Selling your home in metro ATL (Atlanta: for sale, foreclose, to rent)

[crux]

Anyone tossing out incentives, lowering their price, increasing their commission? If you sold your home in the last 12 months -- did you do any of the above or something else to make the deal?


I've personally been on the market 6 months now and had near deals but lost the buyers to foreclosers. I just cant compete to those prices. Now after the holidays, I havent had a single buyer even walk in the house for the past 2 months. I'm interested to get a barometer from other sellers in the market - or even buyers.

[Lizzy5]

Good post CRUX.

My house has been on the market for 1 1/2 years and I have not had any traffic in months either. At the beginning I had a ton of traffic and then tried all sorts of things in attrack some buyers.

Good luck getting solid advice that doesn't include, "Drastically reduce your price!"

I will be checking back to read this post because I am looking for some good advice too!

[northatlbroker]

The good news first: We are approaching the spring which is usually the prime selling season.

The bad news: Your home needs to be priced right, in show condition and marketed correctly.

I know you probably think it looks fine and so condition isn't an issue. That may be the case. Are your windows clean? How does your yard look? When was the last time the exterior was painted? Is the inside cluttered or have rooms with too much furniture? You may not know the answer to these questions but you need to.

As for price, I am sure you are already at or below what you want to sell for. Unfortunately, the number you want and how much you have already dropped is not how pricing is set. What are the comps and recent sales? What makes your house more appealing or less appealing? Are you in a good school district? Is your lot a ski slope or level? Again, many factors influence pricing.

Lastly, are you listed with a full time, full service agent? If so, have you done what they recommended? If you're not with this kind of agent, you get what you pay for. You don't go the minute clinic for a major operation. Too many sellers think they can get top dollar while paying for a discount service. Obviously, I don't know your situation but I am sure some of these apply.

As a full service agent, I know the frustrations you're feeling because my clients feel them too. However, this is an unpredictable and volatile market. Find an agent that specializes in your area and interview them. See what they have to say. But, in the end, price is the biggest factor and will determine whether your house gets shown or sits there.

Sorry for the straight talk but after 1.5 years, I'm sure you wanted a real answer. Good luck and please let me know if I can help further.

[FromCLTtoATL]

I'm trying to sell a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo built in 2000 in Charlotte, close to uptown. Lowering the price $20,000 after the election increased traffic, but still no offers.

I'm now offering $5,000 on closing costs in addition. My agent's husband does property management, so I'm going to attempt to rent it for a year or two if it doesn't sell in March. Maybe in a year or two, market conditions will improve. I don't relish the idea of being a long-distance landlord, but paying a mortgage in CLT and renting a home here is getting old really fast. Being out a couple of hundred bucks a month vs. more than $1,000 seems a lot easier to swallow.

I have not done upgrades to the place because a similar unit did upgrades, and it's not moving either. My place is in excellent condition, it's just not tricked out with the fancy kitchen extras, which even in these hard times are apparently necessities, not luxuries. But I don't think putting them in is going to move it.


We are just in extraordinarily difficult times.

[Ghanley]

We may be moving out of state and have had the same concerns that have been expressed here. We are thinking about renting our home here for a year until things pick up a bit. The agent we plan on using when we do sell is a friend that is brutally honest. She says the same types of things as Northatlbroker and also adds "You need to be priced better and look better than anyone else (for sale) in your neighborhood. It's bad everywhere, remember that what you lose on this end you will make up for on the other end!".

[IntownHomes247]

I'm working on a deal right now, where my buyer saw a new listing pop up its first day on the market. We went and looked at it and put in an offer the next day. A second offer came in the same day so we were in a multiple offer situation. I'm hopeful we'll get the house -- looks like the seller will get more than 98% of list price and be off the market in under a week.

It can still happen but it takes a LOT of effort on the part of the owner as well as the agent. In this house, the owners moved out last month (I think) and had a staging & fix-up company come in and make the house look absolutely great. They had new countertops put in the kitchen, refinished the floor, fixed anything that looked like it would require work and then lightly stage the house (very lightly -- really just a few pieces in the living room and some cute accessories scattered around the house. Then they priced it dead on, first day on the market. Price is absolutely key. You have to be realistic. Then, the agent actually had photos in the computer the day the listing went online. This is hugely important because the largest pool of potential buyers who will ever be exposed to your house are the ones who are in the market the day your listing starts. And, because the house was vacant, we were able to just go by immediately -- no appointment, no calling in advance. We saw it after my clients got off work that same day.

You CAN still sell quickly in this market, unless your house has a major objection (busy street, railroad or creek on the property, bad floorplan, etc.). You have to make the house look better than any other comparable house, price it better than any other comparable house, make it as convenient to show as possible, and hire an agent who will market it like crazy from the first day.

[Econojunk]

You may consider a 5-Day auction to get a good amount of traffic to your home in record time. You can do a search for "sell your home in 5-days" "5 day auctions" etc. and even buy the book. I follow these auctions in Atlanta...some work some dont. You have to let the market decide on a price and find 1 buyer willing to pay what you want to take. You are under no obligation to accept a low bid, however, this concept is worth a try for too many homes are on the market and you need to get people through your door. And give your home a good cleaning and remove all junk.

[staywarm2]

Originally Posted by IntownHomes247

You CAN still sell quickly in this market, unless your house has a major objection (busy street, railroad or creek on the property, bad floorplan, etc.).

Intown,

I'm curious why a creek on a property would be a problem? I've always sort of wanted one.

[IntownHomes247]

Originally Posted by staywarm2

Intown,

I'm curious why a creek on a property would be a problem? I've always sort of wanted one.

And there are also people who actually like the sounds of trains going by, but for the most part a creek means floodplain in Atlanta and that requires National Flood Insurance and implies the potential for property damage, so it makes people nervous. In a market where every buyer has hundreds of potential homes to choose from, it's easy to knock some off the list immediately because of things like that.

BTW, 14% of homes in DeKalb county are in the floodplain.

[PKCorey]

Originally Posted by IntownHomes247

Then, the agent actually had photos in the computer the day the listing went online. This is hugely important because the largest pool of potential buyers who will ever be exposed to your house are the ones who are in the market the day your listing starts.

That is what I don't get. I've noticed a lot of new listings that never get pictures, or its just a front shot, or just a bad front overall. I mean, digital cameras are cheap now, why are Realtors putting up blurry pictures???

Then, no pictures of the kitchen with a decent view or of the master bathroom.



How do these realtors expect these homes to sell? I don't get it...