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We always paint neutral before we list as well as fix everything. Decluttering and being super clean is important. I would reduce the price. You get the most action when the listing is new. Once it hasn’t sold for awhile people begin to wonder why.
Your Realtor should be giving you feedback. She should have contacted every agent who brought someone in for a showing to get their feedback and passed it on to you. She may be doing that, and no one is getting back to her. But I doubt that all of them are not responding. If she's not following up with people who have seen the house to get feedback, she's not doing her job.
Your house is a 1920s bungalow with the awkward front room floor plan because the front door opens directly into the wide living room, effectively splitting it in half and making it less usable. It'd have been much better off with the front door to the side, facing the staircase. I'm not sure why this style was briefly popular in the 20s for the awkwardness it must have caused.
Repaint the bold paint (which you should have done prior to listing, especially the black walls).
Beyond that the only criticism I have is your front door, which isn't original and I don't like it. But that's just me. Others will doubtlessly not care.
It's slightly more, but it's also much more updated inside. More modern and better quality kitchen, more neutral, some lovely cabinetry around the fireplace, the color scheme is softer on the eye and more enduring. It's also been on the market as long as your house. Maybe this is telling?
That house is really nice. It's also obviously been professionally staged, which makes a huge difference. May be worth looking into.
That house is really nice. It's also obviously been professionally staged, which makes a huge difference. May be worth looking into.
A lot of realtors now do the virtual staging. They just have the photographer photograph everything empty and then put in virtual furniture in the next photo so at least the buyer can picture how it might look with furniture. I imagine that is much cheaper than professional staging, especially if someone is still living there.
From what I saw of the other homes in that area, most were *much* more updated, both below and slightly above the price range. The photography also did more to bring out the period appeal of the homes. People who buy older homes usually do so to have some of the period features of a home that is 100, 80, etc. I am buying a home around the same age. It actually has some bold paint colors (a ceiling painted brown in the master bedroom and a 2nd room with a painted ceiling), but it does not bother me. They are all more neutral colors, so I can work with it. It is also not all gray, which I feel like is going to be out pretty soon.
The main benefit of this property is that it looks like it has a large lot, but from the lot lines I see, it is extremely long and thin. People might not be willing to pay a premium for a long and thin lot because you don’t get the benefit of having a nice buffer from your neighbors that is often the point of having larger lots.
I'm partial to the long and thin lots because I grew up on one, in an older section of Los Angeles, just south of Hollywood. That subdivision was also built in the early/mid 1920s and the narrow lots definitely maximized profits for the developer. We could definitely hear one of our next door neighbors all the time, as he tended to have loud arguments with his wife and children and there was maybe twenty feet between our houses.
My wife grew up on Long Island in a similar post-WWI subdivision with narrow lots, and her area, Floral Park, is quite desirable despite the narrow lots and limited privacy.
My parents sold the house thirty years ago for a hefty sum and if they held on to it it would be worth at least twice as much - yes, you have to adjust for inflation, but still a high price for limited privacy.
Yes, you need to be ruthless when selling your house, because buyers certainly are. Most buyers want neutral colors and updated electrical/mechanical systems. Updating the systems is expensive and not practical for most sellers, but you'll have to account for outdated systems in your asking price.
The painting you should absolutely do ASAP, so you can get new photos for your listing reflecting the newly painted walls.
Re-do the listing with new photos and a new price, one that's more realistic and likely to get buyers interested.
I also don't have much confidence in your Realtor. The exclamation points are really annoying. The text of her ad should be rewritten using more neutral language and no exclamation points, along with new, professional photos.
The basement isn't really an asset. The stairs to the basement look like a deathtrap and definitely don't look like they're built to code.
Showering in a clawfoot tub doesn't seem appealing to me - a very high step over makes it a trip hazard. Buyers who are middle aged or will have visiting parents/grandparents think of things like this.
How is the house cooled? St Louis summers are nearly unbearable. Do you use window units? Is central AC feasible? Would that require re-doing the electrical system?
If most houses in the area have been retrofitted to allow for central AC, but yours is not, buyers will expect your house to sell for substantially less per square foot. And the square footage they're thinking of is on the first and 2nd floors, not the basement.
One more thing comes to mind - fencing.
your house doesn't have any, does it?
Many buyers will want a completely fenced rear yard and worry about the expense and hassle of putting up a fence.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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I like the house and pics are OK, but a real Photographer is very inexpensive.
Few showings raises these red flags for me:
1) Likely premium priced for that particular home (since there are others in neighborhood FS). How fast do you want to move this?
2) BIG red Flag --- you always say "My realtor" - then I see this on seller agent profile - 2 recent sales YIKES!!!
a) how did you chose this agent? I ALWAYS go by their stats from board of realtors (specific to my property)) and personality for brilliant ideas and very organized / shows up with ALL the info and ducks in a row, and has direct references and I talk to their boss BEFORE signing a listing agreement, and I have a 'walk-clause for their non-performance, just in case this does not happen. >>>Contacts me weekly with my stats and suggestions for a definitive plan and feedback from showings / other agents.
That said... in 34 property transactions I have used an agent 2x. I bought and sold 4 properties in the last month (in my free time) I am no RE professional. It is often dead simple. But... I have only had (3) 'city' homes, Usually rural view. Much less competition for marketing.
#1 Price - get it right (not what your agent 'thinks / feels'
#2 Agent - you deserve the best for what they charge ~ $1000 / hr
Do follow up on the 'Cat-smell' issue. It can cost $20k to get rid of it (if you need new drywall)\. (but cat hasn't limited 'showings', only 'offers')
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YIKES!!!
