Question to All Who Have Their Houses For Sale?? (Denver: foreclosures, renter) - Colorado (CO) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

BusySocialWorker · 01-17-2007, 02:59 PM

our commuinity is done and has been for about 8 months...

problem is we are very near Reunion,Buffalo Run, and several other huge developments... they have so much land out there.. they could build for a very long time I'm afraid!

We need to find someone who wants all the work done - yard / sprinklers / fence / deck / blinds etc....

We are 15,000 less base price compaired to our home built new in these communities, plus we have all of the above done (30,000 in additional work).

BenWolfe · 01-17-2007, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YoYo

We were wondering how many viewings have you been getting?? And how long has your house been on the market??

Our house has been on the market since January & has been relisted again and. Our new realtor (2nd one now) is no HELP.
Thanks

The Realtor you choose plays the most important role in how quickly your house sells and the final sale price. If you are not getting showings it is one of two things; it is priced too high for your neighborhood or your Realtor is not doing enough to advertise the property.

Advertising:
1) How Does it look in the MLS?
2) Do you have a virtual tour taken by a professional photographer?
3) What sites and how does it show on the Internet?
4) Are you a showcase listing on Realtor.com?
5) What type of print adds are they running?

Your Realtor must be viewed as an expert in your neighborhood, if they think they can sell anywhere in the state because they have a CO Real Estate License they are wrong. They need to know enough about your neighborhood to sell the neighborhood to prospective buyers and Buyer's Agents. If your house is in Castle Rock and your agent lives in Thorton you have the wrong agent.

Regarding Price. If your house sells in three days for more than asking price your agent advised you to price it too low and you left money on the table. If you get more than 20 showings (in most neighborhoods) without an offer your problem is either condition, price or both. When you get an offer your agent must be a skilled negotiator to get you the highest realistic price while at the same time making sure not to loose the buyer.

YoYo, what neighborhood are you in and how many showings have you gotten this month? Good Luck!

BusySocialWorker · 01-17-2007, 03:29 PM

.. we have had 9 showings over the last 6 months and no second showings One in December and one in January- PATHETIC if you ask me!

BenWolfe · 01-17-2007, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BusySocialWorker

.. we have had 9 showings over the last 6 months and no second showings One in December and one in January- PATHETIC if you ask me!

If you are only getting one or two showings per month your problem is probably price or location. Even with no advertising and a poorly written MLS description you should get more than that. You can't change the location so it may be time to reevaluate price.

BusySocialWorker · 01-17-2007, 03:58 PM

well we have talked about price and dropped a total of $38,000 on price... we are already loosing money on it (quite a bit actually).... There are 15 other homes in our neighborhood for sale - some in forclosure and we cannot compete with the bank rate as they want to ditch inventory- we are already taking such a huge hit that we have no down payment for our new home and may have to bring money to closing.... which does not seem fair when we have seen the insides of some of the other homes and they have been poorly cared for an no upgrades when our house is decked out with upgrades and extra work like a nice compisite deck... its just not comperable

Which I know puts us in a bad position where we may have to make changes...

I see we actually had a showing this afternoon so chalk one more up for January....

sunsprit · 01-17-2007, 08:11 PM

Sorry to hear of your difficulty.

You have assessed the marketing situation of your house correctly; you must locate a capable buyer who wants a "move-in" completed house instead of a completing new property. That's something that's very attractive to many buyers who don't have the time or interest in dealing with those issues, and it's a big plus if properly presented.

Realtors, unfortunately, attract a wide range of people to the business, who have varying skills, ability, and motivation to work.

So, it becomes your burden/task as a seller to find the realtor who successfully "farms" your area. Look closely through the sales reports, or network as needed ... to determine who is the most active producing listing agent specializing in your area. That's the person you need to work for you.

Make no mistake about it, you are paying someone a lot of money to get a job done for you. You don't need a realtor who is working both ends of the deal to make their task beneficial only to the realtor; ie, the realtor who gets you to lower your price/add upgrades below FMW so to have an easy sale.

You must select a realtor who can respect your investment and it's market potential who is a pro. Do ask if the realtor you're interviewing is a listing agent or a buyer's agent for most of their transactions.

There's a reason why very few realtors make the big incomes that you may hear about in the industry. They're the good ones, they're the pro's.

The majority are there to pick up the easy pickings in an active market .... and benefit from "floor time" where they take all the incoming calls for service.

Don't let any realtor go an appreciable amount of time without showings and activity in a market where houses around yours are selling.

BigCheeze · 01-18-2007, 09:57 AM

It may be a pain, but I'd suggest in looking to Rent/Lease. You might get lucky and find someone like us. We moved to CO from CA and because we didn't know the area we weren't going to buy, but rent. We had some issues finding a place that meet our needs, but when we finally did we rented it for a year. Then the owner asked if we were interested in buying, and we said yes.

Got a decent deal on the house, didn't have to move more than once, and safely found a place we liked to live. So in this type of market I'd suggest it, just look for someone who is interested in considering buying a house in a year or two (might be like us just moving to the state, or possibly they are getting their credit fixed).

Good luck!

sunsprit · 01-18-2007, 12:23 PM

bigCheeze has a workable solution only if you are willing to take on the responsibilities/burdens on being a real estate investor/landlord.

If you are moving some distance away, that's not a good financial place to be unless it's your business. Trust me, it is a business for those who do it.

It's not so simple as just waiting for the check to come in every month. Tenants have rights and little responsibility to you. Typically, you will suffer functional depreciation and devaluationof the property once it's rented out.

BusySocialWorker · 01-18-2007, 12:35 PM

we have a lease to own option on our home already with no luck.... not our first choice but we definatly put it out there

BigCheeze · 01-18-2007, 01:49 PM

Is it listed with a rental/lease agency? Also I believe some of them, for a fee of course, will manage it for you.

While it's obviously not the best scenario for everyone, and does come with risk, it might at least help you get out of the house and have someone else paying the bill for you.

Here's who we went through to find a place to rent. http://www.housinghelpers.com