two couples can't move forward until they sell their current homes.
Sept. 27, 2007 — -- Celine Damonte and Warren Ganda are in love, engaged to marry and ready to move into their dream house in Northern California. A five-bedroom home, with ample space to combine Damonte's two daughters and Ganda's three daughters under one roof, it's the perfect place to begin their new lives together.
But in today's cooling real estate market, there is one obstacle in their way -- or actually two. Damonte and Ganda currently live in separate three-bedroom homes in Antioch, Calif., and until they sell these homes they cannot afford the dream house. And like many other home sellers today, they are having no luck.
Damonte spent weeks primping her house for sale, but after 65 days on the market, she only had one visitor look at it.
Without a single offer, the couple has put wedding planning on the back burner.
"I just need one buyer," said Damonte. "How could it be there's no buyers?"
Her fiancé Ganda is also frustrated by the situation. "We never thought that the real estate market … was what would hold us back," he said.
Suzanne Lambertson and John Anderson of Fountain Valley, Calif., are another couple whose life plans are being held hostage by today's real estate market. Lambertson and Anderson have decided to divorce but need to continue living together until their house sells.
Despite their home's stellar selling points -- it's a brand new, custom five-bedroom home near a pool, the beach and good schools -- they have not received a single offer.
"All of our lives are in limbo," said Lambertson. "We really are powerless and can't do anything about it."
"Every house sells," said Kirsten Kemp, a realtor who is host of the TLC show "Property Ladder" and author of "Flipping Confidential." Even in a tough market, Kemp is confident that there are buyers who have been waiting on the sideline ready to make a purchase.
"Sellers now really need to have a reality check and say, 'What is fair, what is the market gonna bear?'" said Kemp. "You can't just throw a For Sale sign up now and get it sold. It's not gonna happen in this market."
