Hi Dana,

Selling a home today can be frustrating, and if their is an solace in the saying misery loves company, you have lots of company.... I pulled your home up on the mls and you've got lots of pictures ( love the hardscaping), Your agent has taken the time to ensure that all the information is filled in and you are offering a competitive coop commission. So, the easy stuff is covered.

The 5 most important factors that control the salability of a home are Location, Size, Condition, Price, and Marketing. The two most important factors, Locaton and Size are given and you won't be moving your home or changing it's size. That leaves us with Condition, Price and Marketing. It's not always easy to tell from the photos, but your home looks to be in good condtion, so we have price and marketing left. Your real estate agent is in control and responsible for the Marketing, but if the price isn't right no amount of marketing will be able to overcome that hurdle. Ask your agent to provide you with an updated CMA, 90 days or less of homes similar to yours and w/in close proximity. Buyer's will be using this data, so will the appraiser. Take a hard look at the numbers, drive by the sold homes, ask your agent to arrange a showing of the top competition homes. Then sit down and discuss your findings and decide how to proceed... Good luck to you .

Dana,
I have always taken my client that I have their home listed to see the active homes that are on the market and their competition. That way they get to see the home and not just numbers on paper. Ask you agent to see the homes that compete with yours.

check with your agent to see what the comps are selling for. just because you lowered your price doesnt mean it is a fair price. You could have started way too high because of what you owed on your home. See what comparable homes are selling for and also see what homes are on the market that are in the same price range as yours and what homes have sold for the amount you are asking. DOES YOUR HOUSE COMPARE TO THEM?

Hi Dana,
I know it is frustrating waiting for the right buyer to come along.Since it is a buyers market, some homes are taking longer to sell. Maybe you can talk to your agent and see how long it is taking the average home to sell in your area. Within the last few months, I sold several homes in Glen Burnie and they also had to reduce their price since we are in a declining market. Best of Luck to you!Donna Wisniewski,Champion Realty

Dana- Think like a Buyer! Concessions or incentives are more cost-effective than standard price reductions of $5,000 or $10,000 when it comes to expanding your pool of qualified Buyers. The numbers don't lie.
Milton offered some good advice but I strongly disagree with incentivizing the agent. You need to add value for potential Buyers. (Be sure that you are offering sufficient commission for your area and price range. If the going rate is 3% ...you need to be at 3%.) However, you need to offer the Bonus or incentives to the potential Buyers...not the agent.

I have asked my agent for recent comps andshe sent me ones showing that we are in the hig end but not the highest. Should I do as someone else suggested and offer an incentive or settlement instead of lowering the price again?

I would recommend that you ask your agent for recent (last 90 days) comparable "CLOSED" sales nearest to your property. That is properties that actually sold (NOT FOR SALE). This will give you a good idea of what buyers are actually willing to pay in todays market. Then look at the competition and ignor overpriced properties. If your property is priced correctly, then make sure that it is close to a tear price. Most buyers begin their search for properties on the internet and will search using a criteria that includes a price range. In the price criteria people tend to use round numbers such as , 250K, 275K, 300K. You may benefit from pricing your property in a way that you come up the the top of results to searched. Therefore, by lowering to a price that does not position the property for maximum exposure...then you may actually be better off offering a concession to the buyer or a bonus to the selling agent.For example, rather than lowering your price by 10K, try offering the same 10K as a bonus to the selling agent. That fact is that money motivates. You may also do some soul searching to determine how motivated you really are to sell. If you need to sell immidiately, then steadily and frequently lowering the price should do the trick. Even if that means taking a loss. If the property is being marketed correctly, steadily lowing the price will let you determin what price point generates real activity. There is usually a price point that sells a property immidiately! Good luck!!!

I am waiting for my realtor to let me know about offering incentives with the closings costs as a possible strategy for selling my house. I am not blaming my realtor for my house not selling but I have based my price on her recommendations. I know the market is not very good right now for sellers so I am trying to follow her advise. I did look at the house that is on the market close to mine and it is not in very good shape. I definitely have a much better house than that one.

Dana - Good luck with your new photos and fresh coat of paint.
(Don's advice was extremely inclusive and helpful for sure.)

If you're staying at the $274,900, you may want to consider offering a Seller Concession of about $5,000.
Incentives can act as a catalyst that stimulates curiosity and interest.

If you offer to pay discount points at closing ($5,000) that reduces a Buyer's monthly payment by:
$315/month for the first year
and $162/month for the second year.

By comparison -If you just reduce your price by $5,000 it lowers a Potential Buyer's monthly payment by about $32.00/month...
which hardly expands your pool odf potential Buyers at all whatsoever.

The Buyer may opt to use the $5,000 toward closing costs.
OR... If you are inundated with offers you might just put the 5 Grande right back into your own pocket!

Visit our site and contact us with any questions.
Hope things go well for you!

It's amazing how quickly everyone wants to blame the Realtor and are advising you to fire him/her
I can assure you that your problem is your price. . I'm 99.9 % sure of it.
Be realistic and call your Realtor and ask for a meeting and go to visit your competition. . pretend you are buyers and then come back to the office and price your property to sell

Looking forward to seeing all the new pictures! I sure hope you get sold asap! Are you going to buy a house when you get to NC? If so I can refer you to an agent down there! You can even get a rebate on the commission. Good luck!

No, the price was left at $274,900. My realtor didn't think we needed to reduce again because I have had 3 more showings in the last week.

Did you reduce the price?

Well I have repainted everything and my realtor was just here taking all new pictures. She said they should be up tonight so I hope that is enough to maybe get things moving. She didn't think it was necessary to take the house off the market, so I will go with her advise for now. Crossing my fingers! Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions.

One thing more, you may need to give your agent 30 days notice. Just an fyi, you want to read your contract to see what it says.

Hi Dana, if you are that quick of a painter then 2 weeks off the market can be long enough. If you have time, go visit a model home in a new housing development. That should give you some good ideas on colors, etc. It will also help you decide what you want to do with your staging. I know lots of people think it is a waste of time, but then they haven't staged a house and haven't seen how fast it moves a house either. Once you have everything painted and staged your Realtor should then retake photos (or have someone who knows what they're doing take them). Ask to view them before they are published on the MRIS. You can then have your say about which ones look good and which don't. You don't need tons of photos, just photos that really show off how pretty your house is or it's best features. By the way, other than paint, you shouldn't have to spend a whole lot of money. Use what you have and borrow from friends and family. Give me a yell if you get stuck for ideas. (cheryl.varnum@longandfoster.com) Hope this goes well for you.

Listen to Don. You may not want to hear that answer but good realtors will tell you what you need to know not just what you want to hear.
Greg

I am definitely going to repaint everything, but I am not sure what to do about taking it off the market. I will have it all repainted by the end of next weekend (I work fast). I am retiring 8/1 and moving to NC. How long should I keep it off the market before relisting it? Is 2 weeks long enough? Also if I am reading my contract correctly I think I have the option to end it after 90 days. So I guess I will be looking for a new agent.

Thank you all for your advice.

Hello Dana, I would definitely take it off the market for about 30 days if it was my house. Repaint and then put it back on. Give yourself enough time to get the job done without worrying about someone showing up in the middle of a paint job! I think with the neutral colors you'll get a lot more showings. You have a great house in a good neighborhood so take advantage of all that. But do go see the other house that is for sale on your street. It is a listed at a significantly lower price. I'm not sure yard size would make that much difference. Your agent can make an apptointment for you to tour that house.
You will need to read your agent listing contract carefully to find out what you need to do concerning your agent. Most listing contracts have provisions for terminating a contract but you need to ensure you follow them carefully. Talk to your agent, talk to your agent's manager. Show them why you are unhappy with how things have proceeded. Also check how long your contract is for. Most contracts are written for at least 6 months and then have termination provisions. If you are able to terminate the contract, make sure you interview at least 3 agents from different brokerages to find the one that will do the best job for you. Good luck! I think you have a lot going for you and the fact that you are open to the info on this blog will get you where you want to be!

Aw, Dana I feel your pain. I'd repaint it all a neutral color and lower the price again. :-(

"My agent set the price of the house at $299,900 because she said the lot size was so much bigger than anything comparable to it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who was she trying to fool? That's 300k to me. If she would have listed it at 300, it would have been much more search friendly. It would have shown up in 250-300 and 300-350. I guess I'm very late to the party with that suggestion. :(

Kudos to you, Don. As one "blunt" Realtor to another, you make me proud!!

Sincerely,
Grace Morioka, SRES, e-Pro
Area Pro Realty
San Jose, CA

Don,
Thanks for all the advise. I guess I will be spending next weekend repainting the house. I didn't reallize just how bad the photos were. Now I do. My agent took all the photos and I thought she knew what she was doing.

Should I repaint all the rooms the same color or just use different shades of beige? Do all the rooms need to be repainted or just the ones you mentioned? I had to laugh a little at the way you described the colors because they really aren't the colors they appear to be. The orange bathrooms are really a light peach. And the yellow in the basement is not a bright as it looks in the photo.

My agent set the price of the house at $299,900 because she said the lot size was so much bigger than anything comparable to it. When I ask her about the lack of showing she just says the price must be the problem. I am not in the DC area and I didn't think the price I paid in 2005 was at the top end.

Should I just take the house off the market until I repaint it and then list it again? Or should I just take new photos after I repaint? Should I start over with another agent?

Thank you to everyone else that has responded to my question. I will consider everything you have said. Thank you very much.

I think I'd give Don Tepper and his answer a bit of attention Dana. He's a straight shooter and obviously put much thought and time into his comment.

Advice from a Real Professional is valuable and IMHO you were fortunate in hearing from one of the proven Professionals that participate in this Forum.

Best of Luck with your sale, Dunes

Apologies Rockinblu guess we were both impressed at the same time!

Too bad I can only give one TU to Don's post. Heck, I don't even begin to have enough thumbs for what his post deserves. Great work Don!

I haven't run the comps on your property, so I'm limited in addressing price. However, I see that you bought in 2005, at the absolute top of the market, for $226,000. Most houses in the D.C. area are selling for no more (and often less) than they sold for in 2005. But you put yours on the market for $299,900. Did the comps support that? (I doubt it.) What do the comps say now? Have your Realtor run new comps.

Now, for some blunt advice.

With just 2 showings in 75 days, we can reasonably assume that the house has been overpriced. And you blew your best opportunity when it was first listed; listings get "stale."

Further--bluntly--what's online is terrible. It's no mystery why you're not getting showings. Let's consider the photos online. It's good that you have a lot; but what you have isn't good.

Main photo: Way too dark. Looks dark and gloomy.
Photo 2: Patchy lawn. Screened porch looks in bad shape.
Photo 3: Even patchier lawn. And now we can see that the house has multiple exterior elements--brick, siding, etc.
Photo 4: The infamous sidewalk to nowhere.
Photo 5: Patchy lawn, power lines. Photo has green haze.
Photo 6: More patchy lawn and scraggly trees.
Photo 7: Dark photo of a door. Is this the entrance? If so, what's the chair doing right next to it?
Photo 8: Dark. Also looks as if someone's grandmother lives there.
Photo 9: OK exposure. Paint the room an off-white. (Or light beige.)
Photo 10: Terrible photo. Foreground (what you want the people to see) is way too dark. The neighbor's house is the most prominent thing there.
Photo 11: Dining room area: Terrible photo. Expose for the dining table, not the outside.
Photo 12: Needs better exposure. Also, stage the table.
Photo 13: Kitchen: Walls too yellow. Also, there's no counter space.
Photo 14: Kitchen. Terrible photo; too dark. And get rid of that germ-infested dishtowel.
Photo 15: Nice refrigerator. But I don't have to spend $250,000 to buy a metal refrigerator.
Photo 16: Bed. OK. So what?
Photo 17: Window. Or maybe the intent was to show another bedroom? What I'm seeing is the window.
Photo 18: Another window. This one appears to be in a dark orange bedroom. Paint the bedroom an off-white or light beige.
Photo 19: Bed and closets. Orange walls: Repaint. The closets look like they're cheap metal.
Photo 20: Small sink in orange room. Repaint.
Photo 21: Bathtub. OK.
Photo 22: Toilet and sink in orange bathroom.
Photo 23: Nice washer and dryer. However, there's an old laundry tub nearby. And we can see you may have some problems with venting, with the flexible ductwork.
Photo 24: Hot water heater. And the point is that there's hot water in the house?
Photo 25: Ugly yellow jumbled room. Repaint, declutter, and straighten up.
Photo 26: Another view of the ugly yellow jumbled room. Two mis-matched chairs to watch the small TV.
Photo 27: Blurry photo of sink in orange bathroom. Repaint bathroom.
Photo 28: Basement with ladder and tools. And the point is . . . ?
Photo 29: Ugly basement photo.

Listen to your agent. However, consider taking it off the market for awhile. What you've done thus far is turn potential buyers off with an overpriced property that doesn't show well. Then:

Repaint as necessary. Stage as necessary. Don't forget to improve curb appeal. Then get someone competent to take some decent pictures.

Then price it right. Get current comps. Price at the low end of the comps.

Then start promoting the house.

Hope that helps.

Listen to your agent. .the best marketing you can do to sell your home is to reduce the price.
He can fly helicopters with banners over your home. .if you do not have the right price, no agent will sell.

Dana, it shows that you have done a lot of work to your house and have done an excellent job. I speccialize in staging homes and can tell you that the colors you have chosen are very personalized. I know you probably do NOT want to repaint but I am afraid that is what you have to do to get more showings. Most homebuyers today are browsing the web. Your house is definitely getting viewed but it is marked off the buyer's list because of the inside colors. The green bedroom is about the only one you don't need to change. I would paint the living room and dining room a light taupe (take down the wallpaper, folks do not like wallpaper). If you want to keep the kitchen yellow, go for the lightest shade you can find. The walls in the bedrooms could go antique white and let the bedroom accessories add the color.
Where you need color is out front. Add some potted plants around the garden bed in groups (you can take them with you when you sell). That should help. Also ask your agent to retake photos. The ones showing are too old and dark. I bet your grass is green now, not winter brown. That will go a long way to getting folks in the door. Out back, add some patio furniture and potted plants to make it look more hospitable.
I know more work is the last thing you want but seriously, what you and I think is beautiful is usually too drastic for the average buyer. Good luck!

This is a general answer based on my experience. I would not want to second guess your agent and would never interfere with the job she is doing. I would recommend that you sit down with your agent and talk this situation over. Look at the comps and what is going on in the area. Most appraisers only want to see 90 day comps, since you have been on the market for 75 days see what has changed since you listed it. In my opinion, open houses usually waste everyone's time. If you are a serious buyer you want to see what is out there, not just what is open to everyone on Sunday. Listen with an open mind. As agents we don't want to see you get less, but we can't control the market. Price is king right now. Buyers are looking for the deal, and they will find it. If you don't really need to sell right now maybe wait, but even when we have officially hit the bottom, prices won't rebound to bring us back to where we were. So analyze your situation and have a talk with your agent. If you feel that you need a new agent at that point, ask to be released but don't hold her accountable for people not showing the house, that sounds like a price issue to me. Good luck to you.

I don't know what conditions are in your marketplace, but in mine... the average days-on-market is close to 180 days.

Granted, only 2 showings in 75 days isn't great... I'd like to see more activity than that... but without knowing a whole lot more about what marketing your agent has done for you (other than the MLS), it difficult, if not impossible, to critique whether he's doing a good job or not.

Open houses are not a great draw these days, and rarely result in the sale of the home that is open. And the fact that your price is at "break even" means nothing to the marketplace. Today's buyers have no ownership in your debt, and they don't care that you might have to bring money to the table in order to close. All they're interested in, understandably, is getting a home at below-market-value price.

Dana-

I have a couple of suggestions that shouldn't cost too much. I think you should neutralize your color palette (I like bright colors too) but neutral colors make the house appear bigger and accomodate any furniture, rugs etc. Beiges and taupes throughout are what are suggested for sales.

Secondly I would suggest that your pictures be reshot preferably with better lighting and sunshine. Your front shot looks dreary and dated. Perhaps a more interesting angle,

Are you close to shopping, park, water etc. Pictures of amenities or videos of amenities of the area. Hopefully your in craigs lists, realtor.com etc. to generate more traffic. Placement on the major websites creates more traffic through.

Good luck!

Joanne Hoffmaster
O'Brien Realty
410 610-3427

Dana,
I would suggest some staging tips as well as repainting your home to more neutral colors. The outside landscaping looks like it could be updated.