Getting the house ready to sell.... long road ahead!

[cornflake]

The odd thing is that only 3 were less per Sq Ft because they were forclosures the others were comparable cost per sq foot. To explain further since dropping $20,000 we are quite a bit lower per sq ft than the others in the area that are similar to ours. Two within about a mile, one a forclosure and one that was similar to our house but more per sq ft have sold within the last 3 months. I am almost wondering if when we dropped the $20,000 at the new realtors advise it didn't make other realtors worry there was something wrong with our house? I am just baffled about it all. Oh and we were told the average selling time for homes in our area is 6 months.

The good and bad thing about the market these days is that anyone can see your listing - no one is dependent on a realtor to tell them it exists. So while a realtor might think a drop means an issue (though in this market it's so common I'd think that wasn't a likely assumption, given how often price drops occur when something doesn't sell), if your house is in the MLS, people can see the listing.

I'd really begin to think there's an issue with the house, given the $ comps are apparently in line. It's hard but ... again, anyone can see the listing and if other things are priced comparably or higher and are legit selling... there has to be a reason and what's kind of left is the house itself.

Are the other homes for sale/that sold more upgraded? Do you have the same sq. footage but fewer bedrooms or something? Or is your house smaller or larger overall? Do you have a thing like a pool that people may be turned off by? Is your house on a different or strange plot of land? Like on a busier street or a lot that backs onto a highway or I dunno. Do others have a garage and you don't, do they have new appliances and you don't, do they have hardwood and you have carpet, etc., etc.

Have you gone into any local comps or checked pics and descriptions of other listings around you to try and figure it out? How are the pics with your listing? Do they highlight the house? Do they show clutter or are they dark or etc.? Do they show the kitchen and bath and etc.?

 

[angwill]

The good and bad thing about the market these days is that anyone can see your listing - no one is dependent on a realtor to tell them it exists. So while a realtor might think a drop means an issue (though in this market it's so common I'd think that wasn't a likely assumption, given how often price drops occur when something doesn't sell), if your house is in the MLS, people can see the listing.

I'd really begin to think there's an issue with the house, given the $ comps are apparently in line. It's hard but ... again, anyone can see the listing and if other things are priced comparably or higher and are legit selling... there has to be a reason and what's kind of left is the house itself.

Are the other homes for sale/that sold more upgraded? Do you have the same sq. footage but fewer bedrooms or something? Or is your house smaller or larger overall? Do you have a thing like a pool that people may be turned off by? Is your house on a different or strange plot of land? Like on a busier street or a lot that backs onto a highway or I dunno. Do others have a garage and you don't, do they have new appliances and you don't, do they have hardwood and you have carpet, etc., etc.

Have you gone into any local comps or checked pics and descriptions of other listings around you to try and figure it out? How are the pics with your listing? Do they highlight the house? Do they show clutter or are they dark or etc.? Do they show the kitchen and bath and etc.?

Our house is saturated on the internet so yes anyone can see it. Every realtor says our house is and easy show. I cleaned out every single inch of the house and got rid of anything we would not use in a 6 month period so every inch is spotless. We have done every single suggestion both realtors told us to do and I told them not to worry about insulting me. We have a new roof, windows, and pump in the last couple years. The carpet and flooring is clean and relatively new. The only older thing is the kitchen cabinets, counter, and stove and one bedroom carpet. I took the pics myself and they are really nice.


No pool and we are on an acre surrounded by trees that makes the yard look like a pretty park which is different because most homes have no trees since this is corn country. The only thing that might turn some off is that we only have a one car detached garage but that is not unusual where we live but some have 2 car garages. One other possible thing that I asked the realtor about is our house is long so from the front it looks a lot smaller than it is. I asked her to post a pic showing the side as well as the front so they get an idea of the depth. Nothing is different from when we were getting showings last year compared to this year with no showings except the price. Well the pictures are better this time.

Even the realtor said she didn't understand why we have had no showings this year.

She even had a brokers open and offered a $50 gas card drawing and free lunch and desserts and drinks I supplied and the only brokers who showed were the ones from her office. I don't know what is up with that either.

 

[momxx5]

I agree with a few posters, get a whole house inspection. That alone will show you if anything major needs to be done, or better yet will give the house a "clean bill of health". It is a good feeling as a seller to know that there will be no surprises when the buyer has to have an inspection done.

As for doing things in the home to make it more appealing, I agree with the decluttering....especially in closets. Make them look spacious. Another thing DH did, was to replace the front door knob/lock combo to make it look nice a shiny and new. Also replacing any dated looking overhead lighting or fixtures like front porch lights. Make sure all the light bulbs are the right shape and color to make everything more appealing.

A not too expensive detail we did was to update all the kitchen and bathroom hardware, such as door knobs and drawer pulls. It was such a wonderful transformation with the kitchen cabinets/draers for not a great deal of effort. (again this is big if you have a 20yr+ old home with dated hardware)

Of course a great overall cleaning is necessary, and remember to include baseboards, doors (we have the 6 panel doors that tend to collect dust in the corners), carpet corners and stairs. Keep in mind that small carpet stains look huge to a buyer. If you have a lot of electronics try to keep the cords, etc tidy and looking minimal.

Having lots of "open" spaces is helpful for the buyer to see that the rooms are large and how "their own things" will fill the space nicely.

Fresh flowers and pleasant but not overwhelming smells are nice added touches.

Another idea is to get the word out, like networking. Let the "gossip" spread that your super awesome home will soon be on the market and with XX bedrooms and X bathrooms, the place will be a great deal at a fair price and expected to go quick. Staying positive when speaking of it will keep people interesting and wanting to move quicker.

Good luck on your endeavor and keep us posted.

(If needed remember a St. Joseph statue buried in the front lawn doesn't hurt)

 

[cornflake]

Our house is saturated on the internet so yes anyone can see it. Every realtor says our house is and easy show. I cleaned out every single inch of the house and got rid of anything we would not use in a 6 month period so every inch is spotless. We have done every single suggestion both realtors told us to do and I told them not to worry about insulting me. We have a new roof, windows, and pump in the last couple years. The carpet and flooring is clean and relatively new. The only older thing is the kitchen cabinets, counter, and stove and one bedroom carpet. I took the pics myself and they are really nice.


No pool and we are on an acre surrounded by trees that makes the yard look like a pretty park which is different because most homes have no trees since this is corn country. The only thing that might turn some off is that we only have a one car detached garage but that is not unusual where we live but some have 2 car garages. One other possible thing that I asked the realtor about is our house is long so from the front it looks a lot smaller than it is. I asked her to post a pic showing the side as well as the front so they get an idea of the depth. Nothing is different from when we were getting showings last year compared to this year with no showings except the price. Well the pictures are better this time.

Even the realtor said she didn't understand why we have had no showings this year.

She even had a brokers open and offered a $50 gas card drawing and free lunch and desserts and drinks I supplied and the only brokers who showed were the ones from her office. I don't know what is up with that either.

Huh. Have you considered that someone put a curse on it? Heh, j/k. I dunno - that does sound decidedly odd. You're not like, over the line into a different school district or something, or the taxes are more or... I may be out of ideas. Your house isn't immaculate but painted Kermit green inside? I dunno.

Have you gone to the other houses? I'd start going to all the comps myself to check them out because... There should be *something* if your price is lower and there's not a big difference in bedrooms or you've got a heinous pool or what have you.

 

[angwill]

Huh. Have you considered that someone put a curse on it? Heh, j/k. I dunno - that does sound decidedly odd. You're not like, over the line into a different school district or something, or the taxes are more or... I may be out of ideas. Your house isn't immaculate but painted Kermit green inside? I dunno.

Have you gone to the other houses? I'd start going to all the comps myself to check them out because... There should be *something* if your price is lower and there's not a big difference in bedrooms or you've got a heinous pool or what have you.

You know I am wondering about the curse being the issue. lol Oh and I did bury a St Joseph statue a year ago but he did't do anything for the curse if there was one. lol My son was even out there last week trying to find him to dig him up thinking we burried him in the wrong place. lol

Our taxes are quite a bit less than most because we are over the town line but there are 3 others over that same line that have sold over the last year so it should not be that.

Funny you mentioned the Kermit green because when we bought it one of the rooms was Kermit green and it took me forever to paint over it without it bleeding through. lol All our rooms are freshly painted neutral muted colors.

I am honestly baffled. The only other thing is that our one and only real neighbors are really polarizing people either you love them or hate them and our first realtor mentioned knowing they lived there and we got the feeling she was a hater. We live in an area where everyone knows everyone else too.

 

[SDSorority]

I agree with a few posters, get a whole house inspection. That alone will show you if anything major needs to be done, or better yet will give the house a "clean bill of health". It is a good feeling as a seller to know that there will be no surprises when the buyer has to have an inspection done.

As for doing things in the home to make it more appealing, I agree with the decluttering....especially in closets. Make them look spacious. Another thing DH did, was to replace the front door knob/lock combo to make it look nice a shiny and new. Also replacing any dated looking overhead lighting or fixtures like front porch lights. Make sure all the light bulbs are the right shape and color to make everything more appealing.

A not too expensive detail we did was to update all the kitchen and bathroom hardware, such as door knobs and drawer pulls. It was such a wonderful transformation with the kitchen cabinets/draers for not a great deal of effort. (again this is big if you have a 20yr+ old home with dated hardware)

Of course a great overall cleaning is necessary, and remember to include baseboards, doors (we have the 6 panel doors that tend to collect dust in the corners), carpet corners and stairs. Keep in mind that small carpet stains look huge to a buyer. If you have a lot of electronics try to keep the cords, etc tidy and looking minimal.

Having lots of "open" spaces is helpful for the buyer to see that the rooms are large and how "their own things" will fill the space nicely.

Fresh flowers and pleasant but not overwhelming smells are nice added touches.

Another idea is to get the word out, like networking. Let the "gossip" spread that your super awesome home will soon be on the market and with XX bedrooms and X bathrooms, the place will be a great deal at a fair price and expected to go quick. Staying positive when speaking of it will keep people interesting and wanting to move quicker.

Good luck on your endeavor and keep us posted.

(If needed remember a St. Joseph statue buried in the front lawn doesn't hurt)

Yeah! My sister rents houses and before she lists one she always buries a St. Joseph statue upside down in the back yard (I think upside down...). I need to do that.

So an update- last night I sanded and scraped the old paint off from around the front door and repainted the trim. Good thing I have a street light in front of my house because I was painting until about 9:30pm. Oye. The joys of doing work after work . Early this morning I went to Lowes before work to get front door paint, some khaki light brown paint for the kitchen area and upstairs bathroom, and some wall hole filler to patch some areas before painting. Tonight's after work task is painting the front door. If I have time after that I need to touch up the doorknobs/knocker/foot guard on the door with some gold paint, so I'd LOVE to get the whole front door finished. If I have time after that I'll start going around patching holes so that I can paint the kitchen tomorrow after I work in the morning. I wanted to get the front door/porch done during the week because the work I do involves families coming to my home studio for music lessons. So I hope to get the front door done tonight for sure just so it doesn't look a mess when families start arriving

Big sigh. Things are coming along slowly but surely! I'm exhausted but I'd LOVE to have my house ready to be listed toward the end of summer, so I gotta keep moving!!

 

[angwill]

Yeah! My sister rents houses and before she lists one she always buries a St. Joseph statue upside down in the back yard (I think upside down...). I need to do that.

So an update- last night I sanded and scraped the old paint off from around the front door and repainted the trim. Good thing I have a street light in front of my house because I was painting until about 9:30pm. Oye. The joys of doing work after work . Early this morning I went to Lowes before work to get front door paint, some khaki light brown paint for the kitchen area and upstairs bathroom, and some wall hole filler to patch some areas before painting. Tonight's after work task is painting the front door. If I have time after that I need to touch up the doorknobs/knocker/foot guard on the door with some gold paint, so I'd LOVE to get the whole front door finished. If I have time after that I'll start going around patching holes so that I can paint the kitchen tomorrow after I work in the morning. I wanted to get the front door/porch done during the week because the work I do involves families coming to my home studio for music lessons. So I hope to get the front door done tonight for sure just so it doesn't look a mess when families start arriving

Big sigh. Things are coming along slowly but surely! I'm exhausted but I'd LOVE to have my house ready to be listed toward the end of summer, so I gotta keep moving!!

One day at a time and little by little and you will be surprised what you acomplish and how wonderful it will look by the end of summer. It took me like 3 months to clean, pack, and paint every nook and cranny but it felt wonderful when it was all done and we were ready to list. You will be there before you know it.

 

[Beth D]

This may be a little off the wall...

But before you pack up all that stuff for a storage shed, have a garage sale. You'll make money, and need a smaller storage unit!

Also put up a FSBO sign in your yard with some simple flyers about your house, and gauge interest/comments from your garage sale customers. They may give you feedback about what they like about your house. You never know who might turn out to be looking for a house...

Also - make sure all the dog poop is cleaned up out of the yard completely! Some folks say even take out all pet items (kennel, leashes, food bowls, litter boxes, etc) during an open house so that prospective buyers don't know a pet is even part of the household. When we bought our current house we had to have all the carpet replaced before moving in due to the tremendous amount of pet pee and smell... We knew it going in as we wanted the neighborhood...

 

[SDSorority]

Just another update:

The front door is painted! And I painted the whole kitchen on Saturday (complete with standing on the counters so I could get above the cabinets and behind the fridge....that was a pretty site...omg). Still need to do a little touch-up work on both areas, but it looks so.much.better. Also did some more decluttering today... slow and steady!

 

[cornflake]

Just another update:

The front door is painted! And I painted the whole kitchen on Saturday (complete with standing on the counters so I could get above the cabinets and behind the fridge....that was a pretty site...omg). Still need to do a little touch-up work on both areas, but it looks so.much.better. Also did some more decluttering today... slow and steady!

Go you! Remember, all this stuff isn't just for the sale/to sell it - a lot of this stuff is work you'd end up doing some of before you moved once you sell, so you're getting it done ahead of time. Packing obvs. but now, if you move the fridge to clean or make sure there's nothing got dropped or if in case the inspector does, it won't be OMG then with a big rush to do something. You know it's fine. And all the decluttering is saving you time both packing and storing boxes in your next basement or attic.

 

[Jenny3]

Sounds like you have a great list! It is fantastic that you are going to such efforts to sell your biggest asset...you'd be surprised how many Sellers don't see the necessity!

I'm a Realtor and Accredited Stager and I can offer you a few tips..

Clutter eats equity. Remove all knick knacks, personal items, photos, etc from everything. You want buyers to mentally move into your home. There is a huge percentage of people who cannot look past what they see or visualize. Think of it as packing up early

Detail your house like you would detail your car. Clean everything - including the inside of kitchen cabinets, closets and baseboards. Buyers will open every door, every closet, every cabinet (and you will too when you are looking to buy, so impress them!). Remove HALF of what is in every closet and cabinet and put it in storage.

Stand in the doorway of each room - what is the first thing you see? Is it a feature of your home or is it personal items? For example, if you have a fireplace in the living room, but the first thing you see is your couch, rearrange your furniture to show off its best feature.

Price your home just a hair above what similar properties have SOLD for. Not what they are on the market for. Your realtor will be able to show you comparable homes.

Don't be home for any showings! There is nothing more awkward than a Seller home when a Buyer is trying to view it. Make sure all beds are made, dishes away, toilet seats down, shower curtain closed, no magnets on the fridge, etc.

See if your agent will hire a professional photographer who specializes in real estate. It is not that big of an investment (I pay around $120 for my listings) and is so worth it!

Remember that your home is no longer your home. It's a house you are trying to sell

Good luck and feel free to PM me with anything!

 

[SDSorority]

Sounds like you have a great list! It is fantastic that you are going to such efforts to sell your biggest asset...you'd be surprised how many Sellers don't see the necessity!

I'm a Realtor and Accredited Stager and I can offer you a few tips..

Clutter eats equity. Remove all knick knacks, personal items, photos, etc from everything. You want buyers to mentally move into your home. There is a huge percentage of people who cannot look past what they see or visualize. Think of it as packing up early

Detail your house like you would detail your car. Clean everything - including the inside of kitchen cabinets, closets and baseboards. Buyers will open every door, every closet, every cabinet (and you will too when you are looking to buy, so impress them!). Remove HALF of what is in every closet and cabinet and put it in storage.

Stand in the doorway of each room - what is the first thing you see? Is it a feature of your home or is it personal items? For example, if you have a fireplace in the living room, but the first thing you see is your couch, rearrange your furniture to show off its best feature.

Price your home just a hair above what similar properties have SOLD for. Not what they are on the market for. Your realtor will be able to show you comparable homes.

Don't be home for any showings! There is nothing more awkward than a Seller home when a Buyer is trying to view it. Make sure all beds are made, dishes away, toilet seats down, shower curtain closed, no magnets on the fridge, etc.

See if your agent will hire a professional photographer who specializes in real estate. It is not that big of an investment (I pay around $120 for my listings) and is so worth it!

Remember that your home is no longer your home. It's a house you are trying to sell

Good luck and feel free to PM me with anything!

THANK YOU!!

 

[LSchrow]

Do you have a thing like a pool that people may be turned off by?

we put my parents' house up for sale (there were 2 other houses on their block for sale, including the one right next door).

their house sold in 2 1/2 weeks from start to finish. AND it sold for about the same price the neighbors' houses are listed at

feedback from the buyers was that they wanted a built-in pool (maybe because this is long island), but the biggest difference we heard was that theirs could easily be coverted to a mother/daughter.

we did have professional cleaners, but the house was dated (upgrades that were done - 10+ years ago - were all very good quality tho).
buyers loved the neighborhood (something one doesn't have much control over), the hardwood floors throughout (something one does have control over).

oddly enough, we were actually hoping the house would take a while to sell (6 months to a year would have been ideal, and fit in with our plans), but the buyers wanted to close NOW...
i hope yours sells as quickly as you want it to

 

[SDSorority]

we put my parents' house up for sale (there were 2 other houses on their block for sale, including the one right next door).

their house sold in 2 1/2 weeks from start to finish. AND it sold for about the same price the neighbors' houses are listed at

feedback from the buyers was that they wanted a built-in pool (maybe because this is long island), but the biggest difference we heard was that theirs could easily be coverted to a mother/daughter.

we did have professional cleaners, but the house was dated (upgrades that were done - 10+ years ago - were all very good quality tho).
buyers loved the neighborhood (something one doesn't have much control over), the hardwood floors throughout (something one does have control over).

oddly enough, we were actually hoping the house would take a while to sell (6 months to a year would have been ideal, and fit in with our plans), but the buyers wanted to close NOW...
i hope yours sells as quickly as you want it to

 

[MapleGirl]

DH and I would like to sell our house in 3-5 years. Hopefully the market will be better by then.

In the meantime we are doing projects around the house that will make it nicer for us and also more appealing to buyers. This summer we are doing a few things...

• Replacing the fence around the property so the backyard is completely fenced in.
• Reseeding the lawn and generally making it nicer. We had to beat down some overgrown shrubs, trim some trees and we'll need to dig up some stumps. We have a big backyard (for our area) but it seems smaller with all this overgrowth.
• We're turning our deck into a 3-season room. This is more for us than a buyer. Our house is 960 sq. ft. The new room will add another 300 sq. ft.

We've already done a couple of things to the house...
Put in a wood stove, new flooring throughout, remodeled the kitchen and bath.

We still have more to do before we are actually ready to sell. We'll need to repaint the interior. I like bright colors but I understand neutral is better for selling. We'll have to refinish the steps up to the front door and do a MAJOR declutter and clean. With the construction this summer we will need to get a dumpster. I'm going to do my first wave of cleaning/decluttering and organize the attic then. I'd also like to repaint the exterior but I don't know what color. We repainted the trim last fall and it looks lovely.

Lots to do! But doing it early means we get to enjoy the improvements for a couple of years.

The roof will need to be replaced at some point but I'd prefer to offer a concession to the buyer then replace it myself. We will see. There is still plenty of time.

 

[prncess674]

[*]We're turning our deck into a 3-season room. This is more for us than a buyer. Our house is 960 sq. ft. The new room will add another 300 sq. ft.

If you are doing this as a DIY and make sure it is a legal addition for many reason. If it is not permitted you won't be able to add it to the size description of your home when listing. Also if it is unpermitted a bank may not loan the buyer money because of it.

 

[MapleGirl]

If you are doing this as a DIY and make sure it is a legal addition for many reason. If it is not permitted you won't be able to add it to the size description of your home when listing. Also if it is unpermitted a bank may not loan the buyer money because of it.

Thanks for the tips!

We are working with a contractor friend and doing all the correct permits. Everything will be up to code and energy efficient.

I've realized over the years that my DIY abilities only go so far. We'll need a carpenter to come in and clean up a couple of my projects.

 

[cornflake]

we put my parents' house up for sale (there were 2 other houses on their block for sale, including the one right next door).

their house sold in 2 1/2 weeks from start to finish. AND it sold for about the same price the neighbors' houses are listed at

feedback from the buyers was that they wanted a built-in pool (maybe because this is long island), but the biggest difference we heard was that theirs could easily be coverted to a mother/daughter.

we did have professional cleaners, but the house was dated (upgrades that were done - 10+ years ago - were all very good quality tho).
buyers loved the neighborhood (something one doesn't have much control over), the hardwood floors throughout (something one does have control over).

oddly enough, we were actually hoping the house would take a while to sell (6 months to a year would have been ideal, and fit in with our plans), but the buyers wanted to close NOW...
i hope yours sells as quickly as you want it to

I've heard the pool thing is somewhat neighbourhood/geographic (like in an area in which most people have pools or they're expected then they're expected and desired) and somewhat personal - but that it can be a dealbreaker either way.

Like it can be a big turn on or a big turn off. People who want one want one and people who don't, reeeeally don't. As it's not like, well, I wanted a one-car garage but it's a two, where there's no extra cost involved - a pool is maintenance, insurance, hassle, etc. If it's people from a non-pool area who don't want the hassle, it can be an automatic 'no.' I was just looking for whatever is making the house that sounds priced well, clean, attractive, in line with other homes not sell! Besides a curse.

 

[SDSorority]

Update! Front door is officially finished. Phew. Painted a little shelf to hold flowers by the front door and cleaned up the yard a bit by throwing away some clutter, old flower pots, etc. Tomorrow morning I have to go get some grey paint for the concrete on the front porch and some cream paint to do the hallways and upstairs bedrooms. I feel like I'll be painting for the rest of my life

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

we looked at a house once that could have very well been the perfect house and when we walked in the kitchen, there was spg sauce splattered all over the front of the oven door. A white oven.

I thought if they can't spend two seconds cleaning that off......nope. We walked out.

It's 15 years later and we still refer to it as the spg sauce house -- ask my DH for directions, he'll say "you go to the spg sauce house and take the next right."

When we sold our house, I put a three-ring binder on the table with pictures of our house in the four seasons so they could see what it looked like (and our extensive flower beds and landscaping) and also the business card for all our people: the plumber we used, the electrician we used, the man who fertilizes our lawn etc so they could call if they had questions or keep using the same people we used for the last ten years. I also included in that book the owners manual for the washer, dryer, frig, stove, microwave, the AC and heat, etc all the things that were staying with the house.

We got a lot of compliments on that binder.