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I'd like to hear some thoughts on our situation and also suggestions for what we need to ask to find an agent that will bring energy to our listing and get it sold.
Make sure to check your local court records. Undoubtedly your city, county and/or state has a database, and as these records are public you should not feel bad for digging. It is after all a HUGE business transaction, you have to look out for you, and you want to make sure the person you're working with isn't desperate to make a sale or in dire financial straights themselves.
If they're going through foreclosure or have been through it...skip.
Bankruptcy?...skip.
Have a lien against them?...skip.
Being sued by a CC company (most likely Discover from what I've seen) for tens of thousands in debt?...yep, move on.
Looking at other current listings in your area I would say you are priced too high. I notice your price cuts were only 1K, it is often suggested by realtors to lower your price by at least 10K to generate more interest. I would suggest that you take your house off the market, re-paint with neutral colors and lower the price by at least 10K. Good luck.
I concur with this post. The house has been on the market for just over a year with few interested buyers. The initial price drops of between $4-7k, spaced nearly a month apart each tell me you were interested in selling. The 1k price drops over the last few months suggest to me (a potential buyer though in MD) that you're at your financial breaking point and can't go much lower without losing your butt off. That further suggests that you're likely to reject offers, even reasonable ones.
It's a nice home. It really is. But what is the job market in the area? Can someone 30-40 years old with a budding family afford it on the median salary in the region? That's really what it comes down to. I doubt a single person is going to want that much square footage. Would an older couple retire to the area and would this home be a good fit? Since the 30-40 y.o. family demographic with above average income is likely your only customer base perhaps you could target that demographic instead of the others. And even after all that since the home is in great condition and nothing is mentioned about it being in a bad area I can only conclude that the price is still too high. I know this is hard for a lot of people to take, but....isn't that the most likely reason?
I'll also note that as a savvy buyer I check the local property records database (all real estate is public record) to see the sales date and price it sold for. Often I find people who bought in the 2003-2007 range tend to have asking prices far exceeding comparable houses. In other words their "wishing price" is far higher than what their actual sale price is going to be.
The one agent we talked to said they sell the most homes in town and are in the top 10 of the state. He said their listings typically sell 75% quicker than the local average. I don't really have any way to verify that.
There's a trick some agents use to skew that figure: Say, they list a house in January 2014. No takers. OK, the listing expires at the end of March. They RELIST the house with a different MLS number. Another three months, no takers. RELIST with another MLS number. . . . ad nauseum.
When the house finally gets sold, it's actually been on the market for 6-9 months, but the MLS may only count it as having been on the market for the period of the last listing period. So, all the other houses may be taking a while to sell under one MLS number . . . and this one looks like it sold in weeks instead of months.
So . . . just something to be aware of. Statistics are a very flexible thing, and should be looked at from different angles, not just the one that is shoved under your nose.
So . . . just something to be aware of. Statistics are a very flexible thing, and should be looked at from different angles, not just the one that is shoved under your nose.
Yes, stats are something agents will skew.
For example, recently in my area there was a half acre lot sold for $2.5M. There was a tiny house on the lot.
It was obviously sold for land value, but the listing agent divided sold price by tiny house sqft, and claimed she had the record high $$/sqft ever in the area.
If it sat on the market without selling you do have an issue with either condition or price. Even with almost no marketing a buyer and the agent will still find a well priced home in good condition. So you need to find an agent that can identify why your home didn't sell because it wasn't marketing. Was it price or condition?
I don't like the advice that says wait until after the holidays. Some of my best months are Dec/January (south with no winter weather issues).
Again, thanks to all of you. We have discussed price with three different agents and they all feel it is correctly priced, perhaps not to sell in a week but definitely in line with our market. Condition is not an issue - it is immaculate and stays that way. Our biggest issue is the new construction and we believe that our new agent has strategies in place to address this. They will send a stager before pictures so we'll discuss the paint colors, living room furniture placement, etc. with them.
In the meantime we have done a couple of quick fixes that didn't cost a dime but I believe make a difference. We switched comforters from one of the extra bedrooms to our master. It helped bring down the amount of color in the bedroom without changing paint. Please note these pics are ones I took quickly with my phone but hopefully you can see the difference.
I took a look at your photos. I come from a completely different part of the country, so take this opinion with a grain of salt. I found the patterned bed spreads/pillows/curtains/etc jarring. When I looked at a photo of a room, my eyes were drawn to these patterned objects. The new dining room and new breakfast room photos are much better. I think you are on the right track with those.
The price did seem high to me just browsing through listings - I am not saying it is, just that it seemed that way to me because there are others selling for 10% less that seem about the same. Is there anything that distinguishes your house from the others that are suggested when someone browses your house? If you look at listings of houses like yours that sold quickly, is there anything in those that's different from yours?
I think the agent you hire should answer those questions for you. I don't think marketing the house to buyers by buying ad space sounds very effective. How would the agent change your photos and listing to make the house seem more desirable?
It's a very nice looking house but I don't care what they said. If it sat on the market 10 months then it is price. If you were selling cars and you had a car that sat on your lot for 10 months you would have a sale to get rid of it, right? Your "sale" on the house is a price reduction.
I think it always looks silly when place settings are out.
Good job!
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