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I'm a realtor and I empathize - my own home has been on the market for 4 months here in Santa Fe. I try to pre-qualify showings with my fellow Realtors, and if I had a contract for every time they say "you never know with buyers" I'd have flipped this home a dozen times! The cleaning (pre- and post-), the dispatching of cat/wife/kid is intensely annoying, especially when you know you're just Stop #5 on a tour. I think Realtors should be forced to sell their property every 5 years or so - nothing like a little pain-sharing!
We got three verbal offers with a contingency that they needed to sell their house first to which we said don't bother killing a tree for that. I don't count them as offers in my head but there they are.
I'd still consider taking a contingency, if it was close to the price you were looking for. However, your counteroffer would include what we call around here a "kickout" -- which means that you can continue to market and sell the house, and if you get a better offer before they can close, they have the opportunity to either come to the table to close, or lose their chance at the house and get their downpayment back. Or, make it a non-refundable deposit. :-) If they want it badly enough, they'll play ball.
I'd also check out where they are in the process -- is their house listed? Do they have a contract on it already? if so -- what's the problem? If they haven't even listed it yet, then definitely make it a non-refundable deposit. :-)
Your post is a very good example of why so many get frustrated with real estate agents. You know nothing of the house other than what the complaining seller has to say. You don't know if it is freshly painted, smells like smoke, or dog, or cat. You don't know if it is decorated in puce and chartreuse or if one must traverse a bog to get to the front door. How's the roof, the furnace, the plumbing? Is it wedged between a McDonalds and a wrecking yard?
Nope - the first thing you suggest is lowering the price.
BECAUSE -- all the things you are mentioning DO lower the price. Weird colors? Yuck, too much work and/or time and money to paint. Smells like dog? Omigod, what is it going to take to get rid of that smell? New carpets? $$. Bog on the way to the front door? $$$$ Landscaping, if even possible. If the roof, furnace and plumbing is old, then yep, the price goes down accordingly. And if it's wedged between a McDonalds and a wrecking yard, then the old adage about "location, location, location" kicks in and REALLY affects the price.
So if it's not selling . . . it's almost ALWAYS the price when it is compared to similar homes -- it's coming up short somehow.
BECAUSE -- all the things you are mentioning DO lower the price. Weird colors? Yuck, too much work and/or time and money to paint. Smells like dog? Omigod, what is it going to take to get rid of that smell? New carpets? $$. Bog on the way to the front door? $$$$ Landscaping, if even possible. If the roof, furnace and plumbing is old, then yep, the price goes down accordingly. And if it's wedged between a McDonalds and a wrecking yard, then the old adage about "location, location, location" kicks in and REALLY affects the price.
So if it's not selling . . . it's almost ALWAYS the price when it is compared to similar homes -- it's coming up short somehow.
Okay, I've got you down as the second agent who just wants to lower the price rather than see what the problem really is. Do you see why people get frustrated? Who's next?
Okay, I've got you down as the second agent who just wants to lower the price rather than see what the problem really is. Do you see why people get frustrated? Who's next?
There is no real problem other than the price. If the house is a good value, and it is exposed properly with accurate photos and exhibits, and the place is not a pig sty, it sells quickly. If the price is correct, buyers will be hard pressed to buy any of the competing homes because your home will be the best value by far. That means a fantastic price for what it offers compared to the competition.
The usual MO for sellers is something like this: Look at the sales. Cherry pick, consciously or subconsciously, the roughly similar homes that got the highest prices. Avoid or minimize or even demonize the roughly similar homes that sold for less. Then price to match the highest sales previously cherry picked.
Unless the house is a true cream puff, which most are not, this leads to frustration and unhappiness and lots of showings and no offers or bad offers.
Then the thing is on the market for 100 days and the REAL low offers start coming in because anything listed for that long is OVERPRICED PERIOD.
One of the bad actors in this hackneyed play is the agent who takes the listing in the first place at an unrealistic price. He or she is a villain because he or she should know better.
Same. I'm picky, but I don't need to see your fluffy towels. As long as it's clean (not even spotless) and well maintained, then I have no problems with a dish in the sink, a used towel on the towel bar, your knick knacks and personal items here and there. Generally lived in looking, yet clean and maintained, is not a problem. I'm looking for location, bones, layout, price, maintenance of mechanicals, architectural interest, etc.
I'm looking for all these things in a place that feels like home.
I'm willing to do some updating and willing to pay if it's already done. Not looking to take advantage of anyone. But not looking to take on any troubles either.
In a well-staged home, I'm seeing our family life happen. Would we all fit around the table. Is there enough from for everyone in the family room.
In a poorly staged or empty home, I'm trying to figure out where to put the furniture.
I don't need it spotless either. But as I go around, things that need to be cleaned register in my mind as work and I don't get as positive a feeling about the house.
I'm not going to give the details of the pricing and everything else because I would have to essentially post my address to do that to convince people on here. Trust me it is priced right. Or don't trust me, I don't care. The people who come through are not going on to buy something else, they aren't passing on my house, they aren't buyers. If you have a house to sell that you bought in the bubble that isn't even on the market yet, you are not a real buyer. If you are a downsizer whose house isn't on the market yet, you are not a real buyer. If you are a tenant with ten months left on their lease you may be a real buyer in the future, but not today. That is the people we are getting. I hope this will change in the spring.
Unfortunately, a lot of sellers are in denial about the price of their house. If it is priced right, then something else is definitely turning off buyers. Find out what it is, get honest feedback from buyers, which I hope your realtor is doing for you.
Seller7--What has your realtor said about feedback? Have they given you any consistent feedback from any of these showings?
I get tired of realtors who overprice homes or don't overprice homes who just say, ok, lets just lower the price. I also had to remind my realtor to take new pictures when the snow had cleared, and he never removed an unusually dark lgihted picture of the living room when I repeatedly asked him.
I learned my lesson about really researching a realtor. I am probably a realtor's dream, I don't have any weird colors, and am very receptive to any changes or suggestions a realtor might make, but I find that the few ones I've had, just want to throw up some pics and put it on the market.
I can empathize with you. After my divorce in 2010, I put my house on the market with a dog, and 2 children under the age of 10, plus I was working full time. I was somehow able to make it look clean and staged, and it was right after a big snowstorm, although my single car garage did suffer from non-organization at the time.
Some of the feedback was good (no central A/C), but some of it was pointless and I think they were just from people researching as you said.
I had about 6 showings, no offers, but took it off of the market after a month due to my ill mother coming to live with me.
I have since staged and sold my mother's house, which was also a bit of a nightmare since her house was 20 miles away.
There is no real problem other than the price. If the house is a good value, and it is exposed properly with accurate photos and exhibits, and the place is not a pig sty, it sells quickly. If the price is correct, buyers will be hard pressed to buy any of the competing homes because your home will be the best value by far. That means a fantastic price for what it offers compared to the competition.
The usual MO for sellers is something like this: Look at the sales. Cherry pick, consciously or subconsciously, the roughly similar homes that got the highest prices. Avoid or minimize or even demonize the roughly similar homes that sold for less. Then price to match the highest sales previously cherry picked.
Unless the house is a true cream puff, which most are not, this leads to frustration and unhappiness and lots of showings and no offers or bad offers.
Then the thing is on the market for 100 days and the REAL low offers start coming in because anything listed for that long is OVERPRICED PERIOD.
One of the bad actors in this hackneyed play is the agent who takes the listing in the first place at an unrealistic price. He or she is a villain because he or she should know better.
Really? No possibility of an easily remedied problem or two? Just lower the price?
You're the third agent who just wants to lower the price without finding out if there are quick fixes. Hence, the frustration by many sellers.
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