Any home selling success stories out there? Getting discouraged (Eagan: for sale, townhouse)

[catluvr]

Please help me. I want to hear about successful experiences.

How long was it on the market?
What part of Twincities area?
selling price?
How did you stage it?
How did the buyer find it?
Was selling price way below what you posted it for? (I'm finding people are not wanting to negotiate (sp?) anymore.)

I am currently in the discouragement stage of selling a starter house in Eagan. 30+ days on the market and no showings for over a week. MLS listed.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Robert P Stewart]

I'm actually on the front end of success stories all the time. Average time on the market right now is 70 days. We've been beating the average, but its like pulling teeth to get these places sold.

So pull teeth we will...

[yellowsnow]

I need to hear some success stories too!

[Robert P Stewart]

I can offer a ton of success stories, but I will be perfectly honest - most come from the buyer's side.

I'll tell you the same thing I tell everyone - fix it up, market it well, and price it right. Period. Do that, and you'll be in good shape.

I cannot overstate the value of hiring a professional cleaning company and staging the home to sell. Those 2 points are absolutely critical. My advice would have been different as recent as 2 years ago.

Keep your spirits up!

Robert

[Robert P Stewart]

Actually, you know what - I'm going to relate a story from a current transaction for your benefit. I'll change the numbers to protect the innocent.

A couple wants to buy a townhome. They call me and tell me which townhome they would like to see. I do some research. I would expect this particular townhome to sell for around $300K in this market. The assessed tax value was $290,000.

The property was listed for $275K!

So we go look at it - yes, its absolutely lovely. They want it. They instruct me to offer $269K, and I oblige. I present the offer and the listing agent says no. This price is it. That's all. Finished. Nada. They will not drop at all. My client says, "Fine, we'll take it."

They recognized the value and they bought. If you really REALLY want to sell, and you're comfortable that the home looks as good as its going to look and it has been marketed as well as it can - then drop the price as low as you are able. Don't back off of it either. If you're offering value, others will recognize it. My clients did - and I've heard many other similar stories frmo other Realtors lately. It basically comes down to motivation.

I hope this helps!

Robert

[yellowsnow]

Originally Posted by Robert P Stewart

Actually, you know what - I'm going to relate a story from a current transaction for your benefit. I'll change the numbers to protect the innocent.

A couple wants to buy a townhome. They call me and tell me which townhome they would like to see. I do some research. I would expect this particular townhome to sell for around $300K in this market. The assessed tax value was $290,000.

The property was listed for $275K!

So we go look at it - yes, its absolutely lovely. They want it. They instruct me to offer $269K, and I oblige. I present the offer and the listing agent says no. This price is it. That's all. Finished. Nada. They will not drop at all. My client says, "Fine, we'll take it

They recognized the value and they bought. If you really REALLY want to sell, and you're comfortable that the home looks as good as its going to look and it has been marketed as well as it can - then drop the price as low as you are able. Don't back off of it either. If you're offering value, others will recognize it. My clients did - and I've heard many other similar stories frmo other Realtors lately. It basically comes down to motivation.

I hope this helps!

Robert

Thank you! At least something sold!

[Navelinski]

Originally Posted by catluvr

Please help me. I want to hear about successful experiences.

How long was it on the market?
What part of Twincities area?
selling price?
How did you stage it?
How did the buyer find it?
Was selling price way below what you posted it for? (I'm finding people are not wanting to negotiate (sp?) anymore.)

I am currently in the discouragement stage of selling a starter house in Eagan. 30+ days on the market and no showings for over a week. MLS listed.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Hang in there. 30 days is not really that long in todays market. But the fact that you haven't had a showing in a week might be an indication that you are not priced correctly or it could also be that the advertising/marketing isn't working.

I've had some recent success with internet advertising and advertising to other Realtors (and not just within my own company). I've recently started blogging on a website that is especially for Realtors and Consumers. I've established myself as the "neighborhood expert" and that has helped tremendously.

Some of the most important things are:

1. Buyers are spiers - they are out there, but since they know it is a buyers market, they are often waiting for your price to drop or they are looking at a large number of homes before making their decision.
2. Professional Staging is a must in this market.
3. I suggest offering a home warranty to boost buyer confidence.
4. Cleaning is very important, especially if you have pets.
5. Make sure the price is right. Ask you agent to do another market analysis and see if the market has shifted recently
6. If you don't already have a "brag book" have your Realtor make one. This should contain all of the positive points of not just your home, but also the community. It should have lots of pictures and info: location of schools, pictures of nearby parks, which companies you have for public utilities, public transit info (if any), important phone numbers for Eagan, etc.
7. Make sure you are advertising on the internet, the old days of putting ads in the newspaper are over.

Open houses are a mixed bag. You are likely to attract the least serious buyers, but then again... It is a good way to get the word out. But don't over do it. If people see your home is being held for open house over and over and over, they might begin to think that something is wrong with it.

Maybe try holding a private open house where you invite all of your friends, family, co-workers, etc. And ask everyone to bring at least one guest. Make a party out of it! It might turn out that none of them market, but the chances are good that they know someone who is.

Also make sure you've had a Realtor Open where lunch is served. Advertising to other Realtors makes good sense. There are companies who distribute flyers and other ways for Realtors to advertise to each other - these can be very effective.

Good luck and hang in there...

[catluvr]

Thanks for the info. It is nice to hear one thing sold this year! Maybe they can send some fairy dust our way . Some great ideas. My realtor had a preview and I think he served cookies. Three showed up! I like the breakfast idea.

I've started going to open houses for other people and chatting with other people about what they are looking for. I have then talked to the realtor about what they think people are looking for and let them know that if they have any interested clients, our house is avaliable. I then give them some information and the address. I've done this twice and learned a lot. But so far, no luck. Nevertheless, we dropped our price 5000. since listing but are keeping the price at this level for quite a while.

It's kind of frustrating. i've just buried a St. Joseph on Friday. Hope this works since I do believe in devine intervention. Unfortunately I can't afford a staging professional at this time because hubby is laid off and because the house is for sale and we are planning to move out of state, he can't really start anything new here. We are marketing it as new windows, siding, soffits, fascia, gutters, boiler system, electrical circuit upgrades, etc. We are thinking we should appeal to emotional needs, since people do not seem to be thinking logistics about what they will not need to replace.

I also learned that the townhouse crowd is the worst because they expect large closets, hot tubs, etc in these starter houses for a townhome price Either choose for the love of God...private large fenced in backyard with out having neighbors hearing you while you pee while settling for the basics in life, or keep your large closets and quit looking at the 200K+ homes and just move to the 500K+ since that's what you want even though you can't afford them. AAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHhh!

Does anyone know of any websites that may be of interest for staging?

I'm not quite to the point of frustration yet, but just a little impatient. What will it take to get the sleepers to wake up?

Thanks for the help.

[golfgal]

We helped some friends "stage" their house when they sold it. We basically walked through their house with buyers eyes and told them what we say and what they could change. It was simple things like, put all of your stuff in your storage room into a storage garage--you couldn't walk into the room it was so cluttered. Take things off the counters in the kitchen to make them look bigger. Touch up the paint on that wall. We moved some of their furniture around to make rooms look bigger, this kind of thing.

Most of the starter homes have sold very fast in our area, some in just a couple days. That market is hot right now because of the inventory and the interest rates.

[catluvr]

What did the starter homes sell for in your area? What burb?