Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Ok fine. I get it. So here's the thing. After all new hard woods and fresh paint. Could it be reasonable to sell it for $299K? Or do we need lower. I might as well just give it up. It's not worth squat. How well something is constructed doesn't matter. People don't care about quality. They want cookie cutters-because that's what here. SO can I get that or do I go even lower.
My thoughts exactly. They won't care that the garage door is commercial grade - they WILL care what it looks like. They will care that the carpet is teal and it's gonna cost them to replace it. Etc Etc Etc
Actually, there are potential buyers out there that will care about the large heavy duty door, the wide open span accomplished via the steel beam and other quality features, maybe a business/professional type that needs storage for equipment, large van, workshop, etc. The problem is this type of buyer is in the minority, but with proper marketing over enough time the house should sell and fetch some return for the custom construction features. If I were the OP I wouldn't throw in the towel just yet, it may take some time and effort to get this sold at a reasonable, non-desperation price.
Ok fine. I get it. So here's the thing. After all new hard woods and fresh paint. Could it be reasonable to sell it for $299K? Or do we need lower. I might as well just give it up. It's not worth squat. How well something is constructed doesn't matter. People don't care about quality. They want cookie cutters-because that's what here. SO can I get that or do I go even lower.
Yes, they care about quality, but in the details like a well-insulated home, a roof that doesn't leak, a basement that doesn't get water, as well as quality details like crown molding, hardwood, etc. Talking about a steel beam or foundation and having the blueprints doesn't compute with a lot of buyers. Whether or not you lower the price depends on how quickly you want to sell it. But if you do lower it, I would suggest going under 300 because that's where you'll find a new set of buyers.
Ok fine. I get it. So here's the thing. After all new hard woods and fresh paint. Could it be reasonable to sell it for $299K? Or do we need lower. I might as well just give it up. It's not worth squat. How well something is constructed doesn't matter. People don't care about quality. They want cookie cutters-because that's what here. SO can I get that or do I go even lower.
We dont know what you can get. Thats what your real estate agent is for. You yourself said you werent getting much traffic and showings. You need to price it to where you get showings. You cant sell it if people dont want to see it. And they dont want to see it because its overpriced compared to what else is out there.
If you want to move it soonest, price it aggressively. You dont owe anything on it, so you can drop it to a reasonable level.
How long is the contingency on the house you want to buy?
Ok fine. I get it. So here's the thing. After all new hard woods and fresh paint. Could it be reasonable to sell it for $299K? Or do we need lower. I might as well just give it up. It's not worth squat. How well something is constructed doesn't matter. People don't care about quality. They want cookie cutters-because that's what here. SO can I get that or do I go even lower.
Would you rather get it sold quicker or get the most money for it? You might be able to get over $300 if you take it off the market and re-list next year with the renovations completed and more/better pictures (you may need to wait 3 months or so for it to come back up as a "new listing").
Or if you drop it to $299 or so that should get you some more online views. But I certainly would not change the price again before finishing the work and adding more/better pictures.
So why don't you have pictures of the bathrooms again? The old cliche of kitchens and bathrooms sell houses is pretty true. Your kitchen certainly isn't helping and judging by the kitchen most people probably wouldn't expect good bathrooms. You keep talking about the quality of stuff in your house but looking at the pictures the only quality thing you can see is the hardwood floors. To be honest based on those pictures the fact that you got even 4 showings is impressive and I think proves that your price isn't that crazy.
The entire problem is, every neighborhood has a market value for a typical home of a certain size in the neighborhood. The real rule is, if you price your home above others in the neighborhood, the buyers willing to pay that price, will move on to a better quality neighborhood. Location, location and yes location are the most important factor when selling a home. Buyers look for the best neighborhood they can afford, and buy a lower to middle priced home in that neighborhood, before they will pay an inflated price on one in the lower priced neighborhood.
Just because you put in a steel beam, and a larger commercial garage door, does not make your home better and worth a considerable amount more, than those without these features. Pricing a home higher than the others in a neighborhood, just says move onto a better quality neighborhood and buy one of the lower quality homes at the same price. Remember, location, location, and then location is what draws people to buy homes. People buy a home in a higher priced and more respected neighborhood, before they will buy one in a lower quality neighborhood that is over priced for the neighborhood for the same money even if it is a higher quality home.
Often an agent will use your home to move people into a better neighborhood. They will tell the buyers I want to show you a real nice home, and show yours. Then I want to show you what you can buy in a much nicer neighborhood for the same money. The other homes in your neighborhood will be so much less than the ones in the nicer neighborhood, that the neighborhood is what sells the other home.
Problem #2---You have said there are if I remember right, about 28 homes for sale in the general area, and 20 of them are pre foreclosure, or auction sales, priced considerably below your home. If that is the fact, those 20 homes are what is going to determine what a buyer will buy, and an appraiser will use to determine the value of your home. Those are the sold homes, that your home will be compared against. As long as there is a big backlog of homes priced far below your home, don't expect to get a premium price for your home when you live in a slow moving real estate market.
The entire problem is, every neighborhood has a market value for a typical home of a certain size in the neighborhood. The real rule is, if you price your home above others in the neighborhood, the buyers willing to pay that price, will move on to a better quality neighborhood. Location, location and yes location are the most important factor when selling a home. Buyers look for the best neighborhood they can afford, and buy a lower to middle priced home in that neighborhood, before they will pay an inflated price on one in the lower priced neighborhood.
Just because you put in a steel beam, and a larger commercial garage door, does not make your home better and worth a considerable amount more, than those without these features. Pricing a home higher than the others in a neighborhood, just says move onto a better quality neighborhood and buy one of the lower quality homes at the same price. Remember, location, location, and then location is what draws people to buy homes. People buy a home in a higher priced and more respected neighborhood, before they will buy one in a lower quality neighborhood that is over priced for the neighborhood for the same money even if it is a higher quality home.
Often an agent will use your home to move people into a better neighborhood. They will tell the buyers I want to show you a real nice home, and show yours. Then I want to show you what you can buy in a much nicer neighborhood for the same money. The other homes in your neighborhood will be so much less than the ones in the nicer neighborhood, that the neighborhood is what sells the other home.
Problem #2---You have said there are if I remember right, about 28 homes for sale in the general area, and 20 of them are pre foreclosure, or auction sales, priced considerably below your home. If that is the fact, those 20 homes are what is going to determine what a buyer will buy, and an appraiser will use to determine the value of your home. Those are the sold homes, that your home will be compared against. As long as there is a big backlog of homes priced far below your home, don't expect to get a premium price for your home when you live in a slow moving real estate market.
Regarding the location, I think part of OP's argument is actually that their location is better than a lot of others in the area because it is walking distance to "the village." Looks like there is a small downtown with a couple restaurants, but also a Burger King, Taco Bell, Wendy's and Five Guys pretty close too which probably aren't as desireable to be near (although I would love to live that close to a Taco Bell). I think only someone that's familiar with that area would be able to say about how much that's worth.
Honestly I think there may be a couple comps that would seem to support OP's price, but probably more that don't. I don't think it's a big deal if OP's house is "different" than a lot of the others for sale. Looks like a lot of variation in housing there - you've got historic houses, new construction houses/condo's, and 80's/90's/00's built houses/condos all in the same area.
If it was me based on what's currently on the market I'd say I'd rather buy that house built in 1869 for $269 than OP's for $319. But there are 1 bedroom condos listed for $319 as well which I'd take OP's house over. But I also see a house listed for $319,925 that is a cape cod with 5 bed/3 bath and 2700 sq ft and renovated. That one is currently under contract but even that took 2 months before going under contract according to Zillow. The lot is smaller than OP's, but other than that looks like the only advantage OP's might have might be the location closer to "the village." But even looking closer to "the village" I don't see much that has sold for over $300.
2. Pull the listing now.
a. The description needs to be rewritten. Why do I care about "Never on market"?
b. You need professional photos. The very first one that I see shows only part of the house and focuses your eye on the cars. Are you selling those? Are you selling the sectional? Declutter first.
3. Consider
a. Adding pulls to the kitchen cabinets. They will look a little less builder-special that way.
b. Staining the deck. Make it pop.
Regarding the location, I think part of OP's argument is actually that their location is better than a lot of others in the area because it is walking distance to "the village." Looks like there is a small downtown with a couple restaurants, but also a Burger King, Taco Bell, Wendy's and Five Guys pretty close too which probably aren't as desireable to be near (although I would love to live that close to a Taco Bell). I think only someone that's familiar with that area would be able to say about how much that's worth.
Honestly I think there may be a couple comps that would seem to support OP's price, but probably more that don't. I don't think it's a big deal if OP's house is "different" than a lot of the others for sale. Looks like a lot of variation in housing there - you've got historic houses, new construction houses/condo's, and 80's/90's/00's built houses/condos all in the same area.
If it was me based on what's currently on the market I'd say I'd rather buy that house built in 1869 for $269 than OP's for $319. But there are 1 bedroom condos listed for $319 as well which I'd take OP's house over. But I also see a house listed for $319,925 that is a cape cod with 5 bed/3 bath and 2700 sq ft and renovated. That one is currently under contract but even that took 2 months before going under contract according to Zillow. The lot is smaller than OP's, but other than that looks like the only advantage OP's might have might be the location closer to "the village." But even looking closer to "the village" I don't see much that has sold for over $300.
I know that house well, friends of ours used to live there. It's outside the village. I counted just 11 homes either for sale/sold in recent months on Zillow based on the village boundaries. We are in the village. Not outside of it. I'll talk to our contractor as he's here today. I'll ask him is it worth at least changing things out in the kitchen, maybe the cabinets? I hate to put that expense in, someone will hate it anyway and change it they way they want. It's why we didn't do it.
The fact that your home is in the village (I assume this means city limits ), and this does not make it more important to home buyers than those outside the village. As an example, we bought our home which is across a county road from the best part of our small town, with all newer homes. Our 500 private lane leads off of the county road, directly across from the main East West street in town.
We like it better this way, as it is 5 acres, all flat, and great pasture. The nice thing about it, is it is $1,000 a year lower taxes than if was in the city limits, instead of across the street from the city. We do not have city water, but our well hits the same water supply as the city wells, which is a big natural aquifer only 35 feet to water. Costs very little to run our pump, but saves hundreds of dollars a year from not having city water. We would not want to run our sprinkler system for 1 acre of landscaping every night, if we had to pay the city water rates. Run trash/garbage to dump which is a Free transfer station mile and half away, instead of paying expensive garbage service in the city. Same fire fighting service for city and county.
People often pay a premium for homes outside the city/village limits, rather than the other way around.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Here goes
