Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I know the market is slow, but I've just about concluded that my house is simply unsellable. It's basically the nicest house on the street in an older neighborhood (although the house isn't "updated") sharing a driveway with the worst house on the street, not only because of the structure itself but the residents (trashy, to put it mildly). These noisy, untidy neighbors are less than 12 feet from one of the bedrooms, and -- believe me -- no one with a choice would choose to live here. I've exhausted all possible help from city code enforcement (certain things have no ordinances against them), and it's still undesirable. We've followed all advice from two realtors and have hardly had any showings. Lots of people have driven by to see the place and "don't like the area." Besides renting it out, which we don't want to do, or just giving it away to someone else who will (a slumlord), what would be your best advice as real estate professionals?
It's priced way lower than it should be for what it is (as opposed to where it is), and we've gotten a few "That's a really good price!" and even one "Why is it priced so low?" but the potential investors I've approached want it even lower. Including the slumlord who owns the place next door, who asks, "How much NOW?" I'm resigned to just giving it away to be done with it, but it's jointly owned, and the co-owner believes "the right person" will come along eventually and appreciate it. Maybe, but they won't be blind to the neighbors who won't be going anywhere since they're mostly relatives of the owner...
Our realtors made a few suggestions, which we took, to the tune of several hundred dollars, and that's about it. Any further "improvements" would be putting lipstick on a pig or throwing good money after bad, IMO. Any point in trying a third realtor? Not sure what can be done about this particular situation.
But how low can you go on an obviously very nice house without arousing suspicion as to why it's priced so low? As if we could hide the reason, but... In other words, I feel like we're all confused as to who we're marketing this to. In another location, it'd be nice middle-class or upper-middle class people who appreciate an older home. Where it sits, I feel like slumlords are our only potential buyers, so any attempt to "make it nicer" is wasted...
Would you recommend an auction? Either absolute or reserve. I suppose we'll interview a third round of realtors (after sitting around doing nothing for another month with the current one), spelling out the situation and asking if they have any NEW ideas... We haven't even had an open house -- either buyer or agent -- because neither agent believed they'd "work."
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
