WWYD? Advice on selling house

[threedogfarm]

I would love some advice on our current house situation.  I'm sure someone will be able to suggest some ideas that I haven't thought of yet.

 

We've had our house on the market for three weeks with only two showings. We lived in our home for 8 years and did so many updates to our home:  new windows, standing seam roof, all new floors except for the kitchen (which had gorgeous antique brick), painted throughout, upgraded insulation, put in a heating system (it had electric), new kitchen, three renovated bathrooms, so there really isn't anything left to do but paint the exterior (which will need to be done in  couple of years. We're NOT doing it!).  Our updates were quality updates:  hardwood floors, porcelain tile, 6 burner stove with custom hood, etc.  Our market is supposed to be a hot seller's market and I do see a lot of houses (mostly in town) going under contract within a week in all the different price ranges.

 

So now our agent is saying that we priced the house too high and that to show "good value" we should lower the price 10%.  I feel that she is trying to say that we need to make sure that the buyer feels like they're getting a good deal.  We did interview three agents and the comps were over  100K apart and so we chose a price right in the middle because I didn't want to be too high. Interestingly, the agent did admit that the other houses in our immediate area are also not getting any showings lately either.  Maybe everyone is waiting for either a great deal or to buy in town (no inventory in town right now)?  There are houses a lot lower than our price and there are houses a lot higher than our price and all of us haven't had a lot of showings.

 

Could anyone suggest some options to consider?

 

Part of me wants to say, yes, we'll lower the price, but I want to change our contract to a 30-day contract.  Can I do that?  If it doesn't sell in 30 days, then we have the ability to reconsider our options (and even consider a new agent--you would not believe the awful photos she had put with the listing initially--I finally retook photos and sent them to her and her write-up was about 2 sentences.  Talk about killing the initial buzz of a new listing!).   She really wants us to lower it within the next couple of days because a whole bunch of agents are going to tour the agency's houses in our area on Thursday and she said that if we lower the price that will get those agents to bring people in.

 

Another option would be to leave the price as is and see what happens.  We're not in a rush to move.  We're only moving to lower our general living expenses which we can afford easily now but we'd rather not ;) We don't need to remain in this expensive town because we don't use the school system and my husband's work commute is now over 45 minutes each way but we're not in a rush.  The town we want to move into has a buyer's market right now and lots of inventory so I'm not worried about selling and then having to find housing. 

 

It's crazy, but after all the prep and breaking the news to the kids (they really don't want to leave--it's an amazing property for kids--huge field to explore, stream to wander down, pond to swim in. . .), we just ready to be done with this.  But 10% is a lot of money and I just wonder if it's to access a larger buyer population rather than waiting to sell the house for what it's worth.

 

Any other thoughts? 

[Spryte]

My thoughts echo yours: excellent photos, and an excellent description for all those online sites. Did your online write up include all those updates?

 

We bought/sold in Aug, so I was looking this time last year. I really did look at those photos and read descriptions.

 

Good luck!

[The Girls' Mom]

Sounds like you didn't get a great realtor.  If your comps are showing your house to be mid-range, then I wouldn't lower the price much...if at all.  It sounds like SHE is in a hurry to get it sold.  I would try to renegotiate the contract.  Go through it with a fine tooth comb and make sure she is following it to the letter.  

 

Three weeks isn't much time.  

[Carol in Cal.]

You've got a bad realtor.  She hurried at the beginning and didn't show your house to advantage.

 

Realtors' tours happen frequently, and you don't need to rush the price down for this one unless you are in a hurry.

 

If I were you I would have the house painted--a serviceable but not super restoration/expensive paint job.  Curb appeal is huge in real estate (as is your website with the PICTURES), and you are probably losing people who drive by and see a place that looks bad from the outside, then has rank amateur pictures on the website.  Also, if it's clear that a house needs no immediate work, that it's turnkey, you will attract a whole subset of buyers who are looking specifically for that.  Your realtor should have told you this.

 

You put a lot of money and energy into making the inside of the house really special, and that should move you closer to the top of the price range.  If you're not even getting nibbles in the middle, it's because your realtor has done a lousy job for you.

 

Let the contract lapse, paint the outside and make sure that the front yard area looks good, and then relist with someone else who has a better marketing plan.

Edited May 9, 2016 by Carol in Cal.

[Corraleno]

I wouldn't drop the price, but I might be inclined to paint the outside and spruce up the landscaping a bit. I have no idea what your house is worth, but for the sake of discussion let's say you've got it listed for $300K. Your realtor wants you to drop the price by $30K after only 3 weeks??? You could paint the house, do some landscaping, and pay for professional staging and photography for much less than that! I would do whatever you can to make your house as perfect and turn-key as possible, and if it's fairly priced then I would sit back and wait for the right buyer. 

 

(Oh, and I'd change realtors as soon as legally possible.)

[madteaparty]

double post sorry

Edited May 9, 2016 by madteaparty

[snickerplum]

If other houses in your area are priced lower and also not getting many viewings, reducing your price doesn't seem beneficial, IMO. I would keep an eye on how other agencies are moving houses.

[madteaparty]

My house is currently on the market, but a very low volume area. I expect it to take many months. Anyway, one thing my realtor told me is that there's different "high seasons" for different areas. I rushed to list in spring (even though I don't want it to sell yet ;)) because I thought it was busy season but she told me August/September actually are.

We've only had one showing but they want to come back. Zero other showings, to make you feel better. :)

Also, your realtor sounds awful. I'd drop them as soon as permitted.

Eta again that I am not dropping my price until about 6 months in, if ever.

Edited May 9, 2016 by madteaparty

[OneStepAtATime]

1. You say that you interviewed 3 different realtors and the prices they quoted for your house were over $100,000 in range?  Maybe I misunderstood, since that seems odd, unless your area is really challenging to price.  Does your area vary by section significantly?  It may make accurately pricing your house very difficult.  The first thing I think I would do is actually tour other comps in the immediate area and drive by other comps that sold in the last 6 months in your area before making any sort of decision regarding dropping the price.  

 

2.  Did your realtor actually set the price you have your house listed at or did you?  It seems it was your realtor, but I could be wrong.  I agree, if the realtor set the price and then wants to drop it by 10% after only 3 weeks that makes me wonder if either your area is EXTREMELY hard to price, she didn't do her research or the market has changed.

 

3.  If other houses are not getting many viewings right now then it may just be a less than ideal time to put a house on the market in your area.  Perhaps people are busy with graduation ceremonies or gearing up for active summers and don't want to deal with it right now.  Or maybe the economy has taken a downturn and people are being cautious.  Or maybe there just never is a whole lot of activity in your area and it may take months to sell the house.

 

4.  All of that being said, the vast majority of the houses I have seen just sitting and sitting and sitting (which I don't consider 3 weeks to be) are because the house was overpriced.  In selling our own houses we found that slightly underpricing for the area netted us quick sales with better prices.  In other words we did better if we slightly underpriced right when we put the house on the market and the interest is highest.  Once we actually ended up in a bidding war between two buyers and sold for full price with certain contingencies requested on their end removed.  The buyers didn't want to lose out on a good deal.  The market was not hot and many houses had been sitting for months and were selling for under value.  Ours sold in a weekend at full price.  With another house, slightly overpricing in hopes of having room to negotiate actually caused us to lose buyers and time.

 

5.  And I agree, you might just get an estimate for what it would cost to repaint the exterior (or what it would cost to do it yourselves) and spruce up the yard to improve curb appeal.  Definitely take new photos if you do.  

 

6.  Have you actually walked through any comps in your area?  You might consider taking a friend with you to walk through area comps then have them walk through your own house with you to get some feedback.  There may be things that seem perfectly fine to you that a potential buyer might not like.  Ask your friend to be bluntly honest and don't get offended.  Just listen.  You don't have to take their advice but definitely keep what they say in mind.  It may be something simple and easy to change.

Edited May 9, 2016 by OneStepAtATime

[Katy]

I think you have a poor realtor.  I think she lied to you to get the listing and now is telling you the truth: you've overpriced.  I would let the listing expire and wait a year if you're truly in no hurry.  In many areas of the country the changes you made wouldn't improve the house value much, they would just reduce the reasons not to choose your house over others. Obviously if you live in a very nice suburban area that might not be true, but the problem with those listings is that there are often no true comps, so you have to price by value for square foot of recent sales.  You can choose comps from the updated homes, but you're still limited by lack of demand for your location.

 

If you're in a hurry, pricing to sell can bring in multiple offers and drive up the price, but probably only $10k.  We typically price to sell, get multiple offers and sell within a couple days for around $5k over asking price.  We're not in a home where the value could vary by $100k though.

 

Next year don't ask what to list it for.  Ask what to list it for if you wanted to sell it in a week.  Then only list it the day before the deadline to be on the broker's tour.  And never believe the people who give you higher values.  Look at the price per square foot for sales in the last six months that are both in your neighborhood and zoned into the same elementary school. Throw out the ones with significantly different features and foreclosures.

[TammyS]

--you would not believe the awful photos she had put with the listing initially--I finally retook photos and sent them to her and her write-up was about 2 sentences.

 

I didn't even read past this.  Fire the agent and start over.  This is the most basic of things with an agent.  If she can't do this right,  I wouldn't want any more dealings with her. 

 

[amy g.]

When I was interviewing realtors, they told me that if I wasn't happy with their service, I could contact their broker and get him/her to work with me personally, or I could choose another realtor from the company. In your position, I'd do that right now.

 

There is NO excuse for bad photos. Every single realtor I interviewed promised to use a professional photographer. That is a couple of hundred dollars that not spending could cost you many thousands.

 

I don't find the spread in prices hard to imagine. The spread on the price of my house from various realtors was $175,000 but it is a unique situation, so I understand why.

 

In our case (and we knew it was coming) our housing market is down because of oil prices and lay offs in the area. Houses are not selling for as much as they did last summer. My house is also high for the area because we have acreage. People are just more cautious about spending that much with so much uncertainty.

 

That said, we did have a good offer but it fell through because we didn't do everything we should have done to prepare for the inspection.

 

Right now, we have 2 families who are competing for our house, but I won't accept a contingency offer. I told them that whoever sells their existing house first can buy ours.

 

We have had tons of showings from the beginning, but most of them were just not a good fit for property. They ended up getting a new house on 2 acres instead of an older house on 6 for the same price.

 

I did lower our price twice because we are in a declining market, and I don't want to be chasing the market down.

 

My understanding is that if you get a ton of showings, but no offers (like we did) price is the issue. And when I lowered the price, I started getting offers.

 

But if you aren't getting showings at all, then the problem is with your listing/marketing.

 

I'd call your realtor's boss and say that you want professional photos now. You want a new agent and you want to know what extra steps are being taken to market your house. If s/he can't do that, you want out of the contract so you can take your listing to another company.

 

Get pictures and descriptions that tell a story that will lure buyers in. Then when you love your listing, see if you get showings. Give it a few weeks, if you still don't get showings, drop your price until you do.

 

I'm sorry you are going through this. It is so stressful!

[happi duck]

IMO, lowering your price at this point makes you look desperate to sell and might encourage lowball offers.

 

Since you're not in a hurry I vote that more effort go into the current listing.

[idnib]

Get a new realtor, first. Yes, there may be problems with the local market and finding the right price, but the 2-line description and bad photos are inexcusable.

 

I would not reduce the price right now, but that's just me. Make sure the photos and description detail all the upgrades so the higher price makes sense. A high price compared plus a bad description explaining why are not going to work well together.

Edited May 10, 2016 by idnib

[lauraw4321]

Fire the realtor. Unless you have some kind of really unusual agreement, you are free to do that at any time. Bad pics and bad description were all I needed to hear.