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I will take your word for it. We also live in a less dense, hidden community that people don't intentionally drive through without a purpose. So my take is that people who are coming to see our house have already scoped it out on Zillow or other sites. That's why I'd rather focus on luring those people in as opposed to the crowd of Lookie Loos, Nosy Neighbors, and potential burglars.
I recently listed my first home for sale too, and have many similar concerns.
1 - The realtor pushed dual agency, ultimately we agreed
2 - The house was on the market only 20 days + 1 open house now the realtor is pushing to lower price by >$50k from the price they originally recommended. This seems too soon to me, especially given the original open house took place Labor Day weekend.
3. There have been around 12 showings and 1 potential buyer who backed out. Realtor says this is bad, ergo we need to lower the price.
4. Poor communication. I have to follow-up weekly for an update or I hear nothing. I get no feedback after open house or showing unless I ask. I am told there are 2 interested buyers, later amended to say 1.
5. The realtor claims another house in the area is a comp, but it is nearly uninhabitable as it was a prior foreclosure. I am not an expert, but apart from being in the same neighborhood, I don't think it's a comp.
6. Realtor claims it's a buyer's market (they told us it was a seller's market 20 days ago, but whatever). Now they are suggesting that buyers have too many options and there are >20 similar listings within a 300k margin. I searched online and only found 3 other listings within a 300k margin.
At this point, I'm getting frustrated with the lack of communication and mixed messaging. I asked for a 2nd open house before lowering the price, but felt I had to push for this. Not sure if I'm being unreasonable here? I originally wanted to go with a different realtor, but they quoted such an unreasonably high CMA that I thought it was a red flag and backed out.
...
3. There have been around 12 showings and 1 potential buyer who backed out. Realtor says this is bad, ergo we need to lower the price.
...
12 showings is great, but that means 12 buyers rejected it, plus probably hundreds online chose not to look in person. The original suggested price is irrelevant at this point. The market has told you they don't believe in the current price. I would suggest an immediate reduction by 3-5%, unless there are improvements you could make that would help sell the home at your current price that make sense financially.
Not getting into the rest because it's sort of irrelevant to your home selling and I wasn't there to judge if your agent has done well or not. I just want you to sell the home and be happy. Good luck!
I recently listed my first home for sale too, and have many similar concerns.
1 - The realtor pushed dual agency, ultimately we agreed
2 - The house was on the market only 20 days + 1 open house now the realtor is pushing to lower price by >$50k from the price they originally recommended. This seems too soon to me, especially given the original open house took place Labor Day weekend.
3. There have been around 12 showings and 1 potential buyer who backed out. Realtor says this is bad, ergo we need to lower the price.
4. Poor communication. I have to follow-up weekly for an update or I hear nothing. I get no feedback after open house or showing unless I ask. I am told there are 2 interested buyers, later amended to say 1.
5. The realtor claims another house in the area is a comp, but it is nearly uninhabitable as it was a prior foreclosure. I am not an expert, but apart from being in the same neighborhood, I don't think it's a comp.
6. Realtor claims it's a buyer's market (they told us it was a seller's market 20 days ago, but whatever). Now they are suggesting that buyers have too many options and there are >20 similar listings within a 300k margin. I searched online and only found 3 other listings within a 300k margin.
At this point, I'm getting frustrated with the lack of communication and mixed messaging. I asked for a 2nd open house before lowering the price, but felt I had to push for this. Not sure if I'm being unreasonable here? I originally wanted to go with a different realtor, but they quoted such an unreasonably high CMA that I thought it was a red flag and backed out.
Thanks for your response, vladlensky! I am glad we can take solace in each other's struggle.
I've often read that selling boils down to three major factors: Price, Condition, and Location.
The condition of our place is pretty immaculate, relatively speaking. Updated kitchen, bathroom, and many other features.
Our pricing falls in line with comps in our community and with what Redfin and Zillow say, for whatever that is worth. We are priced cozily in the middle of the other comps; definitely not the highest. We interviewed a couple realtors, and both came to the same conclusion on where to set price with us.
We're in a hot seller's market, one of the hottest in the country.
We can't do anything about location. It's not in a super trendy area, but it's in a nice, quiet, safe area.
So I don't understand, did the market suddenly drop out from beneath us in a matter of a couple months? We can justify our pricing with comp data. Can the buyer's justify why they would think it's too high? That's the sort of feedback that would be extremely useful to us, assuming that is our problem. But we aren't getting it.
Also, just because it's too high for some buyers doesn't mean it's too high for others. My friend's 3BR/1BA is absurdly estimated at over $500k. I would never pay that for his home, but someone might. I think it's just a waiting game until you find your match. We could price cut by $100k and probably sell super quick. But that's not what we're trying to do. Fortunately for us, we're not particularly in a mad rush to sell other than for the property we're currently under contract on. If that falls through, I guess oh well. That's the only reason we have any concerns at this point.
12 showings is great, but that means 12 buyers rejected it, plus probably hundreds online chose not to look in person. The original suggested price is irrelevant at this point. The market has told you they don't believe in the current price. I would suggest an immediate reduction by 3-5%, unless there are improvements you could make that would help sell the home at your current price that make sense financially.
Not getting into the rest because it's sort of irrelevant to your home selling and I wasn't there to judge if your agent has done well or not. I just want you to sell the home and be happy. Good luck!
Thanks for the feedback. This is part of where the communication issue pops up, however. Initially we are told there were 12 showings which leads us to believe 12 distinct parties viewed the house but later the realtor informed us that 1 interested buyer viewed the property 'at least 3 times'. So did 12 buyers reject it or 9? At one point I am told there are 2 interested parties. So is it down to 8 rejected? I seem to get different info each time.
The main positive feedback is around the condition of the house, the negative feedback so far is in terms of the monthly HOA which unfortunately we can't really control though they are consistent for other developments in the area.
Thanks for your response, vladlensky! I am glad we can take solace in each other's struggle.
I've often read that selling boils down to three major factors: Price, Condition, and Location.
The condition of our place is pretty immaculate, relatively speaking. Updated kitchen, bathroom, and many other features.
Our pricing falls in line with comps in our community and with what Redfin and Zillow say, for whatever that is worth. We are priced cozily in the middle of the other comps; definitely not the highest. We interviewed a couple realtors, and both came to the same conclusion on where to set price with us.
We're in a hot seller's market, one of the hottest in the country.
We can't do anything about location. It's not in a super trendy area, but it's in a nice, quiet, safe area.
So I don't understand, did the market suddenly drop out from beneath us in a matter of a couple months? We can justify our pricing with comp data. Can the buyer's justify why they would think it's too high? That's the sort of feedback that would be extremely useful to us, assuming that is our problem. But we aren't getting it.
Also, just because it's too high for some buyers doesn't mean it's too high for others. My friend's 3BR/1BA is absurdly estimated at over $500k. I would never pay that for his home, but someone might. I think it's just a waiting game until you find your match. We could price cut by $100k and probably sell super quick. But that's not what we're trying to do. Fortunately for us, we're not particularly in a mad rush to sell other than for the property we're currently under contract on. If that falls through, I guess oh well. That's the only reason we have any concerns at this point.
Thanks for this, it sure seems like we have a lot in common. I have heard the same about price, condition and location. Do you have any recent comparable sales in your area you can use as a basis? Are you in a high tax/COL area? Our area is burdened by super high property taxes, which makes buyers think twice about a larger sq ft house like ours because it means higher taxes.
We're also not in a huge rush, picked out a couple places on the other side, but I want to feel like we went through this process correctly rather than just rushing it which is why I was so hesitant to reduce the price after a couple weeks on the market and 1 open house.
Regarding the pet odor issue you mentioned, we have a big dog and that was always on my mind as well. I have this ritual I do before showings of running the air purifier, opening the windows, etc. We also tend to cook spicy foods, curries etc. so I've completely stopped cooking these to avoid any possible negative smells, etc. I put a few drops of lemon oil in a steam diffuser just to help in case there's anything I can't smell (and all homes apparently have some kind of smell to them).
The main positive feedback is around the condition of the house, the negative feedback so far is in terms of the monthly HOA which unfortunately we can't really control though they are consistent for other developments in the area.
How much is it?
HOAs often get trashed on, even by my own realtor. Who knows what our potential buyers are hearing from theirs. And I know there can be bad ones. But it really is a lifestyle choice. Generally speaking, your home owner's insurance should be cheaper, you do not have to worry about outside maintenance, and you don't need to worry about exterior repairs that can be very costly. In some cases, you might even have a community area with pool, hot tub, park, etc., that is maintained by the HOA.
If it's getting out of hand, I'd go to a HOA meeting and complain about how it's impacting home values and sales.
Thanks for the feedback. This is part of where the communication issue pops up, however. Initially we are told there were 12 showings which leads us to believe 12 distinct parties viewed the house but later the realtor informed us that 1 interested buyer viewed the property 'at least 3 times'. So did 12 buyers reject it or 9? At one point I am told there are 2 interested parties. So is it down to 8 rejected? I seem to get different info each time.
The main positive feedback is around the condition of the house, the negative feedback so far is in terms of the monthly HOA which unfortunately we can't really control though they are consistent for other developments in the area.
They didn't think it was a good enough deal to jump on it and make an immediate offer. Whether the number is 8, 10, or 12 buyers, my advice stands. If you don't need to sell quickly and your market is solid during the winter months, price will eventually catch up if the market is appreciating. If prices have leveled off or the market usually slows in the winter months wherever you are, and you can't wait it out, then make the drop ASAP.
You counter complaints of a high HOA by lowering the price where the buyer feels the home is a good enough do to accept high HOA's. You could get creative and offer to pre-pay the HOA's for a year in advance, but buyers sometimes don't notice that in the remarks. They notice a price reduction.
Every agent wants money, but pick the one that is either smart, or hardworking. If he/she is smart, it's easy. You'll get the house quicker. If he/she is hardworking but inexperienced, YOU have to train him, yes lol, YOU, and it will take a bit longer (like 4 months longer), but you will get the house you want.
A hard working idiot, is a gem. and im not being sarcastic.
Have to disagree. You don't want to be training an idiot that's repping you on such a large investment. You don't want the idiot involved at all. There's plenty of good, smart agents out there that consumers should interview until they find one.
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