Look, do you think he started the thread just for someone to tell him to lower the price? Obviously, the Op is trying to do this with the least possible cost to himself, so “lower the price” isn’t very helpful, is it? It’s pretty clear that your answers are not within the spirit of the question, there’s no need to revel in the schadenfreude at the expense of a fellow doper.
And to continue the pile on, and as I’ve posted in other “help me sell my house” threads, sometimes it’s not about MAKING money, it’s about NOT LOSING money.
So in my case that means we don’t sell at a loss and I stay in KC while my husband is in Boston. I’d rather pay three months’ worth of mortgage at KC rates than three months of mortgage in Boston having lost our shirts on the sale of the house in KC.
Ha! My parents are trying to sell their house down in Tucson and just did that after their neighbor’s house sold after they buried one themselves.
I read an article (in Consumer Report’s, maybe?) that went through the key words in selling a house. The houses that didn’t sell as well had phrases like “cozy kitchen” or “great neighborhood”. Those phrases didn’t sell the house as well as exact descriptions like “built-in mahogany cabinets” and the like.
When I posted, I assumed that you had the house priced appropriately for the market. We did, too, after lowering it from the realtor’s initial inflated number. You know what? It still took four more months to sell.
There is a glut of houses in many markets right now, and I agree with you that even if your house is priced appropriately, anything to make it stand out (in a good way) helps.
Make sure its on Zillow with a good picture and information.
However, I suspect that most people looking in your neighborhood for a house know about your house. People don’t generally buy a house because they stumbled across an ad somewhere. They decide on a neighborhood first, then look in that neigborhood.
What??? Where did I ever say I was reveling? It sucks to try to sell a house today.
Today price is everything. If the price is right, the house will sell. If it’s too high it won’t. You won’t even get any offers. This is my only point. I had a hell of a time unloading my house and I’m just sharing that experience. You can obviously do all the staging ideas that the home shows talk about, but the bottom line today is price. If you think this is not helpful, that’s your opinion. :rolleyes:
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Time out!
Everyone’s advice has been very helpful. No need to fight amongst yourselves.
Time in!
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Real Estate sucks. I know this.
But not as much as wallpaper. I hate wallpaper.
It is?
Uh, yeah, whatever.
Here is a thread that may be useful. You’ll note that I was once a smartass too, but then I realized that it was tacky and pointless, and got over it.
First, I have schadenfreude, and now I’m a smartass.
That’s a lot of projecting for a pretty simple statement.
Why don’t you re-read what Nuke wrote in response my first post for an example of an appropriate response.
The OP’s title is “Please help me sell my house!” The OP’s priority, as stated, is to sell quickly. I’ve worked in title and escrow for years, primarily doing home valuation studies and modeling market performance.
I am in no way reveling in schadenfreude. I am relating years of experience, and that is: of all the factors you can control, asking price is the number one. Also numbers 2 through 5.
I sympathize, but taking an extra six months of double mortgage payments over lowering the price 5K? Which is cheaper?
I’m not the OP but my house is on the market.
We are getting a lot of showings which is somewhat encouraging but we have the twin issues of the current sub-prime loan situation and the fact that our neighborhood is more of a specialty market for our city. We live in an historic neighborhood that is a pretty urban and not all that far from some dicier areas. Our neighborhood is safe but perception is everything, so to people considering moving from the suburbs, our location can be a deterrent. As far as price, we are in line for our area etc, and thankfully have one of the less expensive homes in the area.
We won’t pay two mortgages, so the house must sell before I can move to Boston. We also won’t lose the money we put down on the house, that is a financial nightmare I’m not willing to go through.
Agreed, this is a horrible time for us to sell and if we weren’t relocating to Boston, we wouldn’t even try. Not only is the market awful, we really love our house and just wish we could take it with us. Of course in Boston, the house would be worth a TON 
Very clearly this is a choice we’re making to continue with the house on the market and leave the price where it is for now. At some point, my husband and I will need to discuss how we want to handle having a two city marriage; I don’t see us ever being willing to lose our down payment.
It does seem as though people think all sellers are looking to make money. I know we sure aren’t; we want to walk away with our down payment and no money paid out by us. Obviously that’s not true for all sellers but it’s sure true for us.
Please don’t forget that you have to bury the saint upside down. This is very important.
I’ll chime in and agree with those who say price is everything. My wife and I bought our first house about a year ago after looking for almost six months. The deciding factor was that we found a “nice house for a great price” after looking at dozens of “nice houses at steep prices” and a few “great houses at out-of-our-budget prices”. The asking price was 15% less than the average asking price in the neighborhood and we ended up getting it for 20% less than the average asking price.
According to our agent, the house had only been on the market a few weeks. Similar houses that are trying to be sold at the average price are still on the market a year later.
The only thing I can think of-- other than price – is increasing exposure. Best way to do that is to create incentives for the buyers’ agents to sell the house. I don’t know what deal your agent will cut with them (split the commission in half?) but it’s worth checking. For example, if you’re paying your agent 5%, and your agent was going to split that 50-50 with the buyers’ agent, maybe change the allocation – 2% to your agent, 3% to the buyers’ agent. Or throw in an extra percentage yourself. If buyers’ agents know they’ll get a bit more out of the purchase of your house, they may try to show it to more people. (Don’t know if this is legal where you are, but it was a common thing out here in California for a while.)
Couple it with a realtors’ open house (not for buyers, just for agents) to “reshow” your house to them and it may generate more traffic. Good luck.
First of all, work with your agent. He will pay for all advertising, and he probably knows more about the business than you do. That’s why he charges a commission. There’s nothing wrong with making him earn it.
**Only two things keep a property from selling:[ol][li]Price, andExposure.[/ol]**No, the condition of the roof or the location of the lot won’t keep it from selling, because no matter how good or bad each is, there is a price point that reflects it and is acceptable to both buyer and seller.[/li]
If the price is low, maybe the exposure is insufficient, and conversely.
For exposure: the ideal would be for everyone, everywhere to know about it. Since that is impossible, the most likely markets need to be targeted. This usually means demographics – if it is in a vacation area, advertise in vacation-type publications. Open houses increase exposure, too.
For price: reduce the price gradually, in steps. Allow sufficient time for the market to absorb the change but not so much to waste time waiting. Obviously that isn’t easy, and this is where a professional comes in.
Good luck!
No, no, no. It must face East and you have to roast a chicken under the full moon while chanting Ya Got Trouble and dancing the Can-Can in a green shirt wearing a catcher’s mask.
Sheesh. Doesn’t anyone know how to do it right?
If you go ahead with making a flyer, I would suggest distributing it to EVERYONE in your neighborhood. You never know who might be looking for a place for their Mom to move to in order to be closer to the grandkids, or whose sister just got divorced and wants her kids to go to the same school. The people who already live in your neighborhood are the people who you already KNOW want to live in your neighborhood.
Tell everyone you know that you are selling your house.
You never know who is in the market, or who knows someone who is.
Just a word of caution here. While I know of nothing to prevent you (the homeowner) from advertising on your own independently of the agent, I would advise not to do it without the agent’s knowledge.
Details of your listing contract may vary, but even if you found a buyer, your agent would be entitled to the full commission anyway.
And putting the agent’s name, logo and phone on an ad without his permission might have some sticky legal consequences if something went wrong. And NOT putting it on an ad might also be problematical. Just don’t go there.
Your agent is working for you and wants to sell the property as much as you do. Work with him or find another.
Full disclosure: IAARealtor.
Do you have a sign in your front yard yet?
This is probably not applicable in your case, but maybe worth a try anyway. When my fiance’s house was put up for sale six months ago (this was in the Netherlands) a lot of houses in the street with the same floorplan were on sale as well. I nicked the flyers from those listings, laminated them and showed them to visitors while they were looking around. My fiance’s house was pretty neglected, and the pictures showed what the house could look like with a little TLC.
I second the idea of making a website of your own, and linking to it every chance you get. It saves potential buyers a lot of time if they can scan your house on-line. Besides you can photoshop the pictures the same way you would a resume; show the house to its best advantage without actually lying.
Have you tried websites like E-bay?