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.
Hello. My husband & I listed our house in NJ for sale on 3/1, approximately 10 years after we purchased it. At the time, there wasn't much on the market in our general price range. We got the best house we could get (one that did not need thousands and thousands of dollars of work right away), but we made the sacrifice of being on a slightly more "main road" than we would have liked. A bit foolish in hindsight, since location is something we obviously cannot change. But let me describe our location to paint a picture here - we live in a more wooded suburban area, right by a state park. Our "main road" is not "main street USA." It is a thru-road where you can go from one side of town to the other. The road is several miles long, and the only "business" on it are a summer camp and high school, which are all the way at the opposite end of the road. By us, it's all nicely-kept single-family homes (though many of the ones on the market seem to need some cosmetic work inside). There is only one traffic light on the road, which is at that opposite end (probably about 2-3 miles away). Our town is one of the less populated ones in the state. We are within commuting distance to NYC (approx 30 miles), with public transportation about 1-2 miles away.
We've done a lot of work to our 3 bed/2 bath (1800 sq ft) house including: new kitchen (several years old, but still looks like it was done yesterday), conversion from 1.5 baths to 2 baths (includes master bathroom), replaced heating system, newer hot water heater, freshly painted interior and exterior, front & backyard landscaping. We love all things modern, and our house is one of the more modern ones in the area because we made it that way (think mosaic tile, chrome fixtures, etc.). Our kitchen/dining/living area is semi-open concept, and we've got a huge family room and large laundry/miscellaneous room downstairs,great storage for the size of the home. Also have a 2 car garage. Really nothing needs to be done to this house at all. Someone could just move right in and be good for years as long as they generally maintain the home as we have done. And, not for nothing, but the house is an absolute STEAL for the price.
I feel our house is super appealing based on other homes on the market, and there are currently two homes on our road (one smaller home across the street from us!) that have just gone under contract. This gives me hope that our house can go under contract (and be sold) as well, but I guess I'm wondering if anyone out there might have been in a similar situation with a "blah" location (and it's not even THAT "blah!"). Is there anything more we can do than what we have already done? Like are there any "tricks" out there for trying to present a house in a certain way to help battle/overcome the "location issue?" We've been keeping our house clean & staged (but not over-staged).
I believe our ideal buyer profile is going to be younger/first-time buyer/single or in a relationship. We know we have a non-married couple coming back to take a second look, and so far, we've had about 20 shoppers or so in just about two weeks. Not sure if that's good or bad because I don't know the kind of foot traffic other homes are getting. We do want to sell the house sooner than later, so I'm all ears for any advice anyone might have. Many thanks!
It’s just going to have to be patience, because it sounds like you’re doing everything right. Is your agent marketing your home aggressively, or is your impression the foot traffic is just from the MLS?
Conventional wisdom is that a decent amount of showings but no offer means you are a little overpriced.
When you say your house is a "steal" is that compared to non-main road homes or the others that are also on the main road?
I sold a townhouse with a similar problem a few years ago - I had done several upgrades and it showed extremely well, but it still took a little longer to sell (granted it was a hot market so a little longer meant a couple of weeks rather than a couple of days) and it sold for about 10% less than a similar sized one on the other side of the building that faced the parking lot instead of the road. When I had purchased it, it sold for about 1/3 less than the same model that faced a quiet tree lined street instead of the main road.
So my main question is whether you are really being realistic about the pricing.
The other issue is the style. You may like modern and I'm sure your home is lovely. But many people in quaint little towns in NJ have more traditional tastes, as shown by your statement that it's one of the more modern ones in the area. You may have a more limited buyer pool due to the style as well as the location.
I don't think your purchase was necessarily foolish. It really depends on what you paid for it to begin with. I mean, did you take in account the value is different from those around it when you bought it? And if you have listed it on 3\1 that's not such a long time so far and Its encouraging that you have second lookers. I know the kind of street you mean. We have that here. Coeur d' Alene is a town rather than a big city and there are a few streets like that. A good friend of ours lives in such a house and loves it. I think if if were me I would see what happens with these second lookers first and then maybe think about lowering the price if I were in a hurry. Does you agent ask for feedback from the other agents that have seen it?
Use the main road as a benefit, if the county or town plows it often after a snowstorm that's to your advantage also they don't have to drive on snowy side roads to get to a main road.
Thanks for the responses - absolutely EXCELLENT point about the weather. And, to think, we had planned to list in January (but just couldn't manage to get our house "together" until 3/1).
Absolutely agree about the main road being a benefit. Where we are, it certainly is. I experienced that myself when driving around a few of the surrounding side streets - our road was plowed, those roads definitely weren't. Only reason I had to drive on those roads was due to a downed tree blocking part of the road a bit down the way from us. Downed trees were everywhere after this last big storm. Our agent actually lives on another main road herself, and that is partially why we chose her. She's done everything possible to spin the location as a positive. We also chose her because of her agency's marketing strategy. We met with two other agents, and we know we would not have received the same level of service and attention if we went with either of them. One of them wanted to list us low for a quick sale and we did not appreciate being treated like nothing more than a business transaction.
When I say our house is a "steal" I'm comparing that to houses in our town within our same general price range, give or take a bit, regardless of their exact locations. True, there are people in my area who like traditional, but there's a difference between OLD traditional and new. Lots of homes on the market are looking like (at least according to photos I've seen) where there's something "big" that needs to be done sooner or later, whether it's a new kitchen, new bathroom(s) or all of that. And, when I say our house is "modern," our kitchen and bathrooms are modern, sure, but not "over the top" or too futuristic-looking. We actually do not have that crisp white kitchen that many seem to want. Our kitchen is more Earthtone (=traditional!). We've got pops of color in our bathrooms, but they aren't too bold or anything like that. The tile work in the bathrooms is very neutral, which leaves the door open for many different paint colors on the walls. The rest of the house is pretty basic, and not really all that modern (e.g. traditional interior doors, older hardwood flooring, tile flooring downstairs, etc.). The main updates we made in those areas were fresh paint, and we also replaced some of the very old recessed lights with new ones. Except for the bathrooms, most of the paint in the house is very neutral. We've got light gray in the master bedroom and various shades of white elsewhere.
Personally, I think our pricing is spot-on given what's on the market. It's very fair. There's a slightly smaller house for sale on a different main road that is priced only $9K less - that house needs a new kitchen, at the very least. They've only got a one car garage. A new kitchen in NJ is going to cost a whole lot more than that. The bedrooms in that house are tiny (our master is spacious, easily fitting a king bed!). They've only got a one car garage. There's another house down the street from us, same size, same price, with only a one car garage. A slightly larger house (they've got about 800 sq. ft on us) just hit the market today and they're asking $50K more than we are. That house has nice flooring and a decent kitchen. You can probably skate by with doing no remodeling in that house for a bit.
We're just going to have to cross our fingers here and hope for the best possible outcome. If we have no bites in the next few weeks, we'll consider a slight price drop. So far, for this week, we had a showing on Monday (no feedback yet) and one yesterday. Yesterday's visitor is coming back again for a second look this weekend. We also have another visit scheduled for the weekend. We'll see what happens!
Houses on through streets/main roads need to be priced significantly lower than an equivalent house on a quiet street. In addition, if there is any way to make your backyard into a very quiet haven, with landscaping, that helps.
The only people I know who bought on the main road were people who couldn't afford a house on a quiet street. They bought houses on main roads because they could get the house they wanted, for about 40% less than if it had been on a side street.
Houses on busier streets always sell for less. Hard to say exactly how much less - but I've always noticed this to be somewhere ~ 10% less than similar homes not on busy streets.
Your agent should have used other homes on busy roads as comparables for your home. This takes significantly more effort but always produces a more accurate result.
Either way 20 showings and no offers says "overpriced" to me. At the same time its been two weeks and we have had a few storms. I would give it maybe another week or so and then drop the price.
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.
