Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I haven't read all the responses so forgive me if someone else has suggested this. If you're priced right and there aren't any problems with the house the best way to sell the house is to get more people in there looking at it. Instead of reducing the price of the house, you might try adding an incentive to the buyers agent for showing it. Buyers agents often choose what properties the buyers look at. An extra $500-$1000 will get more agents showing the home and more opportunities to sell. The incentive is given at closing.
Now if you're going to do this, actually follow through with it. The house we bought the buyer put in a $500 agent bonus. We were the ones that chose to look at that house, not our agent's suggestion, but once we decided to put a bid on the house we thought that would be a nice bonus for our agent since she worked so hard for us. Well at the last minute the buyer said, "Never mind no bonus!" because we wanted him to fix some things that came up in the inspection report I thought that was a pretty cruddy thing to do on his part.
I too,looked up the listing and while it's a nice house, could see many things that would make me, personally, dismiss it,even if priced lower.
As others have mentioned, the actual cost of improvements doesn't matter if taste/choice is involved.
A new roof or new Heat/AC unit is not taste specific, so is important.
The choice if kitchen cabinets, for instance, or floor covering, is taste specific and some may view it as something you did just for yourself but they don't want to pay for.
But I also "looked around the neighborhood" at sold prices and it appears that this is simply overpriced,set just about at average. Average only is for price, regardless of all other features and average just doesn't cut it.
[quote=kingyouth;25356166]
For a home of that square footage, the photos don't do the home justice. Are the rooms really that small because the photos make them look that way?
quote]
ITA with this, as well as many of the other suggestions made here. Your home is lovely, but the on-line photos of it make the rooms look really really small. In the picture of the bedroom with the green bedding, it looks like a twin bed just barely fits in the room. A better set of photographs done by someone who knows what they are doing, will help to showcase your home better.
I know all to well the pain of losing $ on a home, having taken a huge loss on my previous home as well. It is not fun, but I wish you the best of luck!
Have your realtor pull listings the same price as yours in your area, and the two of you go tour these together. These homes are your direct competition. Also have her pull homes of the same age, square footage, comparable neighborhoods, number of bedrooms, etc. regardless of price. These are your reality check. Tour them as well.
Then you will know EXACTLY what you're up against and have a better feel for whether or not you are priced right for your market. It's hard to gauge that these days with such a fluctuating market. Also you may pick up on some good tips. Your listing IS competing with the other listings in the area - KNOW YOUR "ENEMY!" lol
Two years ago my husband and I put our home on the market at a price we felt was a bit high, but our realtor supported with comps. It was an older home, many updates, and decorated well, but it had the small closets and bathrooms lots of older homes have - but it also had coveted acreage (17 acres) so...it was sort of hard to price. It sat on the market for three months with lots of lookers but no takers.
We took it off the market over the winter and put it back on in the spring - no changes to it other than 1) a new driveway (not cheap but that was literally the first thing that people saw - sort of like investing in landscaping) and a lower price (ouch). About $20,000 lower.
It sold in ten days. And because the market IS lower, we were able to buy a very nice house at a much lower price than we expected - so everything worked out in the end.
We learned two things - the importance of a first impression (you couldn't see the road from the house, so a new drive was that first impression) and a realistic price, no matter how painful it was (we did get full list price though!).
For a home of that square footage, the photos don't do the home justice. Are the rooms really that small because the photos make them look that way?
quote]
ITA with this, as well as many of the other suggestions made here. Your home is lovely, but the on-line photos of it make the rooms look really really small. In the picture of the bedroom with the green bedding, it looks like a twin bed just barely fits in the room. A better set of photographs done by someone who knows what they are doing, will help to showcase your home better.
I know all to well the pain of losing $ on a home, having taken a huge loss on my previous home as well. It is not fun, but I wish you the best of luck!
I'm not sure different photos will help.
Adding up the ordinary size of furniture suggests that the LR/DR are only about 12 feet wide.
Of course, I can be wrong but sure looks that way.
That alone would be a deal breaker for me but perhaps normal and perfectly OK in that area.
I found your listing online as well. You have a beautiful home...it's definitely the price...
I also agree with a few suggestions above...My $0.02 would be to make the deck look inviting, powerwash and stain the deck, some plants/flowers....a deck/patio is supposed to be an extension of the living area...it's not inviting at all based on the photos on MLS.
I've not seen those types of lock boxes used in this area. I've encountered them in other parts of the country.
OK here's an idea then.
Have your realtor put on the MLS system that the house can be shown at any time BUT the showing realtor MUST call her/him before showing and AFTER the showing. That way the realtor will always know when a showing is about to happen, and even if the other agent doesn't call back, your realtor can always call them back that evening for the feedback.
I cannot stress the importance of this. As a realtor, she should really already be doing this. It's called CYA - when I was a realtor I always did that because I always wanted my customers to KNOW that I didn't just stick a sign in the front yard and a listing in the MLS and expect to make $5000 for that. I wanted them to know that I was actively marketing and working to sell their property.
If the rooms are smallish, TAKE OUT SOME FURNITURE. Declutter. Minimize. Clean out your closets - I mean make them PERFECT, as well as your cabinets and kitchen drawers - yes people open those. Light a candle before you leave - one that smells like fresh baked cookies or something like that - not a heavy floral. Turn accent lights on. HIDE THE PET BOWL (and make SURE that the presence of pets cannot be smelled). GET LIGHT INTO EVERY ROOM. Remove curtains and replace with simple, open blinds. Rather than trying to landscape your entire back yard, just trim it up really neat, and then concentrate on one area - a patio or little level spot in the yard. Put some nice outdoor furniture there and some plants in large pots - all stuff you can take with you, but it really makes the yard seem friendly and intimate.
Have your realtor put on the MLS system that the house can be shown at any time BUT the showing realtor MUST call her/him before showing and AFTER the showing. That way the realtor will always know when a showing is about to happen, and even if the other agent doesn't call back, your realtor can always call them back that evening for the feedback.
I cannot stress the importance of this. As a realtor, she should really already be doing this. It's called CYA - when I was a realtor I always did that because I always wanted my customers to KNOW that I didn't just stick a sign in the front yard and a listing in the MLS and expect to make $5000 for that. I wanted them to know that I was actively marketing and working to sell their property.
I'm in the same area as the OP. We have a Centralized Showings Service. This is how it works:
Once an appointment is made to show a house, I get a notice.
I then send out a request for feedback.
If I don't get any feedback in by the end of the day, I send out a 2nd request. This is how I have "my" settings. I think most Agents have it set this way, although some will only ask for feedback once.
If I don't get any feedback by the 2nd day, I put in a phone call to the agent that showed the house.
I usually get feedback from 3 out of 4 showings but there are always agents that simply won't give feedback.
I usually tell my sellers that they are either not interested or just too busy writing up our offer!!!
As to the electronic lockboxes, we have asked for them repeatedly; however, the system has to be approved by all the companies in the area. I have been told that it is too expensive for the larger companies (that provide lockboxes to their agents) and the smaller companies that don't!!!
Money. It always comes down to that, doesn't it?!!
Vicki
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I thought that was a pretty cruddy thing to do on his part.
