Well - I happen to know my agent is wonderful - plus she is a very close friend so I would never do anything to offend her and would not accept her as an agent if she wasn't as great as she is. Sometimes people can be a bit sensitive . . . I viewed several comps this weekend and now feel good about ours. I agree - lets move on.

Ryan,
Steele is right on all subjects. I did not comment on the subject for Ethics reasons. You did what is known as a "dangling insult" to your Realtor. You were not trying to insult her but you indirectly did. I can't help you on selling your house, our clients are sellers for now. I let buyers shop, I point out flaws, look at history, a team approach. If the house does not work for them, it is out. If it needs repairs, I put a dollar amount to them. The house in most demand is 4 bedrooms up. Make sure your dream house has four up.
New information, new ball game. You have found your dream house. Now I understand your actions. Each house must be handled individually, even those that start out with the same specs. We are full circle back to the same same. Go shop the competition, the answer lies with them. Buyers could care less about marketing. It is simple, do this, that, or nothing. If you are dying for the other house, compromise, take it down, 5-10k, hold a broker open and a public open. You can turn down unattractive offers. We all need to move on.
My compliments to Mr Dailey, Mort. Broker and Mr Garcia, Agent. Good answers!

With respect, you have asked a loaded question among others. And that is in regard to your own agent. Do you know it is an ethics violation to undermine another agent? For us as fellow agents, that is. An agent with whom you have a mutual contract of loyalty?

You need to satisfy yourself on the merits of your own agent. Ask him/her if you have questions on marketing. Sadly there are agents who would be happy to throw another agent under the bus for a listing.

We have a mutual satisfaction clause in our listing agreement with sellers. Either side can cancel at any time for cause. The only condition is that we talk about why the cancellation is wanted and whether it can be fixed.

Perhaps such a discussion is needed here.

Just a thought.

MNBOY

Some of your answers have been helpful and I do appreciate you actually looking into the area before answering. However, there are ways to answer without being rude and disrespectful.

The house is on craig's list - I figured the more exposure the better.

Very interesting that you say to keep the house at 299 if we do not NEED to move right away. We would love to move because we found another house that we really want - we are willing to go lower - I guess we'll see where the market takes us.

I'm curious about our agent. Good? Bad?

Also, the difference between Tatt0006 and MNBOY is I am not a realtor nor am I giving advice. It would do nobody any good to know my name.

Out of curiosity - you are a local realtor, right? Have you shown my home? do you have any buyers in the area looking at this price range?? I am curious to know what buyers say. Also, since you seem to know the area, what do you think the price should be (remember I will not compete with short sales or foreclosures)

Thanks

This is a unique forum, it's true intention, unknown to the participants. Realtors give out advice, participate, and many hope to engage someone leading to a client relationship. The public asks questions, hoping for the right answers and information. I personally love the Internet, it is in a class with the telegraph, telephone, television, and so on. There is no real federal regulation of it. There is no real code of conduct among it's participants. We are on our own to conduct ourselves based upon our own personal moral compass.
I don not expect to make a client relationship via the Internet. I take the profession very seriously because of the amount of money that is involved. A mistake and you can ruin someones life quite quickly. Bad decisions result in financial losses, divorce, bankruptcy, even homelessness.
Historically there has been little financial risk to buying a home, few lost money. That changed with easy credit, and low interest rates. Who's fault is another whole discussion. As a country, 30-40% of
homeowners owe more than the market value of their house.
Everything moves quickly now, people want to move in shorter cycles. The result is a collusion with RE market values and and loan obligations. Even if you have done everything right in your home purchase, the market may punish you. It is out of your hands. I tried to understand what happened, and how to buy and sell under the conditions. I read volumes on sales, marketing, and various markets. I also spend a lot of time on the Internet using and corresponding on the various forums.
Participants often do not like the direct and often negative answers. Professionally trained sales and marketing is the exception and not the rule among Realtors. We are a profession of many levels of expertise and experience. In my opinion, commenting on a situation with out looking at it, makes the chance of a incorrect answers very high. It would appear that I was the only one who looked up your house, neighborhood, competition, Realtor, and even her performance. It is all out there on the MLS.. If you do not have to move immediately, you gave the impression you did. Then hold at $299k until next spring. The competition will change. I do not like giving out bad advice when there is $200k, $300k ,$400k, or more on the table. Based upon the market, a lot of bad advice and mistakes were made. It does not bother others that they may be wrong.. There is more than one right answer in real estate.
I did fire a shot across your bow, your response was not unique. My last couple of sentences were probably over the line of respectability. What ever buyers or sellers do now requires more thought, product, and market knowledge. The market is very unforgiving. The wrong buy, addition, design choice, location, and so on can be very costly. Everyone's mistakes or bad decisions are now center stage.
I do not know your real motives for continued posting, obviously you do not like my comments. I tried to help, apparently I failed miserably based on your standards. You reaction to anything negative is patent. Your buyers will go right to the negatives. This part of the forum is for advice and opinions, your motivation does not seem to fit here. Is your house on Craigs list? Yes, another couple of shots. Not as cheap as yours, I might add. Is there any difference in Tatt0006 and MNBoy?

MNBOY -

There is a buyer for every home. One must have patience. Family with two younger children and an older child who begs for the basement bedroom away from the parents . . . nice house with three beds up and one down . . . sold.

Primarily to MNBOY . . .

I have noticed that most of the realtors who are not rude and do not lecture others actually put their name as their username on Trulia. I am not stupid, actually very well educated. I am also aware of the house on Alamo Circle and already know it is a short sale. The house has space, but nothing else. If I have to wait for that one to go off the market then I will - I am in no hurry.

I KNOW price is what sells, but again I am in no hurry. Also, if an offer came in lower - maybe I'd take it. I am very familiar with the other house's floor plan and will not even attempt to compete with a short sale.

I didn't realize when posting questions on Trulia I would get such rude, unhelpful replies (MNBOY). I can understand if you are trying to get me to lower my price so you can make another sale. I have gone through many of the comps that are NOT short sales and agree with my realtor and the other dozen out there that say our house is fairly priced.

Happy selling :)

You are looking for the creative marketing solution. From another Realtor, I might add. If anyone had the magic solution they would own the business and they would package it via listing presentation, book, or seminar. Price works, proven by foreclosures. A house with lots of flaws or negatives will sell at the right price.
You would like to break even after selling expenses. So would all the 10 million past, present, and future foreclosed on home owners. Selling is about solving a problem or satisfying a need. That is why people buy. 2004 buyers were different from 2009 buyers and there a lot less of them in 2009. Reading between the lines, you want to move yesterday.
Alamo Circle is bigger, has 4 beds up, you have upgrades. 2009 is about solving problems and needs, upgrades are not a top priority, sometimes a negative(higher price),
Go see it, if you do not significantly beat it out, you got to be below it in price. A solution would be it goes pending. It is also a short sale, your favor, they fall through a lot. This is not rocket science, for buyers it is about shopping for the best value, needs fulfillment, and problem solving. 4 beds up, three small children, problem solved, Alamo Circle sold.

Traditionally the market cools as the temperature cools up here on the tundra. My personal experience is that I am busier than usual now compared to previous years. I can lay nearly all of that at the feet of the first time buyer tax incentive. Both buyers wanting to take advantage of the incentive and sellers who see this as a better time to move on due to the incentive I am seeing a definite uptick in activity.

Nobody would want to move into thier new home during the busy holiday season or in the depths of January but with the current incentives I'm pretty sure we are going to see more buyers and sellers packing.

Addresses are listed here all the time. MLS numbers as well.

Don't cover you light with a basket :>)

Who knows, maybe one of us might have someone.

Hi. Thanks for all of the replies from local folks - it is nice to get your opinions. To all the agents near Blaine, MN: do any of you have buyers looking in the 280-320 price range (mine is $299K)?? If so please show them my house. It is beautiful and all of the agents who have seen it says it shows very well. I would like more opinions and more buyers looking (don't we all!).

We are not dead set on the price - willing to negotiate. Also, flexible on the closing date. I realize many people may want to benefit from the tax cut ($6500) that starts December 1st.

If anyone is willing to show the house please let me know - e-mail me at tatt0006@msn.com and I will give you the MLS number. Also, yesterday my realtor just added a $1000 incentive to the realtor who brings an acceptable offer.

Should I have an open house? I'm still not decided . . .

Is it appropriate to list the MLS number here so I can get more feedback??

THANKS!!!

Lower the price, it will sell.

Also, plenty of government money, assistance and foodstamps to go around.

Tatt0006,

Here are the answers to your questions:

The end of the year and the holidays are usually slower for home sales. The buyers that are out there, however, usually are the more serious ones, so homes do sell during this period. The Spring market is considered to be a strong time for activity and unofficially starts the day after the Superbowl. Unfortunately, the longer your home is on the market, the less showing activity you'll have as time goes on. This is why it's vitally important to get everything right, such as price and condition when your house first hits the market. Price reductions and fixing things later don't typically work.

I would consider the price range for first time home buyers as $250,000 and under.

I think anytime you can add a bathroom to your house it will increase both the price and the marketability. I say go for it. One note, however, be sure to take your home off of the market during this time.

The bottom line is that while the sales activity can be an indicator of how quickly your home may sell, I would say what's more important is what do you have to offer. How does your home stack up against your competition? Does it show well? Is it at the top of the price range or the bottom for similar homes? Did your listing agent hire a professional photographer or take the photos him/herself? Try to look at your home from a buyer's perspective and it should help you see why your home may not be getting the activity you thought you would.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

This would not be considered a first time buyer range in most instances. More of a move up buyer. But they may also be covered in the proposed tax credit bills.

You need to be strongly priced against your competition if you want a sale by end of year. Check the competition. If you can wait until the stronger Spring market (and as mentioned it really starts in the middle of Winter) then pricing may be a little less of a factor.

Keep in mind that there are a number of houses in your price range in Blaine. And some of them are bank owned or short sales, which are very competively priced.

So price will be a major factor in a short term sale.

Good luck.

Thanks for your responses. My house is listed at $299 - it was our first house, but would you consider this a typical first-time home buyers price range for Blaine, MN??

Also, we finished the basement, but not the bathroom - it is roughed in completely and would make the fourth bathroom. Does anyone think that finishing this would help sell the house or just add to our expenses?

Thanks

Homes sell year-round. Families grow (or shrink), employees are transferred, people move-up, or down-size, and all need a place to live. Renting is an option, but most folks today understand the more favorable economics to owning a home. Typically, the traditional "Spring" market is strongest, running from February to June. But there are people moving to and from homes all the time. With news that the $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit will likely be extended until April 2010 * AND * that a federal credit of $6,250 will be afforded move-up buyers, as well (in most cases), it could be the 'perfect storm' of financial incentives to sell and/or buy this winter. Conversely, extended days-on-market can be detrimental to any listing - it becomes shop worn. You might try even a slight price adjustment and completely re-list it (with a new MLS number) to refresh and bring the property back to the top of the heap. Good luck.

It depends on the price range of the homes for sale. Low end homes will continue to sell at an agressive pace if the first time home buyer tax credit is extended. Higher priced homes haven't been selling very fast and I expect them not to speed up anytime soon due to winter coming and the market slows down traditionally no matter how hot the market is.

Typically the timeframe from Thanksgiving through New Years is slower if not the slowest time of year for real estate sales. One thing that is slowing things a bit more was the supposed end of the first time buyer tax credit. But now it seems that this will be restored in some form through at least next year.

The one thing you will know with buyers during this upcoming Holiday season is that they will be serious.

Best wishes on your marketing.

Steele