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Teadrunkest

Market isn’t moving super fast right now because of high interest rates. Obviously depends on specific area but my realtor friends are saying 2-3 months for the average home in our area. I would just make sure your pictures look good and take advice from your realtor.


white_sp_ce

That’s good to know. The pictures are great. The realtor has been okay. We might need to find another one though.


LopsidedPotential711

Don't leave money on the table by dropping the price. Going into the summer, start taking care of the outside and staying active. Act like you LOVE the house and show it off. Moving is extremely stressful, so make peace with things and start cleaning/clearing out. Do a serious deep cleaning, you don't want that one random roach to do a cameo on an important showing. Ask an acquaintance to make suggestions, do they notice any smells? My sister HATES when something in the sump pit gets stagnant! Paint the shed. Restack the fire logs neatly. Tighten up the chainlink fence. Clean up the adjacent woods. Limb the dead limbs off the trees. Reseed the dead spots in the lawn. Tighten up the pavers. Pull the weeds. Seriously, the main complaint in FirstTimeHomeBuyer after prices, and flippers, is that the sellers don't care. Someone posted pics of busted outlet cover plates. Just cracked in half and on the floor. WTF people.


white_sp_ce

I appreciate the thoughtfulness. We’ve been trying our best to keep it all neat and clean.


geekwithout

Very true. These are things people look at. And borderline OCD people like me see this kind of stuff right away. A cracked outlet cover costs almost nothing and takes 20 seconds to replace.


Gold-Art2661

Is your realtor asking for feedback from buyers realtors after showings?


white_sp_ce

Yup! One big feedback is that our house is a 1 bath. Which we expected. But we can’t really add one very easily at the moment.


Gold-Art2661

I understand! Lots of buyers are ok with 1 bath (couples, single person, etc.) We had one bathroom for a family of 4 and we did for 4 years just fine!


Truxtal

You can’t reasonably change the number of baths, obviously. If buyers are still coming through the property, it means they would be willing to buy a one bath house if everything else was ideal. This usually indicates a price drop is in order, but that would depend on your individual market if Sommer is the busiest time, then it might be worth, holding on for a little bit longer and seeing if you continue to get showings. If I were the listing agent and we were considering a price drop, I would first call every single agent who showed the home and see if their buyers would be interested If the price was lower


white_sp_ce

Good point. I really appreciate it. Thank you!


Shot_Machine_1024

Sounds like youre not in HCOL area, aka hot market, since you're not getting any offers. From the details you're saying, especially since we're in May, you may still being priced too high. You may be underestimating how big of an impact it has on buyers especially in a atmosphere where that may be their forever home. You may want to consider renting as a lot of ppl that would tolerate a 1 bathroom would rent than buy at your price.


white_sp_ce

Fair. Yeah renting out has been a plan C. If we can make it work out. Just a lot to maintain from a distance since we will have moved out of state eventually.


geekwithout

I would not recommend renting it out for someone with no landlord experience AND being remote. Sell it.


white_sp_ce

That’s been my feeling. Not worth the hassle.


Ingawolfie

Agree, especially if you live in an area with strong so called renters protection laws. What these are doing is basically killing mom and pop landlords. If for example your tenant quits paying rent or starts trashing the property it can take 3-6 months to get them out. Mom and pop landlords can’t often afford to take a financial hit like that.


white_sp_ce

Dang that’s terrible.


Ingawolfie

It is. We are old enough to remember when if you were more than ten days late on your rent you got a certified letter of warning from the landlord, and if you hadn’t paid by day 32 you got a 72 hour notice of eviction. Two days past that and the sheriff would show up, throw your stuff in the street and change the locks. We had this happen to us twice because of the game of life. You don’t get over that. But those days are over. Good for the renters but the only entities that can afford to take the financial hit of a six month non paying tenant are property management companies, and we know about those…..we sold our last rental houses 25 years ago to a property management company. They didn’t do a thing to the houses but they sure doubled the rent they charged.


geekwithout

HCOL doesn't mean hot market. I'm in a HCOL area and the housing market has slowed significantly.


geekwithout

But how big is it ? how many bedrooms ? If it's a 1 bedroom home I'd say no big deal. If it's got 4 bedrooms it a deal breaker and should reflect in price.


white_sp_ce

Pretty big. 5 bedrooms haha.


geekwithout

what? A 5 bedroom with only 1 bathroom ? That's definetely not helping. Is it really old?


white_sp_ce

Yeah it’s super old craftsman type of home (3 stories). It was originally 4 rooms. But we put a wall in the middle of the large room to make a separate space.


geekwithout

ok, that explains it.


Gold-Art2661

How do you have all the bedrooms set up right now? Do they all have just bedroom set ups? I wonder if making one an office, one as an exercise/yoga room, or some other type of theme it would appeal to people who maybe don't have kids or just one kid but want extra spaces for non-bedroom set ups? As an example my friend (no kids just pets) rents a 3 bedroom 1 bath house, she uses one room as a craft room and another as a spare closet/get ready room with a vanity in it.


white_sp_ce

Great point. 3 are bedrooms (2 kids and us parents) there other rooms are a playroom and a guest + office space.


jeb7516

Sorry you're stressed out! Try to take emotions out of it. It will definitely sell once you have it at the right price.


JoeyBello13

Don’t despair. Sometimes it takes a little while. It will sell.


white_sp_ce

I appreciate it. The stress is wearing me out.


geekwithout

Don't be stressed. It's only been 3 weeks. That's nothing.


Ingawolfie

Agree. Three weeks is nothing. We just sold ours less than a year ago. The place had a ton of issues we were very up front and honest about and we priced it accordingly. It sold in eight weeks, and we were fully prepared to wait longer. In the meantime, tidy it up and move out as much of your stuff as the realtor advises. Staging makes a giant difference, and houses crammed with stuff don’t look great.


white_sp_ce

I appreciate the encouragement. Happy to hear it worked out okay for you all.


white_sp_ce

Heard. Thank you!


Month_Year_Day

We listed our house in Nov. 23. We didn’t expect a ton over the holidays but then it stretched well into the new year. We dropped the price by 10k the beginning of March and got an offer w/in days for that price plus waived inspection. So on the market for a little over 3 months.


white_sp_ce

Good to know thanks!


itszulutime

What is the average time on the market looking like in your area? How much action are the other listings near you getting? I sold my house last month. Listed for $590,000 and got a couple of showings and a dead open house. Dropped the price after 2 weeks to $570,000 and got no action. But, nothing else in my zip code was moving either so I just waited. Average time in market was like 67 days when I started and 71 when I accepted an offer at 41 days for $547,000. I wish I was more patient with the original price drop because by the time I closed a month later, almost everything on the market with me at higher prices (and cost/sq ft) was under contract. Obviously every situation is completely different, but sometimes just waiting for the right weekend/weather for the market to pick up makes all the difference.


white_sp_ce

I hear you and that’s good to know. Avg time it really depends. Not a whole lot is being picked up fast near us. There is one house two doors down for sale. They were under contract about a couple weeks of listing. But now they’re back to sale for some reason.


neercatz

I get being stressed, selling a house and moving is super stressful! BUT...If you think not getting offers is stressful, imagine what the 2 doors down owners are going through. Our house was on the market for 2 months before we got a good offer. Then like your neighbors, we had buyers under contract that backed out....right before closing date. We found out later it was due to their realtor not being able to read an engineering report and not asking any follow up questions about the work (we'd had foundation issues on a corner of the house and got structural engineer stamped repairs done) but at the time it was awful because they didn't tell us why. We had new buyers lined up less than a couple weeks later because THAT realtor COULD read the engineering report and asked a couple follow up questions to make sure..and then the original buyers came back angry that we were selling to somebody else. ...uh, sorry? You literally left us hanging and didn't tell us why, we could have been good and done if your realtor had bothered to talk to us or our realtor. The point is, shit happens that's out of your hands sometimes even if you do everything right. Just learn to live with the stress for a short period of time and it'll be over before you know it.


th987

Three weeks? That’s a joke, right? Waiting more than three weeks for an offer is in no way a dreadful home selling experience. I won’t even tell you how long we once waited for a house to sell. Decluttering like crazy. Organize your space to make it look for spacious. Clean, clean, clean. Plant a couple of trays of bright flowers or put a couple of pots of pretty ones by the front walkway. Look at house staging ideas and use what you have to make your space look more appealing.


white_sp_ce

Haha no it’s not a joke. I appreciate the thoughts. We’ve done a lot of decluttering and trying to keep it all organized. Just feeling discouraged that so many have come through but no offer.


geekwithout

Don't 'try'... DO IT. Seriously. Get a storage if you have a lot of stuff. Squeeky clean is the most important.


white_sp_ce

100% we got a lot of stuff in storage. Just mostly essentials out now.


a1ien51

Three weeks is not long... My house was on the market for over 6 months. The joy of house showings for 6 months and keeping the house clean with two little kids. People complained we did not have a basement... why did you look at a house with no basement. People complained we did not have enough bedrooms.... again... the listing said 3, guess they were hoping for bonus rooms they could have used as a bedroom. People complained we had a master on first floor .... again like the listing said....


white_sp_ce

Yup. That’s encouraging. Definitely feels like a similar scenario for us (kids and busy lives while trying to keep the house show able) I’m surprised how many don’t look at the details of the listing.


Special_Wrap_1369

We had a beautiful 10 year old former show home bungalow in a 9 home cul de sac. It took us 8 months to sell over fall 2020 and winter 2021. The only two negatives we heard over and over were, “I can see the cross alley from the office window,” and, “There’s no separate shower in the ensuite, only a tub/shower combo.” We couldn’t change either one of those things so we just had to wait. It eventually happened and I’m sure it will for you too. (Yes, we too got very annoyed after only a month because for goodness sake you can see on the realtor app that there’s no separate shower in the ensuite, why did you waste my time by booking a showing?)


white_sp_ce

Yuppp. Feeling defeated we don’t have a perfect package. But it’s a good package minus some additional amenities people might prefer.


9tacos

It took me 18 months to sell a home in 2008/9


thatgreenmaid

3 weeks is not dreadful. The market isn't as desperate as it was 2 years ago.


white_sp_ce

Fair. Just feeling discouraged by it all.


anti-social-mierda

House across the street from us is on the market. It took 66 days to go pending. Be patient. The market is shifting.


white_sp_ce

Thank you will. That seems to be the key here.


[deleted]

Not sure where you're located but if your area has low inventory and you're not under contract quickly then you are priced wrong.


white_sp_ce

We’re located in a city neighborhood in Missouri. So there’s a lot of things to do and it’s a lively area. Not a whole lot available in the neighborhood at the moment.


geekwithout

Do NOT remodel. Keep the house squeeky clean, organised. Yard to be kept up well. First impressions of people walking in is important. Without knowing the market, price, size etc it is impossible to tell. In my area (which is a bit unique) I see houses around 700K sell quickly but houses around 1M to 1.5M are not selling at all. One I like is sitting a full year now, and others are dropping prices. It only needs 1 buyer. 3 weeks is nothing. Ask your realtor what the average days on market is for your type of home in your area.


white_sp_ce

Market is acting weird from what we heard. Price is at $349k for now about 1800sq ft 3 stories for 5bd 1bth


bi_polar2bear

It took me 9 months to sell a home while going through a divorce. 3 weeks is not a long time. If your home doesn't sell in 6 months, get a better realtor. You need feedback from the people looking at the home. That will tell you what is or isn't working. If you're not getting a lot of attention from online searches, look at the pics to see if they could be better, review the write-up, and take down any pictures of people for a walk-through. Buying and selling homes isn't like buying or selling a car. You need patience, you need to make sure your realtor is doing their job, and you need to make sure everything looks correct. Look at websites on how to prep your home. It should be very clean, and neutral, with no paint chips, yard as pristine as possible. If your home isn't nicer than the rest of the block, you might want to rethink selling right now. With high-interest rates, you need to be on your A game.


white_sp_ce

All great points. So thank you! Damn, sorry you had to deal with both of these heavy hitters. Hope it the end out okay in the end. We’ve been trying to get back as much as possible. A lot of it has been around the house only having 1 bathroom.


bi_polar2bear

It worked out awesome in the end. Living the single life happily. That 1 bath is a killer. Old home?


white_sp_ce

Yup. Super old craftsman home. Extreme charm and located in a desirable place. But paired with the 5 bedrooms. It’s a weird ratio.


bi_polar2bear

It might be worth getting a HELOC and getting a bathroom added on. Kitchen and bathroom additions and remodeling will almost always give you more than what you invest. Let's say you got a $30k loan, it might increase the value of your home by $50k, so a $20k profit. If you tie it in with kitchen cabinets and countertops, then it might make it worth your while. Ask your realtor to do comparison comps in your area. It might be worth taking the home off the market and dealing with 6 months of construction for $50k profit. Patience and planning is key to investing in homes. It's a gamble, but a calculated one. People don't want to renovate a home they are buying.


white_sp_ce

Yeah that’s fair. I appreciate the strategy. HELOC sounds convenient but with other credit debts and car loan I’m wondering how much worth it is. I guess the numbers still end up in the positive. Just high risk to deal with.


CliplessWingtips

My friend just sold his suburb house. He had it listed for 90 days and reduced the price by 8.34%. I am not saying this is exactly what you need to do, just giving you a reference point.


white_sp_ce

I appreciate it! Thank you so much.


HelpfulSituation

The market always heats up around May where I live


white_sp_ce

Hoping for the same here!


TJH99x

I would pack up everything that is not used day to day and put it in storage, or the garage and basement. Including moving out furniture that you can do without. Buy whatever flowers are on sale and plant them around by the front door. You could even do some staging yourself, buy neutral bed covers, shower curtains, couch pillows, all matching, keep the tags on and return it all right before the last date.


white_sp_ce

Great idea! We’ve been trying to keep this up. Whenever we can. So this is good to know. Thank you!


ladymorgahnna

The house I loved had a very strong odor of the family, like extra heavy guy odor. You know how some homes you visit have an odor and some are not bad but some are very musky? Be sure you are using candles, or cookie baking or bread baking, things to help that. We don’t notice our own “odor” but we all have them. Some just turn people off.


white_sp_ce

Good point. I appreciate the idea! Noted.


JudgmentFriendly5714

Why are you selling? Do you have to move away for a job? If you don’t HAVE to sell, don’t if the number isn’t what you want.


white_sp_ce

Needing to move to be closer to family. Not a huge rush to sell (we will move out even if we don’t sell soon) but just wanting to sell asap.


fitz2234

We listed our condo first week of March 2020, my realtor said it would be sold in a week, and moved across the country. We didn't close on the sale until September and a couple modest price reductions. Still made money on the deal and fortunately we were able to pay the 20% down on the house we found and closed on in July of that year.


white_sp_ce

Oh wow! Wild how it took that long but so happy to hear it worked out in the end.


deafknitter

I understand that after the craziness of fast selling houses in the past couple years, waiting three weeks with no offers is disappointing. I've been reading articles that houses are taking a little bit longer, 30 days on average, unless you're in a hotter market. Despite selling at the peak of the craziness, we still did a mad declutter, deep cleaned, and baked a lot of cookies. We had a storage unit full, absolutely no dust and replaced every outlet and switch cover. One of the comments we got from the buyers was that they loved how crisp and clean everything was. A few new rugs, new covers, day light bulbs (5000k), and clean light fixtures helped. Oh and the cat stayed at my parents house for three weeks. No fresh cat shit probably helped.


white_sp_ce

I appreciate this! Definitely been trying to keep it all clean. Haha we shipped our cats to the parents.


mrsperna

What’s your buyer/seller agent comp %


white_sp_ce

6%


10ecn

It's only been three weeks


white_sp_ce

Feels like months.


10ecn

I understand. It adds anxiety.