I need real estate help please.

[binny]

I am desperate.

We *have* to sell this house. We are priced as low as what we think the bank will accept (we had to short sale it because of the relocation, we dont have any choice) so there is nothing I can do with that. We are the lowest price in the neighbourhood and also one of the largest.

We have had a lot of showings 4 that were very interested. One of those desperately want the house but has to sell their house first. 2 had other issues and one I dont know what happened.

The feedback that we have received has been
1) the house is so big! (just under 3300 sq ft) Its just too big!
2) shows beautifully
3) clean
4) needs some updating (is 40 years old but most of it has been updated in the last 10-15 years)
5) beautiful colours
6) great neighbourhood



The problem is we have to sell soon. I would love to be able to wait for the people who need to sell their house but we *have* to be in Denver by the end of the year. We just dont have any choice.
Without seeing the house I know this will be tough BUT I will take any suggestions. Just keep in mind that we cant drop much more money into the house. We wont get anything out of it anyway.

So, can anyone help me think of ways to market this house that "outside the box". We have a realtor who is trying some various ideas but I would love to hear how other people have done it. How can I get creative here so we can finally reunite our family?
Could really use some prayers too!
Thanks so much

 

[EdiePA]

I finally (after 20 months on the market) offered a $ 2,500 bonus to the realtor who could bring the house to close on or before September 30th. It was money well-spent --- the house sold within the month.

I think with so many houses on the market, sometimes the realtors aren't as motivated. Money was a great motivator!

Edie

 

[Liberty Belle]

Can you show us some pictures?

I guess you've decluttered? How many bedrooms?

What about your yard?

 

[luvflorida]

I honestly think that if you've done everything you feel you need to do to present the house in the best possible way, inside and outside, then there isn't much left you can do. I don't mean to sound negative, but I really think it's the tough real estate market that is hurting your chances to sell, not so much the house itself.

You probably remember that we had our house on the market for over a year, and had very few interested buyers and didn't receive even one offer, nothing, nada. Our house showed very well, is less than seven years old, extremely clean and neat, large bedrooms, inground pool, beautiful landscaping, wonderful neighborhood in a desirable town with excellent schools. We knocked over a hundred thousand dollars off the initial price. Still nothing. I just have to believe that it's just a horible time to try to sell a house.

Have you considered renting your house out? That's what we ended up doing. It was just too expensive to foot the bill for two houses. So far, we've been lucky and haven't had any issues with our tenants. *knocking on wood and crossing my fingers!* Not sure if we'll try to sell again at the end of the lease, or just keep renting it for now.

sending you more pixie dust and good luck because I know how stressful the whole situation can be.

 

[binny]

yard is overall in great condition. I need to work on one of the beds but other than that its ok.


Ill share some of the pictures of the inside and see what you think.



Thanks for all of the input . Unfortunately renting it out is not an option. I just really feel stuck at this point. We have to sell it. We will callthe company tomorrow and see if they will front us some money to use a buyers agent bonus. Hopefully they will go for that and that will help.



brb with pictures.

 

[binny]

So there it is.There has been some cleaning out even since these were taken.



I just have to believe that this is going to sell soon. We have had so much interest in it. Just not by people who are ready unfortunately

 

[trip]

Your home is beautiful. Good luck!!!!

 

[bas71873]

I'm in love with your laundry room!

 

[Disney Doll]

Wow! Nice house!

Bake cookies or an apple pie when people are coming.

Bury St.Joseph upside down in the front yard.

Craigslist.

Realtor bonus (as a PP suggested).

 

[AKL_Megs]

Make sure that all junk that screams, "WE live here!!!" is gone.

I can't tell you how many houses we looked at that were so cluttered with family photos, fridges covered in magnets (and a note about a urology appointment... ), a living room covered with framed Nazi newspapers, a barking dog in a cage that totally distracted us, a kitchen with stinky garbage, another that smelled of grilled fish , etc.

I think it helps when it is a blank canvas so people can imagine THEMSELVES in the house, instead of YOU.

The only houses we could picture ourselves in were the empty ones, the staged ones, or the ones that were void of clutter or any personal items.

Good luck! Your house is WONDERFUL!!!

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

Bake cookies or an apple pie when people are coming.

Bury St.Joseph upside down in the front yard.

I agree with these. One of my sisters was having a difficult time selling her house. A neighbor told her to bake or just light candles that smell like homemade pie or cookies. The neighbor also said to bury a statue of Saint Joseph upside down in the front yard & pray to Saint Joseph. My sister did both these things & the house sold right after her next open house.
Your house is lovely btw.
Good luck!

 

[dis-happy]

Nice house, but from everything I've seen on the "sell your house" shows you should consider painting most of the walls more neutral colors. At least it is an inexpensive fix. I'd also remove the recliners from the mbr. jmho. Good luck! And I do second the suggestion about giving a bonus to the selling agent.

 

[binny]

We have buried St Joseph and we burn seasonal scentsy wax when we have a showing (realtor today said "Wow your house smelled SO good!" LOL).

The master is 22X18 we tried taking the recliners out and there was so much blank space that the realtor said to put them back in . I cant win.

As for painting we have gone back and forth about it. No one has complained about it though so far so I dont know.

Is St Joseph supposed to face the sidewalk or the house? Maybe I did it wrong




Thanks for helping everyone I really do appreciate it.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

Wow, I think the house is lovely! The only thing on your "feedback list" that seemed like a negative was the comment that it needed updating. I know on the TV shows they often do small things that have the effect of making the house look updated.

Here's what I'd suggest, just from the photos. Take down the window treatment in the breakfast nook, and the wreaths on the walls. I also think the wrought-iron shelves in the breakfast area and the bathroom (and any others you have) should go. All of these have a more old-fashioned look. I'd probably remove most of the pictures on the walls, as a matter of fact, and see if I could find some large and more modern looking ones to replace them. You know on TV they will buy a large piece of canvas on a frame and then just do some abstract art to match the colours of the room? It needs to be big, though. Will definitely give you a more updated look. Another way to update is to change the hardware on kitchen and bathroom cabinets to something more industrial-modern looking.

Just some thoughts, anyway - and these are things that wouldn't cost you anything (or much - some canvas and paint) to do.

Where are you? I do love the house.

Teresa

 

[binny]

Thanks we're in Boise.

 

[monkeybug]

Your home is beautiful!!! I love the windows in the dining area!
I would paint the blue room a more neutral color and take down the wallpaper border (though it is pretty!) buyers like neutral.
We were in your situation. My husband is Military and when we bought our house in Oregon the market was hot. We weren't at all worried that we were only going to be there only three years, houses every where were selling like crazy. What a difference a few years makes!
We bought the ugliest house in the nicest neighborhood and completely remodeled it. Everything we did, we did with buyers in mind. Lots of neutrals, granite counters, stainless appliances, stone fireplace, and dark wood floors. When it came time to sell the market was just beginning to slow. We had thought of trying to sell ourselves, but with the market starting to turn and with orders to the east coast in only 9 months, we hired a reactor. Long story short we went for 6 months with lots of showings, a few almost offers, but nothing concrete. I was panicking!! Financially we could not have afforded an apartment for my husband on the East Coast while we were waiting on the west. I finally convinced my husband and the Realtor to reduce the house to 2% below market value (something I had wanted to do at the beginning but got talked out of) we would still make a teensy amount of money and honestly by that point I would have been happy to just not lose any. Two days after the price reduction we had multiple offers, a bidding war, and two offers for over the asking price. In the end we got 13,500 over our asking (and only 3,000 shy of our original price). It was a big risk, but for us it paid off! Of course that was a little over 2 years ago and the market wasn't as bad as now.

 

[KirstenB]

I love your breakfast nook and covet your laundry room!!! Can you rent in your new location, and just pay the mortgage on your existing house til the market improves? I know that sounds awful, but your home looks great, just a yucky market.

 

[Buckalew11]

wait...someone answer her about St. Joesph. how do you bury him? And where do I get one from?

 

[Liberty Belle]

It's a great home. It looks so spacious! I think some buyers in a certain listing range are looking for new, or very updated homes. I don't know what you have your home listed as, but is it possible to lower it any? With all that space I would guess the listing price is rather high and quite possibly most people looking in that range want the very updated or brand new homes.

 

[Liberty Belle]

wait...someone answer her about St. Joesph. how do you bury him? And where do I get one from?

Found this:

How to bury Saint Joseph statues

St Joseph is mostly common buried upside down facing the house. Some say that this tradition goes back from what is called the "degradation of the saints". At that time the tradition was that you threatened the saints by burying them and with that saying to the saints "I will keep you with your head down in the dirt until you sell my house for me".
Now days, the tradition to bury a statue of St Joseph is still the same, but it's not very common to threaten him, instead we pray to his good will and pray that he will help us with a fast, smooth and profitable sale.