Badger3k
We Don't Need No Stinkin Badgers
Premium
join:2001-09-27
Fairborn, OH
clubs: 
|  What to do when selling and everyone loves it, but no offers
So we've had about 8 people come through the last week to look at our house. Most of them by our Realtor, a couple from other ones. I've always asked for feedback a couple days after the showing to see what the comments/thoughts were.
We have not received a single negative thing about the house. Everything has been "this has been the best house they have seen" or "they loved it". If everyone is "in love" with it, why the hell hasn't anyone made an offer?! I know the market sucks, its extremely slow and there are a billion houses on the market, but this is getting very frustrating for us because we apparently don't have any issues to correct to make it more marketable. We haven't even received any low ball offers.
Are we priced too high and nobody wants to say so? I would doubt that, but suppose its possible. Should we go ahead a lower the price anyway? Are just the wrong people coming through? Our thoughts are maybe the people looking aren't serious about purchasing, I guess that part we'll never know.
--
Team Discovery: Project Hope | ET is out there, can you find him? |
|
tcope
Premium
join:2003-05-07
Sandy, UT
 ·Comcast
| said by Badger3k  :So we've had about 8 people come through the last week to look at our house. You've only mentioned that your house has been on the market for a week. Has it really been for sale longer than that? |
|
Willy
Premium
join:2000-09-24 | reply to Badger3k
You said "come through the last week".
Not "it's been on the market a week".
How long has it been? |
|
boaterbob
join:2005-08-01
Moncks Corner, SC
| reply to tcope
I suppose more info is needed before we can make comments. Are you living in the house? If vacant, has a professional stager done their magic. Have other houses in your neighborhood sold recently - were they comparable with yours? Does your house have 'curb appeal'?
Have you read all 3 pages of
»House selling & buying tips?
The tips in the above like are worth reading. |
|
Badger3k
We Don't Need No Stinkin Badgers
Premium
join:2001-09-27
Fairborn, OH
clubs:
| reply to Badger3k
Yes, we are living in the house. Our realtor did have us do some staging and the house has been clean for each showing. There aren't any other houses for sale in the neighborhood. As far as curb appeal goes, like I said we have had "the best house" all of these people have seen.
Yea, I've read those tips along with numerous other tips on the web. The only area we might be off is price, but price hasn't even come up. Its been on the market for about 30 days now. Yes, I am well aware 30 days is very, very short and I'm not asking why it hasn't sold yet. I just don't see how its possible to have "the best house", yet nobody showing any real interest.
--
Team Discovery: Project Hope | ET is out there, can you find him? |
|
Kringle
Dr.D
Premium
join:2004-02-27
Pierrefonds, QC
 ·Bell Sympatico
edit:
September 7th, @03:32PM
| reply to Badger3k
I think that, for one thing, you have hit on why it's hard to sell your house without a Realtor. The comments that you will receive will be generally positive because, for the most part, people have common courtesy and are reticent to insult others to their face. If you got zero negative comments and most of the comments were general, "it's really nice" comments then it might be that the house isn't grabbing them as much as they are letting on.
Have you "staged" your house for sale or is it full of your personal stuff? People need to see a blank slate upon which they can superimpose their personality and "baggage". Your life experience isn't the same as theirs and your "stuff" just clouds the issue and impedes them from visualizing the house with their "baggage" in place.
The most effective thing to do is to remove all decoration that relates to your personality, especially family pictures and only leave neutral ones hanging (landscapes, etc.). Take an objective look at the furnishings. Do they imply a certain "style" to the house or are they neutral in effect? Is there too much furniture in place that makes the house look smaller? If so, put some of the furniture in storage. Is everything exceptionally neat and tidy, including the closets, garage and basement? If not, then make it so.
Your goal here is not so much to get an offer but to get multiple offers and have the buyers raise the selling price by bidding against each other.
Selling a house should be a lot of work. If you don't feel comfortable with (or don't want to do all that work) staging your house for sale then hire a professional stager and you will more than recoup what you spend on it. Good luck.
EDIT: Just saw the posts that were made while I was typing. You said "some staging". What does that imply? Was the Realtor the staging consultant or did you confer with a professional stager? You'll get the best results from a specialist. |
|
Kringle
Dr.D
Premium
join:2004-02-27
Pierrefonds, QC
·Bell Sympatico
edit:
September 7th, @03:55PM
| reply to Badger3k
said by Badger3k :Its been on the market for about 30 days now. Actually, you should be objectively asking yourself why it hasn't sold yet. After 30 days it gives buyers another bargaining chip.
Has your Realtor done all the right things like a great web presence with GOOD photographs and local newspaper advertising that highlight all of the property's positive selling points?
Is there an "elevator script" in place where the prospect can be hit with all of the positives within their 15-second attention span?
Are you and your family out of the house during a showing or open house (you should be)?
Are the prospects being given a tour that highlights the selling points or are they just left to wander on their own?
EDIT: What kind of "closing tactics" are being used when prospects are leaving a showing? You might want to have a friend that the Realtor doesn't know drop by a showing and let you know what's being done to sell your house. |
|
Badger3k
We Don't Need No Stinkin Badgers
Premium
join:2001-09-27
Fairborn, OH
clubs:
| Since our Realtor is a sellers agent, we did what she told us. Just start room by room. If you'd like, I'll PM anyone the Realtor.com listing.
Living Room:
- Fresh paint
- TV is here with couches, unforunately not a lot to stage in this room, it already speaks for itself
Dining Room:
- Fresh paint
- Moved furniture around to make it appear more open
- Removed many personal items
- Added painting to the wall that matches room color
Kitchen:
- Fresh paint
- Recently updated (last winter)
- Added a few staging items
Mud room:
- Fresh paint
Basement:
- Fresh Paint
- Added a few paintings that match the room color
Bedrooms:
- Fresh Paint
- Cleaned out closets so they are open
- Added paintings to match the room color
- Removed furniture to make the room more open
Bathroom:
- Fresh paint
- Recently updated (last spring)
Garage is clean and open to show a car being able to park in it. We have about 20 pictures online and I was there to watch her take them and I feel they represent very well what the house has to offer. The paragraph listing with the house inlcudes all of the updates that we have done, plus puts in on a quiet street.
We have never been home during a showing. We always clean the house the night before and again quickly in the morning because we have a dog. The dog and us go away (friends, family, someplace) about 30mins to an hour before the scheduled showing. We have had 1 open house that only 2 people showed up too and other than that each showing has been with a realtor walking them through the home. Yard is trimmed and cut and dog droppings picked up to allow them to walk around the yard.
The house is listed on craigslist, Zillow, Trulia, realtor.com, the local paper, the realtor's site... can't think of anywhere else to list it. I can't think of anything else to make it more visually appealing, and as I've said we have not had a negative comment thus far on the house.
I don't want to lower the price unless I have too, but at the sametime I don't really want to be on the market 8+ months either, which is why I'm at a loss for how it can be the best, but nobody wants to make an offer.
--
Team Discovery: Project Hope | ET is out there, can you find him? |
|
ninjatutle
You can keep the "change"
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA | reply to Badger3k
Fire the realtor and get a new one. |
|
averagedude
join:2002-01-30
Mesa, AZ
·Cox HSI
| reply to Badger3k
You mentiomed you have a dog. You may want to have the dog stay with friends and family full time during while the house is for sale. I am not a dog owner and maybe because of this I can tell if someone has a pet with seconds of entering a house. A smell that you don't notice may be harsh to another. Give you pet a holiday and air out the house. |
|
Kringle
Dr.D
Premium
join:2004-02-27
Pierrefonds, QC
·Bell Sympatico
| reply to Badger3k
said by Badger3k :We have had 1 open house that only 2 people showed up to... This all sounds really good except what I've quoted. To me, this is an indication that there wasn't enough publicity for the open house or that the publicity was in all the wrong places. Look critically at the advertising for the open house as I, personally, see that kind of response as a dismal failure. |
|
Kringle
Dr.D
Premium
join:2004-02-27
Pierrefonds, QC
·Bell Sympatico
| reply to Badger3k
ninjatutle brings up a very interesting point.
said by ninjatutle :Fire the realtor and get a new one. How long of a contract did you give the Realtor? If you decide to change Realtors, the contract should be as short as possible to better motivate them to sell your property. Long contracts, understandably, just don't seem to get as much attention. |
|
caddyroger
Premium
join:2001-06-11
Graham, WA
·Comcast
| reply to Badger3k
It took me 5 months to sell my house in a bad year for selling houses. In the 5 months I had only I person viewed the house. The Realtor and I set down and talked things over. He mention it could be the price I was asking for my house about $20,000 over what the other houses the area are selling for.
About a month later with no viewers I lowered the price $5000. 2 weeks later I got a call that a guy have made and offer. He bought the house for what I was asking for but wanted me to pay for a 18 month house warranty on it which I accepted.
Is your asking price way over what other are selling for in the area. People may say that you house is the best but if your house is way over they can take what they save on another house have it redone.
You said that you painted the rooms. What color did you paint them? I painted mind white. Most buyers will paint the rooms. White will let them paint without having to put 2 or 3 coats of paint.
--
Caddy |
|
Sweet Witch
Be the flame, not the moth.
Premium,MVM
join:2003-07-15
Gallifrey
·Comcast
| reply to Badger3k
The only way you're going to get honest feedback is to do what they do on "Sell This House" (A&E, Sat. mornings) which is hidden video cameras to see what people are saying in each area. You're allowed to as long as you keep the info private, and you'll know what people are really thinking.
--
"While you can teach an old dog new tricks, you simply can't teach him to be a cat."
"Are you my Mummy?" |
|
Taylort
@rr.com | reply to Badger3k
we've had our house up for sale in columbus,ohio for a year and a half we've had offers but way to low. i think because of the housing market people want your house for a little nothing any more. |
|
jack b
Big House
Premium,MVM
join:2000-09-08
Up the River
clubs:
·Optimum Online
 ·Verizon FIOS
| reply to Badger3k
Before lowering your price, ask your realtor to give you a list of comparable properties for sale in your market area. By comparable I mean similar living space and property and the asking price. This will allow you to see the "price per square foot" which you are asking for and how you stack up to your "competition".
If you do lower your price, usually that puts you atop the "new" listings in your area, even if you've been on the market a while.
--
~Help Find a Cure for Cancer~
~Proud Member of Team Discovery ~ |
|
KershawK
join:2008-09-07
Columbus, OH | reply to Badger3k
you can go to www.zillow.com and put your house address in and it will show any other houses in your area with the prices. |
|
boaterbob
join:2005-08-01
Moncks Corner, SC
| As "jack b" suggests, ask your Realtor to get you the comps for recent sales in your area. This info may not mean anything, but it won't hurt to look at it. Also, your Realtor should put you on the list to receive e-mails on all new comparable new listings so, again, you can see how you stack up with the competition. If there are foreclosures in your area, buyers may take one of them over buying from you - but the sooner they are sold, the better your chances are in selling.
It took me 5 months to sell my house in Dec of last year. My Realtor had several Open Houses and we thought 2 viewers at an Open House was good.
Our best prospects were people who had a need to move to our area and thus really needed to find a house. The casual lookers all had kind words but made no offers. BTW, we had already moved and had a professional stager put furniture in the vacant house (it was not to my taste, but they knew best, I guess, as the house eventually sold.) I paid $400/mo to the stager.
The buyer needed to move to our area for work - didn't want a survey nor a house inspection - the wife did want one of the stager's chairs (so I paid the stager a cheap price for the cheap chair - but the house got sold!)
As you have a dog, I'm hoping you've already had the carpet cleaned by a pro!?! As someone else said, even the sight of a water bowl could be enough to turn off some people - water bowl means dog - dog means dog smell and dog hair and maybe a "mistake" on the carpet, etc. It is quite surprising what can sour a sale - just the smallest thing - even "I don't like the color ...". Many people can not understand that colors can be changed - but they are the buyers.
So, my advice - I don't have much new to add to earlier posts or to your approach - you simply need to wait for an offer - and it could take a while - but, eventually it will sell.
Maybe, on a weekend, go look at other houses for sale - would you buy one of them? If so - why? If not - why? Will you learn anything - who knows - but it will give you something to do 
Another thought comes to mind. I am a firm believer in the For Sale sign should be perfectly placed on the lawn so drives can see it. And it should be clean and level to the ground. I also move it around a little every week or so. Does this really help - maybe?? |
|
Kringle
Dr.D
Premium
join:2004-02-27
Pierrefonds, QC
·Bell Sympatico
| said by boaterbob :My Realtor had several Open Houses and we thought 2 viewers at an Open House was good. Wow. What I've been told (for around here, not too long ago) is that 6 is just OK and over 8 is good.
2 = good -> amazing. |
|
raccettura
join:2002-09-28
USA
| reply to Badger3k
Why not just ask the Real Estate agent what they think? An experienced one could likely give you a pretty accurate answer. They want to move the house too (and collect their %).
Sounds like it might be high... but it can also be people are looking for houses they can lowball... and figure your house is too nice to ask for anything less than asking. Might simply be the right buyer hasn't made it to your neighborhood yet. |
|
