My friend is trying to sell his house

[djrobsd]

This thread really rings home to me, since I’ve been trying to sell my place since July.

First of all, in a normal real estate market, all the little things like paint, decluttering, staging, etc help to sell a home. But I can tell you, as a seller who did EVERYTHING by the book, Ready Set Sold (which is an awesome book by the way), and put a lot of money into my home before I listed it for sale, in this crappy market, it doesn’t seem to make one bit of difference.

The only good thing that has come from me staging my home and painting it the right colors and making it “show perfect”, is that I was getting a LOT more traffic then other listings in my area, according to my former realtor who had 19 active listings, and told me that most of her listings weren’t getting any showings. But, all that traffic, and zero offers because people just don’t seem to want to see past the fact that my place is small and doesn’t have a big yard.

However, I let my listing expire with her for one reason, and one reason only. She was charging me 3% (plus 3% to the buyers realtor for a total of 6), but wasn’t doing any more work then the realtors who only charge 1%. Also, i realized that I need to lower my price, and the only way to do that without a short sale was to go with a realtor who charged less, so I did.

There are no easy answers in today’s market. There are a very limited number of buyers out there, it’s a brutal market, and I’m just hanging in there hoping someone will fall in love with my home emotionally and not care about the financial fundamentals. Otherwise, I guess it will be an interesting ride.

Good luck to your friend (and by the way, I do think that $100 in paint would be money WELL spent, as well as getting rid of the dogs for ALL showings if they have dogs).

[PadreBrian]

dj,
In this market you need to raise the % not lower it! A motivated realtor goes a long way. Bump it to 8%, and make sure it’s priced right (make it seem like a deal), and that thing will sell.

[PadreBrian]

dj,
In this market you need to raise the % not lower it! A motivated realtor goes a long way. Bump it to 8%, and make sure it’s priced right (make it seem like a deal), and that thing will sell.

[PadreBrian]

dj,
In this market you need to raise the % not lower it! A motivated realtor goes a long way. Bump it to 8%, and make sure it’s priced right (make it seem like a deal), and that thing will sell.

[PadreBrian]

dj,
In this market you need to raise the % not lower it! A motivated realtor goes a long way. Bump it to 8%, and make sure it’s priced right (make it seem like a deal), and that thing will sell.

[PadreBrian]

ib,
New paint (a nice light sandy color), new dishwasher/micro/oven/hell throw in a nice fridge, de-clutter, and reduce the price to 397, and that thing will sell in a week.

397 should be nothing for him, he bought the place for 205. Sell now while he still can. In a few months when the fed raises rates to stop the plummeting dollar (hecka job, Bush), 397 will be just a dream.

[PadreBrian]

ib,
New paint (a nice light sandy color), new dishwasher/micro/oven/hell throw in a nice fridge, de-clutter, and reduce the price to 397, and that thing will sell in a week.

397 should be nothing for him, he bought the place for 205. Sell now while he still can. In a few months when the fed raises rates to stop the plummeting dollar (hecka job, Bush), 397 will be just a dream.

[PadreBrian]

ib,
New paint (a nice light sandy color), new dishwasher/micro/oven/hell throw in a nice fridge, de-clutter, and reduce the price to 397, and that thing will sell in a week.

397 should be nothing for him, he bought the place for 205. Sell now while he still can. In a few months when the fed raises rates to stop the plummeting dollar (hecka job, Bush), 397 will be just a dream.

[PadreBrian]

ib,
New paint (a nice light sandy color), new dishwasher/micro/oven/hell throw in a nice fridge, de-clutter, and reduce the price to 397, and that thing will sell in a week.

397 should be nothing for him, he bought the place for 205. Sell now while he still can. In a few months when the fed raises rates to stop the plummeting dollar (hecka job, Bush), 397 will be just a dream.

[The OC Scam]

Option 4 you,

The other side of life currently is the realistic side. Believe that crap isn’t that bad is what got us into this mess in the first place. Price your home right (30% off) if you wish to sell. Keep the price where it is and hope someone comes along willing to pay what they can’t afford doesn’t happen anymore! The banks have to actually look at people’s income, job history, debt and credit report. I know that seems crazy but things have changed…..

[The OC Scam]

Option 4 you,

The other side of life currently is the realistic side. Believe that crap isn’t that bad is what got us into this mess in the first place. Price your home right (30% off) if you wish to sell. Keep the price where it is and hope someone comes along willing to pay what they can’t afford doesn’t happen anymore! The banks have to actually look at people’s income, job history, debt and credit report. I know that seems crazy but things have changed…..

[The OC Scam]

Option 4 you,

The other side of life currently is the realistic side. Believe that crap isn’t that bad is what got us into this mess in the first place. Price your home right (30% off) if you wish to sell. Keep the price where it is and hope someone comes along willing to pay what they can’t afford doesn’t happen anymore! The banks have to actually look at people’s income, job history, debt and credit report. I know that seems crazy but things have changed…..

[The OC Scam]

Option 4 you,

The other side of life currently is the realistic side. Believe that crap isn’t that bad is what got us into this mess in the first place. Price your home right (30% off) if you wish to sell. Keep the price where it is and hope someone comes along willing to pay what they can’t afford doesn’t happen anymore! The banks have to actually look at people’s income, job history, debt and credit report. I know that seems crazy but things have changed…..

[barnaby33]

Not to pile on too much so I’ll start out with the positive. It seems like a nice starter condo in a decent area. That means its sell-able. The colors are odd, but repainting doesn’t cost that much.

What bothers me is the price. That condo is a decent starter condo for a family. Nothing fancy but like I said you can live in it. Its priced though for the income of someone or two people who collectively make about 125k. How many people, make that? How many couples make that? Isn’t the median household income around 70k at this point? If you made 125k would you feel it reasonable to buy that condo? Remember the boom is over. Nobody looks at that as a path to riches. Its now a place to live.

With credit getting tighter (though it seems temporarily loosened) its going to get harder to sell. Why then has your friend not followed Jim the Realtors advice, “if you have showings but no offers, its overpriced.”

Josh

[barnaby33]

Not to pile on too much so I’ll start out with the positive. It seems like a nice starter condo in a decent area. That means its sell-able. The colors are odd, but repainting doesn’t cost that much.

What bothers me is the price. That condo is a decent starter condo for a family. Nothing fancy but like I said you can live in it. Its priced though for the income of someone or two people who collectively make about 125k. How many people, make that? How many couples make that? Isn’t the median household income around 70k at this point? If you made 125k would you feel it reasonable to buy that condo? Remember the boom is over. Nobody looks at that as a path to riches. Its now a place to live.

With credit getting tighter (though it seems temporarily loosened) its going to get harder to sell. Why then has your friend not followed Jim the Realtors advice, “if you have showings but no offers, its overpriced.”

Josh

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