Why can't I sell my Suwanee home? (how much, houses)

[Lizzy5]

Jomaark,
My house is on Craig's List but I have not heard of Zillow. I will check that out!

[Golden Mom]

You may want to add plants and fresh flowers around the house. A bowl of fruit in the kitchen. I was told to bake a sweet potato or apples just before someone came to look at the house. Do you have flowers in the yard? It is a bad time to have to sell a house just hang in there your house is beautiful and will sell. I would list it with someone else.

[Twinkletoes]

I have a house to sell in Suwanee too. The showings are starting to pick up. I think your house has nothing wrong with it. Just be patient a little longer. Families who are looking at larger homes will probably not want to move until the end of the school year. They may or may not make an offer yet, but they are starting to shop now.

I looked at your listing and do not think your agent is doing a great job. Just my opinion. But, if you are getting people to come view the house, then it's priced okay and the pictures are okay. Take a look at what happens after they come to your house. Is is disappointing in comparison to the pictures? Do the paint colors look odd in person? Is the house more cluttered than in the pictures? If your home shows well in comparison to others in your price range, then you should be getting offers, even if lowball offers.

When you shop around for a new realtor, interview a bunch of them. Ask each one to come to your home and give suggestions on staging it. If the same issue keeps coming up over and over, you'll know you have to fix it. Also ask how they will market your home.

Good luck!

[Lizzy5]

Twinkletoes,

How long has your house been on the market? What is it priced at? Who are you using to sell it? Have you had any offers?

Thanks,
Lizzy5

[Calcbunny]

A home just sold in my subdivision after 3 weeks on the market. She offered 4% to the selling agent which brought more interest.

I think white cabinets are on their way if not already "out of style".

You could call a faux painter to glaze them, or even paint them to look like wood.

There is a color paint called "Blonde" by Sherwin Williams which is a nice gold color. I think some paint and color would do wonders. I heard it is important to do something to make your home "memorable", Get something fabulous.

Fresh flowers, crisp linens, fresh light scents, accent pillows. a few things from Kirlands...I think your home lack fabric. Windows treatments really do wonders.

One think that turned me off when house hunting here in ATL was dirty tile grout.

I sold my home in NJ within 7 hours on the market, 2 fullprice offers in a neighborhood where a home had not sold in over a year, so I think I have a good eye and a knack for this stuff.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by RoslynHolcomb

Yeah Lizzy, I heard that dirtyness is a big no-no. I've been cleaning like crazy for over a month. I even cleaned out my window casements with a Q-Tip. Took down all the storm windows and scrubbed like mad. Yep, cleanliness is big.

Well dang. I was thinking about selling but I guess that means I have to go and clean the green stuff out of my bathroom. Or, I could just tell them it's all organic and "Feng Shui".

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by Lizzy5

Jomaark,
My house is on Craig's List but I have not heard of Zillow. I will check that out!

The problem with zillow is that it's not really kept up that well info wise.

We had heard about this and did an experiment at work one day. My boss typed in his address for his home which was built in 1965. Zillow showed it as a 3BR 1 BA home at 1500 square feet. His home is a 2 BA house and is 1850 square feet, and has had no additions since it was built. It was also appraised at around $200,000 and Zillow listed it at $155,000. Each of us took a turn looking up our addresses and most of the info was incorrect. We expected it on a couple of homes where stuff's been added on to over the years but even all the others who have remained unchanged since building were off.

So personally I'd just use Zillow as a BASE price, and assume that the home prices are "as-was" and that they've been updated since then.

[cool_mommy]

Originally Posted by Twinkletoes

I have a house to sell in Suwanee too. The showings are starting to pick up. I think your house has nothing wrong with it. Just be patient a little longer. Families who are looking at larger homes will probably not want to move until the end of the school year. They may or may not make an offer yet, but they are starting to shop now.

I looked at your listing and do not think your agent is doing a great job. Just my opinion. But, if you are getting people to come view the house, then it's priced okay and the pictures are okay. Take a look at what happens after they come to your house. Is is disappointing in comparison to the pictures? Do the paint colors look odd in person? Is the house more cluttered than in the pictures? If your home shows well in comparison to others in your price range, then you should be getting offers, even if lowball offers.

When you shop around for a new realtor, interview a bunch of them. Ask each one to come to your home and give suggestions on staging it. If the same issue keeps coming up over and over, you'll know you have to fix it. Also ask how they will market your home.

Good luck!

Excellent tips Twinkletoes! Not only would I ask them how they are going to market your home but I would ask for the marketing plan in writing. Right down to how many pictures will be taken? Which internet sites it will be on? Which newspapers and real estate magazines it will be listed in and how many times? Will the newspaper ads have pictures and what days of the week will it appear in? How many open houses will the realtor have and when? Will the realtor do a realtor's open house and when? A written marketing plan should be a given but all too often it is not.

Good luck and keep smiling, I'm pulling for you!

[cool_mommy]

Calcbunny mentioned dirty tile grout. This is also a pet peeve of mine. We had tile in our home that we sold last year. The grout was a very light color. Instead of scrubbing it I decided to paint it. Tile America carries a product for such a project. I got one of my kid's paint brushes and painted from one end to the next. It looked like it had just been tiled and looked fantastic. This little tip was given to me by a contractor when I was contemplating re-grouting the whole area. He saved me a fortune!

[runnergrl]

Lizzie,

Your house looks great. It does sound like your realtor is not doing all her homework. I have relocated about 10 times in 17 yrs. You basically have to make your house the one that shines against your competition. That includes making it look pristine....from your pics...I think you need some minor tweaking. Clean windows may sound like nit picking but when you are in a market like this, you have to work it a bit harder. We have done things like fresh paint, cleaned carpets, freshen the grout and caulking, I have cleaned the grudge out of shower doors with a toothbrush until it looks like it has never been used. I clean the grunge out of the edges around the faucets on your sinks...toothbrush is good for that. Pressure washed the outside of the house, cleaned windows, baseboards, cobwebs...ANY thing. I go through the house with a fine toothed comb. When it shows, you want it to shine and look brand new. Make sure the insides of your cabinets and closets are tidy too...people DO look to see how your storage is...and that would include the garage too. And any minor repairs too...get fixed.

That's about all I can think of from my experience....I will tell though when we got relocated out of Atlanta back in 2002, we lived in a decent swim tennis community in Cumming. Our house was only a couple of years old and we were not able to sell it intime for our relocation....the company had to buy it. I did everything with this home and shouldve been easy because the house was better than new....because we had come in and landscaped the yard, installed shutters(window treatments)...all the basic things people do when they move into a new house...already done. It was the same thing... too much inventory.

The best of luck to you....I think your house is beautiful.