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I assume they are pricing various pieces of work? What kind of work is it if you don't mind saying? obviously this is a big statement as to what people see are the weaknesses.
A/C is the main thing they want. Connection/conversion from oil to natural gas. Laundry is on 1st floor, some want it on the second floor. One of the bedrooms on the 2nd floor is very small and there is a flat roof that it could easily be extended over. Most want it larger. In some cases they have 3 young kids and want to convert 2nd floor to 3 bedrooms. Those are the main concerns.
Some want to make the barn an accessory dwelling unit mainly for parents. I think the law to do so just passed last week in Hingham. It meets all the criteria.
How much to put in A/C and convert to natural gas?
Can you get formal estimates for those and then give an allowance for them in the price? You sound like you are already resigned to lowering the price anyway, but this way you could just say it's 1.4M with a 40K allowance (or whatever the actual numbers are) - which is something you'd expect to negotiate anyway, but this way it looks like you are giving a concession up front, which might be more palatable to some buyers.
I wouldn't bother for things like moving the laundry or extending a room, those are too idiosyncratic. But things like a/c and gas are pretty generic value adds.
Sometimes an incentive will help. Like a carpet allowance. Help with closing costs.
When we sold one house we had it staged. Most of the traffic wanted to see the staging and the more realtors coming in means they'll spread the word. We sold that house a month after staging it. The staging was worth every penny.
And the staging company got us thinking outside the box.
'Treat your garage as the main entrance to your home' True.
Have a radio playing deep in the house.
The staging company included the coffee maker when the house sold. They also provided fortune cookies with their company name of course.
And they had us list what activities our neighborhood participates in. Walking, running, hiking, you name it, it should be listed because a future buyer isn't just moving into a home. It's the lifestyle in that neighborhood. That's where Nextdoor (Neighbor) is such a good source.
Are you saying the home does not have central air? Were I even interested in such a property, that would turn me off.
Your not from New England are you? This is common in Massachusetts/New England in homes that haven't been built in the last 20-25 years.
ETA: I see you are in South Carolina? So yeah I see where you are coming from. In Massachusetts you might have 10 days of the year where you really need a/c and not just open windows turn on ceiling fans. I grew up in Massachusetts, moved 27 years ago to South Carolina and now live in Florida. A/C is a necessity in SC and Florida.
Thanks for your comments and suggestions. At this point I think we're limited to dropping the price until it sells.
The positive comments of encouragement are much appreciated, especially from those who have been following along from the very beginning. We may go forward with professional staging if we don't have an offer soon.
There are contractors who have been back so many times on behalf of their buyers that I feel like they are personal friends of mine. At least 4-5 parties are circling but no one has made an offer, so it's down to price at this point.
Here we are opening the pool again! Oh well...
Professional staging may help. In that price range, people want to be "wowed" when they walk in and see photos. Look at other houses in the price range and see how nice they look with furniture.
Your not from New England are you? This is common in Massachusetts/New England in homes that haven't been built in the last 20-25 years.
ETA: I see you are in South Carolina? So yeah I see where you are coming from. In Massachusetts you might have 10 days of the year where you really need a/c and not just open windows turn on ceiling fans. I grew up in Massachusetts, moved 27 years ago to South Carolina and now live in Florida. A/C is a necessity in SC and Florida.
I call BS on that. I lived in MA most of my younger life and then again for 20 years from age 40 to 60. It is only them cheap old Yankees SOB's that will tell you that you do not need AC. Believe me, you need it there.
Lets look at it as a professional person with many years of experience looks at it. I am going to be brutal in my evaluation.
1: You are getting lots of showings, but no one is interested in even making an offer. This says one thing, the home is not appealing to buyers, in comparison to other property on the market. It is turning them off, not attracting them to want to own it. In other words, the other homes you are in competition with are killing you. When you are getting as many showings as you indicate you are getting, There are other homes in your price range or less, that are more appealing to the public than yours.
2: Many will tell you, that there will one party that wants the uniqueness your home offers and it will eventually sell. But the problem is in such cases as yours, that person may never see your home. Over the years, I saw many homes that like yours were unique that did not appeal to the buyers in that price range, that went unsold for 2 to 5 years.
What you need to do, is find the homes in your general area which would include close by towns that have sold in a range of prices of $200,000 more and $200,000 less. What price they sold for. Then compare them against your home. Start trying to evaluate why they would have bought the other homes instead of yours. What makes them more attractive to buyers than yours. Forget staging, and other such gimmicks. Compare the actual properties themselves. You have to find the pattern of why they are selling, and why yours is not. People are giving you their opinion why it is not selling while not living in your area, or understanding the problems of selling a home in your town/city. Properly done, this type of evaluation I am suggesting, can give you the answers you need.
3: The biggest reason most homes do not sell, are they are overpriced in comparison to the competition. What a home will appraise for, is not the only test of value. What you have to find doing the evaluation I suggested above, you can find what the homes like yours in the general area, are selling for. The price people are paying for similar properties may be more but usually less than what your property has been for sale for. You have to do away with emotions. and determine what people are willing to pay for a similar property. You may find that homes you really are competing with may be selling for less as an example, in towns around you. Buyers are willing to live in other close by towns such as they are in Massachusetts. You may find that the ones willing to pay your price, are buying in other close by towns, but not in yours because they can buy for much less.
You really need to do this type of study, to understand your problem selling your home. When a home is getting a lot of traffic through it, and not even a low ball offer, there is a problem and you need to find what it is. I have been to Boston years ago, visiting a friend, but I have no way of telling what your problem is.
I have just done a study of the homes for sale in your town. You have some very stiff competition, and most are a lot newer, and flashier in your price range. One disadvantage you have, is yours does not have as much what is known as curb appeal, in comparison to some other homes on the market in your town. Some you are in competition, have a lot of curb appeal. Curb appeal will tip buyers away from one home to another and must be taken into consideration. First impressions when one drives up to a property, often effects the person viewing the home either positive or negative. Your home looks a lot better inside, than the impression from the curb. From the curb it shows it's age, which is a turn off to most buyers.
I call BS on that. I lived in MA most of my younger life and then again for 20 years from age 40 to 60. It is only them cheap old Yankees SOB's that will tell you that you do not need AC. Believe me, you need it there.
I was born in Massachusetts, lived there for 36 years, I still have family there. We never had a/c growing up. No one had central air but some may have had window a/c. Yeah once I moved away and come back I can't stand it, but we survived with window fans. And no, we weren't cheap old Yankee's, we were working class in a cape cod style home built after the Korean war. My parents home we sold 2 years ago, no a/c and it sold in a day. A/c wasn't installed in houses until mid 80's unless it was a really expensive house. My first house, built in 1980 had no a/c. Growing up, many cars sold in Massachusetts didn't even have a/c. Many still don't have a/c but utilize window a/c.
I was born in Massachusetts, lived there for 36 years, I still have family there. We never had a/c growing up. No one had central air but some may have had window a/c. Yeah once I moved away and come back I can't stand it, but we survived with window fans. And no, we weren't cheap old Yankee's, we were working class in a cape cod style home built after the Korean war. My parents home we sold 2 years ago, no a/c and it sold in a day. A/c wasn't installed in houses until mid 80's unless it was a really expensive house. My first house, built in 1980 had no a/c. Growing up, many cars sold in Massachusetts didn't even have a/c. Many still don't have a/c but utilize window a/c.
Times change. Particularly in the Boston area, preferences have seemed to change to newer builds or complete modernization of older homes. Plenty of tech money from outside of New England. "Mixed marriages" (New Englander and non-New Englander) dilute old New England ways. Old frugal ways and acceptance of inconvenience has dwindled. Unlike many places in the country, New Englanders accepted quirky old things and held onto that for longer than the rest of the country. That defining characteristic is slipping away.
Old, wealthy families used to own beautiful summer homes on the Cape, Vineyard, Nantucket, etc with no air conditioning, perhaps no central heat, functional but simple old kitchens, old furniture and few conveniences - just a few old bikes and the beach. Yes these still exist but they are a dying breed. Either demolished or completely rebuilt and extended to create second homes that are as large and well appointed as their primary Wellesley or Weston homes. You see this in all expensive areas of the Cape and islands. And New Hampshire and Maine. Younger people don't even want their second homes to be old and quirky, never mind their primary homes. Not making value judgments about anyone, that's just the way it is.
I agree that few people today will want to live in a home like that without central air and since it's just expected, many people will have problems embarking on such a big and invasive project, just to get the place to meet what's now considered a basic need.
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