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We upped the commission to the buyers agent an extra .5% to entice an offer in a slow market. That may work?
Hmmm, true...I am ready to pull out all the stops. Psychologically, I HATE having this house hanging like an albatross around my neck! But I don't want to be stupid about it.
I'm listening to the feedback about the photos, from everyone, and I'm not easily offended nor am I hardheaded about spending a bit of money to get good photos if it's necessary.
However, I do have less patience with comments like "Your tile and woodwork seem dated." OK - for starters, they AREN'T dated (less than five years old and in a style that's popular in my area). Secondly, what am I supposed to do with that information - rip out the tile and paint the woodwork? Not happening. And to be honest, I doubt that professional photos would do much more to "show off" woodwork in a vacant, neutral palette house. What I think we're really dealing with when it comes to the tile and woodwork is more a matter of personal taste and whether that look appeals to someone or not.
The reason your wood looks dated is because you have lighting issues with the photos. It casts a yellow tint onto the wood causing it to look dated. Well lit shots will makes the wood look rich, not dated.
Yes, the first close up shot is helpful. That looks like an updated kitchen and not dated. That photo looks like you have cherry cabinets. The other ones look like you have a medium toned cabinet...hence the dated look. A well lit, professional photograph will indeed make the wood pop and not look dated. Apparently your agent doesn't know any decent real estate photographers though.
Seems like you are back to the price from the low ball offer last year...
You asked for advice and got a lot of good feedback. Then argued every suggestion brought up.
What was the offer last year? Has the home been empty since then? It doesn't matter what you can afford, carrying a property indefinitely does not make financial sense. Every month the OP carries the home, those dollars are spent equity. Just how long will the OP be willing to carry the property?
The real estate market is stalling out in many areas, values have stagnated. All of the talking heads are holding their breath to see if values start to decline. Remember, what you hear on the news is behind 30 - 60 days, and they are just now reporting about a cooling market. That was June. It's gotten chillier and I live in a so-called "hot" market. Now we are saying it should pick up after Labor Day. We will have 75 days. Then at Thanksgiving, "it will pick up after the first of the year."
Seems like you are back to the price from the low ball offer last year...
You asked for advice and got a lot of good feedback. Then argued every suggestion brought up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SmartMoney
What was the offer last year? Has the home been empty since then? It doesn't matter what you can afford, carrying a property indefinitely does not make financial sense. Every month the OP carries the home, those dollars are spent equity. Just how long will the OP be willing to carry the property?
The real estate market is stalling out in many areas, values have stagnated. All of the talking heads are holding their breath to see if values start to decline. Remember, what you hear on the news is behind 30 - 60 days, and they are just now reporting about a cooling market. That was June. It's gotten chillier and I live in a so-called "hot" market. Now we are saying it should pick up after Labor Day. We will have 75 days. Then at Thanksgiving, "it will pick up after the first of the year."
And so it goes.
The offer last year was $259,000 BUT we turned it down because of several things (not just the price). For starters - it was a complex contingency offer with all sorts of conditions attached to it. Secondly, it came in when our home was OFF THE MARKET because I was having surgery and wouldn't be physically able to move till May at the earliest (the offer came in in December). And finally, we had had a lot of activity on our house just prior to taking it off the market and at the time, we had it listed at $279,000 and had several very interested buyers who came back for multiple showings.
Like this poster says, the market has changed in our area since then, but who could have known it?
And no, the property hasn't been vacant since last year. It was off the market till late May of this year and we just moved out of it about a month ago.
Hindsight is always 20/20 but taking that first offer didn't seem like a good idea at the time. Do I wish we'd taken it now? I don't know - I physically could not have taken on a move for that six month period and that was a big issue.
As for the other person saying that I'm asking for suggestions but arguing against all of them - that's simply not true. I have taken the advice of several posters here to take photos of the house vacant since they considered the other photos to be too cluttered and distracting. Did I hire a professional photographer? No, not yet - but I also contacted both my realtors to get their opinion on that and if they had told me they thought it was necessary, I would have hired a professional photographer immediately. However, both agents told me they didn't feel that was a necessary expense or effort.
My agent and I have updated the description and she's adding the vacant photos. She will also add the close up photos of the finishes. And we've dropped the price - not five percent but close to it ($9000 price drop).
What I've argued against is the assertion that I need to hire a professional photographer to photograph a completely empty house, and I've argued that the wood trim and tile floors are NOT dated and therefore I will not be changing them in any way. However, I did listen to the feedback about the photos not showing the quality of the finishes (wood and tile and fixtures) and I went back over and took close up photos to showcase those finishes.
So no - I'm not arguing with every point. I'm listening - to the professionals on here and also to the two top producing local agents that I know and trust. And I'm acting on much of the advice and also running every bit of it by my agent. If that's not listening, I don't know what is! However, when determining what course of action to take, I tend to believe two local agents with long, successful track records and who I've known and observed selling successfully in our local market for years over strangers online, from who knows where with who knows what sort of track record. Sorry, but it's the truth. That being said, I DO appreciate the feedback so far, even the painful feedback, because I think much of it has been constructive.
Thanks folks, and if you have other suggestions, I welcome them!
Last edited by KathrynAragon; 07-29-2014 at 07:59 AM..
The offer last year was $259,000 BUT we turned it down because of several things (not just the price). For starters - it was a complex contingency offer with all sorts of conditions attached to it. Secondly, it came in when our home was OFF THE MARKET because I was having surgery and wouldn't be physically able to move till May at the earliest (the offer came in in December). And finally, we had had a lot of activity on our house just prior to taking it off the market and at the time, we had it listed at $279,000 and had several very interested buyers who came back for multiple showings.
Like this poster says, the market has changed in our area since then, but who could have known it?
And no, the property hasn't been vacant since last year. It was off the market till late May of this year and we just moved out of it about a month ago.
Hindsight is always 20/20 but taking that first offer didn't seem like a good idea at the time. Do I wish we'd taken it now? I don't know - I physically could not have taken on a move for that six month period and that was a big issue.
As for the other person saying that I'm asking for suggestions but arguing against all of them - that's simply not true. I have taken the advice of several posters here to take photos of the house vacant since they considered the other photos to be too cluttered and distracting. Did I hire a professional photographer? No, not yet - but I also contacted both my realtors to get their opinion on that and if they had told me they thought it was necessary, I would have hired a professional photographer immediately. However, both agents told me they didn't feel that was a necessary expense or effort.
My agent and I have updated the description and she's adding the vacant photos. She will also add the close up photos of the finishes. And we've dropped the price - not five percent but close to it ($9000 price drop).
What I've argued against is the assertion that I need to hire a professional photographer to photograph a completely empty house, and I've argued that the wood trim and tile floors are NOT dated and therefore I will not be changing them in any way. However, I did listen to the feedback about the photos not showing the quality of the finishes (wood and tile and fixtures) and I went back over and took close up photos to showcase those finishes.
So no - I'm not arguing with every point. I'm listening - to the professionals on here and also to the two top producing local agents that I know and trust. And I'm acting on much of the advice and also running every bit of it by my agent. If that's not listening, I don't know what is! However, when determining what course of action to take, I tend to believe two local agents with long, successful track records and who I've known and observed selling successfully in our local market for years over strangers online, from who knows where with who knows what sort of track record. Sorry, but it's the truth. That being said, I DO appreciate the feedback so far, even the painful feedback, because I think much of it has been constructive.
Thanks folks, and if you have other suggestions, I welcome them!
Arguing. Again.
Your "top producing" local agents are doing you a disservice. Who wouldn't pay $150 for a photographer after all the comments you received here saying it would help? If more than one person is giving the same feedback, why would you not take the advice???
Your "top producing" local agents are doing you a disservice. Who wouldn't pay $150 for a photographer after all the comments you received here saying it would help? If more than one person is giving the same feedback, why would you not take the advice???
Good luck!!
Wow, look who's arguing.
1) I didn't say I won't hire a professional photographer. I only got the suggestion this weekend, and immediately went over, took photos myself of the vacant house (to post HERE for feedback on whether or not to use them or hire a professional photographer - is it even worth it when the house is vacant?). But no, I didn't immediately start calling professional photographers to set appointments - I felt I should contact my local realtors first and get their advice. I also felt I should do some more local research into the local market for listings over $200,000 before I panicked or started throwing money and a lot more effort around.
2) No need to put "top producing" in quotes. The two agents I am using (or used) - the buyers' agent for the home search in a different MLS and the seller's agent for the sale of my former home ARE both top producers in this area, and have been practicing real estate in this area for at least ten years (buyer's agent ten years and seller's agent 20 years). The seller's agent successfully sold our home four years ago and it was a very challenging property to sell (1972 built house on 17 acres out in the middle of nowhere during the crash of the real estate market). She has a sterling reputation and a good head on her shoulders and is as honest and hardworking as anyone could be. She is also very responsive and has provided excellent service to us on the sale of our former home, when we bought our next home, and now the sale of this home. She is the top producer for Coldwell Banker in our local market consistently and she is a listing agent predominately. So yes, I do trust her judgment. She also respects me and listens to my concerns, ideas, etc and has implemented many of my suggestions over the years. I love the fact that she is so responsive and open and communicative, as well as honest -which is why we've kept her as our agent over the years.
Using your logic, if more than one person on this internet forum told me to paint all my woodwork or replace the tile with hardwood, why wouldn't I take that advice? Hey, maybe someone will suggest that I get a big blow up cowboy like the one at the Texas state fair and put it in my yard! If someone else agrees, should I do that too?
To reiterate - I have not decided AGAINST hiring a professional photographer. Both my realtors have told me, however, that they don't believe it's a necessary expense or effort because the main issue with the sale of my home is that the market for homes over $200,000 in Kilgore, Texas is a very slow market. So my plan right now is to have my agent upload some of the photos of the vacant home as well as closeups of the finishes, and we're lowering the price pretty dramatically (which was also a suggestion on this forum). If we don't get a pretty immediate response we'll get a professional photographer out there.
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