Venting, off topic... Sorry ;(

Arrggghhh, our house is on the market and if it does not sell soon I am gonna go nuts. I am so frustrated and just so friggin sad all the time. I know the market is bad right now but just needed to vent to you gals.

Feel free to use as an open forum. Or if you can offer advice or words of wisdom I would appreciate it.

[peekawho]

Move it to So Cal and I'll buy it.

[kjbutcher]

how long has it been on the market?  We are getting ready to put ours up and some mom and pop real estate place told me the turn around time right now is 18-24 months.  I almost fell off my chair!  I am hoping they are wrong.

[Quinns momma]

Put it on the market this May.  :( Oh I would of freaked if I was told 18-24 months. Think the average around us is 8 months.

[2ndBaby]

We put our house up in Wisconsin at the beginning of May '07 and sold it at the beginning of December '07.  We had to leave for Texas in August and made two house payments on one income for those few months.  It was very hard!  We had over 60 private showings and 12 open houses to get that thing to sell.  Keep the faith...it only takes one buyer :)  (boy, bet you haven't heard that before!!)

[GNicole]

Wow 18-24 months that is crazy! Most houses where I live are still selling pretty quickly, usually within 6 months. Best of luck to you, I know how nervewracking it is when you are trying to sell a house!

[Quinns momma]

Thanks ladies. It is true that it really only takes 1 buyer to come along. Hopefully soon it will happen.  

[surprisebaby]

I used to sell real estate....until my SURPRISE BABY...LOL

The number one thing you can do is make sure it is priced RIGHT.  Do your research, I live in Canada and it is public information what houses sell for. It is recorded at the Land Registry offices.  Not sure about where you are from, but you can ask your realtor, or if selling privately, your Lawyer? so, if you are using a Realtor, and they feel as though the price is too high, you can be better prepared (EITHER WAY!)  So check out what the neighbourhood is selling for...

Be honest to yourself too, maybe the house down the street sold for 50K more, but what did that house have that yours doesn't,  Maybe it was done to the 9's, maybe it was 3 bedroom instead of 2, maybe there is a green belt behind it and the lot is 100 ft wider than yours.   Take a step back.. Think of yourself as a BUYER.  What wouldn't you like about your house.   (Although hard, you know there are things you would change, and maybe can change easily.)   On that same note...think of yourself when you BOUGHT the house...what did you LOVE about it?  Get your realtor to focus on that.  Also, keep in mind...different times of years....different SUPPLY and DEMAND.  If there are NO houses on the market, it is a BETTER time to sell.  OBVIOUSLY, there are still buyers....but not as much competition.

Get rid of the clutter....space sells!  The more room you look like you have, the better.  Take the stuff to the dump, to grandma's house, to the neighbours....whatever, just get rid of it...Storage units are pretty cheap!  
CURB appeal is huge.  Make sure people want to see what's inside your house.  IF they drive up and can't see the front door for overgrown shrubs, they will just keep on driving...Keep the grass cut, gardens weeded...etc.

Consider HOME STAGING....it really works!  (it also costs money...but sometimes a worthwhile investment.)

Selling your house is a lot of work,  I know, we are now on our 3rd house, and everytime it almost ended in DIVORCE...well not really...but LOTS of fights!!!  

I always tell my clients that THEY ARE GONNA HATE SELLING THEIR HOUSE!!! LOL  It's such a pain in the A@@!

Hopefully the right person will come along soon....It does only take one, but wouldn't it be great to get two or three that WANT it really bad....that makes for multiple offers, and higher BIDS!!!  

I do wish you the best of luck...

[JJety]

Drop your price.  Anything priced right will sell, no matter the market.  And try to keep it as clean as humanly possible.  I couldn't believe some nasty houses on the market, so to go to bright clean house was refreshing, even though you'd think everyone has an immaculate home if they're selling it.

Ours sold in 2 months.  We took a little hit, but it was so worth it to avoid two mortgages.  We closed on the new house on Friday and closed on the old house on Monday.

Price it right and the buyers will come.

[Quinns momma]

We are selling it $25,000 below appraisal value. It is always clean and I get so many compliments on it. The yard is also a double corner lot and the garage is 3+ heated...

Argghhh, I hope something happens soon.

[surprisebaby]

appraisal value and market value are two different things...not sure if you meant market value..and if that is the case...then something is very WRONG...  Market value is what houses are selling for in your neighbourhood...
Appraisal Value is what the insurance companies. and finance companies use to make sure the value is there...I know they are very similar...but when the market takes a crapper...your appraised value stays the same (when you first got mortgage or insurance)...
I know the appraised value of my house is actually 100k more than what I could get if I was going to sell my house in this market.  I am being REAL!    My insurance company had my house appraised at 380K.  My house is worth (TO SOMEONE ELSE) no more than 300k top!!!! (in this market....if the economy goes down...so will this value...but if it goes up....I could get more...!)  

If you are 25k below "MARKET VALUE" and still aren't selling ... time to find a new REALTOR!!!

[JJety]

Yep, exactly what surprisebaby said.

$25,000 below appraised value might not be enough.  You need to price based on market value, not appraisal.

Good luck!

[Quinns momma]

I stand corrected, it is market value.

[JJety]

Oh, and if you have any really funky wallpaper or wall color, then consider painting it a neutral color.  Sometimes people are really turned off if they immediately see glaring work that needs to be done.

And if you have any rooms that might be considered cluttered, get that extra stuff into a storage unit.  Do everything you can to make the house look as open as possible.  If a room looks even borderline cluttered to you, take out about half the things.  It will then look bare to you but will look open and full of possibilities to the buyers.

[surprisebaby]

IT's frustrating... I know...  but the only one thing that you can really do...is either WAIT it out...or just GIVE it away!!!   LOL  The choice is yours.  

Remember, if you get less than what you thought you were gonna, you probably will spend less then you were gonna...so it all averages out!

I meant no disrespect...just offering some suggestions.  I haven't seen where you live, I just know how frustrating it is, and if there was even one thing mentioned that could help, well...I hope it does.

[Quinns momma]

Thanks ladies for all the hints.

Keep ur fingers crossed for me.