Selling your house? Listen up!

Anything goes EXCEPT porn and spam. Keep out if you're easily offended.

Moderator: Moderators

Selling your house? Listen up!

Postby rpoz-29 » Sat Jul 23, 2016 9:40 am

We've had our home on the market since March. We've used this agent before with good results, but not this time. We have to contact her to get feedback from showings, and the only strategy we have in selling the place appears to be "lower the price". We've dropped it twice and we're hardly 2 grand above county assessment as it is. She seems baffled as to why it hasn't sold, but that isn't helping. When the listing expires in September, we will have wasted the best selling months of the year. When we re-list it, we'll will interview several realtors asking them what they plan to do, how they plan to list it, what we need to do to give it more "curb appeal", etc. My point is....have several agents look at your home before you list it, and keep in mind, they work for you.
rpoz-29
 
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2006 11:39 am


Re: Selling your house? Listen up!

Postby hammerdown7 » Sat Jul 23, 2016 10:48 am

Have you considered talking to the Realty owner about canceling the contract? I don't know if that's possible but it may get you more attention from your agent. How have other homes for sale in the area done?

Dick
User avatar
hammerdown7
 
Posts: 3805
Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2006 7:53 pm
Location: Clawson, MI

1976 Chevrolet Vega Cosworth

Re: Selling your house? Listen up!

Postby rpoz-29 » Sat Jul 23, 2016 6:48 pm

I actually spoke with our agent about taking it off the market as of 9-1-16. She said she would pull it and there wouldn't be any cancellation fees. She is one of the brokers in the firm, so she may as well be one of the owners. I can all but guarantee there is a clause in there regarding re-listing the house with another company within a specified time. Since the listing expires on 9-17-16, I'm going to let it run it's course and re-list it. It's a big home, and the trend these days is smaller. Similar homes are selling although not as fast as they were a year ago. She's a friend...her son played sports with my youngest, and my wife knew her through real estate closings. I think she's as dumbfounded as we are, (and I think she thought it would sell fast), but she's the one that's supposed to figure this out.
rpoz-29
 
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2006 11:39 am

Re: Selling your house? Listen up!

Postby Monza Harry » Sun Jul 24, 2016 11:37 am

We are a society of aging, or new "Americans/Canadians" and the new people want the big house for their usually young families, but can rarely afford "nice" big homes, they instead buy in my neighbourhood of older not as well maintained houses as they can see themselves making that work! Older people are looking to do what you are, downsize their work load and expenses, as not many actually want less space. So as such larger homes with large properties are "the best deal in town" from a value point of view, the most profit will come from the small house/property bought 20+ years ago as that is, the current demand for probably the next 15+ years. I hope you get what and where you are looking to go without any/too much back stepping! Harry
I'm not a hoarder I'm a preservationist 78 Monza Spyder (~Soon(ish +/- I guess) To Be 2+2 with Spoilers)
User avatar
Monza Harry
 
Posts: 2568
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:50 am
Location: Windsor ON Canada

1978 Chevrolet Monza 2+2

Re: Selling your house? Listen up!

Postby rpoz-29 » Mon Jul 25, 2016 9:31 am

What we're experiencing is "HGTV syndrome". Some of the people looking at the house want a "perfect" home. This one isn't. It was built in '74 and while it's been maintained properly, we never bothered to "upgrade" because the latest craze were granite counter tops, open floor plans, pedestal sinks, garden tubs, or what not. In the little "move in ready" rancher I bought I've gutted one bathroom, replaced the floor and all the fixtures in the other, (floors had been wet), painted everything, dug down to the footing where water was coming under the house, upgraded the electrical, and the list goes on. It's a bit annoying when my agent tells us, "Well.....they think the house needs too much work" when someone sees ours. What the heck? It could use some upgrades, (and the price allows for that), but structurally, I'll put it up against anything around here. It can be seen on "Zillow". It's a brick 2 story on Chalkley Road in Chester, Virginia. Take a look, if you have a minute.......
rpoz-29
 
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2006 11:39 am

Re: Selling your house? Listen up!

Postby rpoz-29 » Wed Aug 24, 2016 9:25 am

Well, it's been 30 days since my last Real Estate gripe. We've moved into the smaller house, and are still trying to sell the big one. We made some improvements to the house and have had more showings, but no offers at all. We thought maybe not having all the furniture in the place would give folks a better idea of the room sizes, which is why we moved. The listing expires on the 17th of September, and I don't think we'll relist it right away. It seems we took "down sizing" a bit too far, and are having one heck of a time getting situated. Enclosed trailer at a friends warehouse, we have some furniture in a storage facility, some stuff still at the old house, and most of it here. Hired a local moving company who assured us there no need to take the drawers out of the dressers, vanity, etc. They wrapped the stuff with plastic wrap then turned them upside down! Scrambled the contents of the drawers unbelievably. All we had them move was the furniture, thankfully. I had an estimate on an addition of 10"x24" to the existing garage. It was a little over $15,000, which seemed pretty high, but would really overprice the house in this area. I could build it myself, (and will if we stay), but until we have a contract on the other house I don't want to put much more money into this one. We may simply sell or rent this one out, and move back. I know what I had there, and although the traffic noise had gotten to be a pita, at least we had room for all our stuff. What was I thinking??????
rpoz-29
 
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2006 11:39 am

Re: Selling your house? Listen up!

Postby bugdewde » Wed Aug 24, 2016 9:14 pm

I hear ya.....
We have been in our "new" 30-year-old house about a month and a half. Still have my "old" 17-year-old house. Good thing, too. We have lots of stuff still in there. Toting two notes kinda sucks. Will be several months, if not a year, before I can get my place ready to go on the market. Old place basement currently holds my '73 hatchback (on jackstands awaiting steering box swap) and the '81 Turbo Trans Am (awaiting a trans swap/repair)..... and all my tools and accumulated "gear". Camping, yard work, Jeep Parts, Vega Parts, Engines, Transmissions, Motorcycle parts/accessories... etc.
I'll never get everything moved!
"New" place has a small two car garage that holds her Nissan Sentra and my StreetGlide. All the others sit outside .... GTO, Jeep, Bug, both Kammbacks, Miata, Boat ..... and the 2 utility/car trailers. I can't afford a decent garage, now, at the "new" place until the "old" place sells .... which will be a while ...... :lol:
Dwight

'72 Vega GT Kammback, 215 V8
'73 Vega Wagon - Currently in Limbo....
My rides: http://www.cardomain.com/id/bugdewde
User avatar
bugdewde
 
Posts: 2124
Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2006 7:08 pm
Location: East Tennessee

1972 Chevrolet Vega Kammback GT

Re: Selling your house? Listen up!

Postby rpoz-29 » Thu Aug 25, 2016 8:23 am

I hear you, too. Hard to get situated in a new place. When we decided to move, there were several factors. I thought the big house would sell in the $280,000 range, and since it's paid for, would give me a "windfall" to buy some land elsewhere, without messing with my 401k. We've dropped the price to $274,500, and there is still no real interest. Hard to believe a home we loved that much could receive such a lousy reception on the market. That, added to the unexpected repairs to the new place, means my windfall is shrinking. We also wanted a smaller home in a quiet area with less traffic. We got that, but now I'm discovering that my driveway is too small, and I worry about the noise "I" may make. I haven't been this close to neighbors in many years. When you do put your house on the market, do yourself a favor and interview several agents before you list it. Ask them how much they think they can sell your house for, and what you need to do in order to give it the necessary curb appeal. When our listing expires, I'll probably have several "super agents" look at mine, and give me an honest assessment of what it can sell for. If I don't like their numbers, we'll move back. And don't use a realtor that's a family friend. Just my .02!
rpoz-29
 
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2006 11:39 am

Re: Selling your house? Listen up!

Postby rpoz-29 » Mon Sep 26, 2016 4:39 pm

Since I last posted, the listing expired, and we've begun speaking to different agents. Every last one of them has shown us data that all but guarantees we were priced too high. It's a split foyer, (which has fallen out of style, but who knew?), and it could use some upgrading in the baths, kitchen and a little TLC. As much as I hate to do it, we'll have to drop the price. Our other agent had access to the same stats these guys did, yet never came to us to break the news. She's a friend, and may have thought it would sell, wanting us to get the most for it. I'm not sure. If I had had this information when it was listed, we would have listed it cheaper, and I'm sure it would have sold by now. Live and learn.
rpoz-29
 
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2006 11:39 am


Return to Off-Topic

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 20 guests

cron