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My husband and I moved for his job so we listed the house and had to move a month later. It is still on the market (been for 50 days now). It really stinks being out of state and not knowing if there are any showings going on or anything so I emailed our realtor yesterday for an update (we've been moved 2 weeks now).
He says " It's been quiet to say the least, have you thought about a price reduction?"
I feel like we should wait a little longer, but what's average for length on market before the first reduction? Our market is town of 20,000 in Iowa. There are houses like ours listed from 72,000-89,000 and we are at 82,900 (but we ARE in one of the better neighborhoods in town). If we were still living there we wouldn't worry about lowering the price yet, but having to pay mortgage and rent is kind of a pain in the ass!
Also, can I suggest to him that he have an open house? Or is that something that the realtor decides needs to be done and advertises it themselves? He has not mentioned it once. My husband is worried because this realtor has many, many more expensive properties and feels he is not going to try that hard to sell ours, but I think a realtor would want any sale they could get right?!
My husband and I moved for his job so we listed the house and had to move a month later.
It is still on the market (been for 50 days now)... Our market is town of 20,000 in Iowa.
There are houses like ours listed from 72,000-89,000 and we are at 82,900.
Sellers aren't served by an open house which are about the agent advertising themselves.
Serious buyers already have agents and still look online for possibles they can afford.
The serious buyers in your area have seen your house.
Having a home at the upper end of the price range in a limited market is your problem.
You can't fix the market size... but you CAN lower the price.
That does make sense as we had 10 showings in the first 30 days (which we thought seemed good). Thank you for your input MrRational.
So agents decide to do an open house then? I just wish I knew what was "normal" feel like we don't want to lower to soon; but then we can't complain about there being no offers either!
That does make sense as we had 10 showings in the first 30 days (which we thought seemed good). Thank you for your input MrRational.
So agents decide to do an open house then? I just wish I knew what was "normal" feel like we don't want to lower to soon; but then we can't complain about there being no offers either!
"Real estate is local" is something we are very fond of saying in this business because it always rings true. A lot of what's considered "normal" is going to change from location-to-location. What I would offer though is if you're unhappy with the level of communication your agent is offering you then you should say something. I have a listing right now where the owner has moved out of town and I email him at a minimum once every few days. Why? He asked me to communicate regularly with him. If he hadn't asked and there were no showings, I would still email at least once a week.
In a town of 20,000 that may have been every qualified (under $100K) buyer there.
Quote:
...but then we can't complain about there being no offers either!
Of course you can. The real complaint though is the agent soft pedaling you...
being "kind" and "polite", not holding up the hard truth reality mirror, doesn't serve you.
Sharpen your pencil... determine exactly how low you can go on price.
Then decide how much "loss" you can absorb if it means selling before summer is over.
Somewhere between those two is your exit strategy.
What's the average sales time? If the average home is selling in under 60 days, you should have lowered your price already. If the average is 90-120 days, you should probably lower it around 60 days. Only your agent can tell you what's going on in your specific area and what typically happens. Every market is different.
My own agent who is a personal friend told me that she rarely does open houses. She lets the new agents in her office do them b/c they can pick up clients who are unrepresented. She had a few on my house, held by others.
My house is under contract BTW. I dropped the price by $5K every 2 weeks after the first 3 weeks with tons of showings and no offers. Each drop would bring in more showings until I finally got an offer. Way too low IMO but realistically that's what the market told me.
If you want to sell, that is. Otherwise leave the price alone and you might get stuck holding this home all winter because you priced too high during the entire selling season.
I would list at $79,900
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FYI...did you change your homeowner's insurance to a type that covers vacant property? Check your policy to see what it defines as vacant and to see what they deny in coverage when vacant. Usually vacant is when you are gone 30 or 60 days. Some policies wont cover any claims if vacant; others won't cover fires or specific types of damages. Check now just to CYA.
My own agent who is a personal friend told me that she rarely does open houses. She lets the new agents in her office do them b/c they can pick up clients who are unrepresented. She had a few on my house, held by others.
My house is under contract BTW. I dropped the price by $5K every 2 weeks after the first 3 weeks with tons of showings and no offers. Each drop would bring in more showings until I finally got an offer. Way too low IMO but realistically that's what the market told me.
This is what my agent said as well (also a friend). Open houses rarely end up in a sale. I would say lower the price and sell!
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