I can't sell my house!

[goodal]

I'm not really expecting any great revelations here. Just blowing off some steam I guess. We've had our house on the market since the end of January and can't seem to get rid of it. The bad thing is, I know what the problems are, but can't do anything about them: the floor plan is weird and it's in the middle of nowhere. We have had numerous phone calls and showed it around 20 times, but I haven't once discussed price with anyone and haven't had one call back. The 9 acres is beautiful and the house is in good shape, just a little weird and 25 minutes from civilization. I have it in 3 places on the internet, 2 newspapers and signs at road(s). The only thing we haven't done is list with a realtor, but there are several (nice) houses around me that are listed with a realtor and have been on the market longer than me.

Like I said just blowing off steam...

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Links?

 

[snickerd3]

FSBO can scare people away if they themselves are working with a buying agent...its the fear you wont give the buying agent their share. Many realestate folks don't show FSBO to their clients.

My neighbors house has been on the market for over a 1.5 yrs. Nice big house with LOTS of the land 5 acres grass and another 8 or so of forest. they took the forest part out of the listing several months ago to lower the price and to get people back looking at it. The forest acres scared several potential buyers away.

 

[snickerd3]

We were coming from several hrs away during this last move so we went with a buying agent to set up day long appoinments to view houses. The house we bought was a FSBO and our agent didn't mention it to us. We were actually going to be taking a second look on a smaller house in the next town over that we were going to make an offer on to live in while we looked for land to build on. We got to town a little early and made another sweep of the nicer houses and there was the house we ended up buying as FSBO which wasn't listed when we first started looking several months prior. They were willing to give our agent her fees fromt he sale.

 

[goodal]

Links?

Sure. Why not? Heres the photobucket link.

http://s1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg611/badal38257/Home%20in%20Cunningham%20KY/

 

[roadwreck]

Very nice piece of property. The layout does seem a little quirky. One thing I noticed right away was that your kitchen work triangle is a little unorthodox. How well do you feel the kitchen layout works with the table right in the middle of that work triangle?

 

[engineergurl]

I did notice the fridge placement... but short of remodeling the kitchen, that seems to be the only thing... very nice place...

how handy are you? you could solve the layout problem with a couple of weekends of minor work.... then it wouldn't be intimidating to a buyer thinking they would have to tackle it after they purchase it...

 

[Capt Worley PE]

FSBO can scare people away if they themselves are working with a buying agent...its the fear you wont give the buying agent their share.

Depends on the market.

We bought our house FSBO, and most homes around here go that route and sell quickly. The homes listed by agents easily stay on the market 50-100% longer because of the higher prices due to agent costs.

Badal, I really liked the property, but I have a feeling the berm coming up the sides of the house is probably not desirable to the vast number of potential buyers. Have you tried putting links on some of the survivalists/preppers sites? That seems to be what a large majority of them are looking for.

 

[goodal]

The frig was originally right beside the sink, which meant you had to walk around it when coming down the stairs (that really sucked). You're right the kitchen is crowded, but there really is nowhere else for the table or frig to go. I am fairly handy and curious as to how you think the kitchen could be made better. The real problem is that the main entrance is to the upstairs which really has nothing to enter into except a hallway and stairwell. Not to mention, to get to the main living area you have to walk down the stairs and through the kitchen. I always get a really weird reaction from people when they first walk in, "Oh sooooo the living room is downstairs, huh?". The earth berm part is great for energy usage, not so great for resale, which the original owners didn't consider at all.

 

[roadwreck]

Well I was going to say that the fridge would probably be better situated at the end of the counter near the sink (where the plant is) but it sounds like there are other issues with that layout which don't come across in the pictures.

Perhaps you need to market the home as extremely energy efficient. Can you get it LEED certified?

 

[snickerd3]

Badal

What made the house attractive you and the family when you bought it? Maybe emphasis those points.

 

[knight1fox3]

^ my thoughts exactly...

 

[goodal]

LEED certification lusone:

The fact that it was not a trailor, in our price range and where we wanted to live is why we bought it. I never have liked the layout or style. I guess I could bring attention to the fact that it is not a trailor.

 

[snickerd3]

LEED certification lusone:

The fact that it was not a trailor, in our price range and where we wanted to live is why we bought it. I never have liked the layout or style. I guess I could bring attention to the fact that it is not a trailor.

I know how you feel. With our basement remodel this summer/fall, that will be the last room getting a near total facelift to make the house likeable. We love the land and neighborhood.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

LEED certification lusone:

If it costs any money, i wouldn't waste time attaining it. It hasn't proven to be a selling point at all in the residential market here.

Developers have started cutsey named programs for houses with energy star appliances and stuff. Too new to evaluate how that goes over, but LEED went over like a lead balloon.

 

[goodal]

My remark was intended as sarcasm. Noone in the entirety of West Kentucky would know what LEED is if I did get it certified. I'm pretty sure I'm the only LEED AP within 100 miles.

 

[engineergurl]

Well I was going to say that the fridge would probably be better situated at the end of the counter near the sink (where the plant is) but it sounds like there are other issues with that layout which don't come across in the pictures.

Perhaps you need to market the home as extremely energy efficient. Can you get it LEED certified?

This is what I was thinking, but I guess that's out...

 

[willsee]

My remark was intended as sarcasm. Noone in the entirety of West Kentucky would know what LEED is if I did get it certified. I'm pretty sure I'm the only LEED AP within 100 miles.

Hey now

We have LEED professionals in our building and only 23 miles from Cunningham. I just bought a house in town (well waiting for closing) and that is too far out for me. I need a Wal-mart within 10 mins of my house.

 

[goodal]

That remark was also sarcasm. It's not too late to abandon your town house and come live in the country. Just sayin...

 

[Supe]

Have you considered bringing in someone to stage the home? After getting peeks of paint colors, etc. during some remodeling work, I can say that the person who staged the house I bought did a great job making it look much bigger than it was, and looking modern without being overly trendy. Same went for the photographer who did the realty photos - a fish eye lens can make a room look HUGE, which at least entices potential buyers in.