Trying to sell a home now sucks.

[Cindylou]

We have another showing today at 12:15 pm, so I won't be hangin' around long. I highly dislike these showings in the early part of the week, when I typically have laundry going, bills to pay that are sitting out, grocery run, trying to get my errands done in a rush for Tully to come over for me to babysit, I am starting to fade with this rushing to keep the house perfect and splurging on fresh flowers schtick every few days. Beginning to have doubts as to whether it will sell before the holidays are upon us, which really bums me out. Maybe today will be the one.

[KBear]

It definitely sucks, really disrupts your life for awhile. I will pray that the people looking at it will see what you and your hubby see in it and will make a reasonable offer!

[Justin]

Good luck, CL. "Setting up" for showings can be a pain in the butt, especially if people don't show.

[Nairek]

I hear you CindyLou. At least you have people looking at the house though. Mine has been on the market for 35 days & I haven't had 1 showing. The market is bad all over.

I started e-mail bombing my agent as I feel that she isn't doing enough to get my house sold. I think she finally got the hint. She is holding a Broker's Open House tomorrow & the company is having a company wide open house in 2 weeks. I'm hoping that these 2 events generate some interest.

I think the stress of the house sitting on the market & the "bump" I hit in the road to recovery are what is causing my headaches every other day.

[KBear]

Amazingly, homes in my area are still selling really well. My aunt listed her house 3 days ago, has had a few showings and had an offer today, on day 3; plus someone different came to look at it again today! It's crazy, as much as you hear the market is bad, it really hasn't been bad here.

The biggest things I learned working in real estate were: Most important, do not overprice your home, make sure your Realtor does their research on recent home sales in your area, and correctly values your home. It has been proven that an over-priced home will sit on the market longer and will eventually sell for less than what the seller would have got if they would have just listed it for the right price in the first place. Second, listen to your Realtor, if they say clean up, rearrange furniture, de-clutter, etc. Do it, there is a reason they are the Realtor and you are paying them for their input, they really do know what they are talking about. This is especially hard for women, as we take our decorating personal. What we always told clients was, you have to consider it as not your home when you put it on the market and by doing the suggested things, you will appeal to more buyers (ie. not everyone is going to have a daughter who wants a pink princess room or a son who wants a mural of spiderman on the wall). Last, make sure the house is available for showings, do not put lots of restrictions on the showings (like putting a 20 minute notice, although this seems reasonable, there may be someone driving by your house with a Realtor, who had not planned on seeing it and they may want to see it. If they call to set up a showing and you need 20 minutes, they may decide to not look at it and may never come back to it.)

Good Luck to both of you selling!

[Cindylou]

Well, I hobbled myself yesterday after sprucing up the house for the showing. I could hardly walk after I finished. Dumbo jumbo here. Iced it all afternoon. And oh yeah, almost forgot, they were in and out in 10 minutes tops. I think it is priced right Kathy, according to our agent The market is really tough up here. Really tough. But, I know it only takes 1 person, and it is a lovely house, and it will sell. Eventually. :thumpup:

[KBear]

Well, I hobbled myself yesterday after sprucing up the house for the showing. I could hardly walk after I finished. Dumbo jumbo here. Iced it all afternoon. And oh yeah, almost forgot, they were in and out in 10 minutes tops. I think it is priced right Kathy, according to our agent The market is really tough up here. Really tough. But, I know it only takes 1 person, and it is a lovely house, and it will sell. Eventually. :thumpup:

Ughh, that sucks that they only spent 10 minutes and you had to suffer all day for it! Hopefully, this economy will start to turn around soon and all the buyer incentives will get more out there, thus reducing the inventory. Praying for you to sell your home soon.

[Nairek]

The biggest things I learned working in real estate were: Most important, do not overprice your home, make sure your Realtor does their research on recent home sales in your area, and correctly values your home. It has been proven that an over-priced home will sit on the market longer and will eventually sell for less than what the seller would have got if they would have just listed it for the right price in the first place. Second, listen to your Realtor, if they say clean up, rearrange furniture, de-clutter, etc. Do it, there is a reason they are the Realtor and you are paying them for their input, they really do know what they are talking about. This is especially hard for women, as we take our decorating personal. What we always told clients was, you have to consider it as not your home when you put it on the market and by doing the suggested things, you will appeal to more buyers (ie. not everyone is going to have a daughter who wants a pink princess room or a son who wants a mural of spiderman on the wall). Last, make sure the house is available for showings, do not put lots of restrictions on the showings

I actually put my house on the market for $10,000 less than my Realtor had suggested. My house is in an area that has a lot of tax exempt properties so the taxes are on the high side. That coupled by having 2 colleges & future development which will impact traffic among other things is what I think is negatively impacting a sale.

There is no clutter to speak of & all rooms which I had painted in bold colors were re-painted to Navajo White. I also had new neutral colored carpet installed throughout the house.:thumpup:

Now, if my Realtor would just take better pictures & put them online like I have asked her at least 3 times now, then maybe people would go & take a look at the house!

Ugh, I wish I would have signed a shorter contract with her.

[KBear]

I actually put my house on the market for $10,000 less than my Realtor had suggested. My house is in an area that has a lot of tax exempt properties so the taxes are on the high side. That coupled by having 2 colleges & future development which will impact traffic among other things is what I think is negatively impacting a sale.

There is no clutter to speak of & all rooms which I hate painted in bold colors were re-painted to Navajo White. I also had new neutral colored carpet installed throughout the house.:thumpup:

Now, if my Realtor would just take better pictures & put them online like I have asked her at least 3 times now, then maybe people would go & take a look at the house!

Ugh, I wish I would have signed a shorter contract with her.

Yeah, they definitely need to do good pictures, that is what draws people to look at it. This is also the best time of year, since you can get alot of good light, and the pictures look better. Also, make sure they have them captioned good. I actually wrote the captions and took the pictures when I sold my house, since I knew what would attract a buyer.

[Nairek]

Yeah, they definitely need to do good pictures, that is what draws people to look at it. This is also the best time of year, since you can get alot of good light, and the pictures look better. Also, make sure they have them captioned good. I actually wrote the captions and took the pictures when I sold my house, since I knew what would attract a buyer.

When we moved, we didn't have the painting or the carpeting done yet. I wish we had as I would have taken the pictures & given them to her. I already sent her 2 pictures of the front of the house with the crab apple tree in full bloom and the new landscaping.

For whatever reason, she decided to post pictures of the old kitchen cabinets which we installed in the basement along with pictures of the circuit breaker box & the washer/dryer. There is 1 picture of the living room which is iffy at best & none of the bedrooms. While I understand that the rooms are very small (starter home), I asked her to post pics of those rooms & I'm STILL waiting for her to do it.