Need an Angel!

[Beth]

We recently put our house on the market, and while homes around us are selling quickly, we are not getting many lookers, much less buyers. I think we have an unusual problem with another house, and I'm not sure what we can do about it.

We have a house across the street from us that has been on the market about a year and a half. The one across the street has some design and decorating issues, but the biggest problem has probably been that it had water leaks and had to go through mold remediation. It was torn up for months, and every realtor probably knows it. No one is showing it anymore. It's street number is 110, and we are 111. We are both 4 BR red brick houses with new paint and carpet, and we are the only 2 houses left for sale on this street, so not a lot of lookers will just happen by.

They recently took their photo off the realtors' website, and due to a fluke, ours did not get put on for about 3 weeks. We still don't have room photos, so no one can see that we don't have the green formica kitchen, etc. I also don't credit all realtors with being the most detail oriented (110 vs 111) or most energetic bunch, so I'm sure we sound kind of like a bad house they saw or heard about and they won't even look.

The realtors' open house is today, and I'm hoping you can send some good thoughts, a guardian angel or a friendly realtor this way so we can at least get lookers. Once our house is seen and known, I'm sure it will sell pretty quickly, but you can't sell it if no one looks at it.

[Angela]

Good luck to you today!! I hope you get a ton of prospective buyers!

[Little Bit]

Good luck to you! Realtors can be a bit flaky, can't they? Dad and I are going to look at a house tomorrow, so I can sympathise from the other side of the equation. "Our" realtor is a very nice lady, but I don't think she takes us very seriously as potential customers for another house.

Seems kind of weird to me that such a seemingly detail-oriented business is filled with so many non-detail- oriented types.

[Molli526]

Good Luck! We will be selling our house next year and I can already imagine the stress.

[sneezles]

Beth,
I know how you feel! Our agent was a moron! The only time he really hussled was at the end of the contract when we gave him 2 weks before we switched agencies-we had a buyer in less than 2! Makes me so mad!!!
My questions though is about a Tuesday open house?!? What happen to Sundays? I hope that you can inspire your agent to get with the program!

[SusieO]

Great Homebuyer Thoughts heading North to your neighborhood right now!

Good luck!
:) :) :)

[LaraW]

Sending good home-selling thoughts your way!

[Jewel]

Angel on the way! :) You did bake some cinnamon rolls this morning before you left the house, right? Proven fact that it makes the house smell homey and subliminally it entices buyers! ;)

[Canice]

Sounds like you're in a real seller's market; perhaps once the more, er, "responsive" realtors get a look, they'll be thrilled to know there's a gem for them to show. Wishing you the best. And please let us know how it goes.

[kwormann]

Oh Beth, your home is just lovely! Im KNOW once it is seen, it will sell soooo quickly! GOOD LUCK!

[Beth]

Thanks everyone.

Sneezles, the Tuesday open house is for the other realtors to come see it, not really prospective buyers, althought sometimes some one will come along. Our realtor is a 20+ year friend and client of the family and has been through many transactions with my sister, my parents and us. She suggested that we think seriously about firing her because she isn't getting showings and she doesn't know what to do to make it happen for us any better.

We had only 5 realtors come look, and 2 of them live on my street. I was really distressed, and the comments they gave our realtor were not great either -- but when I talked to DH, he said he thought it was good that none were critical of the house itself. He said it seemed more like they were looking for things to be critical of. I think he made a good point.

Apparently the builders up in this area are making big consessions and are even cutting out the realtors -- where it used to be that there was no price break given to anyone who looked at new construction without a realtor. They are apparently trying to clear out inventory and people are going to the builders without realtors. If realtors aren't showing, it's hard to get people to look at your house. As Kim knows, this is an area where it's hard to get folks who just happen to drive by and have to see your house.

We had to buy our "new" house without a contingency, and from all we saw, we looked golden in trying to sell our current home -- it is far better than what we were seeing in the price range. The lady who came to take the photos said she thought our house would sell very quickly. And this is considered a "sought after" neighborhood. It's just not happening as expected and we are wondering if we may have to lease the house for a year to see if we get a better market then. I hate the thought of that. I'm bummed!

[sneezles]

OK, I get it. But will say that we had our house on the market for 8 months before it sold. Great house, wonderful builder (Perry Homes), very good neighborhood (inside 610, close to Bellaire and West U), put it on last April so we'd get the transfers looking. I would suggest you not read any of the comments fro other realtors or even the clients they bring in. None of it will make you feel good about your house. The right person will come along! Hopefully, you won't have to lease it because then you'll have that to clean up after!

[Beth]

Too late to not read the comments -- our realtor left them on the counter and they were the first thing I saw when I came home this afternoon. One told us we should take the house off the market, relist it when it is vacant and have it staged! That's about 180 degrees from the person who took the photos (also a realtor and the daughter of 2 realtors) and said, "Oh, this won't last long!"

I will try to remember not to pay much attention to it -- after all, I think that realtor is miffed because we didn't list with her (she didn't return messages for one thing). Now DH probably wouldn't sell it to anyone she's working with either!

I'm thinking I'd rather raffle the house off than to lease it! LOL I did talk to a lady down the street who is about to go to Canada for 2 years. They just leased their house. I started out to go for a walk, got about 6 or 8 houses down the street and stood and talked -- but I didn't walk much, but I do feel better. For now.

[Mamasue]

Oh Sweetie....angels and good thoughts, prayers, on your way. I would also send my realtor, who is one terrific lady, but you live too far. :)

[ChristineB]

Just wanted to send good thoughts your way! I know someone is going to see inside your home and make an offer you can't refuse! My husband and I are putting a bid on a home today (keeping our finger crossed)so hopefully thinking of you will send you some good karma:)

Christine