How can I attract buyer to look at my house?

Question

I put my house for sale and I bought a new house. but it's been almost a year now my house is still for sale. My house is in very good shape, new paint and some upgrade inside. Should I take the for sale sign in my yard and wait. Any idea?...help..please. Oh yes I have a realtor which I guess is not a lot of help..

Answer 1

Having an inexperienced Realtor who is NOT honest with you about pricing, staging & market conditions is what is not helpful.

You need to find a new agent, one who is honest with you about current market conditions, trends & most importantly pricing.

There is ALWAYS only 1 reason your home is not selling, I know you don't want to hear it, but, you're OVER PRICED.

With your new agent that you choose, pretend you're the buyer, take a ride with them & check out your competition. See what they have that you don't, what do they have that you do, for the price.

Maybe they have granite counters & you have formica?

Maybe they have neutral carpeting & yours is green?

or the opposite.

How long can you afford 2 mortg. payments.

Get the facts, look around,, change Real Estate Companies.

If you bought & moved into your new home & the one your trying to sell is vacant, try using some "staging" techniques, go to a "rent-a-center" or something like that, get a dining table, put place settings on it, get a couch & coffee table,

Sometimes it is difficult to for buyers to look at a vacant home without furniture in it, it's hard for them to figure out "where will I put my china cabinet? will it fit there? how will it look? etc"
Staging: Do it now!

Answer 2

Hi I am a real estate agent of 20 years and the first thing you learn when taking your real estate test to get licensed, are the 4 things that make houses sell.

Demand
Utility
Scarcity
Transferability

Right now the problem is TRANSFERABILITY and SCARCITY.

Properties are not scarce right now. There are more homes than buyers. But this is compounded by the factor that the financing for homes is not as good as it was a year ago.

It takes twice as much money down to buy a house as it did last year because the banks have tightened their standards.

Also the banks are looking for a credit fico score of 620 or higher. Not hard to find but the majority of folks don't have that high of a score. So that makes buyers even more scarce.

The problem is financing. To give you an example, before on a $350,000 home with conventional financing a buyer could get in no money down and the seller would often pay the closing costs and the buyer would literally walk in with 0 money down.

This was great! Contrary to what the tv news media would have you believe, the facts are well known that the majority of these loans are not in default. Some have gone into default but that historically has always been the case.

Yet the facts remain that the majority of people that bought with those no money down stated income loans "are still in the house making payments on time."

When some folks (the minority of buyers not majority) defaulted, the media blamed it on the lenders and their so called "easy loans" but I think that was a bad, bad mistake to do that.

The lenders then got such a tongue lashing they curled into a ball so-to-speak and are afraid to make those kinds of loans.

Well, it is only natural that the real estate values would plummet because it was as if a trap door was opened underneath the housing market and the bottom fell out.

So there are buyers that would buy your house right now this second but they need about $60,000 20% down to buy a $350,000 house.

Previously they could get in 0 money down. See the problem?

This is awesome news however if you are selling and then buying because you actually will come out ahead as you make it up on the other end.

Many agents will tell you to lower the price and in a way they are right to suggest this because, for example, we know that ( and I am exaggerating here for affect) if your house was for sale for $900 dollars you'd sell it fast. So we know that adjusting the price helps. Obviously not as low as $900 but price adjusting always has and always will be a big solution in this market.

For example if I was looking in a neighborhood and all houses were same condition and size etc.. but one was $5000 less, I'd buy that one. Even if it needed painting and work because I can save $5000 if I do it myself.

Price is the key and what you should do is find out what your house is worth at my web site below. When you go there click on PROPERTY RESEARCH and it will show you what your house is worth right online for free. It won't email it to you where youhave to wait, it shows it to you instantly. If I can help you in any way my email is at the site.

Answer 3

Staging, over priced or what ever. If you are gonna continue with this real estate agent or any real estate agent you must get one that knows what he/she is doing. If you house has been on the market for over a year and you have had the same agent apparently he/she is not the best person for you nor their agency.

Someone in the agency should have told this person why your property has not sold and the reason it has not, especially the broker of the agency.

You should get out of your agreement with this agency.

One person in this forum mentioned a lease option. That is a very good way to sell your property and collect a holder's fee at that of around $5,000 to $10,000 depending on the value of your property.

Another way is to rent it out for a fair rental that is going in your area for the type house you have.

You can also sell the property with you acting as the lender. The potential buyer has little or no credit check made on them. You figure out the market value of your property by getting an appraisal done. Subject your present mortgage from the appraisal and down payment the potential buyer makes. This will be the note made out to you by the closiing agent. Now the only thing you need to come up with is the interest rate and number of years you want to carry your note. This will determine the monthly payment to you. Now add your mortgage payment to the current mortgage payment you are making and this will be the payment for your new buyer. The new buyer pays you this amount each month. You subtract your monthly payment and send the regular payment to your current mortgage company as you did before. You go find an escrow closing agent.

You will need a contract with this buyer, but the escrow closing agent will do a large amount of the work. You may also call several mortgage brokers to assist you with any open house you will have.

Select one and tell him he can have a list of all the names of individuals that come by that are not pre-approved to purchase a house. Keep calling until one of them agree to assist you. This is reason enough for him to assist you. He can also give you documents for any disclosures that might be needed in your state. He must show up for all open houses you have.

You advertise in the paper house for sale by owner. Owner will carry the mortgage note. 10%-15% down, little or no credit required. No agents.

I hope this has been of some use to you, good luck.

"FIGHT ON"

Answer 4

Check out 'staging' companies in your area. These are companies that will come into your house with a professional decorator and put in stylish furniture, drapes, etc. to show your house in the best possible light. These companies usually charge a % of the selling price...but market research indicates that the increased sale price (because of staging) more than pays for the service. Good luck!

Answer 5

You need to have a serious chat with your listing real estate agent. You don't indicate much other than that you DO have an agent. Is the house being advertised ? Are you over-priced? Is the market colder than ice where you are ? It's past time for you to make some changes in order to attract buyers, if there are any out there in your area. Assuming your real estate agent is qualified, listen to any and all suggestions.

Answer 6

You might consider trying to sell it yourself (after your agreement with the realtor expires) by lease/option.

At least this would get you some income from the home.

Then you advertise for the buyer rather than advertise the house for sale.

Something like, bruised credit and want to buy a home. House for lease/option while you repair your credit.

And then hook them up to a reputable credit repair attorney like the one listed below.

Answer 7

Check your contract. Explain to your Realtor that you expect people to be coming by your house to look at it on a regular basis or you are taking your business elsewhere. If you don't keep pressure on your Realtor he/she will do absolutely nothing but put it in the multilist.

Answer 8

You should definitely consider staging your house. See my website page at http://www.maureenmegowan.com/Nav.aspx/Page=/PageManager/Default.aspx/PageID=1662398%20
regarding how staging your home will increase its marketability.