Can't sell house in Blue Ridge, WHAT GIVES? (Blairsville: appointed, for sale)

[gamntn757]

I have a wood house with a seasonal mountain view in mint condition (not even 3 years old) in Mountain Tops subdv. in Blue Ridge, GA for sale under 400K with 3BR/3BA & full finished basement and can't seem to sell it. It's been 4 months and I have had nothing but positive feedback when friends and neighbors have looked at it over the past few years, but not one person has come to look and/or even consider it since its been listed.

I thought this was a desirable community in a growing section of Georgia? I have no choice but to relocate and need to move fast. Any idea why no one is looking to purchase a home this summer?

[Dart03]

Last time I was up that way I saw a lot of cabins and homes for sale and even some where they had started but halted the construction. Sadly hard economic are upon us and there are more homes on the market in that area than there is demand. Hopefully it will pick up and you can sell it. Best wishes!

[BobKovacs]

More than likely you're priced too high. Homes are selling if they're priced right- if you're priced according to what you paid 3 years ago, you're going to be sorely disappointed in what you're going to have to lower your price to in order to get a sale.

[Shagbark Hickory]

What is being done to market the property?

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

More than likely you're priced too high.

What I was going to say as well. If the curb appeal is as you describe, then the price is probably too high. Remember, it doesn't matter what you think it's worth or what you "need to get" for it, and it doesn't matter what it was worth a year ago or two years ago. It only matters what someone is willing to pay for it now. A good realtor should be able to analyze the comps and give you a good range that will sell quickly.

[aus10]

We may have looked at your home... We looked at 3 in Mountain Tops back in May. For us, it became an issue of accessibility, because all of the homes we looked at we liked. We have a 45' motorhome that we want to keep with us, and we would have had to put it in storage if we had bought in Mountain Tops.

With that being said, our realtor told us that his RE office felt lucky if one or two homes a month closed up there. We narrowed down over 200 homes in our price range to the total of 10 that we looked at. And honestly, they were all very similar in style and appointments, but the asking prices were spread out all over the place. We finally bought in Blairsville. (Something else to be aware of... it took 2 appraisals for the deal to actually go through). So, while price may have something to do with it, I'm guessing that it is the market itself that is causing much of your problem. Way too much inventory... not enough buyers........

Good Luck!

[gamntn757]

Thank you for all your help.
The house was appraised in January, before it went on the market, and we priced it about $100K less than what they said. Since no one has even looked at it, we lowered the price two times and are considering lowering it a third (to around 380) and trying a different agent/company. It is the second lowest priced home in the neighborhood, but the one lower than mine has significantly less square footage and doesn't have a view.

Looks like I may be "up in the mountains" longer than I wanted. I guess these days you don't make money on a home, but rather try to minimize the loss as much as possible.

Thanks again for the help. At this point, I'm open to all suggestions..

[FFG3]

Try a good High end Real Estate Auction Company. One that will market it to many different markets, not just locally. You will have to put a little money up front but I have seen it pay off for people.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by gamntn757

The house was appraised in January, before it went on the market, and we priced it about $100K less than what they said. Since no one has even looked at it, we lowered the price two times and are considering lowering it a third (to around 380) and trying a different agent/company. It is the second lowest priced home in the neighborhood, but the one lower than mine has significantly less square footage and doesn't have a view.

If the house has been on the market a while and has had multiple price reductions, there can be a stigma attached to it and people wonder "what's wrong?" with the house, even if there is nothing at all wrong. One thing you may want to consider is to take it off the market for a few weeks, make sure your price is in line with comps and realistic and that the curb appeal is top notch, and then list it again. When it hits, it will alert the MLS as a "new listing" and you may see some increased traffic from agents who want to look at it and show their buyers new listings as they come on the market.

[gamntn757]

Very good ideas!
Thank you.