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I live in Marion, NC and love it! My husband and I are currently selling, but plan to stay in city limits. We are hoping to get something bigger and expand the family. I have commuted to Asheville to work for 3 years without any issue, it's not a long drive. I expected to sell within 3 months...but, here we are on the market 8 months later. I am so confused. We have (in my opinion) a great home! It's a renovated craftsman bugalow, 3/2, all hardwoods...2300sq/ft... You can't buy a home this size in Asheville? I'm just bummed we haven't sold. I understand that the market is bad, but is there any advice? We are priced right at $159900 and we are also offering a buyers incentive of $5000.
Had mine on the market for 18 months and it hasn't sold. You have the same problem that I have. Your price is a little too high for the average Marion resident (the ones still working) to afford so you've got to find the right buyer.
I'd say that Marion is a bit further out than you think! Plus you are competing with hundreds if not thousands of houses closer to Asheville that haven't sold in months either. As cec said you're just going to have to sit on it until you find someone who WANTS to move to Marion or keep dropping your price to lure one in. What has your realtor suggested you do?
Or there are quite a few folks that don't qualify for a mortgage who would love to buy, but the economy did that 180 and left them upside down in previous homes...
Thanks for the response! I agree we are at a difficult price point for the average buyer in Marion. We've lowered our asking price by $10000, so that plus the incentive is all we are prepared to do... this is coming from our realtor's advice.
I guess the commute doesn't bother me, but I'm originally from Atlanta where a 30 minute drive to work is nothing and we don't have to worry about the traffic here.
Anyway, we have a showing this morning and I'm just in a frenzy with nerves!
Wish us luck!
I hope it goes well today for you. In our case we were expecting to have ours on the market for months as well however along came this $8K tax incentive and we sold ours in 2 days! We did a lot of up front preparation. If it sat still for more than a few minutes it got a new coat of paint. We redid 2 bathrooms, replacing all the fixtures, including installing a new shower stall in one. In the kitchen we put in a new counter top, sink, etc. We did not put in granite, just laminate and gave the cabinets a fresh coat of paint. We were going to refinish the hardwood floors but the agent said not to, just a fresh coat of acrylic "wax" for wood floors. We also replaced all the old interior flat doors with new six-panel ones, and replaced several of the old light fixtures. We cleaned up the vinyl siding on the upper half of the house, and washed all the windows (lets in more light). Finally we packed about 100 boxes full of everything we did not absolutely need and stashed it in a warehouse. Once we were done the place looked like a model home--I was impressed myself!
As the realtor had promised, the house went on the market Sat. of Labor Day weekend and we had a bid by Sunday afternoon, with a signed contract by noon Monday and a backup contract as well. We got our full asking price with no closing costs and darned if it didn't appraise at full value. And I know that the tax credit was responsible for the sale because both our bidders were first time home buyers and told us that.
I hope your showing snagged a buyer! If not, about all I can suggest is, even tho you do not want to reduce price more, by nudging it to $149,000, you get buyers who can only buy below the $150,000 mark (often people will only look between, say, 125 and 150, they round it off). Be sure to ask your realtor what the feedback was from this showing.
And as for the $5,000 incentive, perhaps that would work better if it said "$5,000 allowance (or maybe "cash back") for landscaping," or whatever at your house is a minus. Also, there are folks desperate to live in our area, but are shocked by Asheville prices, so your listing might need to be re-worked to attract those folks, "Small town vibe, small town price, only XX minutes from Asheville," or something like that. Even tho Marion is a stretch, if you can just get them IN your home, they might not can resist it.
Now, as for your return on homes in the city limits of Asheville, you will NOT get anywhere near as good a home as you have. Rather, it'll likely cost you $200,000 and up. Convenience costs more, and Asheville real estate is higher than anywhere else in the state, the way I recall reading one time. But if you'd look in Weaverville, say, you'll get a little more house, and it's REAL close to North Asheville.
I think your house is in the ballpark, as far as price goes in Marion. And you could EASILY get that if it were sitting in Asheville, and in fact quite a bit more. I agree with what the poster Cofga said, about storing all your junk. If you're really serious about selling, your home has got to be real close to move-in ready, as they say. And paint doesn't cost anything, but makes a HUGE difference in feel. But in the end, as the other posters have said, it's a slow market.
WE SOLD TODAY! And we got what we wanted! Very happy! I posted this on Wed....had a showing on Thursday...sold today. Who knew?
I will say...for those really wanting to sell, buyers incentives help!
Thanks again.
Boy, I know exactly how you feel, what a relief to get it done! Now all you have to sweat is the appraisal but it sounds like you have priced it well for your area so that shouldn't be a problem. We have just been negotiating with our seller trying to get her out early enough to refinish the floors but she is being very slowwwwww about culling her "treasures" and accepting the fact that she sold the house and now actually has to move out--personally I can't wait to get out of this tomb and move on to the next phase. Hope your search for a new house goes smooth
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