By: Denise

Denise — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:30:58 +0000

LOL……me have something to add???? Well I actually agree with your list (although we do have to turn down showings). Imagine living like this for a year and a half while the market continues to crash around you. We have done EVERYTHING (and actually more) in the above list. Truth be told in a really really really bad market there is only so much you can do. When we first listed we were surprised that we could actually make a profit….but then prices started to drop 5 - 20 grand a month for the rest of the summer. Then it went steady for a while then just recently there was another $10,000 drop (we bought the house in 2001 at 125,000…..you do the math on how serious 10 grand is to us). Its hard to say “one” thing will do it. After 18 months you can go crazy blaming yourself as if there was “something” YOU are doing WRONG. My biggest piece of advice is if you are doing your best then ignore all unsolicited advice (oh and BOY will you get lots, worse than pregnancy). (oh and I don’t consider Sweetisu’s above advice unsolicited;-) People can be well meaning, but just end up being mean. Realistically in some areas this IS the WORST housing market in 16 years, and not only is there no end in sight it looks to get worse. If you are in a market with a high foreclosure rate its hard to price a house lower than a bank who is selling a house for 20-50% less, no matter what you do. Mostly you just have to hang in there, keep your house PERFECT at ALL times. If you can afford to kennel pets every day while you are at work, because most of your showings WILL be last minute. It takes an hour for my husband or I to get home (I have to get my son out of daycare in my building) and 15 minutes is not enough of a notice. Of course if you have a dog you will have to explain to friends, coworkers and family that no you can’t leave your dog in the house while there is a showing…they still won’t believe you. We can’t afford to Kennel everyday so we have had to turn down a lot of showings because of it.
My final advice is to be prepared for jerk realtors. Yep the realtor selling your house can be a real gem (yes interviews are a good idea). However those who are bringing buyers over generally don’t have respect for the sellers. We had realtors barge in without knocking 15 minutes before the showing (realtors generally know and say “hello” before entering even during the “scheduled” time). We have had them show up an hour after the scheduled time (was supposed to be there between 12 and 1, showed up at 2) with no apology. I usually sit across the street and watch the house during a showing (so I can get back to work asap since I work form home some days). One realtor never showed. then she insisted she was there just forgot to leave a card. Those are just a sampling of the many many many jerks who have been in our house while we weren’t there. So just expect that they will not be nice. Get out 15 minutes before the showing time and just avoid them at all costs its a buyers market so it sellers are fair game.
Ok So sorry for the long post, but you can’t imagine how many times in the past 18 months I have seen what the “thing to do” is for selling a house. In a normal market there is probably more that you can “do” to sell a house. But in this market you really just need to hang in there (oh and live in a immaculate house all the time)

Comments on: What I’ve learned from selling our (first) house

By: Denise