Lynn
You might want to look at the link below.

"Potential buyer feedback has been positive".

The only thing one can state that is positive that you have had positively not offer made that you have accepted.
And I am positive looking at the stats in the link below that if you really want to sell you need a big price reduction. Or take it off the market and rent it out.

Being vacant this long you might want to check your insurance coverage. Most residential coverage is void if the home is vacant.

Hello everyone. Thank you so much for your responses. I am currently working with an agent but my contract will be ending next month. My home is located in the Woods of Brushy Creek and it's pretty far back into the subdivision. My home is vacant but there's some furniture in the family room, dining room and upstairs front spare bedroom. The house is cleaned every month. Since the house has been on the market, my agent continues to feel the house is priced right and looks good. I have lowered the price 3 times since last summer. I understand the Austin market is saturated with homes for sale but it seems strange to me that I have yet to receive one offer in almost 9 months. I hope the additional information helps. Thanks!

You are not gong to like my answer and will probably delete it as quickly as possible.

1) You are either IN THE MARKET.....ON THE MARKET.....or OUT OF THE MARKET. Those that are IN THE MARKET are selling in 30-60 days.
2) If you are IN THE MARKET and are only getting 1-2 showings a week, your exposure is weak. Our listings are on at least 100 webisites or podcast sites. Internet presence is everything. Just Google a street called Inshore and put Austin by it......that's it....and watch what happens. Compare that to your street name.
3) Buyers are scared to death about making decision right now until there is some positive feeling from government, the media, and the stock market. That is why #'s 1 and 2 are sooooo important.
4) This is where you delete my email. Odd are pretty good that this market will get worse before it gets better, so making major...not minor....changes are a must....not suggested.

See me at http://www.topkwgroup.com
Tim Moncrief
Owner

Ms. Smith,

Hello. I did a little research and believe your home to be in the neighborhood where there was another sale for 20k less than your home back in December. This is your biggest obstacle. As the most recent solds is what is being compared to your home. I understand that your home probably out shines this one, but in this price range you may have buyers over looking your home because they are looking for a home like yours in a neighborhood that has recently sold homes for the same price. You should sit down with your realtor and revisit the price. If the current price is the lowest you can go, then you will have to come up with different ways to market your home, i.e. staging or updating the home. If adjusting the price again is a consideration, I recommend you list it at the lowest possible price, because unfortunately a listing remains on the market longer than 60 days, starts looking stale to both buyers and realtors. Another thing you can try is paying an additional 1% to a buyers agent, this may motivate a buyers agent to revisit your home. I hope you find these recommendations helpful. Once again, you have a great property, it just may take some more time. Good luck.

Regards,

Gavin St.Louis
Texas Managing Broker
Buyers House Realty http://www.BuyersHouseRealty.com

Lynn,

Lots of unknowns still exist even with your description. Knowing more about your neighborhood, and location, would permit most of us the ability to be more helpful.

However, while we as brokers/agents can provide you input on your situation, none of us should be soliciting your business because it appears that you are likely to already have a broker representing you. Also, be careful of claims about some number of homes selling quickly, or about some secret sauce to getting your home sold. You and your agent are the best combination of resources to make things work.

For example, ask your agent to identify what they think are you're top 6 competing properties in the surrounding neighborhoods. Once you have that list and the complete listing printout for those homes, then tell your agent you want them to take you to see those homes. Take very good notes and be very objective about why those homes are better or worse than yours. Once you’re done, you'll have a very good handle on how the general public sees your home relative to what else they can buy.

Then, you need to highlight your advantages in the marketing material that the agent is using to sell your home. This includes the description in the MLS, the flyers they have at the home, and any other methods they are using to sell your home. But here's the difficult piece: you also need to minimize the disadvantages, either by fixing them, or adjusting your home's list price because of them.

This set of simple steps can be a real eye opener, however, if your house continues to remain on the market even after doing the above, you need to pay attention to what happens to those other 6 homes. If one or more of them sells, have your agent find out what they sold for (will take about 30 days once the house goes under contract). Knowing what they sold for will help you understand how that is impacting the pricing of your home.

Frankly, the above should be done before you ever list your home for sale, but now is as good a time as any to start. And be diligent about new homes coming on the market, adding them to the above mix to stay current on your homes competition.

Best of luck,

Jeffrey

Lynn,

Jason is on target. It's a price war and a beauty contest out there and you must compete on both levels. Do you know how many homes have sold in your area in the last 60 days and how many are currently on the market? How many times have you lowered the price? Lowering bit by bit is unproductive ... we call it "chasing the market." You have to lower the price and clearly get ahead of the competition thus creating urgency with your home. Is it staged or have you had a stager through to make recommendations? We work with a stager who charges $350 for a consult and every one of my sellers who have used her have definitely gotten their money back ... one sold in 1 day, one in 30 days and they looked fabulous. Buyers are very well informed and picky. We take the approach of 5 first impressions and each one needs to elicit a wow response from the buyers ... the 5: on-line, curb appeal, inside the front door, kitchen, and back yard. Do you have a wow on each of those 5?

We would be happy to consult with you to see how to get your house un-stuck.

Julie Nelson
The Nelson Project @ Keller Williams Realty http://www.thenelsonproject.com

Hi Lynn,

As you most likely know by now, only three factors determine if you get an offer on your house. Location, condition and price. It is the "magic" combination of these three factors which determine how quickly your house will sell. This is where a professional REALTOR can make all the difference. Work with a REALTOR who has experience in your area. By the way - in January we had 66 houses in the greater Austin area which sold in 10 days or less.

Good luck,
Peter Simonsen
e-PRO, REALTOR, GRI, SRS
Keller Williams Realty

Hi Lynn - Frankly, I feel that the most important single driving factor in today's market (other than condition, of course) is the price. Finding the magic price to drive buyers to pursue your home is the key. I just finished negotiating a contract on one of my listings today, and we had multiple offers, believe it or not. What did we do differently? We got the listing price low enough that we were competing with less exciting neighborhoods.

I would be happy to help you. Is the home currently listed with another agent? The only way to know for sure what the best suggestions for you would be for me to see the home in person. Feel free to contact me and perhaps I can come see your house and give you some ideas. What part of town are you in?

Jason Crouch, Broker/Owner
Austin Texas Homes, LLC
512-796-7653
jason@austintexashomes.com