Where to list my unique home with legal in-law in Central MA (Boston: for sale, real estate)

[batmanandrobin]

In a nutshell my home has been on the market for almost 2.5yrs (off for about 6mos in the middle). We had two agents/two different realtor companies, both had it in the $500K area.

This is a tiny town and that price is over the top for a local. We do not expect a local to buy it, but someone who is commuting towards either Springfiled/Worcestor or even Boston with a large or extended family. Easy access to I90/84 and RT's 9 and 20. It is rural zoned, but there also exists opportunities for commercial use (such as a lawyer, etc), quiet commercial.

In an effort to lower the price significantly, we dropped it by $125K, as a FSBO via Isoldmyhouse.com, now listing it at $425. The commission is 2.0% It has been bank finance appraised to ensure a new buyer can finance it, so that is not the problem.

My question is this, other than standard MLS, websites and realtor listings, including Facebook, where does one recommend we also list to attract the right buyer? One town over, and it would be in the 500's! It is a 3000sqft/3BR/4BA log home, with a separate 900sqft 1BR apartment over a commercial size 6car garage. The grounds are 2.79acres select cut, with a view of a brook in the distance

I am not using this forum as advertisement (does not hurt), but some advice as we go into the new year.

Any thoughts on what we could do better? We love it out here, it's just that my mom is gone now (we did the apartment for her) and my husband and I are just rattling around on this huge property. It needs a family or business person.

[Hollytree]

Unless someone is going to pay cash for your house, location trumps everything, especially when it comes to an appraisal and that is what will matter to anyone looking at your house who is mortgage dependent.

Is there anything else in your town that is for sale in this price range? Do you feel you're priced appropriately to comps? It could be possible you've just over improved for the area. You say you've got a commercial sized garage. Not sure who this would attract in a residential zone- an antique car collector or someone who works on vehicles? Maybe that is an avenue to explore?

[batmanandrobin]

Originally Posted by Hollytree

Unless someone is going to pay cash for your house, location trumps everything, especially when it comes to an appraisal and that is what will matter to anyone looking at your house who is mortgage dependent.

Yes we did the bank finance (independent) appraisal to ensure a prospective buyer could get the financing. The original realtor list price was based on comps ( and 100K more).

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by batmanandrobin

Yes we did the bank finance (independent) appraisal to ensure a prospective buyer could get the financing. The original realtor list price was based on comps ( and 100K more).

I'm not defending your former agents in any way, but appraisers base their value on comps just as we real estate agents do. In fact, I often see appraisal reports of a house I've listed using the exact same comps I did to formulate the listing price. Likely, the problem is that you have a very unique home for the area and therefore it's difficult to comp. Clearly, your agents were off base but I wouldn't write off using a real estate agent entirely. Try to find one that's sold properties similar to yours in the past. Also, I wouldn't take your appraisal report as gospel either. I've seen appraisers come out with an incorrect value many, many times. They're just as likely to be wrong as a real estate agent. The public perception that appraisers are infallible couldn’t be further from the truth.

[batmanandrobin]

No, not thinking that the appraiser was gospel, but he just confirmed that our price was more realistic than the realtors, that's all. Yes, of course he used comps, and maybe even the same houses (sort of has to if he could find one similar).
Not interested in agents any more....we were strung along..."here sign this"....gone for 6mos.

Besides, until someone actually tries to buy it, guess we won't know, so until then not going to guess anymore. We have to believe someone knows the market.... and I hope its the bank!

I think giving an agent/broker 2% (8K) is a fair incentive at this point. I wanted to address this forum for recommendations about 'where' to list this house, other than the standard mls, etc....

[kingeorge]

Unique homes are hard to sell. My family members were in the same situation, different state. Big house with two legal apartments, nobody know what to do with. In the end they did not sell, they did not like price that would sell for. They kind of renting a portion, and kicking themselves for not biting the bullet. Selling price now is less than it was two years ago. We will see what future brings.
Other than Craig's List and Ebay.com I do not have any other ideas for marketing your place. I am sorry to say that if you could not sell "by owner" route yet, price is still to high, despite appraisals. Could you talk to someone and see if rezoning into commercial property would make more sense?
Good luck.

[CaseyB]

As long as there's no realtor involved, you are welcome to post it in the classified forum here at City-Data.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by batmanandrobin

No, not thinking that the appraiser was gospel, but he just confirmed that our price was more realistic than the realtors, that's all. Yes, of course he used comps, and maybe even the same houses (sort of has to if he could find one similar).
Not interested in agents any more....we were strung along..."here sign this"....gone for 6mos.

Besides, until someone actually tries to buy it, guess we won't know, so until then not going to guess anymore. We have to believe someone knows the market.... and I hope its the bank!

I think giving an agent/broker 2% (8K) is a fair incentive at this point. I wanted to address this forum for recommendations about 'where' to list this house, other than the standard mls, etc....

I'm just trying to help out. My experience is that good real estate agents are the ones who know the market best. Finding a good agent is not always an easy task as there are plenty of bad agents out there and even more mediocre ones. Banks, appraisers, attorneys, etc are just not out here "in the trenches" so to speak as we agents are and just don't know the market as well. It's just a matter of finding an agent who actually pays attention. I'm sorry you felt strung along by your former agents. Obviously, if you were following their advice and things didn't work out the only conclusion we can reach is that they didn't know what they were talking about. Had they even broached the subject of lowering the price with you?

Anyway, if you have your house on MLS that's really the best way to go about it as your local MLS likely has a syndication feed that automatically sends your listing to 100's if not 1,000's of websites. You could try a limited service agent (a/k/a an entry only service) but if you have a unique home to sell you likely need more help than just where to advertise your house.

Originally Posted by CaseyB

As long as there's no realtor involved, you are welcome to post it in the classified forum here at City-Data.

Why is it that real estate agents are not allowed to list homes for sale in the classified section but everyone else is? Doesn't seem terribly fair to me especially since as the owner's agent I'm legally empowered to advertise their property for sale anywhere I see fit.

[CaseyB]

Because the classified ads are for individuals, only. No business is supposed to use the forum to sell anything.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

Because the classified ads are for individuals, only. No business is supposed to use the forum to sell anything.

Not to be argumentative, but I'm not selling anything in my profession. The homeowner, an individual, is selling the asset. I'm just marketing it for them. This isn't the same thing as if Suzanne Sommers is trying to advertise the Thigh Master on your website vs. Joe Shmoe trying to sell his used Thigh Master. If Joe Shmoe hires Arnold Worldwide to market his used Thigh Master is he now not allowed to advertise in the classified section on C-D? In this case, in the end, the one who is really hurt by your rule is the homeowner.