Need advice on pricing our home to sell

[lecach]

All the realtors have told our realtor that its a great house. It has some feautures that others do not. And since so many of the houses in this area have old heat, air, and appliances ours is definately an improvement since we've replaced all of ours. It IS considered entry level though. Its only 1500 sq. ft but its a very well laid out design. And the new builders are building and selling houses smaller than ours.

I dont think the living room necessarily NEEDS paint - its really in okay shape - its just the only room we havent painted. And when I say we could use new linoleum its not in bad shape - just 20 years old. Its fairly neutral and honestly I dont think it would be something to completely turn off a buyer.

Our house is definately move in condition. Our realtor is really surprised that its hasnt sold.

 

[BalooTheBear]

X

 

[FreshTressa]

With interest rates going up, people can afford less house than they could before. This means lots of markets are really slowing down.

You might have to drop your price. Hopefully this will get some new people looking!

Good luck!

 

[DVC Sadie]

I don't have any advice but just wanted to wish you luck with the selling of your home!

 

[caitycaity]

i agree with your realtor.

i also agree with the poster who said this:

You have to keep in mind your house is only worth what someone is willing to pay no matter what the houses around you go for.

i remember reading somewhere that fair market value doesn't mean you think the price is "fair". the market changes all the time and the value of your house is the amount that a potential buyer is willing to pay. i am not saying you fall into this scenario, but we just put an offer on a house (and had it accepted ) and i cannot tell you how many places we looked at that had their asking price set astronomically high...so high that i would not even consider offering $50K less than their asking. many were priced around $295K and they should have been priced closer to $200K or $220K. unsurprisingly, these houses have been on the market for quite some time. i could only conclude that those people were not serious about selling their house. especially since i could look up and see what most of them paid for it. even if they had asked a reasonable price, they would have made quite a nice amount of money.

as for the paint - it may not need it, but staging really makes a difference. the place we put an offer on had a freshly painted living room (first thing you see when you open the door) in a very nice color. dh, our agent, and i all said "wow!" lieterally when we opened the door. paint/staging can make a huge difference even if not techically needed.

 

[golfgal]

i agree with your realtor.

i also agree with the poster who said this:

i remember reading somewhere that fair market value doesn't mean you think the price is "fair". the market changes all the time and the value of your house is the amount that a potential buyer is willing to pay. i am not saying you fall into this scenario, but we just put an offer on a house (and had it accepted ) and i cannot tell you how many places we looked at that had their asking price set astronomically high...so high that i would not even consider offering $50K less than their asking. many were priced around $295K and they should have been priced closer to $200K or $220K. unsurprisingly, these houses have been on the market for quite some time. i could only conclude that those people were not serious about selling their house. especially since i could look up and see what most of them paid for it. even if they had asked a reasonable price, they would have made quite a nice amount of money.

as for the paint - it may not need it, but staging really makes a difference. the place we put an offer on had a freshly painted living room (first thing you see when you open the door) in a very nice color. dh, our agent, and i all said "wow!" lieterally when we opened the door. paint/staging can make a huge difference even if not techically needed.

Keep in mind that the price paid for a house doesn't always determine future pricing. I know we paid about $15,000 under the appraised value for our current home, we have put an enormous amount of work into our home and have raised the value significantly. If you looked at our purchase price and only went by that, yes, it would seem like we are asking a lot and are going to "make" a lot off our home but in reality, we won't be "making" that much after everything we have done to our house.

 

[lecach]

Our realtor suggested that we have a lady come in that stages houses. He's going to pay for the consultation. So we're hoping to get her in this week before we go on our vacation. She may suggest painting - we'll just see what she says. Also since the neighbor next door has sold and moved and wont be closing til May 19 we got permission from her to put some of our additional clutter - stuff we need to live like DS's toys - in her house while we're gone. So maybe that will help by getting out additional clutter.

Another thing - my Mom is a realtor and she looked at the info that the realtors see on our house and it mentioned our sump pump and interior drain. While its necessary in houses in our area it could be a red flag to someone that we've had water issues. When I pointed it out to the realtor he said it should NOT have been in there and appologized. And removed it.

Thanks everyone for your comments and well wishes! Keep em coming!

PS - the realtor suggested that we see what the staging lady has to say before we drop the price. That by staging we may not need to. It could be cheaper to have her stage it and paint a little.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

The thing I think the poster does not understand is that you are required to keep your home updated and fresh and part of owning your home.
This is normal practice. It is the cost of owning the home. People have a hard time understanding this.

To sell with serious outdated flooring leads buyers to believe you have not been taking care of the home in "hidden" areas.
Now that may or not be the case, certainly, but the majority of experienced buyers knows this little piece of info and will not buy because of it. This is a fact.

I agree with this!!!! Watch Design to Sell or Sell This House (my fav), I am telling you, this is what you need to do! I sold my house in 8 days. My house looked like a "Display House".

PS - the realtor suggested that we see what the staging lady has to say before we drop the price. That by staging we may not need to. It could be cheaper to have her stage it and paint a little.

 

[lecach]

Mystery: I understand that. BUT if you look at any other house in our neighborhood of 3000 houses ours has a TON more updates than most others. Other than a little paint and linoleum and MAYBE bathroom cabinets ours has been completely updated. Our house shows a lot newer than the majority do. Just the appliances and HVAC are huge upgrades. I think the non-flat yard is probably our biggest problem.

We'll see what the staging lady says. If she recommends paint and linoleum we'll do it - it would be cheaper to do that than to lower the price $3000 or more.

By the way - if anyone wants to look at our listing for additional info its MLS # 850874. Also - look at this house in our neighborhood: 853362. Its 29 more sq. ft. and $5000 more. It DOES have wood floors though. But check out their kitchen. You can go to our realtors website at www.fmrealty.com and type the MLS # on the main page.

 

[golfgal]

I looked at the pictures and I think you may be right about the yard. You can sort of see your neighbors yard through the trees and it looks like they have some grass and not quite as many trees. Would it be possible to take down a few of the trees, especially the ones that are right next to the house in the back. That would open things up some and you could get some grass to grow.

I think the rest of your house looks fine, nice neutral painting, etc. Your kitchen is small, but that would be expected with that square footage and it is nice looking.

 

[CEDmom]

We just sold our house after it had been on the market since mid-Dec. Throughout the process we dropped the price twice and even then the offer we ended up accepting was $5000 less than our listing price.

Unfortunately, for those of us selling the tables have started turning and it's much more a buyers market. I think you have to figure out what you "need" to get for your house instead of what you "want" to get and adjust your price accordingly.

Buyers are out in force now so you really don't want to lose an opportunity over a few thousand dollars.

Best of luck to you - it will sell .

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Mystery: I understand that. BUT if you look at any other house in our neighborhood of 3000 houses ours has a TON more updates than most others. Other than a little paint and linoleum and MAYBE bathroom cabinets ours has been completely updated.

I understand what you are saying, I really, really do. I am not trying to fight with you, just help you.

When you have 30 showings and no real bites, you HAVE TO change something. That is a message to you from the potential buyers.

Now your house is lovely! That #2 picture NEEDS TO GO IMMEDIATELY! Not a good choice.

I would say after viewing all your competition you are up against the the "newer home" market. That is one of the hardest things to overcome, imo.

 

[lecach]

Golfgal: Unfortunately the ones in the back are REALLY really tall trees. We'd have to get a tree specialist in and the HOA would require permission for removal of any tree over 5 inches in diameter. Plus the way the sun hits the house the back yard is shaded all the time and we've not had much luck growing stuff in the back. Even our neighbor who has a yard service and has the yard of the neighborhood has not had success with his back yard. I like the idea though.

We've thought of removing all the trees and plants in the front area and making a flat grassy yard. But it would be expensive to remove the huge trees and roots. Plus the trees provide a lot of shade in the summer and help cut down the AC bills. And I dont know that the HOA would allow it since its a standard feature in our neighborhood.



Mystery: I know - you're right. I guess I am a little defensive, please forgive me. We think our house is great - everyone keeps saying its great - so we're just so surprised it hasnt sold. But with 30 showings and only 1 offer I think we're going to have to make some changes inside the house AND maybe lower the price.

 

[bananiem]

I think your house looks very nice, but the yard would be a problem for us. If you are thinking med residents will be moving in they may be looking at the yard and saying "Where will the kids play?"
Also, your living room is lovely but maybe take some of the furniture out? Just a thought.

 

[binny]

I think your house looks beautiful


Nuetral paint, nice decor, not too crowded. I would agree with golfgal though too the backyard has a lot trees, I love it but maybe some dont?


I hope you get an offer really soon

 

[gris gris]

I wish I could buy your house!! It's bigger than mine and cost about $150K less than mine did. I understand why people are moving south! I think your house looks great but for me, the problem would be the yard - kids & a dog, we need land and a fence. Do the other houses in the neighborhood have the same types of yards? I checked out the other house too and I would buy yours before I bought that one. Good luck!

 

[lecach]

Some of the houses in our neighborhood have better, flatter, fenced yards. The two others for sale (under contract now) on our street have larger flat front yards with no trees. But the majority are like ours - not much in the front, and sloped back yards. Our new house has a small front yard and a nice flat back yard .

I guess its going to take someone who doesnt have kids maybe . We loved the back when we bought it. All the trees give you a lot of privacy - something not easily found in our area (our new house really doesnt have any trees at all). And one of the trails in the 8 miles of paved trails that go thru our neighborhood is at the bottom of our lot. Of course when we bought the house we didnt have a child at the time. But all the neighborhood kids love playing in the woods and the ivy. We've had to chase them out.

 

[Buckalew11]

I think it is a lovely house.
I don't like the chimney on the outside. I like brick or stone so that would be a turn off for me. I don't like the sloping back yard but there are plenty of yards like that around here also and people buy them.
I like your kitchen and think it is a nice size. IMHO, kitchens built today are too darn big! LOL Yours looks so workable. Now, your neighbor's? LOL Uh, I am not sure how tall they are but that microwave on top of the fridge just takes the cake. Maybe Dan Murphy could reach it but I couldn't!! LOL

I guess I have a hard time believing the price of real estate today. The house seems so small for the price but I suppose that is the same way it is here too.
I agree with Mystery about photo #2. It does nothing for your house to see it from that angle.

There is a lot of furniture in your living room but other than it (& even WITH) that, the house is just really beautiful. Good luck selling it soon.

If all else fails, get that St. Joseph statue out and bury him the yard!

 

[caitycaity]

If you looked at our purchase price and only went by that, yes, it would seem like we are asking a lot and are going to "make" a lot off our home but in reality, we won't be "making" that much after everything we have done to our house.

no, i know that. my point was though that we saw SO MANY places that needed a decent amount of work that were listed at really ridiculous prices. most of them had been listed for 100+ days and i have no doubt that they would actually get some people interested if they either put some work into the place or dropped their price. many were listed at almost $80-90K over what they should be going for, given the work they needed. in those that we saw it was clear that the owner had not done much (anything?) to the place since they bought it. looking at the price they paid for it will give you an idea of how much wiggle room they have in terms of pricing if you see that there have been no improvements done. even our realtor told us this.

this doesn't sound like the case for the op, but around here i think a lot of sellers have become greedy since we have had one of the hottest markets in the country for the past few years and now it is cooling off.

 

[3DisneyBuggs]

I wish we were able to move to NC now, I'd buy your house. Good luck.