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IMO, I think all the staging and other nonsense that you see on HGTV is a waste of time. Despite their shrill over the top shows, these things don't sell homes. Keep in mind this is the same network that was leading people to purchase all these places they can't afford and then flip them for huge profits. You should stick to the following:
If you feel you must make changes to the home then limit it to stuff that might raise the appraised price of the home. Staging, planting flowers, cupboard knobs etc etc don't do this. You are very limited here as the only sure fire way to do this is to add to the heated sq/footage. Don't make any change that looks like it was just done. People see right through this and this gives them doubts about the place.
Get rid of any negatives the buyers will feel that will cost them money when they move in. i.e. the non-neutral colors on the wall. Some will like it others won't, this won't be an issue with anyone if you go neutral.
Keep it absolutely clean. A good friend of mine who has been in the real estate business for years said that home buyers will tolerate almost anything except "other people's filth".
Beyond this, you are going to have to lower your expectations in that you simply are not going to make $25K on this place. If you really want to move, you probably are going to have to set the price to something in the negative territory when you consider what it going to cost to sell it.
Lumbollo, I would've somewhat agreed with you in say 2004, however moreso today you are wrong that staging does not work. The idea to selling is to appeal to the most people out there. For example, if you keep the red walls, its obvious that many more people will be turned off by them than really like them. MANY people think its going to be ALOT of work to paint those walls (even though to me its not a big deal).
Her house looks clean, but the little things do make a difference...
Why fight it when you can make something more appealing?
The price point is a different animal. YES, she needs to lower her price (and since her house is very well kept, she should lower the price before she does anything else (except maybe fire her realtor).
Since there is SO much supply, you have to stand out. Price point #1, and staging #2...you can't do anything about the location.....
Why fight it when you can make something more appealing?
The price point is a different animal. YES, she needs to lower her price (and since her house is very well kept, she should lower the price before she does anything else (except maybe fire her realtor)....
You answered #1 with #2. If you do that, the rest is irrelevant and may hurt your chances as I indicated. Selling a house is a business decision and if you consider it in those terms only, then the advice of trying to sell based on creating an emotion attachment for the buyer is a bad business decision. The business of selling an existing home consists of just 3 things. 1. Proper pricing, 2. removing negatives, 3. keeping it clean and tidy.
Selling a house can also be a hobby. By hobby I mean doing everything except those 3 items and draging it out forever which in itself becomes a huge negative that you can't remove.
, then the bad advice of trying to sell based on creating an emotion attachment for the buyer is a bad business decision. .
Its not a bad business decision to create an emotion (ie staging). Its actually a great business decision because all buyers do not fit in the same mold. Some actually look at the furniture in the house (even though it will be gone when they buy it...) some look at all the wrong things in homes, so if you make the walls neutral (easy to maintain and change to your liking) and stage it like a model home; BANG, less work for the potential buyer.
Believe me, if you look at my posts on here from 2 yrs ago, I fought w/every tom dick and harry about pricing your home correctly, but staging IS very important...they go hand in hand is what all I'm saying...
Its not a bad business decision to create an emotion (ie staging). Its actually a great business decision because all buyers do not fit in the same mold. Some actually look at the furniture in the house (even though it will be gone when they buy it...) some look at all the wrong things in homes, so if you make the walls neutral (easy to maintain and change to your liking) and stage it like a model home; BANG, less work for the potential buyer.
Believe me, if you look at my posts on here from 2 yrs ago, I fought w/every tom dick and harry about pricing your home correctly, but staging IS very important...they go hand in hand is what all I'm saying...
The "emotion" will quicky dissipate when the potential buyer knows they can buy the same house for 50 large cheaper around the block. I think it has been agreed by all the red needs to go. The house is neat and tidy. There is a lot of competion. It's a tract house that is overpriced in this market. What's left? Just bite the damn bullet if you want to sell and make it the lowest priced house for the money one can buy.
I can truly empathize what you're going through. We started selling our home 15 months ago in New England. We started off at $425000, and we just sold it this week for $305000. It was painful, because in the last 18 months we had put $75000 in upgrades, so that was a tough pill to swallow. The secret in this market nowadays is to have someone walk in and say "wow this is a great deal". We had to make 7 price reductions before someone said that about our home and bought it. Too many foreclosure out there to try and sell your home for what you think it's worth. Good luck..
Patty
The house behind me had some major work and nice work done and has been on the market for over a year and no one even comes to look at it, Price is 425. My house is only marketable for around 200 so that right there tells you its OVERPRICED BIG TIME. I wonder who is eating the lose on this much money tied up and no buyers. Im sure the contractors were paid,,Whoever owns it is taking an arse whippin for sure....Note this house for 425 doesnt even have a carport much less a garage. It does have a sears metal building in the back lot which looks old... and the total square feet is around 2000. Someone was dreaming when they priced this one.
IMO, I think all the staging and other nonsense that you see on HGTV is a waste of time. Despite their shrill over the top shows, these things don't sell homes. Keep in mind this is the same network that was leading people to purchase all these places they can't afford and then flip them for huge profits.
Well if HGTV has that much "influence", then it would make sense to follow their lead, no?
That said - "staging" does not have to be anything over the top. All that staging really means is: make the place look nice and clean, and make it neutral enough that potential buyers won't be turned off by your wierd aesthetic tastes when they come over to take a look at the place.
If you have beat up furniture in your living room that has endured years of abuse from animals and small children - get it out and replace it with something that isn't full of rips and tears. If the artwork on your walls is kind of out there...take the pictures down and replace them with some more generic hotel-type prints. In short, all staging really is making your house look nice (which the OP obviously has done) and remove anything that might stand out to potential buyers as being really odd - because that can make an impression (when I was shopping for my first house, I remember seeing one that had two nightstand lamps in the bedroom made out of stuffed dear legs. I don't remember anything else about the place now, but I remember that).
And make it look like it should. There should be living room furniture in the living room, dining room furniture in the dining room, etc. And keep it basic - clean up the clutter.
Showings + No Offers = Overpriced (Buyers are looking for the besthome at the lowest price).
Underpriced + Showings = Offers (Buyers have found the best home for the lowest price).
There is no 'right price' in this market. You really have to underprice to motivate buyers to buy your home over all others.
This market is the opposite of a sellers market...instead of multiple offers on a short supply of homes, you have multiple homes competing for a single buyer. It's ugly both ways. In my market, only 6 of every 100 listed sold last quarter!! So you have to underprice to capture the next buyer and beat out 94% of your competition.
So, remove the red walls, use furniture that makes sense for the room to appeal to all the people who come to look. But only bother to do this if you lower the price to snag one of those precious, inventory-weary buyers.
I cannot believe your agent did not immediately propose that the red walls need to go. It doesn't matter if they are "nice". They turn off most buyers. Even if someone likes red, this red may be the wrong shade for their personal furnishings. That's how difficult bold colors can be. Sorry, but I'm also baffled about the misplaced, "office desk" in the "living room".
I've been a Realtor for 20+ years, in good and bad times. New and existing homes. I also sold my personal home at a big loss when I bought it at the peak in '89 and then had to sell it in '93 (even after painting and staging it too). So I do feel my sellers' pain.
Today's reality is: You have to be a fierce competitor. Like others said here...it's a beauty contest and an all out price war. It's the market, and we have no choice but to meet its demands. Once you swallow the "priced to sell" pill, you wlll see an offer!
Good luck!
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