Author Topic: Frustration trying to sell house  (Read 13795 times)

Ashyukun

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Frustration trying to sell house
« on: January 28, 2014, 09:52:33 AM »
I've been trying to sell my house for the last 9 months or so, and am getting very frustrated about the whole thing, and would definitely like the advice of those more knowledgeable about these things (and to vent a bit, sorry ahead of time...).

I've lived in this house for the last 8 1/2 years or so, have paid the mortgage down to the point where if I were willing to jump through all the hoops that I could drop the PMI (but at the moment it would cost me more than it would save). It's been- and continues to be- a great place, but I've just outgrown it. The large 1 car garage isn't big enough for all the working I love to do one cars and the driveway isn't conducive to the small fleet of them that I own (and even less so when you add my fiancee's into the mix), and the layout and flooring just doesn't work well with the large dog I'm marrying into. It's a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath tri-level, about 1750 sq feet, built in the mid-60's on a bit more than a 1/4 acre corner lot with an oversized one-car garage and a fenced back yard.

I originally listed the house with the agent who had been my agent when I bought the house. I had the whole interior (minus the wood-paneled basement) repainted in the same neutral color it had been but using much better paint (previous owners had painted it as well but used cheap paint that came off when you tried cleaning anything off the walls), cleaned everything up, and moved everything either into storage or over to the fiancee's place where I would be living except for a few things to stage the house. Also pressure washed the concrete outside and had the asphalt driveway re-sealed (that resulted in a slight fiasco as on the day we were to list the house, the realtor stepped in a puddle of it on the side of the driveway and then tracked it into the house- and onto the carpets. She very definitely paid for the carpet cleaners to get that out...). She really didn't suggest doing much of anything else to the house, and we listed it for slightly less than higher-end ideal for the sale price.

Despite having listed it at the height of the season- beginning of spring here- it got very little traffic. And some half of the people who signed up to see it didn't even go through the front door- the house sits on the corner of the neighborhood, and on either side across the street are apartment buildings. Not particularly dumpy ones- but not high-end condo type places either- and this apparently scares lots of people. After a few initial showings, things tapered off- and never really picked up at all. The realtor was rather unresponsive when it came to suggestions or thoughts on trying to drive more traffic to the house, and we had to press for her to do an open house- which didn't happen until some 3 months after the house was initially listed. It wasn't very well attended. Through all of this, my fiancee (who had actually sold a house before) had been saying that she just didn't think the realtor was doing her job very well and we should find a better one. After asking some friends to look over the listing and give me their input, pretty much all of them couldn't believe that the realtor hadn't pushed for us to do some inexpensive updates to the kitchen and bathroom which hadn't been changed much from the original design and looked very outdated. Eventually, we dropped the original realtor toward the end of the summer and enlisted the realtor who owns the place my fiancee is renting.

He gave us a very frank assessment of the house and the issues he saw with it- including the kitchen and bathroom as well as some issues with the exterior that needed to be addressed. The original realtor had been very reluctant to criticize anything, but the new one was very up-front about what he saw and thought would help. We spent about a month and about $1k making updates to the kitchen (refinished the cabinets, put down vinyl tile over the ancient linoleum) and bathroom (used an epoxy to 'paint' all the rose-pink tile white and put down vinyl tile there too). The fiancee also convinced me that we should paint the wood paneling in the basement, which I have to admit did improve the look of it considerably. The house was re-listed with the new agent at about the same price it had been when we took it off the market.

That was about 3 months ago. He did an open house fairly quickly, but didn't have that many people show up it seems. There were a good number of showings initially, then things slowed down over late November and December, and then have picked up a bit since Christmas to the tune of about a showing a week. We dropped the price by $4k mid-November. But we've still not gotten any offers on it, and it's getting pretty frustrating. Honestly it's been quite a financial hit having both the mortgage (though I dropped the extra I was putting into it when I moved out), storage units, and the part of the rent I'm paying at the fiancee's place. I'm getting a bit of a relief on that now- two of the fiancee's good friends are going to be renting it while they're looking for a more permanent place to rent which will cover the extra costs I have for not living there (they're not paying as much as the house should rent for since it's short term & they're friends).

Things have picked up recently, but there have over the course of the time we've had it for sale been exactly zero offers or anyone who has said that they were actually interested in the house, and I'm wondering if it is going to go well heading in to the traditionally busier spring season. The realtor thinks it's positioned well- it's priced lower than many other properties in the area including many that are smaller and have less updates and desirable features, but it's hard to accomodate for the 'apartment factor'. On the good side of things, I'd have to drop the price very drastically to be selling it for less than what I have left on the mortgage- but I don't want to just give it away since we need the sale of it to provide a down payment on a new place.

Here's the Zillow listing- the Bird's Eye should let you see the apartments in question. I'm figuring that at least a small price drop soon would be good to at least bump the listing back up in the searches. It was also suggested to up the commission listed for the buyer's agent from the 3% it is now to 4% to make it more appealing for agents to want to sell their clients on buying it. What do you guys (and gals) think? Thanks!

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2157-Larkspur-Dr-Lexington-KY-40504/77512535_zpid/

lizzzi

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2014, 10:33:00 AM »
A couple quick thoughts off the top of my head. It took us 10 months last year to sell our mint-condition, good neighborhood, etc., etc. house in New York…the only thing that made it move was dropping the price. When we went low enough, it sold like a hotcake--and I didn't feel like we gave it away--we just started too high for what people were willing to pay--never mind that it was professionally comped and fairly-priced by a top-notch realtor. It's only worth what people will pay for it…no matter how great the house is. My second thought is that, based on our house-hunting here in Ohio…and attending 5,000 open houses…I would guess that the apartments in the neighborhood will be a deal-breaker for some, but also the one-car garage--oversized or not--is probably stopping people from making an offer. There was a house here in Ohio that we would have purchased in a NY minute--but they had added a handicapped bathroom that butted out into the garage space, making the former 2-car garage into a 1-car garage…and there was no way for us to widen the garage out to the side to make it hold two cars. You have a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath house, but there are going to be lots of them that have a two-car garage and no apts. across the street. I'm no expert, but we've bought and sold a lot of houses over the years, and I suspect you'll have to drop the price even more if you want the house to move.  It's because of those two factors.

goatmom

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2014, 10:42:05 AM »
Just a quick thought.  Many buyers aren't even entering the house.  Probably because of the apartments.  But, you could boost the curb appeal with a minimum amount of effort.  Some large planters with bright flowers?  Paint the front door? Are there dead branches on the tree? Also, are you getting feedback from the people coming through?  Your realtor should be calling them and asking for feedback. I thought the inside looked nice.  I've been in your position and it is tough. 

Another Reader

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #3 on: January 28, 2014, 11:19:37 AM »
There is a saying in real estate - price fixes everything.  Not only are you across from apartments, you are just off a commercial thoroughfare.  Parents with children are going to avoid this house, and that's probably who your market is.

If you are not getting offers and other properties are selling, your price is too high.  In your shoes, I would start dropping the price.  Can your agent show you recent sales and competing listings of houses with major drawbacks similar to your house?  What can people buy for $129,900 in a similar school district that does not have the issues?  Drop the price based on analyzing that information.  It may take $5,000 or more.  The likely buyer is someone that does not like what they see in the lower price range they can afford and will trade an inferior location for an affordable price.  Or you may attract an investor if the price makes sense.  Your only other buyer is a single guy like you that does not see the location as a problem.

Ashyukun

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #4 on: January 28, 2014, 11:31:22 AM »
Unfortunately, there's really no way to easily expand the garage. If there were, I'd probably not be selling the house in the first place. The property contour makes it impossible to expand it away from the house without a lot of fill dirt, and it would require major modifications to the house itself to expand it toward the house- easily more money than I'd get out of it. Actually in my neighborhood (which many people like because of the schools), there aren't a lot of places that have 2-car garages available now. There are two houses further down my street- both are smaller and priced higher and have smaller yards. One has no garage, the other has a small under-house attached garage, and the kitchen in mine is much nicer and has newer appliances (and neither has sold, thankfully- THAT would be really frustrating...).

We have been getting feedback from the people coming through- most have just said that the house showed really well but that they weren't interested. Those that did list a reason usually said the apartments and that the street was too busy (it's not THAT busy by my standards, but it does get a good bit of traffic).

Before winter hit we had pots with bright flowers by the door. I made new mulch beds around all the shrubs and we put in a new one to replace one that was ailing. The front door was repainted along with the interior of the house. Since I get warning before any showings, I always go over and sweep off the front porch and the front walk, make sure there isn't any garbage or anything in the yard and that the interior looks good. When there was supposed to be a showing Saturday right after a big snow, I went over and shoveled and salted the front porch and walkway (and took pictures that I sent to the realtor, since I've heard that it's better to have season-accurate pictures up, and the house looked really pretty with the fresh snow).

Another Reader

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #5 on: January 28, 2014, 11:39:03 AM »
If people are looking at it but are not interested, then price is definitely the issue.  There are buyers in the price range, but they buy another house and not yours.  That means there are better houses from the perspective of the buyers in your price range.

One of your competitors is rented.  Those often do not sell in a market comprised of owner occupants.  Investors will buy only if the price is right.  It's been on Zillow 167 days.

The bottom line is to sell the house, you will have to lower the price.

Ashyukun

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2014, 12:00:33 PM »
I've been figuring that we're going to have to drop the price. I'm curious about timing on it... is it better to drop it now, or wait a bit until it hit about when spring starts?

I probably wouldn't be asking- and just dropping it now- if it weren't for having the friends in the house. Much as I'd like to sell it ASAP it would kind of suck for them to sell it RIGHT now and them have to move out just a week after moving in (though it is in the lease that they can be told to move out with 2 weeks notice). :P

daverobev

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2014, 12:20:19 PM »
Any idea how much it'd rent for a month? Looks very nice...

*Edit* I see "zestimate" (...) of $1100.. cheap, which is a shame.

Another Reader

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2014, 12:30:37 PM »
Having tenants there is not helpful to selling.  I'll bet your agent is not happy about that.  Are they actively looking for a place to live?

I would have a frank, no holds barred talk with the agent.  Ask him what you would need to do to the house or what price it would take to get a contract in 60 days.  Then be prepared to do that shortly after the super bowl.

Ashyukun

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #9 on: January 28, 2014, 12:58:07 PM »
Were I willing to just rent it normally (which has been discussed- I'm not too keen on it after some family experiences in having a rental property and the fact it wouldn't get us the money for a down payment on a place for ourselves) I'd be charging about $1,200.

Our realtor has a number of rental properties himself- he was perfectly fine with us having the friends there since as he put it 'occupied houses look less like the seller is desperate' (and I'm thinking, "Well, at this point I'm GETTING to the point of being desperate...") They are looking for other places- one of them is starting a new job out of town in a few months and was in an apartment with several others who were moving out and couldn't afford to pay the whole rent for the place on her own.


Adam Zapple

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #10 on: January 28, 2014, 01:01:09 PM »
We had trouble selling our condo a few years back.  We were asking a bit too much so after it sat for a while, we pulled it off the market for a few months and put it back on in the early spring at a slightly lower price.  It sold immediately after we re-listed it to someone who had seen it several months before but was not ready to make an offer at that time. Sometimes when people see that a house has been sitting on the market for 9 months they assume there is something wrong with it or they may get the impression that the seller is not very flexible with the price.  When the listing appears to be "new" sometimes that's all it takes to get a buyers attention.     

Ashyukun

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #11 on: January 28, 2014, 01:19:18 PM »
We had trouble selling our condo a few years back.  We were asking a bit too much so after it sat for a while, we pulled it off the market for a few months and put it back on in the early spring at a slightly lower price.  It sold immediately after we re-listed it to someone who had seen it several months before but was not ready to make an offer at that time. Sometimes when people see that a house has been sitting on the market for 9 months they assume there is something wrong with it or they may get the impression that the seller is not very flexible with the price.  When the listing appears to be "new" sometimes that's all it takes to get a buyers attention.     

I've thought about doing that again as well, especially since we're not in quite as much of a hurry to sell it with having the friends there for the time being. Could pull the listing, wait a month, and then put it back up (probably at a bit lower of a price).

money_bunny

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #12 on: January 31, 2014, 06:49:52 PM »
If I read this right the big issue with this house is the parking for the cars?

What about parking the cars somewhere else? Like rent a warehouse? Form a car club with a few other guys where it's got 20 parking spaces, a lift and so forth?

Argyle

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #13 on: January 31, 2014, 07:15:54 PM »
I have a real estate agent who says, "There are no unsellable houses.  There are only houses that are priced too high."

Real estate agents are also exasperated by people who insist that their house is "really" worth X amount, although it's not getting offers near that.  The thing is that it is worth only what other people will pay for it.  If you want to sell it, drop the price -- it doesn't matter when -- just whenever you want to sell it.  The presence of tenants is also going to be a drawback, as it won't be in picture-perfect staged condition for people to view.  And the longer it's on the market, the more people will think you're desperate and the less they'll want to pay.

Ashyukun

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #14 on: February 01, 2014, 12:04:27 AM »
The parking & garage are one of the major issues, but the layout of the house for the two of us + pets, lack of a second full bath, and there being too much carpet for the fiancée's tastes are also issues.

By and large, I've not come close to insisting that the house is 'really' worth any particular amount- I've listened to what both agents and found in their market analyses and priced it according to their findings and recommendations even in the face of most people we know who see the house being shocked that it is priced so LOW- and that it hasn't had any offers.

There have been a flurry of showing requests the last few days... Once I've got the feedback from those next week I'll be talking frankly with the agent about what changes (in price and possibly buyer's agent commission) it will take to sell the house by the end of March. I need to talk to him anyway about possible rentals he might have for the current tenants if the house sells before they have other arrangements made (including the one we're currently living in). Given that we are renting a place from him at the moment, my natural skepticism somewhat wonders if he's not all THAT driven to have the place sell since it would mean losing us (who are apparently some of the most reliable renters and low maintenance he has) as renters, and having replacement tenants lined up might counter that. Note that I've had no indication that this is what he's thinking at all- but from the math, the rent we've paid on the fiancee's place since he's been the agent for my house is at least on par with what his commission on selling the house would be (though still a good bit lower than what the combined commission from selling min and representing us in buying another would be...).

Fishingmn

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #15 on: February 01, 2014, 08:51:53 AM »
I'm a Realtor and agree with others that pricing is the issue.  I believe that houses sell for their fair market value and that the only real variable most people can address is the condition (updates/maintenance).  Since it sounds like you've addressed most of those then you need to focus on price.

After 6 years the banks have finally figured out the best pricing model.  Start with a price that's at or slightly higher than what the market price is.  If the house doesn't get an offer near list price then reduce the price incrementally every 2-4 weeks until you get an offer/offers that are close to list price.  This practice basically guarantees you find the true fair market value.  That said, banks have no emotion in the home so it is a little more stressful for traditional sellers who may have to go through a few rounds of price drops.  That's why I try to start pretty close to the fair market value and if we get an immediate offer I try to wait at lest 3 days on the market to see if we get multiple offers to verify that the price wasn't too low.

Good luck.


ritchie70

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #16 on: February 01, 2014, 08:25:12 PM »
Speaking as someone who's looked at a lot of listings lately...

 I'm not sure why you have what look like new cabinets with a elderly oven, and that refrigerator is way too big. If it's better than your fiance's and hers is stainless and smaller, I might swap them.

By the way, is that a dishwasher underneath the oven? A clever use of space, but I don't think I'd like that since the sink isn't right next to it. I just envision wet dishes dripping all over the floor all the time.

You appear to have a flat screen TV sitting on top of an old tube console TV. Ditch the console and put it on a table - even if you just steal the coffee table out of the living room. It makes me wonder what you half-assed on the house itself.

I might get rid of the "mushroom" chair in the corner too - also very dated. The house itself has a very 60's/70's look from the outside because of its architecture, so I'd be careful of anything dated inside that you can fix for free.

Finally, browsing online, I'd wonder what's wrong with the half bath that you didn't include a photo but did include a photo of a presumably nearby park.

If I drove by the house, or looked at the street view, the apartment complex across the street wouldn't thrill me - but the six foot chain link fence and what appears to be a shabby little guardhouse on the apartment complex would send me away. That isn't a sign of a safe neighborhood to me unless it's a really upscale complex, which that one is not.

The sad fact is you're going to have to overcome the neighborhood's problems, real or imagined, with the price. So long as it's clean I don't think I'd do anything to the property itself, but I might tweak the staging a little.

Ashyukun

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #17 on: February 02, 2014, 10:11:42 PM »
Speaking as someone who's looked at a lot of listings lately...

 I'm not sure why you have what look like new cabinets with a elderly oven, and that refrigerator is way too big. If it's better than your fiance's and hers is stainless and smaller, I might swap them.

By the way, is that a dishwasher underneath the oven? A clever use of space, but I don't think I'd like that since the sink isn't right next to it. I just envision wet dishes dripping all over the floor all the time.

The kitchen cabinets were refinished, not replaced. We only have the one fridge, and that one is just over a year old so no swapping it out (and I've never had anyone say it was too big, that's a first). The original kitchen probably had a double wall oven but one was removed and the dishwasher installed at some point well before I bought the house. The kitchen layout isn't something we had any say in, changing it would have been prohibitively expensive.

Quote
You appear to have a flat screen TV sitting on top of an old tube console TV. Ditch the console and put it on a table - even if you just steal the coffee table out of the living room. It makes me wonder what you half-assed on the house itself.

I might get rid of the "mushroom" chair in the corner too - also very dated. The house itself has a very 60's/70's look from the outside because of its architecture, so I'd be careful of anything dated inside that you can fix for free.

Sorry, we're going to have to agree to disagree on the console & flat screen. Most people who've commented on it have loved the juxtaposition of the vintage & modern, and our realtor was fine with leaving it there for the staging. The small papasan chair isn't going anywhere at this point either as the renters really like it as a reading nook, which was how it was staged to show what that corner of the room could be used for.

Quote
Finally, browsing online, I'd wonder what's wrong with the half bath that you didn't include a photo but did include a photo of a presumably nearby park.

If I drove by the house, or looked at the street view, the apartment complex across the street wouldn't thrill me - but the six foot chain link fence and what appears to be a shabby little guardhouse on the apartment complex would send me away. That isn't a sign of a safe neighborhood to me unless it's a really upscale complex, which that one is not.

The sad fact is you're going to have to overcome the neighborhood's problems, real or imagined, with the price. So long as it's clean I don't think I'd do anything to the property itself, but I might tweak the staging a little.

The choice of photos wasn't our call, our realtor handled all of that. Personally I wouldn't have bothered with the park photos, but it seems to be a popular thing to do with listings in our area. The half bath really isn't much to write home about and is hard to photograph due to the layout, he probably figured that as a half bath it wasn't going to be that critical anyway to people's decision. Frankly, the guard house isn't used and is I believe a holdover from when the apartments likely WERE more upscale for the area. The apartments are undoubtedly a concern for buyers given the comments we've gotten in the past, that's a given. The staging isn't really going to change much either since at the moment it's occupied.

The good news is that the showing over the weekend went very well it seems and the buyer is very interested and is coming back to see it again tomorrow. They did say they thought the price was too high, so we'll see if they make any offer just what they think is reasonable (or at least they lead off with). The potential downside is that the showing agent works with rental houses, so if it's an investor looking into it they're likely going to want to get it even cheaper than an owner/occupant to maximize what they can make from renting it. We'll see- it's at least better movement than we've had to date...

ritchie70

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #18 on: February 03, 2014, 01:20:39 PM »

The choice of photos wasn't our call, our realtor handled all of that. Personally I wouldn't have bothered with the park photos, but it seems to be a popular thing to do with listings in our area. The half bath really isn't much to write home about and is hard to photograph due to the layout, he probably figured that as a half bath it wasn't going to be that critical anyway to people's decision. Frankly, the guard house isn't used and is I believe a holdover from when the apartments likely WERE more upscale for the area. The apartments are undoubtedly a concern for buyers given the comments we've gotten in the past, that's a given. The staging isn't really going to change much either since at the moment it's occupied.

The good news is that the showing over the weekend went very well it seems and the buyer is very interested and is coming back to see it again tomorrow. They did say they thought the price was too high, so we'll see if they make any offer just what they think is reasonable (or at least they lead off with). The potential downside is that the showing agent works with rental houses, so if it's an investor looking into it they're likely going to want to get it even cheaper than an owner/occupant to maximize what they can make from renting it. We'll see- it's at least better movement than we've had to date...

Sounds promising. I hope something works out. If not, I'd seriously consider separating my real estate lives a bit - get a Realtor who doesn't have any vested interest in your house not selling.

On the console TV, I'd just say that people who are thinking what I was probably aren't going to say it.

On the bathroom, my assumption if a bathroom doesn't have a photograph is that it will need to be completely remodeled to be tolerable. Not a show-stopper for me, but might be for some.

I hope you didn't take anything I said as unduly critical. I'm no expert, just thought you might like to know what someone looking at online listings was thinking as he looked at it.

Ashyukun

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #19 on: February 03, 2014, 01:49:26 PM »
Sounds promising. I hope something works out. If not, I'd seriously consider separating my real estate lives a bit - get a Realtor who doesn't have any vested interest in your house not selling.

On the console TV, I'd just say that people who are thinking what I was probably aren't going to say it.

On the bathroom, my assumption if a bathroom doesn't have a photograph is that it will need to be completely remodeled to be tolerable. Not a show-stopper for me, but might be for some.

I hope you didn't take anything I said as unduly critical. I'm no expert, just thought you might like to know what someone looking at online listings was thinking as he looked at it.

Well, hopefully I'll know something in about 3 hours once the second showing is over. Our realtor is pretty enthusiastic about it as well and hoping that we get an offer out of it. I'm obviously hoping that happens too, but am also hoping that it's not ridiculously low. The realtor has been fairly good overall, though we have had the occasional disagreements (mostly in that he doesn't want to take us to see any houses until mine has sold). We'll see what happens with this potential buyer and how we handle things if they don't make an offer or we can't work out a suitable price. There are counter-arguments as well as to why he'd want us to have a new place and be out of the place we're renting from him- he has made several rather large improvements and done lots of remodelling since my fiancee has been there without the rent changing, so he can probably charge someone new even more for the house on top of getting the commission from our selling and buying.

The half bath is in the basement in the same room as the water heater and the access to the crawlspace under the middle level of the house. A wall separates the hot water heater from the toilet, and the sink & mirror are directly in front of the toilet. It's undeniably simple and spartan, but it serves its main purpose- having a bathroom nearby to the large basement den so you don't have to go up two flights of stairs to pee- just fine. It would likely have been a BIG help for it to have been a full bath, but I know that remodel would have cost well more than it would have been worth as well given how much would have needed to have been moved- and it would potentially have not even worked since it would have required a raised platform for any tub or shower since the basement sits on a concrete floor.

Our plans for the console unit are to pull out the TV tube & electronics and either put in shelves to use it as an entertainment unit or (as my fiancee wants) to put a fishtank in its place as well as repairing and fixing the rest of it up. Unfortunately we've not been able to do that yet and won't have the necessary tools back until we're in a new place and everything is out of storage. The renters love it since the stereo portion works just fine, so it's not going anywhere at this point.

Some of it did come across as critical, but honestly if our FIRST realtor had been properly critical this place would likely have been sold shortly after we first listed it, so I'm not opposed to it. However, there are plenty of things that we can't really do much about (kitchen layout) or that we just disagree on (the console unit) since there are lots of different views on things.

lizzzi

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #20 on: February 03, 2014, 02:11:13 PM »
I don't think the papasan chair or the flatscreen on top of the vintage TV will have anything to do with a sale. I think it is a nice house, and will suit the right buyer to a Tee; but because of the one-car garage, the weird kitchen layout, the apartments across the street, and probably the blue bathroom (unless the buyer loves blue), you are just going to end up selling it for a lower price than you'd prefer. Once buyers see your basement bathroom, they will understand that it is useful and functional..I agree with whoever said that not showing a picture is a clue that there's something wrong with it…but I don't think it will stop people looking at the house. My basement bathroom , like yours, is functional, spartan, and clean, but would not look glamorous on Zillow. When I bought my house, neither bathroom was pictured…I made the sign of the cross and looked at the house anyway…and was so glad I did.

ritchie70

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #21 on: February 03, 2014, 10:17:34 PM »
I don't think the papasan chair or the flatscreen on top of the vintage TV will have anything to do with a sale. I think it is a nice house, and will suit the right buyer to a Tee; but because of the one-car garage, the weird kitchen layout, the apartments across the street, and probably the blue bathroom (unless the buyer loves blue), you are just going to end up selling it for a lower price than you'd prefer. Once buyers see your basement bathroom, they will understand that it is useful and functional..I agree with whoever said that not showing a picture is a clue that there's something wrong with it…but I don't think it will stop people looking at the house. My basement bathroom , like yours, is functional, spartan, and clean, but would not look glamorous on Zillow. When I bought my house, neither bathroom was pictured…I made the sign of the cross and looked at the house anyway…and was so glad I did.

I doubt either will have anything to do with a sale myself, and I'm the one who brought it up. But the thought in my head when I saw that old console was "if they can't get rid of their old TV when it broke, what didn't they do on the house when it broke?"

And honestly I hate those papasan chairs, so I may have some bias.... :)

Ashyukun

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #22 on: February 04, 2014, 07:56:09 AM »
I doubt either will have anything to do with a sale myself, and I'm the one who brought it up. But the thought in my head when I saw that old console was "if they can't get rid of their old TV when it broke, what didn't they do on the house when it broke?"

And honestly I hate those papasan chairs, so I may have some bias.... :)
Heheheheh... some minor irony being we BOUGHT the console relatively recently because we thought it was a really cool old vintage piece we could repurpose and use (since the stereo portion still works and sounds AWESOME), but of course (like lots of things) it's not like we can leave little notes on everything explaining it. Though that WOULD make for an interesting app to design for home sellers/buyers... QR codes or something around the house that people looking through the house could scan for notes/comments from the seller...

I'm trying to contain my excitement while typing- we got an offer on the house last night! We're waiting to hear back from the buyer's agent regarding our counter to the offer- their offer wasn't an unreasonably lowball shot-in-the-dark so we're pretty confident that we can reach a price we all agree on. If all goes well, the house will be sold and we'll be on to being buyers ourselves in a bit over a month! Well, we won't actually be seriously planning on buying anything for about two months- the end of March is going to be too busy to be buying a house as well...

ritchie70

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #23 on: February 04, 2014, 08:51:53 AM »
Heheheheh... some minor irony being we BOUGHT the console relatively recently because we thought it was a really cool old vintage piece we could repurpose and use (since the stereo portion still works and sounds AWESOME), but of course (like lots of things) it's not like we can leave little notes on everything explaining it. Though that WOULD make for an interesting app to design for home sellers/buyers... QR codes or something around the house that people looking through the house could scan for notes/comments from the seller...

I'm trying to contain my excitement while typing- we got an offer on the house last night! We're waiting to hear back from the buyer's agent regarding our counter to the offer- their offer wasn't an unreasonably lowball shot-in-the-dark so we're pretty confident that we can reach a price we all agree on. If all goes well, the house will be sold and we'll be on to being buyers ourselves in a bit over a month! Well, we won't actually be seriously planning on buying anything for about two months- the end of March is going to be too busy to be buying a house as well...

I suspect you're 15 years (or more) younger than I am if you see that as a "cool old piece" instead of a "junky old TV." I grew up with those around, although we never had one - our TV was just a TV. My dad didn't like putting all his eggs in one basket.

That QR thing would be darn cool. I wonder if there'd be a market for it.... the product probably wouldn't be the app as much as the web site it goes to that gives home sellers a place to say stuff so they don't have to trust the showing agent to say it.

Great news on the offer - good luck!

Ashyukun

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #24 on: February 04, 2014, 09:18:37 AM »
I suspect you're 15 years (or more) younger than I am if you see that as a "cool old piece" instead of a "junky old TV." I grew up with those around, although we never had one - our TV was just a TV. My dad didn't like putting all his eggs in one basket.

That QR thing would be darn cool. I wonder if there'd be a market for it.... the product probably wouldn't be the app as much as the web site it goes to that gives home sellers a place to say stuff so they don't have to trust the showing agent to say it.

Great news on the offer - good luck!
Thanks! So far it's still looking good- but of course once we agree on the price there's still inspections and appraisals and such to fret through. Thankfully I'm not too concerned about the inspections since I've kept the house up fairly well, and my realtor has already suggested we go through the house together and check all the things inspectors usually inspect so we can head off any potential issues before they would find them (and fix them myself vs. having to pay someone and have the receipt/invoice to prove it was done if the inspecto finds anything...).

Heh. If your username is any indication, you're probably only about 5 years older than I am. I grew up with them around, but we never had one- they'd fallen out of favor by the time I was really paying attention/old enough to notice (early 80's). The fiancee though is a good bit younger, but we both thought that it was a really fun find and was more impressive that it still mostly worked. And since we got it from a Habitat ReStore it was STUPID inexpensive. We still disagree on what to do with the space once the TV is removed though.

I'd love for there to be a better way to do it than QR codes, but I can't think of anything that would be universal enough and inexpensive enough (both on the seller's end and the buyers) to be halfway workable. Being able to push the info actively based on location would be far better since it wouldn't require them actively scanning things, but you'd need iBeacons or the likes which would of course be a lot more costly than just printing out a sheet of codes and sticking them to things. The backend would definitely be what would take more work- ideally I think you'd want something that they could download ahead of time so it wasn't having to load up a page over the network every time they scanned a code but was just pulling it up locally on the device.

Ashyukun

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #25 on: February 04, 2014, 11:17:54 AM »
Whelp, assuming inspections and appraisals and all that good stuff goes well, I'll temporarily not be a homeowner starting in mid-March. Final price was only slightly less than my asking price, assuming that there isn't too much that comes up I have to repair I'll end up with more than enough to put towards a new (relatively speaking) place. :)

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #26 on: February 12, 2014, 05:53:17 AM »
Congrats! Selling a house can be so Frustrating. I have a Vacation property i have been selling for two years and i just every year drop a little more. It sucks because the market is only about 4-5 months to list. Eventually price and buyer will meet! I own it outright thats the good thing but am already below what i have into it so not going to rush.

ritchie70

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Re: Frustration trying to sell house
« Reply #27 on: February 12, 2014, 07:59:34 AM »
Great news! Congratulations.

(And my username is close but not related to my age. I don't even remember what the 70 meant any more, but I've been using that user name everywhere for a very long time. I was born in 68.)