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Boy, it took me a while to figure out how to actually get a sense of perception with that virtual tour. Finally, I figured out you can click the "-" button and get something that's a little better. I would definitely say that virtual tour is probably hurting more than helping! I can see past that, and must say you have a beautiful home. It's not small or cluttered at all, but the VT is really making it look that way.
From a realtors point of view, it's your presence on MLS, Realtor.com, and other Internet sites that are most likely to bring the buyers. Your Realtor.com presentation could be so much better if your realtor paid the price to have it be a "showcase" home, i.e. an enhanced listing. You could have a number of photos then. I would also recommend that your agent pay the price for a decent VT. Neither of these things are exorbidantly expensive, and if you're going to market homes in your price range, an agent had better be willing to spend the $$$ for quality marketing.
Sorry to say, open houses make the seller feel good, but rarely ever sell the house. Same for print ads. Internet is really the biggest bang for your buck, especially if you're trying to attract out-of-town buyers.
I wish you the best on getting your home SOLD!!! It is a tough market out there with very few buyers taking the plunge, so a seller needs every advantage they can get. I'd also suggest that your agent do an updated market analysis. It sounds to me like you're kind of "shooting in the dark" when it comes to your price. The other thing that does worry me is your daycare space. Perhaps staging that as a wonderful family/game room might help. Maybe moving the pool table to that area, and keeping the den area as a true den.
Hope we all can give you suggestions to help you out.
I can't get the tour to pull up for some reason. However, just from looking at the listing I would say that at the very least there needs to be more information listed there. It doesn't tell you really anything about the house! I have a tiny little townhouse for sale and I have a lot more information on my listing. Also, try marketing the area that was a preschool as an area that can be used for homeschooling, another preschool, or just an in home daycare. The homeschooling might catch some people's eye. I wish I could see the inside, but the outside looks beautiful. Maybe just take a different angle so you can distinguish whether it's the front or side of the house. Good Luck!
Oh, and this may sound strange but try looking in the real estate wanted section of craigslist.org. It might have someone in there looking for a place for a daycare or home business that is also a residence. I know I saw that once or twice in the Atlanta listing.
We put a third floor addition on the house with a 27'4 x 14' x 20' master bedroom suite 11' cathedral ceilings, 4 closets, 3 half round transom windows, a bathroom 12'7 x 7'4 all natural slate flooring and wall, separate large shower, cathedral ceiling w/ skylight, a 13'5 x 11'4 bedroom w/ cathedral ceiling, 6' half round transom window huge walk in closet, a laundry room and a 15'6 x 13'4 library/office with a 2 half round transom windows and a large walk in closet, french doors to access a deck outside. The kitchen is 15'8 x 11'4...the angle from the picture makes it look very small I guess cause you can't see the floor (blocked by the table). The house is 3900 square feet of living space. The virtual tour makes it look like there is alot of furniture because it only shows the furniture!!! You hardly see the rooms. I think we may offer to pay the first year of taxes.
Sari, is your home getting any views? If people are coming to your house, and then choosing another home...they are not responding to something in the home.
If you are not getting showings and your neighbors are, they are not responding to something in the advertising. Could be price, could be that they aren't seeing the value between price and the pictures they are viewing, or the value between the price and the neighborhood.
For the former (price versus advertising): I recommend decluttering, setting up the former school as great rec room (as already suggested), and taking much better and a whole lot more photos and increasing your exposure. Those are things you must discuss with your REA. You describe a beautiful third floor addition, but I don't feel that is it represented well at all.
For the second (price versus neighborhood), you can't move your house, so you have to move your price.
We put a third floor addition on the house with a 27'4 x 14' x 20' master bedroom suite 11' cathedral ceilings, 4 closets, 3 half round transom windows, a bathroom 12'7 x 7'4 all natural slate flooring and wall, separate large shower, cathedral ceiling w/ skylight, a 13'5 x 11'4 bedroom w/ cathedral ceiling, 6' half round transom window huge walk in closet, a laundry room and a 15'6 x 13'4 library/office with a 2 half round transom windows and a large walk in closet, french doors to access a deck outside. The kitchen is 15'8 x 11'4...the angle from the picture makes it look very small I guess cause you can't see the floor (blocked by the table). The house is 3900 square feet of living space. The virtual tour makes it look like there is alot of furniture because it only shows the furniture!!! You hardly see the rooms. I think we may offer to pay the first year of taxes.
I'll have to check the tour out, don't think I did the other day.
I can't stress enough about changing agents, especially if you have one that focuses more on furniture / decorating then the house / room sizes. I've found that using different cameras gives me different photos for each room. My Minolta has a wider lens, therefor captures more of the room, which my Nikons all have smaller lenses and haven't been good for photographing a house.
We put a third floor addition on the house with a 27'4 x 14' x 20' master bedroom suite 11' cathedral ceilings, 4 closets, 3 half round transom windows, a bathroom 12'7 x 7'4 all natural slate flooring and wall, separate large shower, cathedral ceiling w/ skylight, a 13'5 x 11'4 bedroom w/ cathedral ceiling, 6' half round transom window huge walk in closet, a laundry room and a 15'6 x 13'4 library/office with a 2 half round transom windows and a large walk in closet, french doors to access a deck outside. The kitchen is 15'8 x 11'4...the angle from the picture makes it look very small I guess cause you can't see the floor (blocked by the table). The house is 3900 square feet of living space. The virtual tour makes it look like there is alot of furniture because it only shows the furniture!!! You hardly see the rooms. I think we may offer to pay the first year of taxes.
Sorry, but the virtual tour and the photo make it look more like 1500 square feet. Something is seriously wrong with your realtor's marketing campaign.
Wide angle lense cameras will definitely make the rooms look bigger. Also, try finding a home stager in your area who specializes in presenting a home to show off it's size and architecture. They can help you place the furniture so the room is the focus and not the furniture. It will probably cost you a couple hundred dollars, but will probably be money well spent if it works. After you get the house staged correctly (especially the school area to be more multi-functional) then take different pictures with a better camera. I still can't see your photos, but I'm working off of the comments from those who have.
We have had three people come to see the house Since July 29th. Try the remax site to see some photos. Or zillow.com. Some of the info on Zillow is incorrect though like the taxes. Our neighborhood is beautiful, the nicest area in Fair Lawn. We are a house away from Glen Rock which is a beautiful town. We are priced low in regards to the "comparative" houses. Look at realtor.com for houses in the 650's - 750's...my realtor wants us to go down to 649,000. I am convinced it is the pictures or lack of and the quality of the shots. I am going home this weekend to take photos of the house myself. I will work on absolving the school area - although most people that have actually come had wanted the school or wanted to utilize it as is for their kids.
The house does look much smaller then 3900 sq ft. The pictures really do not show up-dates. Even from the outside it looks much smaller then 3900 sq ft. What about the yard??? It is much harder to sell in this day and age but if your neighbors are selling with little to no problems something isn't right. I know when I sold my home I knew it was well worth every penny I was asking but to get a buyer to understand that is a different story. I had to go down $40,000. UGH! But it would have costs that much to remain in the home in a very short time so we took the loss. A lot has to do with how much time you can wait for it to sell. We did get our buyer through our open house. Guess you never know what will bring in the right buyer.
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