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I have been trying to sell my house & it has a few issues as it is an older home (93 yrs). I have been receiving feedback in which folks are mentioning the work involved. The main thing being noticed is that the concrete steps leading to the house are crooked & sidewalk around house has pads that are not all even among some other issues.
So I have lowered the price and considering lowering again. My contract with my agent runs out soon so I am considering if the contract runs out & house still not sold just doing a FSBO at an even lower price since I will not be paying at least one half of the commission which is like $6K. A question I have is if I lower the price with my agent and the house still does not sell then over the fall or so I do work & want to re-list in the spring would I be able to list higher to recoup.
What I'm really trying to figure out is it better to just lower & lower the price & hope I find the market for the house with issue's/ do I let the agent go & try FSBO at an even lower price/ do I actually fix some of the issues and hope I recoup my $?
The plus about the house is the interior is attractive enough where I am receiving good marks/ comments.
I just feel completely lost & I get the impression the agent is feeling their way the same as I am trying to find the market price. Not an exact science for sure.
feedback in which folks are mentioning the work involved. The main thing being noticed is that the concrete steps leading to the house are crooked & sidewalk around house has pads that are not all even
These are bs words.
Not real feedback.
Just babble to say: we don't want to buy it.
Are 93 year old homes the typical market? If not, there's a very narrow pool of buyers and the home must be in superlative shape to compete. Price will be what tips the scale. If the first thing someone sees are crooked steps and sidewalks, the next thing they will think of are tree roots in the sewer and water lines, and then they will wonder what other major items require repair.
I suspect you are over-priced. I recommend you Google "cost of over-pricing home" and read the many articles that tell the consumer how to recognize if they are over priced, to how over pricing your home will actually net you much less had you priced it right to begin with. Try to have a serious reality check with yourself - its not an easy thing to do.
Old homes are the norm here & much desired neighborhood. Fortunately there are no big trees in the front yard so there is no thought of that being the cause for the steps, just age and settling would be the cause. My next thought is to see how much would it cost to have repaired- the sidewalk around the house probably will not be as noticeable or considered if the front steps are new & straight.
I will take your suggestion & google cost of over pricing home. The interesting thing is after the last lowered price movement I had 3 out 4 showings state the house priced right. I must be getting close with regards to price.
Remember, if a tree is 80 feet tall, it's root line goes out 80 feet in all directions, at a minimum. If your area is dry, they can go further seeking water. I am on our local BOD of our HOA and almost all (98%) of our concrete issues can be traced to tree roots. I would strongly recommend anyone buying a home that is 30+ years old is to have their water and sewer lines scoped with cameras. A non-emergency camera inspection can be found for $400-$600 front and back. Home warranties do not cover outside the home, so if there's an issue, it's a burden of the homeowner and can run into the 10's of 1000's. (some are less, running ~5-6K). The interior of your home may be covered from sewage backup, but that does not cover sewer repair on your property.
Fortunately with this home- there are no large trees near the front yard where the sewer lateral line is & even better the clay pipes were replaced with PVC. Around here if you see the white pvc cap you know it's been replaced so that is one issue that is a non issue.
Now the side of the house where the sidewalk & driveway are cracked etc. the neighbor has a huge sycamore tree ( I HATE THAT TREE- no matter what time of the year it is always dropping something/ leaves, bark, ball the explode into puffy seeds, limbs etc.) so I'm sure it is guilty of causing many of those issues. I don't know why anyone would plant such a big tree in between 2 houses? It's not my tree so nothing I can do about it.
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Just a bs excuse
