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What are you going to do when a Realtor calls and asks if they can show your house in 30 mins due to a last minute client coming in from out of town that wishes to see your home?
Exactly. This actually happened to me and not only did I have a very short notice it was actually after my stated showing hours. I said what the hell and let them come. They ended up buying my house.
Exactly. This actually happened to me and not only did I have a very short notice it was actually after my stated showing hours. I said what the hell and let them come. They ended up buying my house.
That's the right attitude to have. You never know which buyer is going to end up being "the one".
If you don't have to sell, then why are you wasting everyone's time?
It is obvious that you are not ready to sell...If you think it's stressful after only one day on the market, it's only going to get a lot worse so you better prepare yourself to face the inevitable....
Get use to it being a buyer's market - if you don't accept it and sell now before it gets a lot worse, you'll end up being forever priced in the market.
If this is only your first day of showings and you are this stressed out maybe you should re-evaluate your situation. What are you going to do when a Realtor calls and asks if they can show your house in 30 mins due to a last minute client coming in from out of town that wishes to see your home?
When your home is on the Market it is no longer a living space it is a showroom to be ready at a moments notice. If you want to sell that is what you must be prepared to do. (As per my Realtor) Just try to keep calm, establish a daily cleaning routine, or you will not make it 6 months.
It is not easy to stay sane listing/showing with a staged house on the Market! I felt your pain!
But - If they can’t see it, they won’t buy it!!
Actually, one called and asked if they could come in 10 minutes and I said ok.
Another was supposed to come between 7-8. We left for an hour and came back at 8. They showed up at 8:10. We told them to come on in and left through the back door.
We actually did have a stager come, and I keep my house pretty clean anyway (if you can't tell by my posts, I am pretty anal about keeping things neat). I agree about the daily cleaning routine. Dog hair is the biggest issue! DH is also under strict instructions to not let his hand stray from the fridge handle and touch the stainless
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flat2MT
If you don't have to sell, then why are you wasting everyone's time?
It is obvious that you are not ready to sell...If you think it's stressful after only one day on the market, it's only going to get a lot worse so you better prepare yourself to face the inevitable....
Get use to it being a buyer's market - if you don't accept it and sell now before it gets a lot worse, you'll end up being forever priced in the market.
We were honest with the realtor about not having to sell, and she knows I am high-strung. We only signed a 4-month contract, and we can cancel at any time. She didn't think it was wasting her time. I think I'm having a knee-jerk reaction. I'm not really going to pull it off the market without giving it a chance.
RE trends are local, and while my area is not exactly booming, we're in a desirable neighborhood and homes are still selling. Maybe not as fast as they were a few years ago, but it's not too bad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aran
Why not try looking for something a few minutes further out from town and having everything you want and no HoA to hold you back?
We did look further out, but it's not really our scene. We were all excited about the country at first, but after looking, realized it wasn't the place for us. I do like a lot of the protections of HOA things (no parking on street, no junk vehicles, no boats or RVs, lawns must be cared for). The bad thing is a lot don't allow anything but invisible fencing (and I don't trust kids to not come into our yard). Some allow split-rail fencing with approval, which would be ok. It's just the limit on dogs that gets me.
Try to take a step back and not take potential Buyer feedback personally. Yes, it is your home and there is nothing more personal than that. However, this is a business transaction and as such business transactions are best considered with emotions checked at the door. Hard to do when it is your home.....but necessary if you are going to stay sane.
No doubt you are tired from trying to prepare you house along with removing your dogs from showings. The frustration of not finding exactly what you want likely is contributing to your second thoughts.
What you might consider doing is setting a certain time period during the day for showings, say between 4pm-7pm and have your dogs out of the house for the entire period, if showings are scheduled, rather than running them in and out several times during the course of the day.
You can also work with your agent to request at least "x" amount of notice, say 2 hrs.
Tell your agent your concerns and early frustrations. No doubt he/she will have some suggestions on how to handle them to make your home accessible for showings while also decreasing your stress levels.
If you want to get away from neighborhood covenants you may have to move out into the country. Have you considered rural living? The upside is you have more freedom to have numbers of animals, the downside is that your nextdoor neighbor may have 10 trailer houses.
Try to take a step back and not take potential Buyer feedback personally. Yes, it is your home and there is nothing more personal than that. However, this is a business transaction and as such business transactions are best considered with emotions checked at the door. Hard to do when it is your home.....but necessary if you are going to stay sane.
No doubt you are tired from trying to prepare you house along with removing your dogs from showings. The frustration of not finding exactly what you want likely is contributing to your second thoughts.
What you might consider doing is setting a certain time period during the day for showings, say between 4pm-7pm and have your dogs out of the house for the entire period, if showings are scheduled, rather than running them in and out several times during the course of the day.
You can also work with your agent to request at least "x" amount of notice, say 2 hrs.
Tell your agent your concerns and early frustrations. No doubt he/she will have some suggestions on how to handle them to make your home accessible for showings while also decreasing your stress levels.
If you want to get away from neighborhood covenants you may have to move out into the country. Have you considered rural living? The upside is you have more freedom to have numbers of animals, the downside is that your nextdoor neighbor may have 10 trailer houses.
Good luck, you will be fine.
Thanks, you hit the nail on the head. I could virtually hug you. (I need to spead the love around before I can rep you again.) I am going to talk to our listing agent tomorrow about limiting hours and other concerns.
I really need to do some yoga breathing before bed.
We listed our home two days before Memorial Day and have 3 dogs.
We asked for two hours notice at a minimum, but it turned out that the folks who gave us 15 minutes notice were the ones who bought our house. They didn't even ask for a second showing, just turned in an offer the next day.
We had 7 showings in 5 weeks, got only one feedback that was very vague and then boom! a buyer.
We close the beginning of August. So, just breathe deep and it can be done.
First off, I think you're just flustered by the open house and three showings in one day. You will probably not have that much activity in one day, going forward.
Secondly, if you think you have it bad, consider what I went through last year trying to sell my beach condo. Unlike the other places for sale, many of which were vacant short sales and foreclosures, I lived there full-time (with a dog), so I had to clear out every time some tire-kicker was down for the weekend and wanted to spend the day looking at beach places they couldn't afford. I asked my agent to sort of "pre-qualify" the people, i.e., find out if they were really serious buyers or "just looking" -- well, of course the other agent ALWAYS said they were serious buyers! It finally sold, but not after much aggravation on my part. Oh, and the thing my buyers liked most? I lit scented jar candles before I cleared out. For some reason, they LOVED it. They also knew I had a dog, because they told me at closing they looked in a cabinet and saw the dog bowl that I had hidden.
Anyhoo, I guess you maybe need to do some more due diligence on whether you really want to go through all this...I mean, if you can't find a new house that's acceptable, is it all worth it?
We did look further out, but it's not really our scene. We were all excited about the country at first, but after looking, realized it wasn't the place for us. I do like a lot of the protections of HOA things (no parking on street, no junk vehicles, no boats or RVs, lawns must be cared for). The bad thing is a lot don't allow anything but invisible fencing (and I don't trust kids to not come into our yard). Some allow split-rail fencing with approval, which would be ok. It's just the limit on dogs that gets me.
There are worlds of difference between a few minutes outside of the city and the country. I think maybe you looked a little TOO far out. Come in just a hair closer.
Our house went on the market yesterday, and today we had a broker's/realtor's open house and three showings. We've had good feedback, BUT two of the "potential buyers" who looked aren't interested in buying because of features the house doesn't have....and it's CLEAR from the pictures and description that the house doesn't have these features. The other party just started looking and isn't sure if they are ready to buy. I had to get my large dogs out of the house for 5.5 hours today, which they hated.
We already have another showing lined up for tomorrow, but I am kind of sick of this. I know it's a buyer's market, but we don't have to sell, we were just wanting to upgrade to a larger home. I'm so peeved right now that I just want to take it off the market. (Our realtor is awesome, and we can end our contract at any time w/o penalty.)
I don't want to call my realtor tonight, but I am concerned. Is there a way to limit the "tire-kicker" showings?
DH and I have looked at some houses, and I would 1) not be rude and inconvenience someone if their home was lacking a feature I had to have and 2) If I open closet doors, cupboards or shades, have the courtesy to put stuff back the way you found it! and 3) Show up on time...if your window is from 7-8, don't arrive at 8:10.
I don't care if people don't want to buy our house. We're having a hard time finding something we like anyway. I just don't get how sellers stay sane!
I truly feel your pain. My husband took a job out-of-state last October. The children (two toddlers) and I stayed behind to prepare our house for sale and get it listed. It was VERY hard to keep the house "show ready" with two little ones (one who was potty training) and be out on a moment's notice.
Like you, it annoyed me when the feedback was related to something CLEARLY not available on our home. People commented about the house having a one car garage. It was listed on the MLS and is obvious in the photos. Every house in that subdivision had a one car garage (except for homes where owners built a separate 2 or 2.5 behind their property). A few buyers complained about the house having hardwood floors because they wanted carpeting. The very first line of our listing indicated that all the floors upstairs had been redone. Wouldn't it be clear that there was no carpeting upstairs? A few complained about the colors being "too neutral" (which seems ridiculous since the wall colors are clear in the photos and paint is so easy to change). And on and on.
However, hands down, I would prefer to get ANY feedback over none at all. Many Buyer's Agents never bothered to tell our Agent anything. Some even ignored her when she or her assistant emailed or called to ask for feedback.
If you don't want to sell right now or don't need to sell, take your house off the market. It is a stressful process, especially in this economy. Wait until you're ready to handle the "tire kickers" and "browsers." They come with the territory.
All the best.
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