Home location: Fairfax, Va.
Original list price: $729,000
Time on the market: 9 monthsJeannie Leocha lights up when she talks about the house that she and her husband Joe plan to build in Winter Haven, Fla.
The 3,000-square-foot structure will have three big bedrooms and a huge lanai with a lakefront view - the perfect place to enjoy Joe's retirement from his job as a lease-disposition specialist with the Navy Federal Credit Union. (Joe's last day of work was March 1.)
"I know what the house is going to look like and feel like," says Jeannie. "I'm dying to get going."
But the Leochas can't give their builder the go-ahead until they sell the home they're in now. And after nine months on the market, the house hasn't elicited a single offer.
The couple, who are trying to sell the property themselves, have spent about $6,000 to make the house look more appealing - painting most of the rooms, cleaning carpets, refacing the kitchen cabinets and installing new light fixtures.
They've held three open houses and dropped the price twice, from $729,000 to $696,000, then again to $676,000. Still no offers.
And the financial pressure is building. Since Joe retired the couple's health insurance bill has risen sharply, and the cost of living in Fairfax is far higher than in Florida. "I think if we could just get more traffic, the house would sell," Jeannie says. "It's frustrating."
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