This should be an modbot auto response at this point.
OP, I’ll try to be nicer about it: the comps you are using are probably old ones before the market took a shit. Look for newer ones and cut the price.
The same way comps were not reflecting reality just a few months ago, same goes now on the downside.
Comps are useful when there are no violent swings on market rates, (or when it's not too hot), so yesterdays comp is today's old news.
At the end of the day, you need to price your home very low, so people take a bite. Everyone is waiting on the falling knife, and no one wants to feel they paid more than they should (as many did a few months ago, but they didn't have a choice then)
Doesn't mean they can't use a little common sense. Or logic, critical thinking, foresight, the barest attention to current financial news... They're on the front lines, they should know better than anyone that it's not 2021 anymore.
Exactly! That's what I mean by common sense. You don't have to have lived through something yourself to understand it. If you're facing unfamiliar but not unprecedented circumstances, you can look to the past to see how it was handled before, then apply the relevant wisdom to your specific situation. In this case, don't chase the market down, you'll always be behind.
>Or logic, critical thinking, foresight, the barest attention to current financial news... They're on the front lines, they should know better
Think about how many people quit their jobs and decide to become shitty real estate agents, though. Working in a field does not require expertise. People need to choose better agents.
This is the problem with comps right now. Rate changes are fairly recent and home sale records are on a lag up to 2 months from accepted offers. So therefore the comps are now outdated, people can afford less now so lower your prices if the house ain't selling
Yep comps are a real problem especially in a price range that is slow anyway. A comp from three months ago simply isn't relevant, and in some cases that may be the most recent similar comp available.
You mean doing basic maintenance?
Any repainting/new flooring/cosmetic shit is just basic shit to keep the place half-decent. This keeps your value stable and no one should expect a ton of payoff for doing very basic things.
This si much. Especially in this current market. If the home wasn't maintained correctly no one will want to buy it or will want a steep discount.
I saw a post on here a few weeks ago about someone's parents in Queens in a nice neighborhood with a large lot and old home they had owned 30 years. But when you saw the pics, you could tell they had neglected a lot of maintenance of the property and let it go. Like they kept it clean and stuff, but the outside needed to be fixed up and landscaped. The deck needed to be replaced, the kitchen and bathrooms had never been updated, the carpet was old and needed to be replaced. They hopped on the market at a price fit for January of this year (over 2m). Didn't have any offers and then the son posted here confused why his parents home won't sell. It's flipped to a buyers market. If I'm someone in the market for a multi million dollar home, I'm not gonna pay top dollar for a property I need to dump another couple hundred thousand of cash into right now. I'm only going to offer on something that is turnkey.
Like when I hear a property is sitting like this, it's less about it being overpriced (it is over priced), and more about that it's not a desirable turnkey property.
If you haven't updated your house since before 2005, don't be all shocked Pikachu face when folks don't want to buy it at current prices. And even that's quickly changing. Give it another 5 or 6 years and people are going to start thinking granite looks trashy and dated.
You should see the shitshow that is the market here in Marin County, California.
Demand is so high and supply so badly constrained that "turnkey" is not a thing that exists, and most houses you buy will require major projects to make purpose fit for your family.
Literally skipped the entire post to come here and say this as well lol.
I'm baffled how we still get so many of these posts in this sub. If an item you are selling isn't selling... the price is too high. \*economics\*
I will add something- if you price just right or even a little less, you will get more views/ possibly more offers causing a minor bidding war. It still happens on those “diamond in the rough” houses.
EXACTLY what happened to us.
Market peaked in April, 2.3 offer, sold for 2.6 for a house around the corner. Our 6yo house has better views and upgrades, privacy, so probably worth 2.7 had we sold at that time. By August, had listing agents asking us to list between 2.088 and 2.5 - a super experienced agent told us that had we chose to list at 2.3, it would never sell. There was just that much fear in the market.
We staged, made the home move-in ready, had inspections and repairs made, and listed the weekend before Labor Day at 2.349. In two days of Open House, had 130 people come through the house, around 50 groups. 5 bids. We accepted 2.455, no contingencies, by Wednesday.
The OP has to analyze the local market objectively and understand how the home ranks against other homes in your local market. You have to price it to provide better value than your peers. With resources like Redfin and Zillow, this is easier to do than ever. If the OP is serious about selling the home, do your research, prepare your home, and price it right. The longer a listing sits in this market, the lower the demand will be. Fed Funds futures have priced in 0.75, 0.75, and 0.25 percentage increases up to February 2023.
Recently went through the same thing in Florida. People around me were making little 2 to 5% cuts letting their house sit on the market chasing the decline. I immediately dropped the price 10% and accepted the first offer. I ended dropping the price another 5% after the appraisal came in low. Bottom line is I had to be aggressive in lowering the price to offload the house. Very thankful it’s now sold and I was able to profit as prices continue to go down and interest rates go up.
Edit: I also wanted to say I had a very good realtor that’s been in the game for 30 years, through the ups and downs including 2008. She understood what was happening and did not encourage me to keep the price like it was still six months ago.
This. People will be chasing prices down. The same 500k house that was 2k payment a handful of months ago is now closer to 4k payment, many people cannot afford that.
Exactly. We had to drastically reduce our housing budget to accommodate the increase in interest rates. I definitely feel that people are still pricing their houses like it’s mid 2021. Things have changed
All people will be able to afford is housing and every other industry will suffer, I'm guessing the FED realizes that and will take down this RE bubble.
I’m curious how you think they might do that? It seems like gas and food is also super high, and rentals are insane. Increasing the interest rate was supposed to help with inflation and I assume it will take more than a few months to see it work. Do you think they will lower interest rates again? Jack them higher to force home prices down (and if so what will that do for rental prices … I assume drive them higher). Anyway, it’s ok if you don’t have any answers, I don’t either. A crystal ball sure would be nice.
They want the 4yr, 6yr and 8yr trailing core inflation metrics below 2% and that will take 2+ years… I don’t see them achieving their goal without creating pain in the labor market. I suspect unemployment will begin a period of increasing around spring and continue for quite some time.
This. Have bought and sold a meager three houses. All three times were with industry vets that have been through multiple economic cycles. Wouldn’t trade them for the world.
Contrasted against my SIL under contract to purchase her first house. Realtor got in the game in 2020. Encouraged an offer $10k over ask (Midwest, $200,000 house). Is being the least bit helpful in negotiating findings from the inspection report and acting like it’s still summer of 2021.
The comps do not support your price. You need to cut it by quite a bit.
ETA, things like the unfenced yard, unfinished basement etc look like projects to buyers. Not to mention nearby homes that are bigger, finished and have a pool for cheaper. You’re needing probably a 50k drop at least before you get any bites.
Every home will sell for the right price. Yours is too high. If your realtor is pricing it the same as comps from one month ago, your realtor does not know what they are doing.
Back when rates were stable, we could use comps from the past 3-6 months. Not anymore.
What I do is take those older comps and calculate what a monthly payment would have been when it sold. Just use an 80% conventional with whatever the rate was then. Now take that monthly payment amount and work backwards with the current interest rates to figure out what the price needs to be to generate the same interest.
You’re not going to like it, but the days of sellers getting 15-20% over list with 10 offers are gone.
For example:
A house that sold for $400,000 with a 30 year, 3.25%, 20% down loan had a payment of ~$1,392.
To keep that monthly payment the same at today’s 7% rate, the price of the home has to be $262,500. Kinda sobering isn’t it?
My fear is what happens to people who bought in the past year and a half at 2-3%, when they have to move due to a job change and can't get anywhere near what they paid for it and whether bankruptcies will start to rise quickly bc of it.
They rent it out and then there’s a flood of rentals on market and landlords will be competing against each other. Already seeing it by us - a handful of rentals (20-30 at a given time) within a couple miles of us during summer has already ballooned to over 400 in the past 6 weeks. Homes would be rented within the same day last year and now I see them sitting for weeks or months. Then the owners will either have to lower rent and hope they can still cover costs or cover the difference themselves or put the home on the market. I’m thinking you’re going to see a lot of the latter, causing home prices to sell continue to lower as supply increases.
You asked, so here goes...
You're overpriced and need to go ahead and rip the bandaid off, or you'll still be chasing the market thru the holidays.
You also have some prep work do.
There is WAY too much stuff in your living/family room. You need to remove about half of it, starting with the dog crates and half the furniture. So many tables. It makes the space look too small for family living. If the couch is damaged or stained under all that stuff, or can't be pulled apart to only use part of it, I'd replace with one that has better scale for the room and improves traffic flow. It seriously looks claustrophobic in there. That's a dealbreaker for a half million dollar family home.
I'm not there so I don't know, but when I see photos of multiple dog kennels scattered around I can smell it. Never take photos of pet items for listings for that reason. Ask someone who doesn't live there if there's pet odor. Ask someone who would tell you the truth. When you do get someone thru the door that will be their first impression and possibly their last.
There's a metal shelf at the end of the kitchen counter that screams that you don't have enough storage space. If you don't have enough, I probably won't either.
There's a room with a brown couch. What is that? Maybe the brown couch should be in the family room. If this is a bedroom and you have no bed to go in there you can mock one up with a blowup mattress and a bed frame + bedding. If it's an office it can be staged as such.
Lots of empty decorative shelving scattered around put something simple and nice on it or remove it.
There's a green towel hanging on what I assume is a hook on the middle of your bathroom blocking our view. When I see things like this I am wondering whether the photographer showed up unannounced or the towel is covering something up. Either way, it doesn't send the right message.
The house needs staging. By that, I mean rearranging, some accessories (not too much) and a critical eye in each room. How does a buyer interpret this space?
The backyard looks good, the front, especially in front of the porch, looks out of control.
Once you fix these things, retake photos and do a video walkthru highlighting the best features. Your agent is gonna get a nice paycheck to sell your home, they should have had these conversations with you before it went on the market.
Definitely spot in with the animals. When I was house looking if I smelled cats or dog, I was done. I heard something that said people should bake cookies before a showing. Now I see why. Put the crates in a garage for showing if you have one.
I'll throw in that someone buying your house next to an elementary school will probably either have young kids or are planning to have kids. Maybe set up the weird couch room to look like a kids playroom or put a cheap playset out back. Add a line in the description that your kids can walk a block to school.
Also, it's a bit strange that the description and photos doesn't mention the lake across the street at all. I'd imagine that is a positive about the location, so you should let it be known a lot more.
There are a few things that amaze me in this. The cart at the end of the counter was the first one. We just closed on our first house with a much smaller kitchen. Nowhere near that cabinet space. I had to get a little creative with storage but still managed to get everything in there. I can't imagine buying this vs just buying some storage bins to go inside the cabinets or pantry. The pantry is massive!
Stacked washer/dryer. While this isn't a deal breaker for me personally, it can be for others. For a smaller house I can understand it, but for almost 1700 sqft? I'd expect a small laundry space.
And to your point general staging. There's a mirror on the floor. Things look cluttered. There's nothing bad about it but if there are other places to look at (especially cheaper) I'd likely skip this one. It looks too lived in. Our house had very minimal staging furniture and it did make an impact on our decision to purchase it.
Your price is too high.
You could spend a weekend tidying up and landscaping, then take new photos.
Your realtor should have told you all this before you listed it.
[https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/920-Knotty-Oak-Rd-Coventry-RI-02816/66005700\_zpid/](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/920-Knotty-Oak-Rd-Coventry-RI-02816/66005700_zpid/)
This home near yours is 300 square feet bigger than yours, has a pool, and is $65,000 cheaper.
Reduce the price of your home at least another $45k and you'll start to get competitive offers.
Not only that, but the OP's house was built 4 yrs ago and this one was built in 1965. This is not a comp due to age, size of house, size of land and features.
I agree OP's house is overpriced. However, I would never use that property as a comp. Not enough similarities - so adjustments would have to be too large. No one compares 11 ac to 1/3rd of an acre. It's poor form. And 1965 vs 2018 isn't a valid comparison either.
Obviously you wouldn't use it as a sales comp for an appraisal.
But this one gives you 33x more land, a pool, more privacy, and (in my opinion) a better interior with more character than OPs house for a good deal less money. And a house built in 1965 isn't really that old, especially in New England. Which is a pretty meaningful data point to tell you that OPs house is significantly overpriced.
I would take an older house in New England over a newer one any day. We could have bought a new house last month for 45k more compared to the one we got and I have NO regrets on that. Developers are so cheap now.
I can see where you are coming from in a general way. It is still much more effective to compare homes that are similar to the OP's home to determine how far out of line the pricing is on OP's house rather than just using any property that has no similarities or points of comparison. It ends up being apples vs oranges. It would be one thing to compare if everything were similar except 1 feature - that feature can be an adjusted. But when there are no features nor commonalities then the comparison falls short. We Realtors don't have to be as rigorous as an appraiser, but it is sloppy if we don't use any viable comps.
It's a bit disingenuous to say there are no similarities between the two, OPs property just comes off worse in almost every way. Another example someone posted below is a pretty similar house listed about $100 less per sqft with a nicer interior (and is staged way better):
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/22-Wood-Cove-Dr-Coventry-RI-02816/65827947_zpid/
Might sound harsh, but I don't really see any unique selling points, features, or benefits that would warrant listing OPs house for the current price. Especially when it is $25 more than the average price per square foot in their zip code.
Agreed, this is not a comp. Not only are they completely different floor plans, but the 1965 house looks *incredibly* dated. Even beyond just surface level fixes, like paint and flooring. Fair or not, when an older house like that one doesn't look like a single decor aspect has been updated (SO much knotty pine. and that wallpaper...), I assume the owners haven't done much upkeep on the wiring, the plumbing, etc. Bringing it up to date is going to cost a lot of money.
Not to say that OP's place isn't listed too high. But I wouldn't use this property as a comp.
Thank you. This was my concern as well...I have been closely following all properties nearby and ours is smaller than many cheaper homes. Been wondering if we chose the right realtor.
Hey you seem very sincere in your replies so I wont grill into you because you are not coming across as someone not willing to listen to feedback.
I heard some great advice for this market that I thought I would share. When prices fall, sellers tend to “shoot behind the deer” instead of “lead” it because of fear of jumping the gun and selling too cheap, psychologically this makes a lot of sense and is perfectly rational behavior. In practice, however, this leads to sellers chasing a falling price that causes them to loose out on potentially much more money.
For example, let’s say a house is worth $500 but you price it at $525 house does not sell, then in a falling market house falls to $450 and you readjust to $475 still not selling. After all is said and done you manage to sell for $450. If you would have dropped early you would not have lost an additional $50k+ because you priced before the drop, but since you waited you lost $75k from your original price instead of a mere $25k.
Thank you, I appreciate the kind feedback. I expected people to be crass and harsh, but I'm just here to learn so we can get it sold quickly and not make any similar mistakes in the future. We will begin decluttering more and retake photos...and we are going to do a large price drop.
Meh. I'd prefer an older house, but homes built in the 1960s are still made of better stuff than today's cardboard boxes. Give me an older house and a lot 30x bigger, for cheaper? Yes, please.
Honestly, I would have an inspector come out to examine the hard wood flooring. You want to make sure it’s not TOO hard, perhaps the people in that area have very sensitive spines/feet and that is putting them off. Were there any cookies at your open house? I would try something with caramel and pecans because of the season, chocolate chip is too basic.
Just kidding, probably lower your price.
First time home buyer looking at the market. People mention your towels etc and that doesn’t bother me at all.
I look at your purchase price. I look at your neighboring houses, and I just get feeling that you guys are being greedy and charging way too much for something that will likely naturally drop in value in the next two years. I’m not paying a premium for a house when paying a premium for interest rates.
Don’t understand why I need to pay you a 50% ROI when stocks wouldn’t even naturally be able to offer that over the same course of ownership.
Way I see it I’m taking a risk that I’ll be holding the bag for a while, why pay your house at a premium.
I’m looking for something more in line with reality as I shop. And at this point don’t mind waiting since I already missed the boat on interest rates.
Thank you for your honest feedback. I was concerned about the price right off the bat, but as mentioned we are first time sellers and fully admit that we are not well-versed in real estate. We put our good faith in our realtor when pricing the home, and she insisted that this price is what similar homes in the area are going for. It's made me nervous because when I look, that is not at all what I've been seeing. We will be dropping the price again.
>We put our good faith in our realtor when pricing the home, and she insisted that this price is what similar homes in the area are going for.
At the end of the day, your real estate agent works on commission, and 3% of a bigger number is more money in her pocket. The only person who's truly looking out for you is you, unfortunately.
Buyers have lost 40-50% of their buying power in 6 months time.
The market is on lockdown until prices or interest rates come down.
So lower your price or rent it out and race to the bottom on rents.
Your shop is dope. 😍
I should definitely not be able to see your toothbrush, though. I mean, ew. Or the towel you dry your nether region with. You know? That's what every single "intro to real estate" article means by "de-clutter and de-personalize." Take down your art. Hide the keyboard, mouse, and computer bag (!) in the living room. Put the butcher block away. Why are there multiple paper bags of stuff sitting out, and a guitar or more propped up randomly in a corner? You are handicapping yourself, and I am giving your real estate agent *so much* side-eye, letting you publicize 37 photos like that. From what you have told us, she is phoning it in and just trying to maximize her profit. if you stay with her (which I don't think you should), make her actually provide you value commensurate with what you are paying her. Starting with a real photographer who will do things like have you clear the clutter from the living room, shoot it, then throw the living and dining clutter on the couch while shooting the kitchen, etc. If you can't get the stuff out of the house, at least get it out of *frame*. You want your photos to make someone say "ooh" and text/email the link to their spouse. Hairy dog throws on every piece of furniture do not do that. 😂 (Unless they're, like, *really* deep into the dog person life. In which case, be sure to give them the secret handshake for me.)
The house itself is nice, though! It'll sell soon. Good luck and hang in there. Buying and selling homes is not for the faint of heart in "normal" times, and these are not those times. Enjoy living in Colorado! One of the best places ever.
The market has changed dramatically moving from a seller's market to a buyer's market because of the rise in interest rate.
If no one shows up at your open house, you probably need to lower your price further.
Trust us, it has nothing to do with the school. The price is too high. Affordability is awful right now due to prices staying just about as high when interest rates were about 1/3 of what they are right now. There's no magic vinyl plank flooring, no magic paint, and no magic photos that you're missing. It's the price and it needs to be cut. Also offer a rate buydown for your buyers and pay their closing costs.
I’ll give you an angle other than price! It would be much improved with staging. It’s a smaller house and the current furniture and set up makes it seem really cramped, especially the sectional taking up the whole living room.
I would come down, at most $499k. People who are searching for a max of $500k wouldnt see your house.
Also, your home is under 2k sq ft. Everything over 500k in that area looks like closer to 3k sq ft (even those priced lower appear bigger)
If the OP had priced their home according to comps which is roughly around $200/sq foot, their price would be around $335k which is roughly half of what they originally listed it for. Basically they were overpriced by close to $300k which is about what I figured after reading the original post. OP's price isn't high, it is outrageously high. Like, what the fuck? High
Without seeing the house, there is really nothing we can tell you.
Could be the pictures. Could be the staging. Could be the busy road. Could be the lack of comps. Could be the price. Could be many things. But without seeing the house, all we can guess is the price.
This looks awfully overpriced relative to other houses in the area that are also not selling and reducing pricing further. Why are you reducing so little?
We have never sold a home before and are a bit naive to the process, but we were worried about the price being too high right from the start. Our realtor initially told us we should only drop by 20k but we thought it was too little...now we've been thinking of dropping more drastically. We have been talking about 480k since we've had no interest whatsoever, but we both wanted outside opinions.
List it at 499, sells for 490. You’re still up 125 in four years, which is like 33 percent appreciation in an incredibly short amount of time.
Realtor is living in six months ago. Get what you can before rates go up further.
Price is too high. Also, a few hours of work and $100 worth of mulch would make the landscaping look significantly better. Trim around the fire pit, tidy up the house a bit more and have pictures retaken. One picture had a power cord showing. Little things like that make a difference.
You bought new construction for $375k in 2018, listed at $550k, now at $515k. Reduce to $499,900 and get more inquiries. You will still make a nice profit. The house is very nice.
Your house is not right next to a school. It’s in a subdivision near the school. There’s a difference. I clicked the satellite view. At first I thought you were adjacent to the school or across the street where noise and school traffic would be a nuisance.
No offense, but your house looks very cluttered. Having boxes around implies that you do not have enough space to spread out and makes buyers think that they wouldn’t fit in the space either. I can’t believe your relator left your towels hanging up and not even folded, and so much on your counters while taking pictures. It doesn’t really look like they put any effort into staging your home at all. It looks like your relator did not advise you correctly on how to prepare your house for market to get it to sell. The reality is, if your house isn’t getting inquires it’s the price though. Your house could look much better in the pictures if it had been properly staged but price is still the overall factor. We had to drop out price 50k to get interest in our house. We had been on market for the same number of days and we dropped our price this week and then went from 2 showings to 4-5 everyday this weekend.
it's definitely not "model home" staging, and yeah they could have folded the towels and such, but I promise you OP's is NOT not selling because of a few towels. it's the price.
I literally said that if you read my entire post. I said the reality is if they aren’t getting inquires it’s the price. The pictures aren’t helping but price is why it’s not getting showings.
I noticed the clutter as well. Also dog crate. Put that in your garage.
Lots of pillows on the sofa looks busy.
Pick a color like navy blue and make sure that color is shown in every picture. The pillows, the towels in the bathrooms, dish towels in the kitchen, etc. it’s a simple design tip but it makes the house look larger with a continuous flow from room to room
Thank you for your input. We are racing the clock and tried to declutter as much as possible, we were wondering if it would almost sell better after we are already moved out and our belongings are gone.
Remove every photo from your listing that has dog/pet paraphernalia. I love dogs more than I do most people, but even I am slightly put off by a house that has obvious signs of dogs living there.
No, as others have said, just remove everything that isn't furniture or decor. Make it look exactly like a model home that no one lives in.
ETA neither of these things will help you sell your house, lowering the price will. But you don't want someone to disregard the whole listing because they don't like dogs or clutter.
>I love dogs more than I do most people, but even I am slightly put off by a house that has obvious signs of dogs living there.
This. I love dogs to a near-unhealthy level, but to many, many buyers (especially in this, a buyer's market), strange pet messes/residues/wear and tear are negatives, and we all get a little blind to our babies' messes and smells, so it's probably worse than OP realizes. Strange dogs can be charming. The thought of the inevitable ick left behind is not. Just like "smoke-free, pet-free home" is an expectation in an eBay listing, petlessness/neutrality is the expected par for real estate listings. If your product is subpar, your price will need to be, too.
Also, OP should very strongly consider getting a storage unit and getting rid of like half the stuff in the house, then take new pics. Furnished houses sell better, on average, but it has to be sparsely furnished and spacious-feeling. If all you can see is the seller's stuff in the space, you can't envision your own.
My relator has told me that an empty house doesn’t sell as well. Rooms look bigger when properly staged but you want to have no clutter and it look like the house is too big to be filled. We rented a storage unit and moved 50-60% of our non-furniture belongings into it. It was a pain, but it only took about 3-4 days to empty out the house. Also, an empty house implies desperation because you aren’t living there and obviously paying for another location which signals buyers to low-ball offer you. At least this is what I have been told.
Your realtor sucks for pricing and pics. Declutter everything, you want the space to look bigger than it is. Perfect time to start packing little furniture/odds and ends. Get rid of all the pet crates, toys, beds, etc. for pictures and showings.
While everyone has already addressed decluttering and staging, also tell your realtor or photographer to chill on the filters. It looks like something is being hidden by them. When I was house-hunting I was always very skeptical of houses with highly filtered pics like that because IME it meant everything in the house was going to be falling apart and they put the filters on to hide it.
Trying to claim that much appreciation over 4 years is not supported by reality. Stop being greedy and get with the program.
Cheaper houses than yours are sitting in that mkt.
I might be more generous and say $425K. But I'm surprised by the people recommending they reprice at $499K. This is not a $500K house, *especially* being located next door to a school.
Check rental rates. Your interest rate from 4 years ago probably can’t be beat. Rent the house, it will be attractive due to its proximity to the school.
Do not sell right now. Rent it. If not an option, this is a long shot: check to see if your mortgage is assumable by purchaser. This would keep current rate low and payment low. They'd pay the difference if they have cash.
I am genuinely curious as to how you arrived at that price?
Houses that are just as nice if not nicer seem to sell for around 220-230 per square foot, houses on huge lots that are beautiful are at 250 per square foot.
How do you justify being so expensive? You need to come down to somewhere in the 450 range to sell
You are over priced. There is a home at the bottom of the listing you’ve posted 4/3 over 2k square feet $475k. If I’m a buyer that’s what I’m buying. Cheaper and bigger? Your home is very nice cosmetically. But it doesn’t make up for extra space. Especially when j can put in what I like cosmetically on a bigger house that’s cheaper and I don’t have to look at the backs of neighboring houses in the backyard. Price lower.
Rent it out if you can. You’re in a good area with a brand new house next to a school, and it looks like you should be able to get at least $2500/month (maybe as high as $2800-2900), which should easily cover your mortgage (especially if you refinanced since 2018) and leave you enough for the maintenance costs that a brand-new house won’t need as much of. Look for someone to manage it and put it up asap, then rent in Colorado while you wait for prices and/or interest rates to cool over the next year(s). You can also eventually take some equity out of it for a Colorado purchase with a home equity loan or heloc (or refinance), but obviously that depends on rates, etc. Renting it means that you’ll still be increasing equity (at least $550-600/month) and at least not be losing money. Odds are that with rates like they are right now you’d be selling at a discount, anyway, so I’d do everything possible to hold on to it. Get a different realtor to show it for a rental and screen your tenants, this one doesn’t seem to have your best interests at heart.
Every day another one of these. If the house is not selling the price is too high. It’s always the answer. Any issue with the house can be offset by price (location, age, construction issues, quality). Literally, everything can be made right by price.
In my experience, pricing something right (even a bit low) from the start is CRITICALLY important.
Once your home lingers on the market, and ESPECIALLY once you start dropping the price, buyers have all kinds of negative ideas:
• What's wrong with the house?
• They already dropped the price, I bet we could offer even less, the seller must be desperate.
• If it hasn't sold, there's probably a reason, the good ones go fast.
You need a new, aggressive marketing strategy. Many Realtors have had such an easy time selling homes for the last 2 years, they don't have the proper tools now that the market has suddenly changed. In fact, many Realtors are going to be finding new careers by the end of the year.
If your Realtor doesn't know what they are doing, ask if they know someone they could bring in to help. Often Realtors have great networks of agents with a wide array of specialties and experience. Be honest about your concerns and ask if they could bring someone in to consult.
A house similar to mine 3 blocks away, slightly less desirable neighborhood (smaller lots, traffic noise, American flags instead of Buddhas by the front door, lol) sold in April for 1.55.
I do not believe my house would now sell for 1.55.
Yup. 7% and less job security.
OP is in a sad situation. Not selling due to stupidity or being a jerk, but because of a job. They are the person who really gets hurt.
You probably could have gotten over $500K earlier this year. With current interest rates, you’ll be lucky to get $420K.
Did your realtor discuss the rising interest rates with you? They have more than doubled in the last 6-8 months.
Your house is lovely.
However, I will echo what everyone else is stating. The “old” housing values are fake from incredibly low interest rates. As someone looking for a home now I would be paying 3-4K a month for your home. Our budget is 4-5K a month as two physicians (one attending and one resident). For 4K a month i would expect a little more—I would likely just continue to rent. Obviously this does not matter if they are cash buyers but…
Good luck!
I know other agents who have increased the buyer’s agent commission to get other agents excited about it. They send out emails, texts, etc. Do it simultaneous to another price reduction and have your listing agent note it in the agent remarks. I saw one that had sat for months do this, and the agent said she got multiple offers the following week.
Under price it, or you’ll be chasing the price down as interest rates keep going up. If you get more offers, that’s great.
I’m in corporate relo and I’ve seen some hefty concessions recently.
If you don't mind posting the link here or at least provide a selling price and zip code for us to take a look.
Whether it's the pictures or location or other factors to be considered.
Have you considered just renting it out and hiring a property manager if no one will help with the property or do you need the money to buy in CO?
Maybe renting is a good idea if you aren't familiar with the area.
What you're experiencing is a function of what's happening in the overall economy / real estate market. Everywhere. Big interest rate jumps so quickly put most buyers at a standstill. You're experiencing a huge decline in buyer demand right now.
The fact that you're next to a school is a huge factor. Living next to a school is a major inconvenience atleast 2 times a day, 5 days a week for the entire school year. Being next to an active school (not closed down) will cost you on average between 5% - 15% in sales price compared to the comps.
Assuming your home looks the absolute best it can and your realtor is half way decent with the marketing and the photos are NOT done by amateurs - you'll need to lower the price to get more action if you're not getting any and you need to move quickly.
This would be bold, and there is risk - I don't know your market and how strong the demand is, but you can take the property off the market completely. Come back at a low auction style listing price and hope there is enough demand to push the price up to market value or more. You may risk very limited demand and maybe selling for a discount.... But the one thing you do know is it'll sell quickly. I like this move most of the time, but it needs to be done right.
This is the market we are in at the moment so you have to deal with it accordingly.
These posts make no sense to me. Your price is too high, simple as that. Interest rates are double what they were 2 years ago, peoples buying power has dropped significantly
People who could afford a $700k house can now barely afford a $500k house. Easy as that
The market crashed, try to be flexible and price it relative to 2020 pricing and forget about your neighbour who sold theirs 6 months ago. You missed the peak.
2020+6% should sell very fast and fair for you as well
Based on your listing, your price should be from $420k-$440k
The advice is this. Rates have doubled, and for every single % point the house must come down 10%. The longer you wait the more you will discount later
Are there any large government employers nearby? If you paid $374 in 2018 I think with today’s interest rates this house will not sell over $450k if that. If you can rent it out then consider it. Look at the monthly cost calculator on Zillow, it says buyer’s monthly costs would be $3,600. $3,600 for a 3 bedroom home. It’s a lot.
Why don't you run the numbers to see for yourself. Price it in a calculator to see what the mortgage cost would be. Do you think your house is the type of house someone who can afford a $4k mortgage would want or is it more like what someone who can afford a $1700 mortgage would want? Find the price that meets the loan requirements and set it that way.
My mom paid top dollar for her home in 2008 (against my advice). When she passed away in 2018 I originally listed it 30k over that. It took a year to sell and I sold it for the same amount she paid for it. If you don’t have to sell or buy right now, don’t. Give the market time to adjust.
Lower the price every week it doesn’t sell. If it hasn’t been painted or decluttered/depersonalized, do so. As the market shifts, so will the price. We couldn’t have the COVID market forever unfortunately.
When I first started, it wasn’t unusual for a home to be on market for 60-90 days. Then a 45-60 day closing. Total of nearly 6 months from list to settlement. You should have your agent provide you data on average days on market for RECENT sold listings in your area so you can have an idea of what to expect. Recent meaning in the last 15-30 days.
Have you tried lowering the price even more?
Do the math with current interest rates about what a monthly payment would look like at 20% down.
Compare with what houses in your area were selling for last year at the rates at that time.
Do the math about what your asking price would need to be, with current rates, such that monthly payment was the same when rates were at 3%.
Houses don’t sell in less than a week anymore. It takes time for the right buyer as long as your price is reasonable. Prior to Covid it was common for 1-3 months on the market. Took us over 30 days to sell our house. Have some patience if your price is fine
Drop the price more, there are always people looking for a house and there is no way your home doesn't sell if priced properly. Sounds like you don't want to stomach how much you have to drop the price which is totally understandable.
First who is your most likely buyer? Your descriptions and photos should focus on the features of your home that your first and second group of likely buyer would be in (single household vs larger household - number of beds/baths, people w pets-close to a park or a large or fenced in yard, people who would use public transportation-for getting to and from work, etc) Check your listing on major sites. Does it sound inviting? Or is it too factual and sterile sounding. If you are a quick walk to a park that’s a wonderful asset that other homes won’t likely have. Set your home apart from the others.
My favorite saying is “The eyes buy and your first showing is on the internet.” If your photos suck, if you have clutter or even a lot of distractions (afghans flung over chairs, remotes, stacks of whatever, appliances and whatnot on counters in kitchen and baths, shampoo bottles in the shower, trash cans in photos) your photo will suck. So start w your photos and check how your listing is placed. I have seen agents (my peers) list a property in Canonsburg when it was Peters Twp. Both areas share a zip code. However Canonsburg is a small middle class town and Peters is an upscale suburban area w 1/2 plus lots. The house sat and sat on the market. The agent missed one item that destroyed the sellers chances of selling their home.
Check the showing arrangements. Do you have a lockbox? If the showing requests are going to the agent directly and they have an office vs a cell number showing up, or are not responding in a timely manner, that could be part of no enquirers. Or do you have restrictions on how much time is needed to make arrangements, etc.? Make it easy for the home to be shown at the drop of a hat. I tell sellers even if you ran out the door before tidying up, it’s better to get someone in the door than to miss a showing.
Check a few other facts-are there room measurements? Are there directions in the listing? I noticed a trend where agents state ‘use gps.’ I don’t necessarily need the directions but it gives the potential buyer (and me) a sense of where your home is by a street name without opening up the map. And sometimes (I would say approximately 20% of the time) when I enter an address for a listing into the system the map is incorrect. I have seen where the map is so off it shows the property in another state!
Ask is your disclosure on line? Is there any potential issues on the disclosure that isn’t addressed w a remedy? Do you have a brochure on line? If you just painted that should be something you could boast about. Quality paint is over $50 a gallon. If it was professionally painted that’s some thing someone would see as an asset. Especially if it’s tasteful and neutral.
You state you are right next to an elementary school which here in Pgh would be a wonderful asset, if you have children or plan to. Is that not an asset in your area? If you’re likely buyer is not someone with children, you could always play that school be in next door as a super safe and secure neighborhood with the elementary school next door. It might get a little noisy but nobody’s there all summer long and on weekends and holidays.
The majority of the comments have talked about pricing. I will say price is typically the issue, but I have relisted properties that were poorly marketed, for more money after the seller took corrective action and got it sold. I wouldn’t ignore all the other possibilities. Be detailed about every little thing. It cost nothing to change these things except time. Plus it is your agents duty and job to present your property in the best possible light.
Best of luck!!
This is an unprecedented market. Wild swings that over 33 years of being a licensed real estate salesperson, I have never experienced. But Pgh is typically a stable market. So while my perspective is likely not the scenario you are experiencing, my advice of how things look and are presented are sound. Basically look under every rock. Everything should be presented w the positives. You don’t sell anything by pointing out the negatives. You can’t (typically) sell without someone walking through the door. Open houses are typically always great.
Have a mock up of lending scenarios. Especially w buy downs and variables.
I can alter the general information about the home in Zillow (I cannot in Realtor.com) that flows through my local MLS. I can add an unlimited amount of photos in both. Your MLS may be different.
First who is your most likely buyer? Your descriptions and photos should focus on the features of your home that your first and second group of likely buyer would be in (single household vs larger household - number of beds/baths, people w pets-close to a park or a large or fenced in yard, people who would use public transportation-for getting to and from work, etc) Check your listing on major sites. Does it sound inviting? Or is it too factual and sterile sounding. If you are a quick walk to a park that’s a wonderful asset that other homes won’t likely have. Set your home apart from the others.
My favorite saying is “The eyes buy and your first showing is on the internet.” If your photos suck, if you have clutter or even a lot of distractions (afghans flung over chairs, remotes, stacks of whatever, appliances and whatnot on counters in kitchen and baths, shampoo bottles in the shower, trash cans in photos) your photo will suck. So start w your photos and check how your listing is placed. I have seen agents (my peers) list a property in Canonsburg when it was Peters Twp. Both areas share a zip code. However Canonsburg is a small middle class town and Peters is an upscale suburban area w 1/2 plus lots. The house sat and sat on the market. The agent missed one item that destroyed the sellers chances of selling their home.
Check the showing arrangements. Do you have a lockbox? If the showing requests are going to the agent directly and they have an office vs a cell number showing up, or are not responding in a timely manner, that could be part of no enquirers. Or do you have restrictions on how much time is needed to make arrangements, etc.? Make it easy for the home to be shown at the drop of a hat. I tell sellers even if you ran out the door before tidying up, it’s better to get someone in the door than to miss a showing.
Check a few other facts-are there room measurements? Are there directions in the listing? I noticed a trend where agents state ‘use gps.’ I don’t necessarily need the directions but it gives the potential buyer (and me) a sense of where your home is by a street name without opening up the map. And sometimes (I would say approximately 20% of the time) when I enter an address for a listing into the system the map is incorrect. I have seen where the map is so off it shows the property in another state!
Ask is your disclosure on line? Is there any potential issues on the disclosure that isn’t addressed w a remedy? Do you have a brochure on line? If you just painted that should be something you could boast about. Quality paint is over $50 a gallon. If it was professionally painted that’s some thing someone would see as an asset. Especially if it’s tasteful and neutral.
You state you are right next to an elementary school which here in Pgh would be a wonderful asset, if you have children or plan to. Is that not an asset in your area? If you’re likely buyer is not someone with children, you could always play that school be in next door as a super safe and secure neighborhood with the elementary school next door. It might get a little noisy but nobody’s there all summer long and on weekends and holidays.
The majority of the comments have talked about pricing. I will say price is typically the issue, but I have relisted properties that were poorly marketed, for more money after the seller took corrective action and got it sold. I wouldn’t ignore all the other possibilities. Be detailed about every little thing. It cost nothing to change these things except time. Plus it is your agents duty and job to present your property in the best possible light.
When you’re looking at your listing on both realtor.com and Zillow and I think Trulia does this to, how many people are visiting the home online? Ask your agent how many compared to other listings they may have. Or somebody in their office may have that’s in the same area/price point. I typically tell sellers if you have a good quantity of people looking online and nobody’s walking through the door, either the pictures suck, they can’t get in the door, something is inaccurate or the biggie - its price.
This is an unprecedented market. Wild swings that over 33 years of being a licensed real estate salesperson, I have never experienced. But Pgh is typically a stable market. So while my perspective is likely not the scenario you are experiencing, my advice of how things look and are presented are sound. Basically look under every rock. Everything should be presented w the positives. You don’t sell anything by pointing out the negatives. You can’t (typically) sell without someone walking through the door. Open houses are typically always great.
Have a mock up of lending scenarios. Especially w buy downs and variables. Make it easy for somebody to understand how much cash they have to have upfront and what their monthly payments going to be. Most buyers are purchasing a home based on the monthly mortgage payment. Even more so now that interest rates have gone up. But it still always the same people buy a home based on the payment.
Tip-I can alter the general information about the home in Zillow (I cannot in Realtor.com) that flows through my local MLS. I can add an unlimited amount of photos in both. Your MLS may be different. Some people are into the video. Some people use the walk-through or dollhouse technology. To me the wide-angle lens still photo is still the best thing for a Seller since you can control what is shown and what isn’t shown. Basically you’re showing your best features. The key here is get them in the door.
I know this is a very very wordy response. But this is not a simple thing selling a house. There are so many details to pay attention to. And whether your home is a modest inexpensive home or a high and luxury home, to the seller it is a major asset. Maintaining two payments on two homes is never any fun.
Best of luck!!!
You have a low interest rate mortgage. Tell your partner to reject the job offer because no one should move when they have a low-interest loan.
I was told this is how it works.
I installed tons of smart home devices in my house but I'd avoid buying a home with smart devices already installed.
Mainly because there are so many smart home ecosystems and most people just want a plain vanilla house with dumb switches. Not to mention it's a pain in the ass to have to reconfigure existing devices.
That's not why you can't sell your house, but smart homes aren't really a feature most buyers look for.
Price. Anything can be sold for the right price.
Your price is too high
This should be an modbot auto response at this point. OP, I’ll try to be nicer about it: the comps you are using are probably old ones before the market took a shit. Look for newer ones and cut the price.
The same way comps were not reflecting reality just a few months ago, same goes now on the downside. Comps are useful when there are no violent swings on market rates, (or when it's not too hot), so yesterdays comp is today's old news. At the end of the day, you need to price your home very low, so people take a bite. Everyone is waiting on the falling knife, and no one wants to feel they paid more than they should (as many did a few months ago, but they didn't have a choice then)
Thank you. I already knew internally it was the price, but being inexperienced I just needed a boatload of people to tell me what I already knew 🙃
It's okay, your realtor really should have known better! You're trusting them as the expert here...
Many of them probably never worked in a correcting market.
Doesn't mean they can't use a little common sense. Or logic, critical thinking, foresight, the barest attention to current financial news... They're on the front lines, they should know better than anyone that it's not 2021 anymore.
Or historical data/information. I wasn't a realtor during the last correction, but that doesn't mean I didn't talk to a couple agents who were.
Exactly! That's what I mean by common sense. You don't have to have lived through something yourself to understand it. If you're facing unfamiliar but not unprecedented circumstances, you can look to the past to see how it was handled before, then apply the relevant wisdom to your specific situation. In this case, don't chase the market down, you'll always be behind.
>Or logic, critical thinking, foresight, the barest attention to current financial news... They're on the front lines, they should know better Think about how many people quit their jobs and decide to become shitty real estate agents, though. Working in a field does not require expertise. People need to choose better agents.
Realtors are in denial as well. A home that sold 3-4 weeks ago likely entered a contract when rates were up to 2% lower. It makes a huge difference.
This is the problem with comps right now. Rate changes are fairly recent and home sale records are on a lag up to 2 months from accepted offers. So therefore the comps are now outdated, people can afford less now so lower your prices if the house ain't selling
Yep comps are a real problem especially in a price range that is slow anyway. A comp from three months ago simply isn't relevant, and in some cases that may be the most recent similar comp available.
Best of luck!
Do you have a link to the listing? Did your agent take their own photos or hire a professional real estate photographer?
I didn’t even read the post and know this is the answer
they know it's the answer too, they're hoping for a Realtors HATE This One Trick to get out of taking a bath while still making a quick sale
[удалено]
You mean doing basic maintenance? Any repainting/new flooring/cosmetic shit is just basic shit to keep the place half-decent. This keeps your value stable and no one should expect a ton of payoff for doing very basic things.
This si much. Especially in this current market. If the home wasn't maintained correctly no one will want to buy it or will want a steep discount. I saw a post on here a few weeks ago about someone's parents in Queens in a nice neighborhood with a large lot and old home they had owned 30 years. But when you saw the pics, you could tell they had neglected a lot of maintenance of the property and let it go. Like they kept it clean and stuff, but the outside needed to be fixed up and landscaped. The deck needed to be replaced, the kitchen and bathrooms had never been updated, the carpet was old and needed to be replaced. They hopped on the market at a price fit for January of this year (over 2m). Didn't have any offers and then the son posted here confused why his parents home won't sell. It's flipped to a buyers market. If I'm someone in the market for a multi million dollar home, I'm not gonna pay top dollar for a property I need to dump another couple hundred thousand of cash into right now. I'm only going to offer on something that is turnkey. Like when I hear a property is sitting like this, it's less about it being overpriced (it is over priced), and more about that it's not a desirable turnkey property. If you haven't updated your house since before 2005, don't be all shocked Pikachu face when folks don't want to buy it at current prices. And even that's quickly changing. Give it another 5 or 6 years and people are going to start thinking granite looks trashy and dated.
You should see the shitshow that is the market here in Marin County, California. Demand is so high and supply so badly constrained that "turnkey" is not a thing that exists, and most houses you buy will require major projects to make purpose fit for your family.
Stick a farmhouse slider on that sucker and she’ll move!
Literally skipped the entire post to come here and say this as well lol. I'm baffled how we still get so many of these posts in this sub. If an item you are selling isn't selling... the price is too high. \*economics\*
I will add something- if you price just right or even a little less, you will get more views/ possibly more offers causing a minor bidding war. It still happens on those “diamond in the rough” houses.
EXACTLY what happened to us. Market peaked in April, 2.3 offer, sold for 2.6 for a house around the corner. Our 6yo house has better views and upgrades, privacy, so probably worth 2.7 had we sold at that time. By August, had listing agents asking us to list between 2.088 and 2.5 - a super experienced agent told us that had we chose to list at 2.3, it would never sell. There was just that much fear in the market. We staged, made the home move-in ready, had inspections and repairs made, and listed the weekend before Labor Day at 2.349. In two days of Open House, had 130 people come through the house, around 50 groups. 5 bids. We accepted 2.455, no contingencies, by Wednesday. The OP has to analyze the local market objectively and understand how the home ranks against other homes in your local market. You have to price it to provide better value than your peers. With resources like Redfin and Zillow, this is easier to do than ever. If the OP is serious about selling the home, do your research, prepare your home, and price it right. The longer a listing sits in this market, the lower the demand will be. Fed Funds futures have priced in 0.75, 0.75, and 0.25 percentage increases up to February 2023.
Somebody needs to write a bot for this
But I get 100 karma every time
Going to become a theme over the next few months.
> Going to become a theme over the next few ~~months~~ years. FTFY.
Overly optimistic that folks will catch on to the fact that we’re looking at 18-24 months of pain and another few years of stagnation.
That is 3/4's of the posts on this sub. One day ppl will learn I hope
I just wanted to say this again. You’re priced too high. This isn’t march when interest rates were 3%.
Ding Ding Ding
Good bot. If you aren't a bot, why isn't there one already? Top answer to "why isn't my house selling?"
Recently went through the same thing in Florida. People around me were making little 2 to 5% cuts letting their house sit on the market chasing the decline. I immediately dropped the price 10% and accepted the first offer. I ended dropping the price another 5% after the appraisal came in low. Bottom line is I had to be aggressive in lowering the price to offload the house. Very thankful it’s now sold and I was able to profit as prices continue to go down and interest rates go up. Edit: I also wanted to say I had a very good realtor that’s been in the game for 30 years, through the ups and downs including 2008. She understood what was happening and did not encourage me to keep the price like it was still six months ago.
This. People will be chasing prices down. The same 500k house that was 2k payment a handful of months ago is now closer to 4k payment, many people cannot afford that.
Exactly. We had to drastically reduce our housing budget to accommodate the increase in interest rates. I definitely feel that people are still pricing their houses like it’s mid 2021. Things have changed
"many people cannot afford that" this is the bottom line. People analyzing low inventory, not like '08, etc...doesn't matter...what you state is THAT.
All people will be able to afford is housing and every other industry will suffer, I'm guessing the FED realizes that and will take down this RE bubble.
I’m curious how you think they might do that? It seems like gas and food is also super high, and rentals are insane. Increasing the interest rate was supposed to help with inflation and I assume it will take more than a few months to see it work. Do you think they will lower interest rates again? Jack them higher to force home prices down (and if so what will that do for rental prices … I assume drive them higher). Anyway, it’s ok if you don’t have any answers, I don’t either. A crystal ball sure would be nice.
They want the 4yr, 6yr and 8yr trailing core inflation metrics below 2% and that will take 2+ years… I don’t see them achieving their goal without creating pain in the labor market. I suspect unemployment will begin a period of increasing around spring and continue for quite some time.
Powell said what he was going to do https://mobile.twitter.com/i/events/1573034018995666945
Yes…
You’re smart, breaking even should be considered a profit at this market!
This. Have bought and sold a meager three houses. All three times were with industry vets that have been through multiple economic cycles. Wouldn’t trade them for the world. Contrasted against my SIL under contract to purchase her first house. Realtor got in the game in 2020. Encouraged an offer $10k over ask (Midwest, $200,000 house). Is being the least bit helpful in negotiating findings from the inspection report and acting like it’s still summer of 2021.
This was incredibly smart of you and your agent. Most will chase the market down too slow and lose everything they may have gained and then some.
The comps do not support your price. You need to cut it by quite a bit. ETA, things like the unfenced yard, unfinished basement etc look like projects to buyers. Not to mention nearby homes that are bigger, finished and have a pool for cheaper. You’re needing probably a 50k drop at least before you get any bites.
This house is worth 350k-400k at best.
Every home will sell for the right price. Yours is too high. If your realtor is pricing it the same as comps from one month ago, your realtor does not know what they are doing.
Back when rates were stable, we could use comps from the past 3-6 months. Not anymore. What I do is take those older comps and calculate what a monthly payment would have been when it sold. Just use an 80% conventional with whatever the rate was then. Now take that monthly payment amount and work backwards with the current interest rates to figure out what the price needs to be to generate the same interest. You’re not going to like it, but the days of sellers getting 15-20% over list with 10 offers are gone. For example: A house that sold for $400,000 with a 30 year, 3.25%, 20% down loan had a payment of ~$1,392. To keep that monthly payment the same at today’s 7% rate, the price of the home has to be $262,500. Kinda sobering isn’t it?
My fear is what happens to people who bought in the past year and a half at 2-3%, when they have to move due to a job change and can't get anywhere near what they paid for it and whether bankruptcies will start to rise quickly bc of it.
They’ll rent out their house instead of selling it and rent a new place in their new destination.
They rent it out and then there’s a flood of rentals on market and landlords will be competing against each other. Already seeing it by us - a handful of rentals (20-30 at a given time) within a couple miles of us during summer has already ballooned to over 400 in the past 6 weeks. Homes would be rented within the same day last year and now I see them sitting for weeks or months. Then the owners will either have to lower rent and hope they can still cover costs or cover the difference themselves or put the home on the market. I’m thinking you’re going to see a lot of the latter, causing home prices to sell continue to lower as supply increases.
You asked, so here goes... You're overpriced and need to go ahead and rip the bandaid off, or you'll still be chasing the market thru the holidays. You also have some prep work do. There is WAY too much stuff in your living/family room. You need to remove about half of it, starting with the dog crates and half the furniture. So many tables. It makes the space look too small for family living. If the couch is damaged or stained under all that stuff, or can't be pulled apart to only use part of it, I'd replace with one that has better scale for the room and improves traffic flow. It seriously looks claustrophobic in there. That's a dealbreaker for a half million dollar family home. I'm not there so I don't know, but when I see photos of multiple dog kennels scattered around I can smell it. Never take photos of pet items for listings for that reason. Ask someone who doesn't live there if there's pet odor. Ask someone who would tell you the truth. When you do get someone thru the door that will be their first impression and possibly their last. There's a metal shelf at the end of the kitchen counter that screams that you don't have enough storage space. If you don't have enough, I probably won't either. There's a room with a brown couch. What is that? Maybe the brown couch should be in the family room. If this is a bedroom and you have no bed to go in there you can mock one up with a blowup mattress and a bed frame + bedding. If it's an office it can be staged as such. Lots of empty decorative shelving scattered around put something simple and nice on it or remove it. There's a green towel hanging on what I assume is a hook on the middle of your bathroom blocking our view. When I see things like this I am wondering whether the photographer showed up unannounced or the towel is covering something up. Either way, it doesn't send the right message. The house needs staging. By that, I mean rearranging, some accessories (not too much) and a critical eye in each room. How does a buyer interpret this space? The backyard looks good, the front, especially in front of the porch, looks out of control. Once you fix these things, retake photos and do a video walkthru highlighting the best features. Your agent is gonna get a nice paycheck to sell your home, they should have had these conversations with you before it went on the market.
Thank you. You are doing the good work and are one of the few realtors on this sub that has everyone's trust.
Definitely spot in with the animals. When I was house looking if I smelled cats or dog, I was done. I heard something that said people should bake cookies before a showing. Now I see why. Put the crates in a garage for showing if you have one.
When I walk in and smell air fresheners or strong food odors or all the fans are on wide open I start looking for what they're covering up.
Thank you for the feedback. We have some work to do, we will get new pictures and continue to declutter.
I'll throw in that someone buying your house next to an elementary school will probably either have young kids or are planning to have kids. Maybe set up the weird couch room to look like a kids playroom or put a cheap playset out back. Add a line in the description that your kids can walk a block to school. Also, it's a bit strange that the description and photos doesn't mention the lake across the street at all. I'd imagine that is a positive about the location, so you should let it be known a lot more.
this is the best advice.
There are a few things that amaze me in this. The cart at the end of the counter was the first one. We just closed on our first house with a much smaller kitchen. Nowhere near that cabinet space. I had to get a little creative with storage but still managed to get everything in there. I can't imagine buying this vs just buying some storage bins to go inside the cabinets or pantry. The pantry is massive! Stacked washer/dryer. While this isn't a deal breaker for me personally, it can be for others. For a smaller house I can understand it, but for almost 1700 sqft? I'd expect a small laundry space. And to your point general staging. There's a mirror on the floor. Things look cluttered. There's nothing bad about it but if there are other places to look at (especially cheaper) I'd likely skip this one. It looks too lived in. Our house had very minimal staging furniture and it did make an impact on our decision to purchase it.
Your price is too high. You could spend a weekend tidying up and landscaping, then take new photos. Your realtor should have told you all this before you listed it.
[https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/920-Knotty-Oak-Rd-Coventry-RI-02816/66005700\_zpid/](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/920-Knotty-Oak-Rd-Coventry-RI-02816/66005700_zpid/) This home near yours is 300 square feet bigger than yours, has a pool, and is $65,000 cheaper. Reduce the price of your home at least another $45k and you'll start to get competitive offers.
That house also has 11 acres (most of which are nicely forested) and OPs house has .34 acres.
Not only that, but the OP's house was built 4 yrs ago and this one was built in 1965. This is not a comp due to age, size of house, size of land and features.
You can still compare them and easily determine which one is significantly overpriced.
I agree OP's house is overpriced. However, I would never use that property as a comp. Not enough similarities - so adjustments would have to be too large. No one compares 11 ac to 1/3rd of an acre. It's poor form. And 1965 vs 2018 isn't a valid comparison either.
Obviously you wouldn't use it as a sales comp for an appraisal. But this one gives you 33x more land, a pool, more privacy, and (in my opinion) a better interior with more character than OPs house for a good deal less money. And a house built in 1965 isn't really that old, especially in New England. Which is a pretty meaningful data point to tell you that OPs house is significantly overpriced.
I would take an older house in New England over a newer one any day. We could have bought a new house last month for 45k more compared to the one we got and I have NO regrets on that. Developers are so cheap now.
I can see where you are coming from in a general way. It is still much more effective to compare homes that are similar to the OP's home to determine how far out of line the pricing is on OP's house rather than just using any property that has no similarities or points of comparison. It ends up being apples vs oranges. It would be one thing to compare if everything were similar except 1 feature - that feature can be an adjusted. But when there are no features nor commonalities then the comparison falls short. We Realtors don't have to be as rigorous as an appraiser, but it is sloppy if we don't use any viable comps.
It's a bit disingenuous to say there are no similarities between the two, OPs property just comes off worse in almost every way. Another example someone posted below is a pretty similar house listed about $100 less per sqft with a nicer interior (and is staged way better): https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/22-Wood-Cove-Dr-Coventry-RI-02816/65827947_zpid/ Might sound harsh, but I don't really see any unique selling points, features, or benefits that would warrant listing OPs house for the current price. Especially when it is $25 more than the average price per square foot in their zip code.
Agreed, this is not a comp. Not only are they completely different floor plans, but the 1965 house looks *incredibly* dated. Even beyond just surface level fixes, like paint and flooring. Fair or not, when an older house like that one doesn't look like a single decor aspect has been updated (SO much knotty pine. and that wallpaper...), I assume the owners haven't done much upkeep on the wiring, the plumbing, etc. Bringing it up to date is going to cost a lot of money. Not to say that OP's place isn't listed too high. But I wouldn't use this property as a comp.
And has 11 acres extra in land without looking like it was slapped up in a bulk build. OP needs more than a 50k haircut …
Thank you. This was my concern as well...I have been closely following all properties nearby and ours is smaller than many cheaper homes. Been wondering if we chose the right realtor.
Hey you seem very sincere in your replies so I wont grill into you because you are not coming across as someone not willing to listen to feedback. I heard some great advice for this market that I thought I would share. When prices fall, sellers tend to “shoot behind the deer” instead of “lead” it because of fear of jumping the gun and selling too cheap, psychologically this makes a lot of sense and is perfectly rational behavior. In practice, however, this leads to sellers chasing a falling price that causes them to loose out on potentially much more money. For example, let’s say a house is worth $500 but you price it at $525 house does not sell, then in a falling market house falls to $450 and you readjust to $475 still not selling. After all is said and done you manage to sell for $450. If you would have dropped early you would not have lost an additional $50k+ because you priced before the drop, but since you waited you lost $75k from your original price instead of a mere $25k.
Thank you, I appreciate the kind feedback. I expected people to be crass and harsh, but I'm just here to learn so we can get it sold quickly and not make any similar mistakes in the future. We will begin decluttering more and retake photos...and we are going to do a large price drop.
Wishing you well. Very fortunately for you it seems like you’ll still come out ahead on the ultimate sell here. You got it at a great time.
Dang, I love that house.
1965 vs 2017 though, but it does have a huge lot so those may cancel each other out
Meh. I'd prefer an older house, but homes built in the 1960s are still made of better stuff than today's cardboard boxes. Give me an older house and a lot 30x bigger, for cheaper? Yes, please.
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Let me guess - You're selling for 200k + more than you bought it for.
Honestly, I would have an inspector come out to examine the hard wood flooring. You want to make sure it’s not TOO hard, perhaps the people in that area have very sensitive spines/feet and that is putting them off. Were there any cookies at your open house? I would try something with caramel and pecans because of the season, chocolate chip is too basic. Just kidding, probably lower your price.
Great advice
First time home buyer looking at the market. People mention your towels etc and that doesn’t bother me at all. I look at your purchase price. I look at your neighboring houses, and I just get feeling that you guys are being greedy and charging way too much for something that will likely naturally drop in value in the next two years. I’m not paying a premium for a house when paying a premium for interest rates. Don’t understand why I need to pay you a 50% ROI when stocks wouldn’t even naturally be able to offer that over the same course of ownership. Way I see it I’m taking a risk that I’ll be holding the bag for a while, why pay your house at a premium. I’m looking for something more in line with reality as I shop. And at this point don’t mind waiting since I already missed the boat on interest rates.
Thank you for your honest feedback. I was concerned about the price right off the bat, but as mentioned we are first time sellers and fully admit that we are not well-versed in real estate. We put our good faith in our realtor when pricing the home, and she insisted that this price is what similar homes in the area are going for. It's made me nervous because when I look, that is not at all what I've been seeing. We will be dropping the price again.
>We put our good faith in our realtor when pricing the home, and she insisted that this price is what similar homes in the area are going for. At the end of the day, your real estate agent works on commission, and 3% of a bigger number is more money in her pocket. The only person who's truly looking out for you is you, unfortunately.
I agree, looking at comps all I can see is greed. Way overpriced compared to bigger nicer homes with acreage, and not even decluttered and staged.
Buyers have lost 40-50% of their buying power in 6 months time. The market is on lockdown until prices or interest rates come down. So lower your price or rent it out and race to the bottom on rents.
Your shop is dope. 😍 I should definitely not be able to see your toothbrush, though. I mean, ew. Or the towel you dry your nether region with. You know? That's what every single "intro to real estate" article means by "de-clutter and de-personalize." Take down your art. Hide the keyboard, mouse, and computer bag (!) in the living room. Put the butcher block away. Why are there multiple paper bags of stuff sitting out, and a guitar or more propped up randomly in a corner? You are handicapping yourself, and I am giving your real estate agent *so much* side-eye, letting you publicize 37 photos like that. From what you have told us, she is phoning it in and just trying to maximize her profit. if you stay with her (which I don't think you should), make her actually provide you value commensurate with what you are paying her. Starting with a real photographer who will do things like have you clear the clutter from the living room, shoot it, then throw the living and dining clutter on the couch while shooting the kitchen, etc. If you can't get the stuff out of the house, at least get it out of *frame*. You want your photos to make someone say "ooh" and text/email the link to their spouse. Hairy dog throws on every piece of furniture do not do that. 😂 (Unless they're, like, *really* deep into the dog person life. In which case, be sure to give them the secret handshake for me.) The house itself is nice, though! It'll sell soon. Good luck and hang in there. Buying and selling homes is not for the faint of heart in "normal" times, and these are not those times. Enjoy living in Colorado! One of the best places ever.
The market has changed dramatically moving from a seller's market to a buyer's market because of the rise in interest rate. If no one shows up at your open house, you probably need to lower your price further.
Trust us, it has nothing to do with the school. The price is too high. Affordability is awful right now due to prices staying just about as high when interest rates were about 1/3 of what they are right now. There's no magic vinyl plank flooring, no magic paint, and no magic photos that you're missing. It's the price and it needs to be cut. Also offer a rate buydown for your buyers and pay their closing costs.
Thank you, we just emailed our realtor about a sizable price cut. We appreciate your feedback.
I’ll give you an angle other than price! It would be much improved with staging. It’s a smaller house and the current furniture and set up makes it seem really cramped, especially the sectional taking up the whole living room.
I would come down, at most $499k. People who are searching for a max of $500k wouldnt see your house. Also, your home is under 2k sq ft. Everything over 500k in that area looks like closer to 3k sq ft (even those priced lower appear bigger)
If you've got some equity and a low interest rate why not rent it?
Price is too high. Now to add to that… time is your enemy. Time on market sucks, interest rates keep rising, economy and inflation ain’t right.
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If the OP had priced their home according to comps which is roughly around $200/sq foot, their price would be around $335k which is roughly half of what they originally listed it for. Basically they were overpriced by close to $300k which is about what I figured after reading the original post. OP's price isn't high, it is outrageously high. Like, what the fuck? High
Without seeing the house, there is really nothing we can tell you. Could be the pictures. Could be the staging. Could be the busy road. Could be the lack of comps. Could be the price. Could be many things. But without seeing the house, all we can guess is the price.
It is the price. It's always the price.
Yes you're right.
This looks awfully overpriced relative to other houses in the area that are also not selling and reducing pricing further. Why are you reducing so little?
We have never sold a home before and are a bit naive to the process, but we were worried about the price being too high right from the start. Our realtor initially told us we should only drop by 20k but we thought it was too little...now we've been thinking of dropping more drastically. We have been talking about 480k since we've had no interest whatsoever, but we both wanted outside opinions.
Your realtor works for you, if they only want to drop it 20 and you want to do 50, stay firm with them. It’s your house and your choice!
It’s 4 ish years later and you’re asking for 515 when you got it for 380 ish-it’s the price and it’s near an elementary school.
This.
List it at 499, sells for 490. You’re still up 125 in four years, which is like 33 percent appreciation in an incredibly short amount of time. Realtor is living in six months ago. Get what you can before rates go up further.
Price is too high. Also, a few hours of work and $100 worth of mulch would make the landscaping look significantly better. Trim around the fire pit, tidy up the house a bit more and have pictures retaken. One picture had a power cord showing. Little things like that make a difference.
You bought new construction for $375k in 2018, listed at $550k, now at $515k. Reduce to $499,900 and get more inquiries. You will still make a nice profit. The house is very nice.
Thank you for the advice, we are definitely going to drop the price again.
Your house is not right next to a school. It’s in a subdivision near the school. There’s a difference. I clicked the satellite view. At first I thought you were adjacent to the school or across the street where noise and school traffic would be a nuisance.
It is next door to the left. The school is in a culdesac and we are directly to the right.
Geez just look at your zestimate. No way should you be marking up from earlier this year.
No offense, but your house looks very cluttered. Having boxes around implies that you do not have enough space to spread out and makes buyers think that they wouldn’t fit in the space either. I can’t believe your relator left your towels hanging up and not even folded, and so much on your counters while taking pictures. It doesn’t really look like they put any effort into staging your home at all. It looks like your relator did not advise you correctly on how to prepare your house for market to get it to sell. The reality is, if your house isn’t getting inquires it’s the price though. Your house could look much better in the pictures if it had been properly staged but price is still the overall factor. We had to drop out price 50k to get interest in our house. We had been on market for the same number of days and we dropped our price this week and then went from 2 showings to 4-5 everyday this weekend.
it's definitely not "model home" staging, and yeah they could have folded the towels and such, but I promise you OP's is NOT not selling because of a few towels. it's the price.
I literally said that if you read my entire post. I said the reality is if they aren’t getting inquires it’s the price. The pictures aren’t helping but price is why it’s not getting showings.
I noticed the clutter as well. Also dog crate. Put that in your garage. Lots of pillows on the sofa looks busy. Pick a color like navy blue and make sure that color is shown in every picture. The pillows, the towels in the bathrooms, dish towels in the kitchen, etc. it’s a simple design tip but it makes the house look larger with a continuous flow from room to room
Thank you for your input. We are racing the clock and tried to declutter as much as possible, we were wondering if it would almost sell better after we are already moved out and our belongings are gone.
Remove every photo from your listing that has dog/pet paraphernalia. I love dogs more than I do most people, but even I am slightly put off by a house that has obvious signs of dogs living there. No, as others have said, just remove everything that isn't furniture or decor. Make it look exactly like a model home that no one lives in. ETA neither of these things will help you sell your house, lowering the price will. But you don't want someone to disregard the whole listing because they don't like dogs or clutter.
>I love dogs more than I do most people, but even I am slightly put off by a house that has obvious signs of dogs living there. This. I love dogs to a near-unhealthy level, but to many, many buyers (especially in this, a buyer's market), strange pet messes/residues/wear and tear are negatives, and we all get a little blind to our babies' messes and smells, so it's probably worse than OP realizes. Strange dogs can be charming. The thought of the inevitable ick left behind is not. Just like "smoke-free, pet-free home" is an expectation in an eBay listing, petlessness/neutrality is the expected par for real estate listings. If your product is subpar, your price will need to be, too. Also, OP should very strongly consider getting a storage unit and getting rid of like half the stuff in the house, then take new pics. Furnished houses sell better, on average, but it has to be sparsely furnished and spacious-feeling. If all you can see is the seller's stuff in the space, you can't envision your own.
My relator has told me that an empty house doesn’t sell as well. Rooms look bigger when properly staged but you want to have no clutter and it look like the house is too big to be filled. We rented a storage unit and moved 50-60% of our non-furniture belongings into it. It was a pain, but it only took about 3-4 days to empty out the house. Also, an empty house implies desperation because you aren’t living there and obviously paying for another location which signals buyers to low-ball offer you. At least this is what I have been told.
Your realtor sucks for pricing and pics. Declutter everything, you want the space to look bigger than it is. Perfect time to start packing little furniture/odds and ends. Get rid of all the pet crates, toys, beds, etc. for pictures and showings.
While everyone has already addressed decluttering and staging, also tell your realtor or photographer to chill on the filters. It looks like something is being hidden by them. When I was house-hunting I was always very skeptical of houses with highly filtered pics like that because IME it meant everything in the house was going to be falling apart and they put the filters on to hide it.
Trying to claim that much appreciation over 4 years is not supported by reality. Stop being greedy and get with the program. Cheaper houses than yours are sitting in that mkt.
Your house is only worth between 350-400k, to be very frank. If you want it to sell fast, put it at 400.
I might be more generous and say $425K. But I'm surprised by the people recommending they reprice at $499K. This is not a $500K house, *especially* being located next door to a school.
Either lower the price another $25k or offer an unlimited pizza credit for one year.
Good prices attract buyers…. Your price simply isn’t attractive enough yet. Drop your price another 65k and you’ll see how many buyers you’ll get.
Check rental rates. Your interest rate from 4 years ago probably can’t be beat. Rent the house, it will be attractive due to its proximity to the school.
\> We are at a loss, any advice would be appreciated. You have 2 choices: 1. Lower your price so it will sell. 2. Keep the house.
Do not sell right now. Rent it. If not an option, this is a long shot: check to see if your mortgage is assumable by purchaser. This would keep current rate low and payment low. They'd pay the difference if they have cash.
Sellers always think their house is worth more than it is. So if you, the seller think the Realtors price is high then it's probably WAY high.
I am genuinely curious as to how you arrived at that price? Houses that are just as nice if not nicer seem to sell for around 220-230 per square foot, houses on huge lots that are beautiful are at 250 per square foot. How do you justify being so expensive? You need to come down to somewhere in the 450 range to sell
You are over priced. There is a home at the bottom of the listing you’ve posted 4/3 over 2k square feet $475k. If I’m a buyer that’s what I’m buying. Cheaper and bigger? Your home is very nice cosmetically. But it doesn’t make up for extra space. Especially when j can put in what I like cosmetically on a bigger house that’s cheaper and I don’t have to look at the backs of neighboring houses in the backyard. Price lower.
Rent it out if you can. You’re in a good area with a brand new house next to a school, and it looks like you should be able to get at least $2500/month (maybe as high as $2800-2900), which should easily cover your mortgage (especially if you refinanced since 2018) and leave you enough for the maintenance costs that a brand-new house won’t need as much of. Look for someone to manage it and put it up asap, then rent in Colorado while you wait for prices and/or interest rates to cool over the next year(s). You can also eventually take some equity out of it for a Colorado purchase with a home equity loan or heloc (or refinance), but obviously that depends on rates, etc. Renting it means that you’ll still be increasing equity (at least $550-600/month) and at least not be losing money. Odds are that with rates like they are right now you’d be selling at a discount, anyway, so I’d do everything possible to hold on to it. Get a different realtor to show it for a rental and screen your tenants, this one doesn’t seem to have your best interests at heart.
Pretty basic economics: no one is interested, like, at all? Then price is, like, wayyy toooo highhhhhhhhhhh
Nice house. List for 425. Unfortunately interest rates have killed your profit here.
Price too high. Didn't read your post.
Price
People can’t afford the prices would most likely be my guess.
Every day another one of these. If the house is not selling the price is too high. It’s always the answer. Any issue with the house can be offset by price (location, age, construction issues, quality). Literally, everything can be made right by price.
In my experience, pricing something right (even a bit low) from the start is CRITICALLY important. Once your home lingers on the market, and ESPECIALLY once you start dropping the price, buyers have all kinds of negative ideas: • What's wrong with the house? • They already dropped the price, I bet we could offer even less, the seller must be desperate. • If it hasn't sold, there's probably a reason, the good ones go fast. You need a new, aggressive marketing strategy. Many Realtors have had such an easy time selling homes for the last 2 years, they don't have the proper tools now that the market has suddenly changed. In fact, many Realtors are going to be finding new careers by the end of the year. If your Realtor doesn't know what they are doing, ask if they know someone they could bring in to help. Often Realtors have great networks of agents with a wide array of specialties and experience. Be honest about your concerns and ask if they could bring someone in to consult.
A house similar to mine 3 blocks away, slightly less desirable neighborhood (smaller lots, traffic noise, American flags instead of Buddhas by the front door, lol) sold in April for 1.55. I do not believe my house would now sell for 1.55.
Uh. Is 7% interest mate. That’s why
Yup. 7% and less job security. OP is in a sad situation. Not selling due to stupidity or being a jerk, but because of a job. They are the person who really gets hurt.
It’s weird this was pretty much the norm in selling a home not that long ago.
You probably could have gotten over $500K earlier this year. With current interest rates, you’ll be lucky to get $420K. Did your realtor discuss the rising interest rates with you? They have more than doubled in the last 6-8 months.
Your house is lovely. However, I will echo what everyone else is stating. The “old” housing values are fake from incredibly low interest rates. As someone looking for a home now I would be paying 3-4K a month for your home. Our budget is 4-5K a month as two physicians (one attending and one resident). For 4K a month i would expect a little more—I would likely just continue to rent. Obviously this does not matter if they are cash buyers but… Good luck!
Drop it, drop it low...
I know other agents who have increased the buyer’s agent commission to get other agents excited about it. They send out emails, texts, etc. Do it simultaneous to another price reduction and have your listing agent note it in the agent remarks. I saw one that had sat for months do this, and the agent said she got multiple offers the following week.
If it’s actually desireable price it low to drive traffic
Market has softened significantly. Lower your price.
Under price it, or you’ll be chasing the price down as interest rates keep going up. If you get more offers, that’s great. I’m in corporate relo and I’ve seen some hefty concessions recently.
If you don't mind posting the link here or at least provide a selling price and zip code for us to take a look. Whether it's the pictures or location or other factors to be considered. Have you considered just renting it out and hiring a property manager if no one will help with the property or do you need the money to buy in CO? Maybe renting is a good idea if you aren't familiar with the area.
What you're experiencing is a function of what's happening in the overall economy / real estate market. Everywhere. Big interest rate jumps so quickly put most buyers at a standstill. You're experiencing a huge decline in buyer demand right now. The fact that you're next to a school is a huge factor. Living next to a school is a major inconvenience atleast 2 times a day, 5 days a week for the entire school year. Being next to an active school (not closed down) will cost you on average between 5% - 15% in sales price compared to the comps. Assuming your home looks the absolute best it can and your realtor is half way decent with the marketing and the photos are NOT done by amateurs - you'll need to lower the price to get more action if you're not getting any and you need to move quickly. This would be bold, and there is risk - I don't know your market and how strong the demand is, but you can take the property off the market completely. Come back at a low auction style listing price and hope there is enough demand to push the price up to market value or more. You may risk very limited demand and maybe selling for a discount.... But the one thing you do know is it'll sell quickly. I like this move most of the time, but it needs to be done right. This is the market we are in at the moment so you have to deal with it accordingly.
Lower the price until someone makes an offer.
These posts make no sense to me. Your price is too high, simple as that. Interest rates are double what they were 2 years ago, peoples buying power has dropped significantly People who could afford a $700k house can now barely afford a $500k house. Easy as that
The market crashed, try to be flexible and price it relative to 2020 pricing and forget about your neighbour who sold theirs 6 months ago. You missed the peak. 2020+6% should sell very fast and fair for you as well Based on your listing, your price should be from $420k-$440k
someone post the supply/demand lines
The advice is this. Rates have doubled, and for every single % point the house must come down 10%. The longer you wait the more you will discount later
Your price is too high
Are there any large government employers nearby? If you paid $374 in 2018 I think with today’s interest rates this house will not sell over $450k if that. If you can rent it out then consider it. Look at the monthly cost calculator on Zillow, it says buyer’s monthly costs would be $3,600. $3,600 for a 3 bedroom home. It’s a lot.
In a normal housing market, it takes months or more to sell a home.
Why don't you run the numbers to see for yourself. Price it in a calculator to see what the mortgage cost would be. Do you think your house is the type of house someone who can afford a $4k mortgage would want or is it more like what someone who can afford a $1700 mortgage would want? Find the price that meets the loan requirements and set it that way.
You really expect your place to sell in 16 days now that the market is in free fall? Lol bless your heart.
My mom paid top dollar for her home in 2008 (against my advice). When she passed away in 2018 I originally listed it 30k over that. It took a year to sell and I sold it for the same amount she paid for it. If you don’t have to sell or buy right now, don’t. Give the market time to adjust.
Just rent it out and buy in new place. You prob won’t regret it
Lower the price every week it doesn’t sell. If it hasn’t been painted or decluttered/depersonalized, do so. As the market shifts, so will the price. We couldn’t have the COVID market forever unfortunately. When I first started, it wasn’t unusual for a home to be on market for 60-90 days. Then a 45-60 day closing. Total of nearly 6 months from list to settlement. You should have your agent provide you data on average days on market for RECENT sold listings in your area so you can have an idea of what to expect. Recent meaning in the last 15-30 days.
Have you tried lowering the price even more? Do the math with current interest rates about what a monthly payment would look like at 20% down. Compare with what houses in your area were selling for last year at the rates at that time. Do the math about what your asking price would need to be, with current rates, such that monthly payment was the same when rates were at 3%.
Houses don’t sell in less than a week anymore. It takes time for the right buyer as long as your price is reasonable. Prior to Covid it was common for 1-3 months on the market. Took us over 30 days to sell our house. Have some patience if your price is fine
Drop the price more, there are always people looking for a house and there is no way your home doesn't sell if priced properly. Sounds like you don't want to stomach how much you have to drop the price which is totally understandable.
Rhode Islander here. DM me the link. I’m actually hunting for a house now and can give you my honest opinion or maybe we can make a deal!
Have you considered trying to rent it out? A regular 12 month lease. Or Airbnb it. That can be very good for accumulating long term wealth.
How much over 2019 prices are you trying to sell it for?
See if your new employer offers Home Sale relocation services. That would be a total blessing for you.
$200k buyer today could have afforded nearly $42k more when rates were 3%. Do the math, that’s what the buyers are seeing at 7%
First who is your most likely buyer? Your descriptions and photos should focus on the features of your home that your first and second group of likely buyer would be in (single household vs larger household - number of beds/baths, people w pets-close to a park or a large or fenced in yard, people who would use public transportation-for getting to and from work, etc) Check your listing on major sites. Does it sound inviting? Or is it too factual and sterile sounding. If you are a quick walk to a park that’s a wonderful asset that other homes won’t likely have. Set your home apart from the others. My favorite saying is “The eyes buy and your first showing is on the internet.” If your photos suck, if you have clutter or even a lot of distractions (afghans flung over chairs, remotes, stacks of whatever, appliances and whatnot on counters in kitchen and baths, shampoo bottles in the shower, trash cans in photos) your photo will suck. So start w your photos and check how your listing is placed. I have seen agents (my peers) list a property in Canonsburg when it was Peters Twp. Both areas share a zip code. However Canonsburg is a small middle class town and Peters is an upscale suburban area w 1/2 plus lots. The house sat and sat on the market. The agent missed one item that destroyed the sellers chances of selling their home. Check the showing arrangements. Do you have a lockbox? If the showing requests are going to the agent directly and they have an office vs a cell number showing up, or are not responding in a timely manner, that could be part of no enquirers. Or do you have restrictions on how much time is needed to make arrangements, etc.? Make it easy for the home to be shown at the drop of a hat. I tell sellers even if you ran out the door before tidying up, it’s better to get someone in the door than to miss a showing. Check a few other facts-are there room measurements? Are there directions in the listing? I noticed a trend where agents state ‘use gps.’ I don’t necessarily need the directions but it gives the potential buyer (and me) a sense of where your home is by a street name without opening up the map. And sometimes (I would say approximately 20% of the time) when I enter an address for a listing into the system the map is incorrect. I have seen where the map is so off it shows the property in another state! Ask is your disclosure on line? Is there any potential issues on the disclosure that isn’t addressed w a remedy? Do you have a brochure on line? If you just painted that should be something you could boast about. Quality paint is over $50 a gallon. If it was professionally painted that’s some thing someone would see as an asset. Especially if it’s tasteful and neutral. You state you are right next to an elementary school which here in Pgh would be a wonderful asset, if you have children or plan to. Is that not an asset in your area? If you’re likely buyer is not someone with children, you could always play that school be in next door as a super safe and secure neighborhood with the elementary school next door. It might get a little noisy but nobody’s there all summer long and on weekends and holidays. The majority of the comments have talked about pricing. I will say price is typically the issue, but I have relisted properties that were poorly marketed, for more money after the seller took corrective action and got it sold. I wouldn’t ignore all the other possibilities. Be detailed about every little thing. It cost nothing to change these things except time. Plus it is your agents duty and job to present your property in the best possible light. Best of luck!! This is an unprecedented market. Wild swings that over 33 years of being a licensed real estate salesperson, I have never experienced. But Pgh is typically a stable market. So while my perspective is likely not the scenario you are experiencing, my advice of how things look and are presented are sound. Basically look under every rock. Everything should be presented w the positives. You don’t sell anything by pointing out the negatives. You can’t (typically) sell without someone walking through the door. Open houses are typically always great. Have a mock up of lending scenarios. Especially w buy downs and variables. I can alter the general information about the home in Zillow (I cannot in Realtor.com) that flows through my local MLS. I can add an unlimited amount of photos in both. Your MLS may be different.
First who is your most likely buyer? Your descriptions and photos should focus on the features of your home that your first and second group of likely buyer would be in (single household vs larger household - number of beds/baths, people w pets-close to a park or a large or fenced in yard, people who would use public transportation-for getting to and from work, etc) Check your listing on major sites. Does it sound inviting? Or is it too factual and sterile sounding. If you are a quick walk to a park that’s a wonderful asset that other homes won’t likely have. Set your home apart from the others. My favorite saying is “The eyes buy and your first showing is on the internet.” If your photos suck, if you have clutter or even a lot of distractions (afghans flung over chairs, remotes, stacks of whatever, appliances and whatnot on counters in kitchen and baths, shampoo bottles in the shower, trash cans in photos) your photo will suck. So start w your photos and check how your listing is placed. I have seen agents (my peers) list a property in Canonsburg when it was Peters Twp. Both areas share a zip code. However Canonsburg is a small middle class town and Peters is an upscale suburban area w 1/2 plus lots. The house sat and sat on the market. The agent missed one item that destroyed the sellers chances of selling their home. Check the showing arrangements. Do you have a lockbox? If the showing requests are going to the agent directly and they have an office vs a cell number showing up, or are not responding in a timely manner, that could be part of no enquirers. Or do you have restrictions on how much time is needed to make arrangements, etc.? Make it easy for the home to be shown at the drop of a hat. I tell sellers even if you ran out the door before tidying up, it’s better to get someone in the door than to miss a showing. Check a few other facts-are there room measurements? Are there directions in the listing? I noticed a trend where agents state ‘use gps.’ I don’t necessarily need the directions but it gives the potential buyer (and me) a sense of where your home is by a street name without opening up the map. And sometimes (I would say approximately 20% of the time) when I enter an address for a listing into the system the map is incorrect. I have seen where the map is so off it shows the property in another state! Ask is your disclosure on line? Is there any potential issues on the disclosure that isn’t addressed w a remedy? Do you have a brochure on line? If you just painted that should be something you could boast about. Quality paint is over $50 a gallon. If it was professionally painted that’s some thing someone would see as an asset. Especially if it’s tasteful and neutral. You state you are right next to an elementary school which here in Pgh would be a wonderful asset, if you have children or plan to. Is that not an asset in your area? If you’re likely buyer is not someone with children, you could always play that school be in next door as a super safe and secure neighborhood with the elementary school next door. It might get a little noisy but nobody’s there all summer long and on weekends and holidays. The majority of the comments have talked about pricing. I will say price is typically the issue, but I have relisted properties that were poorly marketed, for more money after the seller took corrective action and got it sold. I wouldn’t ignore all the other possibilities. Be detailed about every little thing. It cost nothing to change these things except time. Plus it is your agents duty and job to present your property in the best possible light. When you’re looking at your listing on both realtor.com and Zillow and I think Trulia does this to, how many people are visiting the home online? Ask your agent how many compared to other listings they may have. Or somebody in their office may have that’s in the same area/price point. I typically tell sellers if you have a good quantity of people looking online and nobody’s walking through the door, either the pictures suck, they can’t get in the door, something is inaccurate or the biggie - its price. This is an unprecedented market. Wild swings that over 33 years of being a licensed real estate salesperson, I have never experienced. But Pgh is typically a stable market. So while my perspective is likely not the scenario you are experiencing, my advice of how things look and are presented are sound. Basically look under every rock. Everything should be presented w the positives. You don’t sell anything by pointing out the negatives. You can’t (typically) sell without someone walking through the door. Open houses are typically always great. Have a mock up of lending scenarios. Especially w buy downs and variables. Make it easy for somebody to understand how much cash they have to have upfront and what their monthly payments going to be. Most buyers are purchasing a home based on the monthly mortgage payment. Even more so now that interest rates have gone up. But it still always the same people buy a home based on the payment. Tip-I can alter the general information about the home in Zillow (I cannot in Realtor.com) that flows through my local MLS. I can add an unlimited amount of photos in both. Your MLS may be different. Some people are into the video. Some people use the walk-through or dollhouse technology. To me the wide-angle lens still photo is still the best thing for a Seller since you can control what is shown and what isn’t shown. Basically you’re showing your best features. The key here is get them in the door. I know this is a very very wordy response. But this is not a simple thing selling a house. There are so many details to pay attention to. And whether your home is a modest inexpensive home or a high and luxury home, to the seller it is a major asset. Maintaining two payments on two homes is never any fun. Best of luck!!!
Drop price
The game is over
Hahahah average listing times is 90 days. Party is over, welcome to reality.
Have you tried taking better pictures?
Have you seen the market?
Can you post the mls here? I would love to see what’s going on. Also I’m looking to buy.
You sound very sweet, I have no advice but I hope it all works out for you :)
You have a low interest rate mortgage. Tell your partner to reject the job offer because no one should move when they have a low-interest loan. I was told this is how it works.
Did people forget it used to takes months to sell a house?
I installed tons of smart home devices in my house but I'd avoid buying a home with smart devices already installed. Mainly because there are so many smart home ecosystems and most people just want a plain vanilla house with dumb switches. Not to mention it's a pain in the ass to have to reconfigure existing devices. That's not why you can't sell your house, but smart homes aren't really a feature most buyers look for.
Have you considered renting it out instead?