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I live in Northern Alabama near Huntsville in a very desirable city, neighborhood, and school district. We bought our home new four years ago and it is immaculate from the front of the yard and through the inside. It has been listed since January and we have had very few showings. Our listing contains professional pictures that represent the house well. All that have seen it have liked it but no offers. At least three people that have seen it have gone with new construction and when I search for similarly priced homes in our high school and similar square footage I find 27 listings - 21 are new construction.
We are priced at $15,000 less than we paid for the home (price is $314,900 and we paid $330) and our agent said at this point he doesn't think it is price. He said we need more people through so that they can see it is actually better than new with mature landscaping, upgrades to the home, fence, etc. Of course, we haven't seen or heard what he will do to get more people through. We have had a few open houses and the local realtor caravan just came through yesterday.
I am looking for suggestions on what to do in this kind of market. How do we promote this house to try to get more people through? Waiting for the new construction market to settle down isn't an option since there continue to be new developments pop up all of the time - it could take years.
What you paid means nothig, its what others think it's worth. Drop the price another $50,000 and I bet you will have a string of showings and offers, so price is always a factor.
What you paid means nothig, its what others think it's worth. Drop the price another $50,000 and I bet you will have a string of showings and offers, so price is always a factor.
Comparables in our neighborhood run $100/sq ft to $118 - we are at $113. This should be reasonable considering it was built by one of the most highly respected builders in the area and includes many features the lower priced homes don't have. And yes, I know that just because we think it is worth it doesn't mean anything if a buyer doesn't agree.
I do believe that in the end it is always price - BUT, we won't drop $50,000 just to get it sold. Right now we seem to be playing the price drop game until we find a buyer and it is getting old. Our pricing is comparable with other solds in our neighborhood and area. I understand someone choosing new, I would do the same even if I had to give up a few other things. Right now I am looking for suggestions on how to get more people through the door to see it.
Another thing you might want to consider that isn't in your favor is if your house was built by the same builder that is still building new construction. People will come to look at your house just to see the finished product and then go ahead and build new. This happened to us many years ago. The sales person in the model was actually showing our house to his potential customers or sending other realtors to look with their own customers. We sold it by dropping the price lower than ALL the other houses in the neighborhood. We then got two offers and sold it.
Another thing you might want to consider that isn't in your favor is if your house was built by the same builder that is still building new construction. People will come to look at your house just to see the finished product and then go ahead and build new. This happened to us many years ago. The sales person in the model was actually showing our house to his potential customers or sending other realtors to look with their own customers. We sold it by dropping the price lower than ALL the other houses in the neighborhood. We then got two offers and sold it.
Thanks, our builder has one other house in the neighborhood priced $50,000 more than ours. We are the second lowest priced home in the neighborhood, the lowest is also a resale and all others are new builds.
If its as nice as you say, and its been on the market for 6 months with little interest, theres only one reason. You need to give a person a reason to want yours over new construction.
Go visit the sales offices (as a fake prospect) of the builders and find out what spiffs they are offering buyers.
Ask your agent what spiffs the builders are offering agents.
With all due respect, I believe your agent is giving you bad advice. S/he sounds like several agents I worked with years ago on a house that I loved, but on which I lost a lot of money by believing what they told me rather than simply dropping the price as I suggested (but they said that wasn't the problem).
If your house has been on the market since January, and it is similar to others available (versus being a one-of-a-kind Victorian, for example) then the main problem that is preventing people from coming to see it AND from making offers is PRICE relative to what the house offers as perceived by buyers.
You may have decorated the house in exquisite taste, but if most prospective buyers don't have the same taste, then you have reduced the market value of the house relative to the bland new builds that may be more to their taste. You may not have to lower price $50K, but you may need to lower it more than you have, especially since we are now past the busiest selling season in most communities.
In my experience, most people don't care much about 4 year old versus brand new landscaping, despite what landscapers or agents may tell you. Varying taste may play a role here too. And any benefit is more than offset by the lack of the "new" factor on other parts of the house, e.g., a brand new kitchen versus a four year old kitchen, everything freshly painted versus four year old paint.
First thing is to have a friend with an ultra-sensitive nose, walk through and tell you if there are any odors. Odors drive away buyers and they can be fixed.
If there are any "fashionable" paint colors, re-paint in neutral.
Other than that, if you have had no interest in 6 months, your price is too high. Price will fix any and all other problems that the house might have.
Right now I am looking for suggestions on how to get more people through the door to see it.
I know you really don't want to hear it but if you are not getting showings, it can be one or more of these three:
1. The house is over priced!
2. The house is showing god ugly!
3. You agent is not making appointments to show it.
Now, go figure out which one and correct it.
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