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We just re-listed with a very good agent. But, now that it is getting into a bad time of year combined with an already sluggish market....we haven't had any showings the first week. We are priced around the other homes and I have checked out what is selling. The homes that have sold and there have only been 5 of them ..have been at 500,000<2 of them> and 3 in the 410,000 price range. My house is in the middle along with a lot of other homes. So a wow factor is something I need.
My question...I don't think my house has a wow factor. I don't have granite, pool, stainless steel or hardwood flooring. I have been initated in the "beigeing of America" club, which makes me like every other house on the market. I know I am supposed to neutralize the kids rooms since one of my kid's rooms is a tropical theme. But that might be the only thing my house could be remembered for . I am on a cul de sac..which doesn't seem to be wowing anyone...But, we have a brand new high school that was built that is supposed to be outstanding and technologically advanced. We are in a great school system..and the kids in my neighborhood go to the brand new school.
Can you highlight the school..? My old real estate agent wouldn't put the exact schools on our listing..it just said "call school board". She said agents are advised not to mention anything about schools. If a buyer comes in thinking they are going to a certain school and buy your house based on that , and then somehow get rezoned..she said she could be liable. My new agent listed the school name.
Jenne, agents get so scared of liability issues, they can become ineffective. you absolutely can highlight the highschool!! It is a fact that you are districted for that school right now. Agents can impart fact, we are not supposed to tell you this is the best school. As each persons *best* is subjective and not fact based. We can point consumers to the school reporting sights. We can say, rated a 10 by www.greatschool.com (broken link). These are all facts.
Sometimes your WOW is your school district. Parents are interested in the school districts for their children. And then we do a disclaimer as the buyers agent that says, we are not part of the school districting committee and even though you have bought a home in this district, it can be redistricted according to the whims of the county gov't.
As for wow factor, I bet your home has something else that can be highlighted. Do you have a nice fireplace? How is the kitchen? A nice yard? Something else that can be played up?
I would check your landscaping (I'm sorry I can't remember what the pictures looked like right now) and make sure everything is the kind that will still look good throughout the colder weather. If not, think about going to a nursery and finding out about some plants that you might be able to add to keep the green and any color to the front of your house.
I would also think about ways to creatively finance OR offer incentives like money towards closing with acceptable offers. I saw one house that said that 1-3% would be given towards closing with an acceptable offer. My agent explained that the 3% would most likely be for a full price offer and the 1% was for the lowest she could take and still afford to give it.
Fresh flowers in your house if you do get a showing, especially when it's dreary outside, are good. Also, as far as getting showings to begin with... I would advertise on craigslist.org or any other free areas in your town that you have a great house in the new school district. Even if they get rezoned, you wouldn't be lying because at time of sale you would be in the school zone for the new school. If there is a neighboring school that isn't as good try advertising in the local paper there if you can afford it, some people might consider a move during the winter break to get their child into a better school.
Think outside the box and you should be ok. Just make sure you threw some color in somewhere when you turned your house neutral, so when they come in they will remember the house. Oh, and as far as the tropical room I would leave it but maybe have your agent note in the listing (in the part that only other agents can see) that you are willing to repaint that room as well before closing if the buyer wishes.
We have just finished the initial phases of buyng our first home & are a younger family.
At the very top of our list when looking for a home was school district. We did see a few listings that did state the excellence of the school district.
While these stats are usually very easy to find & all a buyer needs to do is call the school board of the area they are interested in to get most info, it does bring a WOW factor if that is one of the things a buyer is looking for...
And, we were not looking for granite or stainless steel (I have stainless now & can't stand it! Finger prints everywhere & you can't put any magnets on the front) or a white picket fence...we were looking into a solidly built home that was well maintained that was in a safe area with good schools. We paid attention to landscaping & how the home staged to sell. We did not need million dollar landscaping, but we also were turned off by yards that had little to none & yet were still priced as everyone else. Same as the inside...we went into one that had dirty dishes in the sink & clothes on the floor in one of the bedrooms...I just walked out...
While I can't stand beige or white on walls, there is the fact that it is neutral & to change paint color is cheap & does not take long. Honestly, though, things like paint color didn't matter to us as much as condition of roof, if it was a "wet" basement, etc. Cosmetic changes are cheap, fast & easy. Nuts & bolts are expensive & time consuming.
We actually did not go as low as we "maybe" could have b/c we know we are getting into one of the best school districts in the area & an area known for family & safety (as much as one could hope for).
Also, we would LOVE a cul-de-sac! What a great thing for young kids.
It's a tough market in so many places. There are buyers out there who are not looking for all the bells & whistles. There are buyers out there who are very concerned about schools. We were one of them. So, they do exist! Best of luck.
Yes, definitely list the new school. We are also in one of the best school districts in our area (in the state maybe), and our neighborhood attends the newest elementary school and a new combined middle school/high school campus. Every smart realtor puts it in the comments for obvious reasons. Just give a disclaimer at purchase agreement or at closing that states that school boundaries "could" be changed.
I hate to say it, but if you're "right in there with the other listings" on price, one of the best "WOW" factors you can offer may be to lower your price so people take notice. I realize that's probably not what you wanted to hear, but you've got a chance of people saying "wow, I can't believe we can get such a good deal on that house- it's so nice"....
Thanks for all the advice ! I wasn't sure if there was a rule in place that stops you<agents> from talking about the schools or if it was fear of litigation. I know people sue over everything..so I guess my old agent was just very nervous over that. My new agent listed the school, but was thinking she should put something in the description.
As for the landscaping, we definitely have the curb appeal. We have all the mums outside and they look fantastic. We are very into making our house look great outside..so that won't be too much of a problem to keep up on that.
Yea, I do know about pricing it below everyone else and being a great deal could be my Wow factor. I see the houses going, and like i said there really aren't many right now getting contracts...but they are around 410,000...and I can't go down to that price . We bought the darn house two years ago during the boom. So I am like all those other sellers<a prisoner to my house> that could lose money..and we aren't willing to do that. Luckily, I am in a position where my husband's job is understanding and knows we may take it off the market and list it in the spring. Once we get into the holidays..if we haven't sold it..we will take it off.
You might want to leave your home on during the holidays. Here is why: If a buyer is out during the holidays they are usually very motivated. Other sellers will take off their home during the holidays, so you may look very good (except vacant homes and foreclosures, and they won't show as nice as your home), and if you decorate during the holidays (tastefully) the home may show better and give you some of that wow factor.
We have just finished the initial phases of buyng our first home & are a younger family.
At the very top of our list when looking for a home was school district. We did see a few listings that did state the excellence of the school district.
While these stats are usually very easy to find & all a buyer needs to do is call the school board of the area they are interested in to get most info, it does bring a WOW factor if that is one of the things a buyer is looking for...
And, we were not looking for granite or stainless steel (I have stainless now & can't stand it! Finger prints everywhere & you can't put any magnets on the front) or a white picket fence...we were looking into a solidly built home that was well maintained that was in a safe area with good schools. We paid attention to landscaping & how the home staged to sell. We did not need million dollar landscaping, but we also were turned off by yards that had little to none & yet were still priced as everyone else. Same as the inside...we went into one that had dirty dishes in the sink & clothes on the floor in one of the bedrooms...I just walked out...
While I can't stand beige or white on walls, there is the fact that it is neutral & to change paint color is cheap & does not take long. Honestly, though, things like paint color didn't matter to us as much as condition of roof, if it was a "wet" basement, etc. Cosmetic changes are cheap, fast & easy. Nuts & bolts are expensive & time consuming.
We actually did not go as low as we "maybe" could have b/c we know we are getting into one of the best school districts in the area & an area known for family & safety (as much as one could hope for).
Also, we would LOVE a cul-de-sac! What a great thing for young kids.
It's a tough market in so many places. There are buyers out there who are not looking for all the bells & whistles. There are buyers out there who are very concerned about schools. We were one of them. So, they do exist! Best of luck.
please don't take this as an insult. But you left because of clothes on the floo and dirty dishes in the sink?? I don't get it. I have never left my house like this, but i have received calls from a realtor who is "in the neighborhood" with a client and want to stop in. I tell them that my home is not "client cleaned" and they say Oh, my client understands that it is last minutes don't worry about it. I usually say no and then the client never calls back. So do i say yes just to have a client walk out because of dirty dishes??
We must look at the other side and see why a house my not be cleaned up. Did you realtor call them at the last minute?? How do we not know that the seller didn't just receive an emergency call and have to leave the house immediately. Just give the seller's the benefit of the doubt. I would never walk out because of dirty dishes and some clothes on the floor.
One time i was looking to buy a house and my realtor called someone to see if we could come through. I felt sssooo bad for being there. The husband was home (a maid had just showed up to clean the house) and he seemed a bit embarrassed about the house. The beds were unmade, bathrooms a disaster, toys all over the place. BUT I feel like he said yes to us because he wanted to appease (sp) the realtor. I was able to look past everything that was a mess with the house. I envisioned what it would have looked like once the housekeeper had done her work. The reason i decided not to pursue the house was because it was across the street from a church and people would have to park along the street (in front of the house) and i had little children. I didn't want to have to worry about them out playing/riding bikes in the street.
I just think we have to "see" both sides of the situation. To me, leaving because of dirty dishes and clothes on the floor are just as bad as leaving because of paint color. This is just my opinion and not out to hurt anyone's feelings. I am simply trying to show there are two sides to every "showing" lol.
please don't take this as an insult. But you left because of clothes on the floo and dirty dishes in the sink?? I don't get it. I have never left my house like this, but i have received calls from a realtor who is "in the neighborhood" with a client and want to stop in. I tell them that my home is not "client cleaned" and they say Oh, my client understands that it is last minutes don't worry about it. I usually say no and then the client never calls back. So do i say yes just to have a client walk out because of dirty dishes??
We must look at the other side and see why a house my not be cleaned up. Did you realtor call them at the last minute?? How do we not know that the seller didn't just receive an emergency call and have to leave the house immediately. Just give the seller's the benefit of the doubt. I would never walk out because of dirty dishes and some clothes on the floor.
One time i was looking to buy a house and my realtor called someone to see if we could come through. I felt sssooo bad for being there. The husband was home (a maid had just showed up to clean the house) and he seemed a bit embarrassed about the house. The beds were unmade, bathrooms a disaster, toys all over the place. BUT I feel like he said yes to us because he wanted to appease (sp) the realtor. I was able to look past everything that was a mess with the house. I envisioned what it would have looked like once the housekeeper had done her work. The reason i decided not to pursue the house was because it was across the street from a church and people would have to park along the street (in front of the house) and i had little children. I didn't want to have to worry about them out playing/riding bikes in the street.
I just think we have to "see" both sides of the situation. To me, leaving because of dirty dishes and clothes on the floor are just as bad as leaving because of paint color. This is just my opinion and not out to hurt anyone's feelings. I am simply trying to show there are two sides to every "showing" lol.
Oh, no, I don't take it as an insult! We saw a home of a family with all 3 children under the age of 4. The mom & children were there when we looked for they had one car & the husband was at work. I expected the place to look lived in & for things to be as they are. No biggie. We told the mom & kids to just keep going about their life. One of the little girls followed us around & asked us questions. We thought no different of the home & understood completely.
We stopped by one FSOB & the guy was outside doing some sort of lawn work & we asked if we could take a look. He said that things weren't cleaned up but if we were ok with that, he was. We were.
The home with dirty dishes & clothes on the floor was a home we asked to see about a week prior to seeing it. The home itself was just dirty & not well kept; grass wasn't even cut. Bad vibes. I mean they could be in a bad situation that we don' know of, but still, they knew we were coming.
Each situation is different & buyers have to also take into consideration some homes are going to look lived in, b/c, well, they are!
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