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We went to a open house and the realtor advised her clients to put their furniture in storage and have it staged. She said old furniture and pets was a immediate price reduction. I find that ridiculous. The last four times we moved out and sold the house empty. We have Maltese and they have never caused any damage. We have all hard flooring so no carpet. If we ever sell I guess we will take all evidence of them with us for showing if this is the new thinking.
We live in a very pet friendly city. Dog parks, patios that allow dogs, etc. It's mind blowing that anyone would take issue with this considering how many animals live around us or have lived where we live now. We only have a cat, but I can tell you she'll be our last pet adoption after she's gone because of this experience.
If it's not your realtor or other agents who are these people who are wanting deep discounts?
Provided there is no cat smell or damage then the only thing left is your decor. Staging your can make a huge difference when selling. Some people have to move items out and store them and bring in other items to show the house to the fullest. People do buy why looks nice to them and the bottom line is that most buyers have NO imagination when it comes to how it would look with your decor gone.
If it's not your realtor or other agents who are these people who are wanting deep discounts?
Provided there is no cat smell or damage then the only thing left is your decor. Staging your can make a huge difference when selling. Some people have to move items out and store them and bring in other items to show the house to the fullest. People do buy why looks nice to them and the bottom line is that most buyers have NO imagination when it comes to how it would look with your decor gone.
At this point, we think it's pricing, and will ultimately include a reduced price in the coming weeks. Our staging and decor, as it stands today, is as good as it's going to get, but we'll update the pictures with our updated decluttering. We're not willing to spend a couple grand on someone else's subjective opinion of how it should be dressed up with prop furniture and whatever else. At the end of the day, staging/decor is highly subjective and will differ based on the buyer. Who's to say that a buyer comes in and hates the way it's staged by our costly staging service. I'm not one to nonchalantly throw money at a problem unless I have guarantees and hard data to support the solution. But nobody can or is willing to do that, because it's all opinion-based, rent-seeking gobbledygook. Money talks at the end of the day. If we want to sell quicker, we will have to be willing to price more aggressively.
Just about every real estate blog or journal article I've come across indicates an added value of $5-$10k per additional room assuming similar square footage. Just one example: https://pocketsense.com/value-adding...e-7759437.html. Our home, in comparison to many of these comps, actually has more square footage.
Since we ultimately have a similar layout as the rest of these comps, we have room to build an additional room in the basement where they've added theirs. In fact, since our basement is partially finished, it's really just a matter of framing a couple walls. Electrical is already hooked up. We have not proceeded with this kind of project, because we have not been convinced that the ROI is worth it. Why drop $5k+ on building costs when I could just price drop $5k from asking. Then we'd be $10-$20k below the sales prices for comps with an added room. I'd argue that's more than fair.
On of the things that is most important is what buyers in YOUR particular area want. An article can say anything but if you live in a family oriented neighborhood, having only 2 bedrooms could be a problem. In that case it may take more off your appraised price than in an area where the majority are singles, couples etc. I live on my own and would much prefer fewer bedrooms and a more open floor plan assuming square footage was equal but I'm a minority.
It would be great if you posted some pictures of your place so we could see them.
Also, ask you realtor who is buying in your area (and look at your neighbors, are they singles, couples or families?) Then you will have your answer. Also ask him what the other realtors are saying, and what their clients who are looking at your house are buying.
Maybe you don’t need a stager, maybe you need what I would refer to as a “showing consultant.†Who will point out/suggest things which will make your house show better. Like removing throw rugs in the entry and baths to show off the tile. Putting a grouping of some sort of fruit on your kitchen island. Maybe rearranging some of your furniture or deleting a couple items. (Example: having only four chairs at the dining table instead of six, and turning the table 90 degrees to make the dining area look larger). NOT bringing in different furniture or decor.
We had such a person for our last sale. She had so many good ideas, we adopted nearly all of them and were under contract in two weeks.
It would be great if you posted some pictures of your place so we could see them.
I would love to do that, if for anything else, to prove to the doubters that my house is not a crap hole. But I don't trust posting my personal info on an anonymous forum. With all due respect to those just wanting to lend a helping hand, I don't know any of you, and I don't want to open myself up to some mentally unstable lunatic stalker. Someone just DM'd me saying that they attempted to track down my listing, and I have not volunteered any of that info to anyone, nor do I want anyone trying to track me down.
Market is hot, feels like 2005 again so people are trying everything they can to reduce the sale price.
Sellers are miffed about the 5-6% commissions and realtors that just want the deal to get done at any price.
Buyers are expecting the world and want crazy reductions.
A friend is selling an admittedly 80's house. They bought in 2005 (paid too much), used it as a winter/vacation home with not putting any money in it. It's listed for over 500K, first contract looked like a go until the buyer wanted $30,000 off for a new kitchen. House was being sold "AS IS" and the kitchen is fully functional but it has old style cabinets/countertops. Price was agreed upon in the contract and the seller came up with the new kitchen idea in the inspection period. Seller laughed and buyer moved on.
Good for your buddy. Next time I would tell the agents they they are free to donate money from their commission to cover the buyers crazy demands. Yeah I see that happening.
Good for your buddy. Next time I would tell the agents they they are free to donate money from their commission to cover the buyers crazy demands. Yeah I see that happening.
Actually something like this happened with my in-laws condo that they sold. The buyers did a radon test and it came back at 4.0. This was one of those short-term tests that you're supposed to repeat 1-2x to get a confirmation, but the buyer insisted on a radon remediation system based solely on the single reading.
As my in-laws said no, the agents ultimately split the $1000 cost to get the deal done.
Actually something like this happened with my in-laws condo that they sold. The buyers did a radon test and it came back at 4.0. This was one of those short-term tests that you're supposed to repeat 1-2x to get a confirmation, but the buyer insisted on a radon remediation system based solely on the single reading.
As my in-laws said no, the agents ultimately split the $1000 cost to get the deal done.
Good thing is that I'm flexible and I'm willing to work with people on reasonable demands. A $500 credit for provable pet odors that need to be cleaned or removed? Sure, I'm game. $10k off asking? Get lost!
Problem is that we have not received any offers.
Which leads me to believe that most who've come through our home don't like the price or weren't serious about it to begin with. Given that our house is in pretty great condition and marketed accurately, I'm going with they're being told by their agents that it's priced too high. Because that's generally what my agent would be telling us if they thought so. I wish we had more feedback from them to link that reason, but we don't unfortunately. But that's what I'm guessing, and the reason why we'll be offering a reduction in the coming weeks.
Have you considered having a stager look at it and give you some ideas? If for nothing else than to give you an unbiased view of what they are seeing that perhaps you arent? I find it hard to believe that most looking at your home wouldnt be serious lookers. It takes too much time for everyone involved to be looking at houses, just to look. Most people are way too busy to do that.
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