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Agents: Do you have any tips for selling an "orphan" home? What was the most difficult feature about a home you successfully sold in a difficult market like we're in now? How did you finally sell it.....big price reduction....the perfect buyer came along....other incentives?? etc.
I have a very nice home that, unfortunately has a couple of unusual characteristics which make it different from the other homes in our area. I'd like to hear stories about how you finally sold your most difficult listing. Did you ever have a house that you couldn't sell and neither could anyone else?
I don't know if I'd call it an 'orphan' but I did sell a place that literally had a high tension tower in the corner of the yard. It was like that horrible movie with Belushi & Akroyd Neighbors (1981). The seller had a big fence and dogs, not kids, so the constant BUZZ was not as scary to them as it could have been and the house was actually set up nice inside, but man that was a horrible piece of land. Buyer had dogs too. Could have sold for much more even just a a few hundred feet away...
The first one was down the street from a "mushroom" factory. The area literally smelled like manure, which is what they grow mushrooms in. When I finished my listing presentation, which included a thirty day marketing plan, they looked at me wide-eyed and said, "but we thought it was impossible to sell this place". "Oh", I said, "you didn't tell me it was impossible. That will take longer; we may not have an offer in 30 days." They were right it took 35 days. We put a good price on it (10% lower than other houses in town because of the smell) and a lot of marketing.
The second house had been decorated inside by the owner. She had "unusual" tastes. This was in an area where we didn't do broker opens. So, on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, after it had been on the market for three weeks, I did an invitation only (sent out a lot of them) to brokers in the area and promised them a "light repast". It was one of those brokers who knew of a client looking for something unique. Sold at full price.
Marketing is not just to the public, it must also be done to other agents. I always called it my secret weapon.
Most so-called orphans usually come down to price. Make it low enough and somebody will buy it. There's only one that we couldn't find a buyer for. Beautiful old Victorian type, good sized lot, nice neighborhood, well maintained......with absolutely not an ounce of parking. No place to cut parking in, not even a pulloff as the house was on a major hillside. No on-street parking. Far as I know, still on the market with a third agency.
Well, thanks for the responses so far. You are perking up my spirits a bit. We have lots of parking, no manure or other foul smell, standard decorating, and no high-tension lines nearby.
But, our home is a ductless all-electric home in a neighborhood of gas-heated, central air houses. Our extremely efficient heating system is reflective radiant heat, and our air is a zoned split-cooler, also extremely efficient. We get a special low rate from the electric company for having an all-electric home (making our energy costs the lowest in the neighborhood) and we have no ductwork to be cleaned, or moving parts on the heating system that can go bad. It's really lovely, but because it is different, everyone seems afraid of it.
Additionally, we are close to what used to be two sleepy, little-trafficked country roads. Now that suburban sprawl is here, those two roads have been expanded into four-lane highways and are quite busy (and noisy -- but not like an interstate) at certain times of day.
So what do you think -- will it be all about price?
Sometimes what an owner perceives as problem is actually a selling point. Talk to your Realtor, but you may find that displaying you electric bills a big selling point in this "green" climate. It all depends upon your location. What is a selling point in California may not be a selling point in Maine.
Not exactly what you're looking for but he most difficult sales to close are the short sales. They are made difficult by banks that have no system in place and don't use common sense. God forbid the banks are allowed to get into real estate like they are trying to or it will destroy the economy.
Other than that, one that was contemporary plan amongst traditional plans. Contemps don't sell well here. Another was one that had the power line grounding wires coming down in the smallish back yard.
Sometimes what an owner perceives as problem is actually a selling point. Talk to your Realtor, but you may find that displaying you electric bills a big selling point in this "green" climate. It all depends upon your location. What is a selling point in California may not be a selling point in Maine.
Thank you GnosticCyn, I already sent all utility bills to her. We averaged them for the year and they were much lower than any of her other listings. I do believe that if we were out West, where we plan to relocate for retirement, we would not have a problem because people are more willing to accept different features than here in the midwest. She has incorporated "energy-efficient" and "low utility costs" into her write up. I have not seen a single listing here that uses "green" in their property details -- I thought about doing it, but I'm not sure anyone in this area would know what I meant.
As an aside, on tonight's local news, they announced that natural gas prices for heating this winter are expected to be 40 -50% higher than last year.
Since "green" has no clearly defined meaning, and since "greenwashing" is such a problem these days, I try not to use it. Using the terms your agent is going to is actually better, because the prospective buyers don't have to guess what she's talking about - she's describing a clear benefit to them in purchasing your home.
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