Selling your non TV home

[aljetmet]

We have had our house on the market about a month and I think we've had 4 showings. Seems in the Memphis TN area brokers do not leave thier card when they show the house. We believe we had three no shows and our broker could not confirm whether or not the calling broker showed the house.

Seems my broker feels we'll get more showings if we drop the price. Since we have about 8 months before I can retire and we don't have to start building to next April we don't think dropping the price yet is prudent.
Our broker feels the house is priced right and several of her colleagues at her brokerage agree.

For those who have their house on the market or recently closed, what is/was your experience on number of showings per month?

This is the third house we're selling but first in a buyer's market.

[ariel]

We will be on the market soon in the Charlotte, NC area. Also first time selling in a buyers market. Sold a house in Olive Branch, Ms. a number of years ago in three weeks and in Yorktown, Virginia 6 years ago in three days -with a bidding war. Will be interesting this time.

We have friends who have been on the market for three weeks and have had about 6 showings. Hard to say what is a good number - I would imagine it depends much on the area. I agree with you that if you are priced right and don't have to sell immediately, I wouldn't lower the price quite yet. Good Luck to you!

[Rubber Bucket]

If your house is priced right, I won't lower the price at this time. A price reduction makes only a minimal impact on the realtor's fee - they will make pretty much the same commission on the sale. But it could have a significant impact on the amount of money that the seller makes on the sale.

On the other hand, if the house is overpriced, you are missing a crucial time to market the propertry.

Finally, I've always insisted (written in the contract) that the listing realtor would be present at all showings. They should be prepared to answer questions immediately. Also, they can gather important information for you on comments made by potential buyers. This could be very valuable to you. You may be able to make minor changes that makes the attractive to buyers in this market.

Good luck - it's always stressful selling a house.

[jnieman]

We listed our house in Ohio January 6. Sold it March 15. We had a total of 34 showings. Everyone left good comments but only one weak offer. Our listing realtor promised that she would e-mail us after each showing which she didn't do. We had to call her. After 10 weeks she put together a packet for us of all of the houses in our price range that had sold in the past 3 months and what they eventually sold for. It seems we were overpriced and were going up against new homes in our price range and our home was built in the 1950's. Although we had quite a few upgrades we just couldn't compare. We lowered our price by 8,000. Had several showings the next day. Of course then the another offer came in. They were lower than the asking price and we had to negotiate with them to get them higher. At that point we just wanted out since my husband was retiring in 4 weeks the timing was perfect. Then the inspection. We had done an inpsection of our own before listing and knew what to expect. They asked us for only one thing and it was a whopper $1600 chimney lining. We really couldn't say no because it needed one, so we bit the bullet. Once it was over and done with we were so relieved and on our way to our new life!

[tainsley]

We priced our house $15,000 below what our realtor suggested...sold in three weeks. Had approximately 13 showings. Got our asking price it was smooth sailing and now we are home in TV!

[Golfer in Sanibel]

We paid for a market appraisal in February before listing our home. We have our home priced $15000 below the appraised value. We have had 10 showings in the last 9 days and we are leaving home within the hour for another showing. I'm so sick and tired of vacumning. :swear: Only one offer and it was $45000 below the appraised value. :oops:

Gotta stay here and sell this house, though. Can't wait to get back home in TV.

How's my grass/sod look?

[WVMtnBoy]

My wife and I signed a sales contract on 5/16 and were under contract by 5/24. Our realtor coordinated all of the showings and even gave us feedback on each showing. We had approx 4 showings before the offer came in. We had to do some haggling with the buyer about the price (got lowballed at first) but finally settled on a price that we could live with. We've already had the home inspection, termite inspection and appraisal performed. We are supposed to close not later than 7/13. I've not had the best of times during this period but we're hopeful that the process is just about over. IMHO - it's a buyers market and we did, in fact, have to come down but every section of the country is different. I would check to see what the comparables initially listed for and what they actually sold for. That may give you some indication as to whether you need to do any reducing at the moment. Good Luck & hope you sell soon!

[aljetmet]

There are many short sales and foreclosures in our area. It's a very nice location and we're on the 6th tee box of a semi-public golf course.

Actually we had a showing last night and just received a call from our agent.
The person loved the house but thought based on her research the house was over priced. Well, the standard lines were exchanged between brokers and we'll just have to wait and see.

We're ready to take 94.5% of asking. Someone just has to ask!

[asianthree]

We have had our house on the market about a month and I think we've had 4 showings. Seems in the Memphis TN area brokers do not leave thier card when they show the house. We believe we had three no shows and our broker could not confirm whether or not the calling broker showed the house.

Seems my broker feels we'll get more showings if we drop the price. Since we have about 8 months before I can retire and we don't have to start building to next April we don't think dropping the price yet is prudent.
Our broker feels the house is priced right and several of her colleagues at her brokerage agree.

For those who have their house on the market or recently closed, what is/was your experience on number of showings per month?

This is the third house we're selling but first in a buyer's market.

The only time you can compare is if they live where you live. Every state city neighborhood will be different. Big deep breath it will come

[Casino]

I know that the market is a little tough but if your home does not sell within the contract the you have now, contact your rep at the Villages and ask about the relocation program......it's free and it works! Good Luck!

[graciegirl]

There are many short sales and foreclosures in our area. It's a very nice location and we're on the 6th tee box of a semi-public golf course.

Actually we had a showing last night and just received a call from our agent.
The person loved the house but thought based on her research the house was over priced. Well, the standard lines were exchanged between brokers and we'll just have to wait and see.

We're ready to take 94.5% of asking. Someone just has to ask!

Our realtor said that the best time for a sale was in the first month of the listing. We mentioned what we hoped to get for our very updated 23 year old home and she said it was unrealistic and backed it up with figures. We priced it as low as we could stomach according to BILL of Bill-n-Brillo.

We had 12 showings and sold it in nine days with a bidding war and it went above the listing price with no modifications.

That was about 11 months ago in West Chester, Ohio.

I think you may have to rethink 94% of asking price.

[aljetmet]

GG,

You wanted to sell right away. I have eight months to go minimum.
We wanted to test the waters. We could have easily just kept the house off the market. I think selling the first month is fine but is an indication of nothing. The faster you sell the better off for the broker. ie he gets paid that much faster and reduces his costs. There are so many stories that when the house is priced right it will sell no matter how long it's been on the market.

We will definitley cave from the 94.5% original asking price, but in time.
By the way my broker advised us that's the average and she was happy with the asking price.

I was just curious as to how many people viewed their house in a month.

I would think if the house is below market, then you would have higher traffic...

[daca55]

We have had our house on the market about a month and I think we've had 4 showings. Seems in the Memphis TN area brokers do not leave thier card when they show the house. We believe we had three no shows and our broker could not confirm whether or not the calling broker showed the house.

Seems my broker feels we'll get more showings if we drop the price. Since we have about 8 months before I can retire and we don't have to start building to next April we don't think dropping the price yet is prudent.
Our broker feels the house is priced right and several of her colleagues at her brokerage agree.

For those who have their house on the market or recently closed, what is/was your experience on number of showings per month?

This is the third house we're selling but first in a buyer's market.

I have bought and sold several properties and what I think you should tell a broker is if we are going to take a hit on what we want for a price by lowering then you need to lower your commission so we all feel the pain of less money. If you lower your price by say $10,000 to $20,000 that will have a minimal affect on your brokers commission but a big affect on you. It really depends on what works for you. If you need to sell right away then dropping the price will help with showings but if you can hang in there for awhile leave the price alone. Brokers make a very good commission at 5 to 6% and what do they really do besides put a sign in front of your home and put it on the internet and wait for someone to call. On the otherhand you have worked very hard no doubt to keep your property looking good so you can get what its worth to you. Remember brokers love to lower prices because they don't make any money unless they sell your home. :spoken:

[aljetmet]

I have bought and sold several properties and what I think you should tell a broker is if we are going to take a hit on what we want for a price by lowering then you need to lower your commission so we all feel the pain of less money. If you lower your price by say $10,000 to $20,000 that will have a minimal affect on your brokers commission but a big affect on you. It really depends on what works for you. If you need to sell right away then dropping the price will help with showings but if you can hang in there for awhile leave the price alone. Brokers make a very good commission at 5 to 6% and what do they really do besides put a sign in front of your home and put it on the internet and wait for someone to call. On the otherhand you have worked very hard no doubt to keep your property looking good so you can get what its worth to you. Remember brokers love to lower prices because they don't make any money unless they sell your home. :spoken:

Can't agree more. We went with the biggest real estate firm in Memphis.
They originally wanted 7% commission. To make what happens to be a long story short we negotiated down to 6%...

[graciegirl]

I have bought and sold several properties and what I think you should tell a broker is if we are going to take a hit on what we want for a price by lowering then you need to lower your commission so we all feel the pain of less money. If you lower your price by say $10,000 to $20,000 that will have a minimal affect on your brokers commission but a big affect on you. It really depends on what works for you. If you need to sell right away then dropping the price will help with showings but if you can hang in there for awhile leave the price alone. Brokers make a very good commission at 5 to 6% and what do they really do besides put a sign in front of your home and put it on the internet and wait for someone to call. On the otherhand you have worked very hard no doubt to keep your property looking good so you can get what its worth to you. Remember brokers love to lower prices because they don't make any money unless they sell your home. :spoken:
Henry turned to me and said...
"Do you want to fish, or cut bait?"

[buggyone]

Can't agree more. We went with the biggest real estate firm in Memphis.
They originally wanted 7% commission. To make what happens to be a long story short we negotiated down to 6%...

That might have been a mistake to do. The agents work harder to sell homes at a higher commission. You will find that agents show the homes with the 7% commission more than with a lower commissiion for them.

Selling a home is not a time to go for "cheap". You have to spend some money for fixing the interior and exterior of the house to make it the best in your market area - and to be plenty flexible on the price.

[tommy steam]

Can't agree more. We went with the biggest real estate firm in Memphis.
They originally wanted 7% commission. To make what happens to be a long story short we negotiated down to 6%...

our broker gets 4.5 % and if another broker sell house its 5%...we have it on market for 4 weeks and have had 6 showings with good feedback..but no offering so far ..Had a second look by one buyer and one just this sunday is wanting a second look....house was priced right by broker..we had an open house for brokers only the first week and 16 out of 17 thought it had the right price.....We too are tired of all the house work to get it sold ,lol...We are in LI NY..............

[daca55]

That might have been a mistake to do. The agents work harder to sell homes at a higher commission. You will find that agents show the homes with the 7% commission more than with a lower commissiion for them.

Selling a home is not a time to go for "cheap". You have to spend some money for fixing the interior and exterior of the house to make it the best in your market area - and to be plenty flexible on the price.

I think you would be very surprised at how little a broker does to sell your home. Every now and then you come accross one who works there tail off but on average they reallyu don't do much except wait for a call.

[aljetmet]

Broker wants to come to the house to present it to us today at 5:00 PM
The buyer/broker was writing it up when he called our agent.

He looked at the house yesterday and left a card indicating he would be in touch. He was true to his word. We'll see...

[swrinfla]

I'm so glad that I'm not having to be in this "volatile market!"

My friend has been trying to sell her 10-year-old-custom-built home in an upscale golf community northeast of Nashville, TN, for a number of weeks.

Many viewings, but mostly low-ball offers from them. Several broker-sponsored "open house" events, none generating happy offers!

Currently working on a "viable" offer some $20,000 less than asking, with one or two ramifications! We'll see!

SWR
:beer3:

[Down Sized]

It took me 1 1/2 years to give away my house. In good times houses on my street would sell in three days or less. Good Luck.:pray:

[2BNTV]

Broker wants to come to the house to present it to us today at 5:00 PM
The buyer/broker was writing it up when he called our agent.

He looked at the house yesterday and left a card indicating he would be in touch. He was true to his word. We'll see...

I sure hope the offer is acceptable.

Just a thought, "what is it worth to get on with your new life".

Hoping you and yours can start your new life together. :pray:

[jimbo2012]

We decided not to take the hit in this market, and just listed it for rent a week ago.

That market I'm told is strong to rent, it's big house with 4 bds, so the probable renter will have kids and need to get in by start of school, or that's the plan.

There are risks with finding good tenants....

[Golfer in Sanibel]

Our realtor said that the best time for a sale was in the first month of the listing. We mentioned what we hoped to get for our very updated 23 year old home and she said it was unrealistic and backed it up with figures. We priced it as low as we could stomach according to BILL of Bill-n-Brillo.

We had 12 showings and sold it in nine days with a bidding war and it went above the listing price with no modifications.

That was about 11 months ago in West Chester, Ohio.

I think you may have to rethink 94% of asking price.

If your home has been on the market for six months or more, it is probably stale. One technique is to take it off the market for a month or so and then relist it. It will be fresh all over again.

[skyguy79]

I sure hope the offer is acceptable.

Just a thought, "what is it worth to get on with your new life".

Hoping you and yours can start your new life together. :pray:Welcome back 2BNTV! You were missed! Hope all was well with you!

[graciegirl]

I sure hope the offer is acceptable.

Just a thought, "what is it worth to get on with your new life".

Hoping you and yours can start your new life together. :pray:


So absolutely lovely to see you post,2BNTV!!!!!. Delighted you are back.:beer3::pepper2::eclipsee_gold_cup:

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Good to see you back again, 2B!!! :thumbup:

Here - - - this should help you get back into the swing of things: :popcorn:

:icon_wink:

Bill :wave:

[aljetmet]

If your home has been on the market for six months or more, it is probably stale. One technique is to take it off the market for a month or so and then relist it. It will be fresh all over again.

House has been on the market about 6 weeks. The offer was very low almost a waste of time. However in TN I believe they have a very weird practice. The buyer provided a contract which of course I could modify before I could counter offer. Never bought or sold like that before.
Brokers usually exchange offers by phone until agreement then a contract is written with both sides making sure all the Is are dotted and Ts crossed in their favor.

Anyway, I have just a couple of questions for my lawyer. If it's delayed I may just reject the offer and request a better one. I still have over 7 months before I can retire and if I have to take a big hit I may just work a couple more months to make up the difference.

Also glad to hear back from CT resident 2B. We have missed him!

[jblum315]

I listed my lovely home in Rye, NY, 3 months after my husband died in Spring of 2004. During the 3 months we repainted all interior, replaced all carpets and refinished all wood floors. Kitchen, master bath with Jacuzzi and guest bath were brand new. Broker #1 named a price I thought unreasonably high. Fired her.Broker #2, a neighbor and friend, gave us comparables and a more realistic selling price. Had several lookers right away in April but no offers until June. Then a woman came from Pennsylvania with two children(husband was a big shot in supermarket industry and needed to relocate to NY) She loved the house, made an accepted offer very near my price and we went to contract. Then the husband appeared and things went south.
Basically I think he hated the house. They didn't try to get out of the contract but he was obstreperous, demanding, insulting and nasty in every way. He and my son-in-law nearly came to blows. I was so miserable that my lawyer wouldn't let me attend the closing, which I heard was unpleasant.
Anyway, I got out, they moved in and that's all I know except that neighbors told me they don't talk to anyone. C'est la vie.

[Posh 08]

If your home has been on the market for six months or more, it is probably stale. One technique is to take it off the market for a month or so and then relist it. It will be fresh all over again.

We were told it takes 90 days off the MLS to reset to 0 days on the market. It's coming off the market Dec 1 and going back on Mar 1 if not sold. Hoping this Fall some leaf peepers may get a hankerin for the mountains. BTW in the last renewal we raised the price a couple of thousand. The market is going up. Hoping to goose any fence sitters.

[2 Oldcrabs]

Spent a year painting, replacing carpet and sprucing up my fathers house and our house. My father's house sold for asking price the first day it went on the Multi-list. I put a "for sale by owner" sign in front of our house with the price I was asking for the house on the sign. I had several neighbors call to tell the neighborhood was worth more! I did a lot of research on what homes were worth in July 2011. The value was what my home would have sold for in 2002. I sold my home with just a sign out front in 4 days! In 43 days we sold 2 houses, empty them, went to settlement (1 house was 2 days late because of the bank) and move to TV in a U-Haul. My Brother just sold his house 3 weeks after it hit the Multi-list. He spent 6 months removing wall paper, painting and sprucing up. His house sold for 2003 prices which is $60k less than he paid in 2006. It may be hard to take less than you paid, but you have to decide where you want to live and how much snow you want to shovel! :ohdear: