Trying to sell your home?

[Rosehip]

I was wondering if there are others trying to sell their homes in this awful market. Mine has been on for a week. I've had what seems a reasonable amount of interest, but no offers yet, not surprisingly.

Anyone else? I thought perhaps we could share how things are going, any tips or strategies...or just share our collective angst!

[dogmom327]

My best friend is selling the grandparents home (they had to move to assisted living--no other choice due to medical conditions). It's been on the market for 3 months and not a single bite. My friend has to sell her own house (can't refinance and adjustable mortgage resets in a year). They've been told they will be lucky to sell it within a year (and it's a nice middle class house in a nice middle class neighborhood). Obviously they are in a huge hurry to get it on the market since they found this out the other day.

[ekortering]

Our house has been on the market since the middle of November. It's been shown about a dozen times since then and we just found out today that we have an offer.::: It's a little on the low side but I don't see the market improving any time soon so we are going to take it.

[Rosehip]

Originally Posted by ekortering

Our house has been on the market since the middle of November. It's been shown about a dozen times since then and we just found out today that we have an offer.::: It's a little on the low side but I don't see the market improving any time soon so we are going to take it.

Congratulations! Yes, take it!!

[Siennaflower]

Originally Posted by ekortering

Our house has been on the market since the middle of November. It's been shown about a dozen times since then and we just found out today that we have an offer.::: It's a little on the low side but I don't see the market improving any time soon so we are going to take it.

Congrats!!

We are preparing to sell ours now, it will be on the market hopefully next month. We're doing some work in the backyard this weekend and painting is next on our list.

[mightymoo]

We sold ours last year in 1 month. The keys are: Price it right - you need to be the best house on the market in your area for the price you set it at. Look at your competition. Cheap Fixes - do whatever you can to make the house look as pristine as possible without spending much money. Paint a room if its shabby or dark, etc We ripped the yucky old carpet out of the dining room and had the hardwood refinished - $300 fix, probably sold the house it looked so good. Then Stage it - clear out the clutter. We actually rented a pod and put anything extra away in it so that it wasn't cluttering hte house - we had a small house with too much furniture, we took out a lot of it to make it feel more spacious. If you have a garage or basement you are better off boxing up knick nacks and stacking them in there - folks understand when a garage is full, but they won't buy a house if it seems small.

We also had stained woodwork that was banged up, I went along all of it with one of those stain pens and colored the yucked up spots - looked 110% better! They sell them at home depot.

[mclisa]

We will probably be listing our house in the next month or so. We found a great house to move into, but want FIL to look at it for his opinion.

We were told by the realtor to sell this house empty or with staged furniture. We have 5 small children and she said it would be next to impossible to keep it perfect for showing people. And we have too much clutter!

[Ola_]

You can get some very good feedback to your photos/listing on the GardenWeb "buying and selling homes" forum. There's a number of real estate agents on there too as I recall.
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/realestate/

[Biscuits & Gravy]

We've had our home on the market since mid-Nov. Had very little traffic through the holidays as expected. It started picking up lately, and we accepted an offer earlier this week. It was low, but we decided to accept it since we already had to move and are paying both mortgage and rent right now. I will be full of relief once we close at the end of the month.

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by ekortering

Our house has been on the market since the middle of November. It's been shown about a dozen times since then and we just found out today that we have an offer.::: It's a little on the low side but I don't see the market improving any time soon so we are going to take it.

Yes, take it. We sold in June; our realtor was dragging her feet because we didn't "need" to sell until September but we wanted out yesterday and knew the market was going to get worse before it got better (we also had a deadline because we were building a house-- not recommending her for several reasons). The first offer wouldn't even cover the cost of listing but the second was better so we took it.

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by ToastyToes

I was wondering if there are others trying to sell their homes in this awful market. Mine has been on for a week. I've had what seems a reasonable amount of interest, but no offers yet, not surprisingly.

Anyone else? I thought perhaps we could share how things are going, any tips or strategies...or just share our collective angst!

Depending on how quickly/why you want to sell, price it for the least you'd can afford to sell it for.

• Clean it! Really clean it.
• Rent/Buy (we own one) a steam cleaner and do the entire house.
• Brutally declutter it.
• Empty your closet with all but your everyday wear.
• Take all appliances off your Kitchen counter.
• Leave enough furniture to suggest function (proportionately sized) and move out the rest. If you have model homes in your area go visit some; you can also visit builder sites, like DR Horton and take a virtual tour.
• Leave some toys out and box the rest.
• Depersonalize your house.
• Take every cute magnet and picture off your fridge.
• Take down the family pictures off the walls; fill in holes and touch up the paint. Brillo pads get scuff mark off of vinyl floors.
• Pay attention to curb appeal: Trim trees, bushes, grass (fertilize and water). Plant flowers or place an appropriate number of potted flowers on your porch.
• Clean out your garage.

[artemis33]

Originally Posted by mightymoo

We sold ours last year in 1 month. The keys are: Price it right - you need to be the best house on the market in your area for the price you set it at. Look at your competition. Cheap Fixes - do whatever you can to make the house look as pristine as possible without spending much money. Paint a room if its shabby or dark, etc We ripped the yucky old carpet out of the dining room and had the hardwood refinished - $300 fix, probably sold the house it looked so good. Then Stage it - clear out the clutter. We actually rented a pod and put anything extra away in it so that it wasn't cluttering hte house - we had a small house with too much furniture, we took out a lot of it to make it feel more spacious. If you have a garage or basement you are better off boxing up knick nacks and stacking them in there - folks understand when a garage is full, but they won't buy a house if it seems small.

We also had stained woodwork that was banged up, I went along all of it with one of those stain pens and colored the yucked up spots - looked 110% better! They sell them at home depot.

Agreed! We just sold our house in January and moved 2 weeks ago today. It was on the market starting in mid-Dec - then we had 2 big snow storms and the holidays! But luckily things picked up after the new year and the right person came along.

I completely agree about making things look as good as you can and declutter!!! WE boxed up a lot of our stuff and stacked it neatly in the basement. As the PP said, it is easier to just see a basement (ours wasn't really finished) or garage as 'potential' so some boxes are OK but you want the rest of your house to be clutter free and open.

We also did some work on our upstairs. It had dark paneling and old carpet. We had never done anything to it because we hoped to do a major remodel with dormers, etc, but that never happened. We decided to rip out the carpet, refinish the fir floors and get someone to paint the paneling (it had to be sprayed and we didn't have time). It was SOOOO worth it! Completely transformed that space and I think really helped sell the house.

Watch Designed to Sell if you have cable (HGTV). I got lots of ideas about how to present our space and was able to do my own staging once the decluttering was done.

We priced our house competitively (i looked at listings in our neighborhood for a couple months at least) but slightly higher than our personal 'bottom line', knowing that in this market it was unlikely we'd get a full price offer. We felt it paid off for us. We still had to come down a little more than we wanted, but we had a cash offer with no selling contingency and felt it was worth the compromise!

Good luck!

[grahamsmom98]

I'm meeting with the contractor and designer regarding my parent's house this coming week and what we will be doing to improve its sales appeal. I'll also be meeting with the realtor, as well.

Mom has lived near me (in assisted living) for several years. My Dad died in the house this past November.

I am planning to spend around $30+ K to bring it up to current standards (everything is still from 1970, when they purchased it brand new). This has to be done, or it won't sell, period.

I'll be putting on a new deck, laminate flooring throughout, new applances and update the kitchen and bathrooms, painting the interior and exterior, etc. The house is getting a new roof, courtesy the insurance company, because of snowload damage from this past Winter! It will make it a better deal all the way around.

I'm looking at this as a fun project (to keep any stress away! ). It will involve plenty of overnight stays to discuss and check on the work (the house is 90 miles away), but I have a great contractor and we plan on being in contact weekly (or, more often) as the work progresses.

At least this will be going on now that Spring is arriving and the snow is disappearing (plus, we'll be able to eat out a lot at different ethnic places in the city!).

I expect to put it on the market in mid-May.

It is a fabulous location and houses don't stay on the market for long in that neighborhood (no matter how the economy is doing). Mom doesn't need the money, so we are fortunate that we can wait if it doesn't sell this Summer/Fall.

The contractor is bringing a huge dumpster so we can toss most of the furnishings away (should prove to be great stress therapy!) the weekend after next.

[Rosehip]

Way to go MightyMoo!

I priced mine at what I think is a really attractive price, but because my unit is very unusual (there are very few that large, and the last comparable one that sold was MINE, when I bought it) it's hard to tell. I've had what seems to be good interest - I think 7 private appointments, and 13 people @ the open house. My agent thinks we'll get an offer from one of today's appointments. Fingers crossed!

My little hints - before showings, I go and turn on every light (even in closets) and also bake cookies - I get the Toll House choc chip cookie dough. The scent is great, and there are cookies for potential buyers. Before an open house, I bake bread - timed so that it finishes just before the open house starts. The whole house smells like...home! Baking bread before each showing isn't feasible, but before an open house is possible.

ETA: I was ruthless with decluttering. If anything, I'm short on furniture/decorations, but I wasn't about to go out buying more stuff. That part wasn't actually that hard b/c the kids & I are mostly living @ my parents' house now. All personal items are gone too.

[annekevdbroek]

I so agree with the above tips about pricing and prepping the house. We moved in June - our house sold in one month in a slow market. We had 26 showings in 30 days. Realtors want to show great houses to their clients, even if the house doesn't exactly meet their clients needs. The house was spotless - this cannot be over emphasized. Run the dishwasher even if it is barely full. I put out new clean white towels for each showing (and stashed the 'real' towels in the hamper). Get out all weird odors (pets, cooking, etc.). If you have a litterbox or diaper pail it needs to be cleaned daily. Open all blinds (raise them) and turn on all lights for showings. DECLUTTER. Make sure the inside of the closets and cupboards look organized and spacious - box things and store them if you have to. A cramped closet will look small - aim for 1/2 full at most. Touch up dinged/dirty paint, make sure the front door looks great (I reapainted the front door, mailbox, and house numbers. I put fresh planters of flowers on the deck and front porch). I swept the driveway and front walk daily - tried to get it before every showing also. Ran vaccume with amazing speed before every showing. Basically, cleaned and put away everything we used immediately and cleaned constantly.

I basically thought of it as a fantasy house - someone wants to come in and be able to picture themselves living in a clean and organaized house. They want to be able to imagine their things in the space. The less of your stuff (clutter, odors, dirt, etc.) present the easier it is for them to imagine themselves in the space.

Last house took 30 days to sell with this method. The house before took 5 days and we got 3 offers. Prepping makes a huge difference.

[ginger_rodgers]

This is all so true. When I qualified for my refi, it occurred to me -- hey, if I can get a mortgage like this, I don't necessarily have to spend it on my current house. (Assuming, of course, that I could sell.) I'd never been in love with my house -- it's big enough, good light & insulation, the price was right, and it works, but it's kind of meh. So I went shopping.

Most of what I saw was grody. Even the pictures were grody. I window-shopped on realtor.com, and went to a few showings, and you know, these people did not do their homework. One house needed easily $75K worth of structural and cosmetic fixes. Another looked and smelled like someone's grandma had died there six months before. I finally decided my house was a fantastic bargain and went home.

[Graceoc]

We are just moved into a new house last month. There was NO WAY we would have been able to sell our other house while living in it....it was just not happening!

So now it is empty and we have painted almost every room, replaced outdated fixtures and have it clean, clean, clean! We are meeting with the realtor tomorrow to get it listed. It is a GREAT house in a nice neighboorhood. We are pricing it lower then any other house in the neighboorhood, so I hope it dosen't take too long. I don't have any desire to have two mortages any longer then I have to.

Our realtor works with a 'stager' so is going to add some things to pretty it up as well. She won't furnish it, but put some nice decorater accents to draw attention to the nicer details (wood floors, crown moldings, ect.). I can't wait for it to be listed....

wish us luck!

[Biscuits & Gravy]

I totally agree about decluttering. We put everything but the essentials in storage. The bonus part of this was that we realized we have too much stuff and prefer to live with less. MUCH less. So now before we move into a new home we are getting rid of anything and everything we don't need. If we haven't used it in the last 6 months and don't see ourselves needing it in the next 6 months it is gone.

[LilMama23]

Our house has been on the market for about two weeks, with only one showing. So I anticipate that it will be on there for quite a while.

[Rosehip]

Originally Posted by LilMama23

Our house has been on the market for about two weeks, with only one showing. So I anticipate that it will be on there for quite a while.

How's the market where you are? Not that it's great anywhere, but is anything selling? Have you had an open house?