The showing today did not go well. They did not want a house with steps, mine has 2 floors.
My agent says there are no comparables and after 2 months I need to lower the price.
He did say it is unique in location and style and I only need one buyer. But by now I am afraid people will think there is a defect in my home. There is not.
So I will lower it and try again. Hey I don’t have to accept an offer if it is low do I?
“Unique in location and style” is not a great thing - it means you need a buyer who is unique in what they want in location and style - but it also doesn’t recommend that you reduce your asking price.
Real estate agents always want a seller they represent to reduce the asking price. You must always bear in mind that the agent’s interests are not the same as yours. To you, selling the house for the maximum possible price in the time period acceptable is your goal. To the agent, it is far more important to sell the house quickly.
This can be quickly illustrated with a simple example. Suppose my agent charges 3%. My asking price is $500,000. If it sells at that price, the agent makes $15,000. If it sells for less, say $450,000, the agent makes less, $13500. So the agent wants to higher price, right?
Probably wrong. The agent wants the house to move FAST so he can move on to the next house. If he expends 8 weeks of effort making $15,000, that is worth far less to him than if he spends 4 weeks of effort making $13,500, and can spend 4 weeks selling a different house for another commission. Realtors rely on turns, not maximizing the sale price.
For the same reason, the realtor representing a buyer will try to get them to pay more, in an effort to make the sale happen quickly.
Your agent sounds inept - having no open houses is a ridiculous thing.
Well, this guy thought there was a “defect”, in that it had stairs. And others might think it a “defect” that it is unlike surrounding homes.
Sorry to say this, but a house is worth nothing more than someone is willing to pay for it at any given time. My understanding is that rural properties often take considerably longer to sell than urban. IIRC, that is one reason it is more common for agents to request longer contracts for urban property
It basically may come down to selling it quickly for a lower price, as opposed to waiting to get the price you want. Since you don’t NEED to move, and DO need some specific proceeds, you might be better off waiting.
In today’s environment, every step you take - raising or lowering the price, taking it off the market and relisting it - will be readily apparent to a prospective buyer.
Believe me - I’m not trying to beat up on you in what I know is a stressful situation. Just sharing my experience and opinions. IME selling a house is one of the most stressful experiences I’ve had. Hell, our last house sold in a couple of days - making us wonder if we should have asked more! :dubious:
It really is weird that your agent can’t give you any comps. If not in your immediate area, then in similar areas. He/she had to have SOME basis for suggesting an asking price, or did they just pull a number out of the air?
(On edit - what RickJay says. The agent wants the sale more than a specific price. Of course, your house MIGHT be overpriced…)
In my area the most important open house is the agent open house where all the agents in the area are shown the house. You want them to show up and think that that they can sell your house (feed them if at all possible). Regular open houses are fine, but many of the people who show up are just curious whereas the agents are bringing people who actively looking. I think of those open houses more as tools that agents use to get people who are unaffiliated with a broker in order to represent them. The agent open house is the most important piece of marketing that your agent will do. They are usually held on the same day (the agents car pool to get to them).
Since you’re relying so heavily on the internet, how good is the online listing? Does it include lots of flattering photos? And, in light of your latest post, does it include all the basic information about the house, such as that it is two-story?
This is the key. When I bought a house last year 99% of my time was spent looking at pictures on the internet.
It should say on your listing how many floors your has , didn’t your realtor do this ?? Are most houses range house on your street ? You should check out the listing on your house and made sure it give the right info about it. Your realtor sound like a real lazy bum. I had sold a house in Ca. and a 2 families house and condo in Ma. and none of them were on the market for more than 3 months . I was lucky and had good realtor that wanted my homes to sell fast so they could get paid and I could move into my new home in time.
I agree, make sure that your listing is well written, has all the important information, and most importantly has good pictures. As a recent home buyer, I was more interested in going to see listings that had a lot of good pictures that really showed how the house was, while there were some listings that had few pictures all taken in poor lighting and poor quality and I was less interested in seeing those.
The showing today was not with my agent, so I can’t say what was wrong with him
The online listing is great. The photos are wonderful including 360 tour. Just like walking around the house with perfect clarity.
RickJay, now I remember reading Freakanomics Thanks
Dinsdale, because as you say, every move I make is clear to all online shoppers, is it bad to make moves? Will it look fishy to take it off the market or lower the price? Does that spell trouble?
I had a yard and open house at the same time with my house in Berkeley, Ca. I sold almost everything I wanted to and sold my house too. I suggest this idea to my realtor and she thought it was great idea .
I’m not an expert. Not a relator or RE lawyer. My only experience comes from having bought and sold a couple houses, having lived in communities where home values and sales seem to be a common topic of discussion, some family in the business, and having read a bit in periodicals and on-line.
All I’m saying is that when you decide to make a move, you have to be aware that other people may interpret it in different ways. And I don’t know what you can do to control that. A good realtor (whether or not that is your current agent) would be a better source of info.
Let’s say you drop the price. By how much? People view prices in many different ways. For example, if you drop from $405K to $399K, you might elicit a whole bunch more views, simply because of the way people enter search info on-line. A small drop like that MIGHT have more effect than a larger drop from $399 to $379K. (This is just off-the cuff spitballing by me.)
So how much are you willing to drop and why? Does the agent think that will bring more eyes to the weblisting? More inquiries? More viewings? Will it position your home differently with respect to other homes for sale? Or does the agent think they screwed up in their initial recommendation? Is something weird going on in the market? Etc. But your pricing decision should be based on something other than a guess that dropping X$ will do something.
Once you know why YOU are making the adjustment, discuss with your agent how other people might perceive it. Will prospective buyers say, “Now it is priced right!” Or will they think you are desperate and want to lowball you. Or will they think it a sign of a material defect. There could be many other interpretations, but your agent should be able to discuss those with you, and present a strategy for getting across the message YOU desire. But whatever you do, realize that SOME folk out there will interpret it differently than you desire, and will try to use it to their advantage.
Having a house not sell quickly is hugely stressful and hugely frustrating. Sorry I don’t know any answers. None of the prospects I can identify are without shortcomings. You can keep it at the current price and wait out the 6 mos, then sign with a new agent or take it off the market for a while. You can drop the price - but if that doesn’t work, do you drop it again and again? Then what do you relist it at if you go with another agent?
On the plus side, it has only been 2 months, and you do not NEED to move. Hard as it is to believe, those are HUGE factors in your favor. Think how much more stressful this would be if you had accepted a job elsewhere, or couldn’t make the mortgage payments… You might ask your agent for ANY info on area home sales, whether directly comparable or not, just to give you an idea of what is the normal market time, whether prices were reduced, etc. SOME homes SOMEWHERE around yours have sold at SOMETIME in the past. Your agent should get you whatever is the best info available, even if not directly comparable.
Ask your agent how buyers and agents perceive properties that are taken off the market and then relisted. How much time should pass? What are other agents’ impressions of your home? Research any other homes for sale, and consider looking at them - either through open houses or private showings. Attend open houses to check out other agents and talk up the local market.
Work with your agent, and demand information and service. Even if it doesn’t work during this listing period, it will better educate you in how to interview and work with prospective agents in the past. I know you want your home sold, but try to accept that this might take longer than you had hoped (and garner less $ than you had hoped.) Even if that is the case, you CAN get an education from the current situation. Not your main goal, but of SOME benefit nonetheless.
I would not read as much into the open house thing as some people are. Apparently they are a big deal in some areas and market levels, but I never attended any while buying either house, and my agent didn’t think it was a good idea when I was selling mine. I didn’t see any ads/listings for open houses in anything in my price range (already built homes up to $150k), the only open houses I saw were either for new development or higher end places ($300k and up). Neither agent (I used the same buyer agent on both house buys) seemed to think this was unusual, or seemed to put much stock in open houses.
For me aside from a few that my realtor heard about, all of t
dflower, why don’t you post the online listing here and see what people think about it?
RatatoskK - I was reluctant to as thought we should not use this forum to advertise and sell
Dinsdale - yes I know it could be so much worse! I am flexible with my time and I live alone. I really should not complain just need info. Thanks for all the help.
Purple - no yard sales out here on the island. It is far too rural. But that is a good idea for those in town.
Yeah - we’re a nosey bunch! 
Maybe if we all agree that WE will not buy your house, and you agree that you will not sell it to a Doper…
And then, when we all coincidentally show up on your doorstep for happy hour this afternoon… 
Oh no and I am out of cocktail peanuts!