Help - Why won't my house sell

[BLAZEY]

I think I found your listing too. Honestly, you need to de-clutter. Rent a storage unit and put all those books and bookshelves, cluttered shoes, off season clothes, exercise equpiment, etc. away in storage. You have a lot of stuff and it makes the house feel small.

It would help to spend some time cleaning up the yard, prune the trees, and re-mulch the flower bed. Always need to make a good first impression.

I'd store the bath sponge and air freshener under the sink in the bathroom. Maybe add some new towels in there and get rid of the ones draped over the shower stall.

Really it just needs to be presented better. get rid of anything not neceasary for everyday life, hang some nicer curtains and bathroom linens to make it feel inviting. And hire someone to take better pictures. I'm amazed the realtor thought it a good idea to a)post a pic of the toilet and b) leave a can of spray air freshener on if I am mistaken, forgive me, I'm just going on what I think is your listing.

I think the OP said in an earlier post that the house is EMPTY. There is NOTHING in the house. No furniture or personal belongings.

 

[DisneylandDarling]

It's your pictures. Your house is gorgeous, it just needs better pictures. Just go back and change up the lighting and really showcase how beautiful it is. I would redo pictures of the outside as well and try to showcase how it's enclosed and offers more privacy with the trees.

It's funny how different areas are priced so differently. Your house in our area would be going for at least double (easily) and probably be selling within the month.

 

[cruisingtwins]

The pictures are terrible. Better pictures will go a long way. The house itself looks really old/dated I did not look at any other houses in your area but for me I would only go see this house if there was a significant price difference between in better shape to allow room for remodeling.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I think the OP said in an earlier post that the house is EMPTY. There is NOTHING in the house. No furniture or personal belongings.

Hmm, maybe a different house then. I never claimed to be a super sleuth!

ETA: The pics need to be updated to reflect the empty house. Current pics are quite cluttered.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Just to make sure things are clear-we have moved out of the house. I appreciate the advice to declutter but there isn't anything left in the house to declutter.

I honestly don't even know where a couple of those pictures came from. I think she took a few earlier in the year when we had first discussed selling but decided not to. I've asked several times to have them removed but they are still there.

I'll take some recent pictures and post them tomorrow.

so, did they take the photos before you cleared the place out?

 

[MillauFr]

Here the houses that command higher prices are those that have a high walk score and high transit score. Those houses that require a car to get anywhere sell for far less.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

so, did they take the photos before you cleared the place out?

Yes, I have asked several times to have them retake but it has not been done.

There was about a 2 month overlap between the pictures and us moving out.

As I said earlier, she took some pictures earlier in the year before we actually listed it. The worst 3 pics in the listing are from that set.

 

[Southernmiss]

I also just found your listing. And yes the pictures are a problem. But I also looked at homes in your town from 195000 to 220000. One thing I noticed is that many of them near your price range are showing reduced. Which indicates to me that they've been on the market for a while and they're just not moving. I wonder if your realtor is over pricing in your Market. I would also recommend looking at these same homes that I looked at in that price range with an open mind like a buyer might have. As someone not living in the area, to me it looks like your home is overpriced by maybe $20,000. Of course your realtor would be able to discuss that with you.

 

[LSUmiss]

If that's how your house was marketed, then that's a big flag as to why it won't sell. I don't know too many people that want to actively buy a party pad. So if the realtor has pushed it that way, they possibly gave a death sentence to you trying to sell the house.

I don’t know about the party pad part, but some of the most expensive & coveted properties in the area are the ones by my old college campus. It would be a huge selling point here if you could walk to campus!!

 

[LSUmiss]

That's actually common here, our fans must be insane but contractors are building gigantic game day houses (think 5,000 square feet) anywhere they can fit one and selling them (actually selling, they rarely stay on the market for more than a few weeks) for $500K and up. It's a huge issue with the city planning commission right now because obviously the neighbors HATE them and they are tearing down some historic properties to build them. Then we have the condo developments charging $100K for gameday condos. There are about 10 of those monstrosities around campus now and they are mostly sold out. It is absolutely ridiculous what people will do for their football fix down here. I guess they figure it is cheaper and easier to maintain a house in the long run than the $350,000 RVs that pour into town every home game.

We have a friend who lives a block from campus in a large, gorgeous older home that they completely gutted and renovated a year ago that has had to beat the gameday housing vultures off of her property with a stick. She was offered over $2500 per weekend from one company just to rent it to them. Of course she said no, there was no way she was letting college fans tailgate in that house.

I appreciate the advice that you have given, the fact that she should have talked with us first before deciding to go in that direction will definitely be an additional factor in going with someone else. I just needed someone to point out the obvious. It never occurred to me that marketing it that way could look bad to other non-partying buyers.

That’s exactly the same here. I have to ask what college is it? I thought I saw in a previous post you said you’re in Alabama? Is the college Auburn or Bama?? If so, I have to agree with you that close to campus IS absolutely a selling point. It would be here!! Maybe it’s the other reasons posters have mentioned.

 

[ronandannette]

DO NOT have your current realtor take any new pics. Just call her and tell her you want to take it off the market since it hasn’t sold yet. Let the house “cool off “ for a week or so while you interview a new realtor. A top notch realtor will bring you neighborhood comps, have a great photographer come in and take pics of the property, and do a fantastic descriptive write up on all the features of the home, including pointing out any updates you have done.
Ask the new realtor what price they suggest before you lower the price. Also make sure your house will be on all the web sites like realtor.com, truvia, front door, etc.
Don’t be surprised if the new realtor asks you to “stage” a few rooms of the house in an effort to show people how the house would look with furniture. People can be really dumb sometimes and not have a clue how certain rooms need to be furnished. I’ve been through this many times and some houses sell the first day they hit the market and others take more than a month. So frustrating. Good Luck!

*Forgot to add: Purchase a few of the plug in air fresheners for the house so that it doesn’t get a stale smell. Houses that smell good sell faster.

This is the absolute best piece of advice in this entire thread. Do it. Unless that last showing turns into an offer, cancel your listing and fire the realtor TODAY. When you start interviewing new ones you'll be surprised at what different, more aggressive approaches they recommend. And they will all tell you that a "stale" listing that's gone past 90 days is better off the market for a time.

Staging usually runs about $3-4000 depending on how much they do.
If you have an extra couch and chair, just place it in the living room with a new carpet (Home Goods= $229)
Maybe a table for either the kitchen or the dining room with some kind of centerpiece
A pretty framed picture on the living room wall.
Fresh towels on the towel rack in the bathrooms

In the patio area, place a couple of outdoor chairs and a small table

This is also excellent, simple and easy to achieve advice. @ChristmasElf, are you a real-estate professional? You really know what you're talking about.

 

[gotomu212]

Just to make sure things are clear-we have moved out of the house. I appreciate the advice to declutter but there isn't anything left in the house to declutter.

I honestly don't even know where a couple of those pictures came from. I think she took a few earlier in the year when we had first discussed selling but decided not to. I've asked several times to have them removed but they are still there.

I'll take some recent pictures and post them tomorrow.

If you’ve had to ask more than once to have specific photos removed from hour listing you seriously need to end your relationship with this realtor and re-list with someone else (read over your contract- how much longer are you committed?).

 

[DebbieB]

I just found the listing, too. I am going to say you have a few problems.

First - the pictures and any realtor who would put up those pictures. You need a new realtor and new pictures. A good realtor does not charge you for professional pictures. Remember that when you find another one. Is that the realtor's reflection in the mirror over the fireplace? Such bad pics. We sold a condo recently. Our daughter lived in it during med school. It looked sooo much better in the pictures than when she was living there.

Second - and part of this goes back to your realtor - your house and yard are kind of mess in those pictures. If that is how you are showing it, you will have trouble. A good realtor would have told you this firmly. You need to declutter, and spruce it up. It does not look inviting. If nothing else, clean up your patio. If I see screens lying around the patio in for sale pics, I am wondering about the maintenance of the house.

Here is one of the pics of our condo. The red blanket in the bottom corner slightly annoys me.View attachment 280077

I bought my townhouse 5 years ago, I was attracted by the pictures online. It was originally on sale the year before with a price too high. The owner took the listing down and hired a new realtor in the spring, took new pictures, dropped the price a little. I ended up offering after a couple more price drops. One thing I noticed between the 2 sets of pictures was the second year the new realtor took away the area rugs on the hardwood to show off the hardwood. Made a big difference. Your picture reminded me of that, I would have taken away the rug.

 

[xlxo]

Perhaps a sales video will help...

 

[AquamarineSteph]

Okay, I have not managed to locate your home via the internet, but I'll tell you three things that helped us sell my late father's home.

1 - PHOTOS If they don't look great, nobody is going to want to move there. Maximize your assets. Show off what the house/property HAS.
2 - REALTOR Get a Realtor who specializes in that area of town. If this means pulling the house off the market for the minimum time until you can list it as a 'new' listing, do this. When we sold my late father's house this was a serious issue, b/c most of the Realtors wouldn't take anything selling under half a million. (And it was a GREAT house, great yard, good everything except it wasn't the trendy part of town or over half a million.)
3 - LOOK at the wording of the ad, and request approval before it goes live. I've read a ton of home ads as we think about maybe moving, and there are so many things that turn me off. I don't care if it's an older property that's not in the trendy side of town, but I do care if the wording sounds like the Realtor couldn't be bothered to do more.

Good luck!!!

 

[melanielll]

This is how I selected a realtor... First, I asked people whose opinion I valued. Second, I researched the names I got plus a few others online. How many sales in a year? How many listings did they have? I looked at all of their listings. Misspelled words or grammatical errors in the online listing? Not going to be my realtor. Bad or no pictures? Not going to be my realtor. Incomplete or incorrect information? Not going to be my realtor.

I then narrowed it down to a few. I called each of them. How hard was it to get them on the phone (and not an assistant)? Definitely a factor. After talking to them, I gave them a few simple tasks....finding me information that I already had (so that I knew what they were telling me was correct). I believe that if you don't follow up on my questions before you have my business that there is no chance that you will after I sign the contract. After that, I made an appointment with one of them. She was available the next day. We met at the condo. She toured it and told me what she thought of it (both positive and negative). We talked price. She told me what she offered (professional pics, different assistants for the listed phase and for the escrow phase, which title companies she used, etc). I decided to go with her. She came to our home the next evening to meet my husband and to sign the documents.

The next day, the free professional pics were taken and the condo was listed. This was a Thursday. She scheduled a realtor's open house for the next Tuesday. We cancelled that because we got three offers that weekend. By Friday (9th day of being listed) we had a full price offer with no contingencies from a prequalified buyer who was putting 20% down. The property closed 25 days after we agreed to terms with the buyer. It was a flawless sale in a slightly downward trending market.

So - other than location (which has already been selected) - the realtor is who will make or break the sale. A good one won't let you price it too low or too high, will bring in quality buyers, will work with a good support team and will tell you what you can do to get the thing sold.

You are paying this person a substantial amount of money, they must deliver for that.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

I also just found your listing. And yes the pictures are a problem. But I also looked at homes in your town from 195000 to 220000. One thing I noticed is that many of them near your price range are showing reduced. Which indicates to me that they've been on the market for a while and they're just not moving. I wonder if your realtor is over pricing in your Market. I would also recommend looking at these same homes that I looked at in that price range with an open mind like a buyer might have. As someone not living in the area, to me it looks like your home is overpriced by maybe $20,000. Of course your realtor would be able to discuss that with you.

Yeah, we probably need to revisit the price. We set it based on comps earlier in the year and we went with what the realtor said to do. I don't think we are priced high based on other houses that have sold this year in the neighborhood, it just doesn't seem like anything in that price range is moving right now. $500K + mcmansions are selling like hotcakes and the tiny starter homes are going quickly but nothing in the middle ranges seem to be moving.

I just went and checked listings based on 16+ sqft and 0.5+ acres and under $300K. There are 9 that meet that criteria in the entire town. Only 1 is a reasonable comp for ours and it's about the same price (and, believe it or not their pictures are WORSE than ours). The others are in rental neighborhoods, have train tracks running through their backyards, or are on the main road that has university traffic, middle school, junior high, and high school traffic all at the same time.

I took some pictures this weekend but couldn't figure out how to get them off my phone on to here.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

This is true. A home we rented once was put up for sale, before we moved out. DH was transferring out of state. They wanted to give it time to sell, so they had showings with us living there. The person who bought it asked us to sell them everything in it down to the curtains & decorations. They said the way it was decorated was one of the things that made the house attractive to them. I guess they didn't realize the owner didn't own everything in the house, until they had already bought it. We told them that we'd be taking our stuff with us, then they tried to talk us into taking the furniture, but selling the curtains & decorations. No, we didn't sell them all our curtains & decorations.

Our last rental before we moved into this house, the landlord got absolutely furious at us because a potential tenant walked away from renting it when our lease was up because we wouldn't sell her our appliances. He actually tried to keep our security deposit because he said we ran her off and he couldn't find anyone else to rent it before school started. Not my fault he didn't get a signed lease before hand. She just didn't show up on the day she was supposed to move in.

 

[macraven]

Perhaps a sales video will help...

If I was houses hunting, i would want more pics of the house than the girls in the pool

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

If I was houses hunting, i would want more pics of the house than the girls in the pool

I'm pretty sure that if we made a video like that, it would scar people for life.