Need Home Sale advice....UPDATE

[Pembo]

Our house has been on the market 3 weeks. It went up just before we went to war with Iraq. We've had 2 open houses and a number of showings. The house down the street sold last week for just $1000 less than our asking price.

My question is this-Our realtor is going to want to drop the price already. Her strategy is 3 weeks, then do something. But I think that the war thing stopped people. It stopped me.

So what would you do? Leave it at the current price for a bit? We want to move in mid-June so I'm in a hurry but we've got some time. I hate selling a house.


****UPDATE*****The realtor called and she did indeed want to drop the price $5000 after barely 3 weeks. We told her no. We thought the war had slowed down the market and we weren't in that big a hurry to sell. That we wanted to wait a couple weeks. She is a "by the book" person" and was a little confused but relented. Now she wants us to paint the kitchen ceiling and recaulk/clean the bathtub! ugh. The last time I tried to clean the caulk in the tub, 2 hours of OXICLEAN, nothing happened. We tried to recaulk a few years ago and made a HUGE mess that peeled off. Can I say again how much I hate selling a house.

 

[marlasmom]

If the price was fair, leave it alone for a few weeks. An offer will probably be below your asking price anyway.

 

[janette]

I wouldnt' go down unless you are running short on time. Buyers often offer less anyway so I don't think reducing the price $1000 would increase your chance for an offer by much.

 

[Jomrog]

Has your realtor done a fair market analysis on your home? This gives you a general idea of your houses value in the current market. Also, this way, your realtor will have to prove to you why she thinks you should drop the price. Some realtors just want a quick sale.

Personally, I want wait at least another week or two.

Good Luck!

Joanne

 

[WDWHound]

It took 6 weeks to sell our last house, and we thought that was quick. 3 weeks is not long enough to get worried. If you are not in a hurry and you think your asking price is fair, I would wait at least another month before lowering the price.

 

[nancyj_pa]

Definitely wait a few weeks! Nobody's out looking right now. Hopefully, things will be back to normal in a couple of weeks. Good luck!

 

[annemariec]

Originally posted by WDWHound
It took 6 weeks to sell our last house, and we thought that was quick. 3 weeks is not long enough to get worried. If you are not in a hurry and you think your asking price is fair, I would wait at least another month before lowering the price.

I agree with WDWHound. It took us 6-8 weeks to sell ours. Our real estate agent also wanted us to lower the price, very early on. I was none too pleased. He really tried quite a bit to persuade us. But we knew the value of our house. He did an analysis of our home and similar homes to show us his reasoning. The homes he had to compare didn't have key elements that our home had. So we held firm in our price.

When we sold the house, we actually "went up" in price per the buyer's request, so they could finance an allowance (to redo some of the house to their liking)!

Annemarie

 

[Pembo]

Our realtor is supposed to call tonight. If she suggests lowering the price, I'm going to say NO until after Easter. I figure the next 2 weeks won't have many people looking anyway.

I want to move by June 20 and 45 days prior is May 7~so I want to wait. Now that I'm all ready for her to call, watch, she wont' call! LOL

Thanks everyone.......

 

[Talking Hands]

Pembo
First there is no rule except her own about lower price. It is the seller's call not the realtor.
Yes I am a realtor associate.
Btw open houses rarely get good buyers. Mostly lookers.

 

[annemariec]

Originally posted by Pembo
Our house has been on the market 3 weeks. It went up just before we went to war with Iraq. We've had 2 open houses and a number of showings. The house down the street sold last week for just $1000 less than our asking price.

My question is this-Our realtor is going to want to drop the price already. Her strategy is 3 weeks, then do something. But I think that the war thing stopped people. It stopped me.

So what would you do? Leave it at the current price for a bit? We want to move in mid-June so I'm in a hurry but we've got some time. I hate selling a house.


****UPDATE*****The realtor called and she did indeed want to drop the price $5000 after barely 3 weeks. We told her no. We thought the war had slowed down the market and we weren't in that big a hurry to sell. That we wanted to wait a couple weeks. She is a "by the book" person" and was a little confused but relented. Now she wants us to paint the kitchen ceiling and recaulk/clean the bathtub! ugh. The last time I tried to clean the caulk in the tub, 2 hours of OXICLEAN, nothing happened. We tried to recaulk a few years ago and made a HUGE mess that peeled off. Can I say again how much I hate selling a house.

Drop it $5000 after 3 weeks??!! Talking hands is right. That's YOUR call!! Yikes! If the house appraised for the amount you are asking, I wouldn't go down that quickly nor that much at one time. How long did you contract with this agent to represent you? That's key. You should have a relationship with the realtor where you feel comfortable. IMHO you should feel as though you are in control and ideas from the realtor should be presented as suggestions.

As far as painting and recaulking, that's your call too. If you are trying to clean the caulk in the tub, try bleach. I put bleach in a spray bottle and after several applications it looked as good as new!

Good luck!!
Annemarie

 

[Mishetta]

Next time your R.E. agent makes that kind of suggestion (dropping $5000), then tell her you'll consider it if she takes $2500 less in commission! Let her be out half of what she wants you to drop in price after only 3 weeks!

Regarding her suggestions about painting & cleaning....all I can say is, you know how your house looks. We've been looking at homes too & as soon as I see something moldy or dirty about the tub/shower or bathroom or kitchen in general ~ I'm outta there! But that's just me! Walk around your house as if you're a potential buyer & if YOU think it needs fixing, painting, cleaning, etc...do it. If you really think there is no big deal in what you see as a little less than perfect, then so be it. Everyone has different standards.

Three weeks is not a long time at all to have your house up for sale. Don't fret. (Remind me of this post once we list our home & I'm going crazy about what our R.E. Agent has said!!)

The right person just hasn't seen your lovely home yet!

Good Luck!

 

[Pembo]

Mishetta-LOL!!!

Next time your R.E. agent makes that kind of suggestion (dropping $5000), then tell her you'll consider it if she takes $2500 less in commission! Let her be out half of what she wants you to drop in price after only 3 weeks!

I'm sure she wouldn't want to do that now would she?

As far as my bathroom grout....it definitely has some mildew on it. I saw this stuff at Lowes that will just cover it up. So I guess I'll get it. And my parents volunteered to paint the kitchen ceiling. DH & I would just make a huge mess! I can honestly say I've never looked at the ceiling in any house or that closely at the bathroom grout.

 

[Gillian]

$5000 may or may not be too much of a price reduction. It depends on what homes are selling for. Around here, that's nothing. Prices are still crazy! Maybe you could do a $2500 reduction now?

There are a lot of good reasons to lower the price on your home, even if you think it's too soon. The main one it that it brings it back up in the computer system. Most good agents will check every day for listings with changes. Some agents make small changes in their listings, even without changing anything major like the price, to make other agents "see" them. I'm not saying I agree with that, but it's done.

Another good reason to lower the price now is that Easter is another slow weekend for house hunting. It would be good to get it in before this weekend. If your deadline is ~ May 7th, you only have a few weekends left.

I hate to say this, but if your home is on the market for too long, people may start to wonder what is wrong with it.

OK, that was long, but I wanted to give a pro-price reduction point of view! Best of luck!

 

[Pembo]

Gillian-Your advice makes sense, about having a change made so that agents will see the listing. Thanks.