I can't sell my house!

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That remark was also sarcasm. It's not too late to abandon your town house and come live in the country. Just sayin...
If the price was right, and I lived in your area, I would buy it in a heartbeat. Shop, Garage, pond, acres... the wife would probably have a working farm.

 
If you were closer to Louisville KY, my cousin would jump on it for the same reasons PBRme listed. They are organic chicken farmers that just got kicked off the land they rented.

 
I would also highlight your average monthly heating/cooling costs.

This type of home in Oregon wouldn't be a problem to sell -if you accentuated the Energy Saving features. There is a large market for green/funky/different homes..., but maybe Kentucky isn't ready for that.

You just need to find the right buyer I suppose.

 
I would also try to de-clutter the house. The outside and landscaping is PERFECT. Now make the interior follow that trend.

Not that you have too much furniture, but get a storage unit and leave out only the chairs/tables/couches that are absolutely needed.

It really makes a difference in how big the home shows. The big sectional is nice for watching football on Sunday, but takes up a lot of space. Go to a professional open house and see how much furniture is in a model home and try and copy that style.

Nothing wrong with the red in the kitchen, but a more neutral color would show better. Get rid of the stand in the kitchen with the microwave too if you can.

Make it the home look clean, well kept up and look sort of generic, so people can imagine themselves living there. Take down the family photos and just have a few simple wall hangings. Your family (I am sure) is nice, but you are only reminding someone that this isn't their home.

Women are huge deciders on homes, women like closet storage, nice bathrooms, and well equip'd kitchens. It is all relative to the price point, but if you do any upgrades/remodels try to hit these points.

 
Kephart's right about the red in the kitchen. A couple houses we looked at red rooms were deal killers.

 
We thought about repainting the kitchen/living room, but my wife said she had too much sweat in the red to change it (5 coats plus primer). She did repaint the boys bedroom and bathroom. I think the pics show a mural in the bedroom and yellow walls in the bathroom. They are both much more neutral now.

 
Some of the newer interior paints have paint+primer and they cover unbelievably well. They are quite expensive, but I won't use anything else now, because I really hate painting.

Just wipe the walls down with TSP, mask off, and go to work.

I think it was some Behr paint plus primer and -stick with the same sheen and it should cover fine.

 
I'd have no problem painting over red paint. Hell, throwing down one (maybe two) quick-n-dirty primer coats is nothing in my book.

 
After nearly 30 showings, we finally had a call back. They seemed very sincere and even said "We are super interested." They looked at it two times and said he would call with an offer on Monday. He actually called and after asking if I would come off my asking price (I said I would but not much, I've told everyone else no), he said we were too far apart and essentially said goodbye. So being the analytical engineer I am, I've disected this many times trying to make sense of it and second guessing myself.

Questions are:

1) Why would they seriously look at a house they couldn't afford?

2) Why wouldn't he go ahead and give me a number?

3) Why act so interested if he couldnt "get close" with a number?

4) Can I actually reduce my asking price? (I can't and still have enough for the 20% on the house we want)

So this leaves the following options:

1) He is messing with me to try to drop the price.

2) He found something he didnt like or something that would cost alot to fix.

3) He expected me to come off my price alot.

Probably nothing new, but I've only sold one other place and it was super easy to sell.

 
If you were closer to Louisville, my cousin would jump at your house in a heart beat...it has everything they need for their business and they are the type of people to adjust to odd layouts with no trouble. They got kicked off their farm earlier this year and are still looking for a place to restart the farm...family drama.

 
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Only have one house purchase under my belt, but negotiated to a price 3% lower than what they were asking (my starting offer was 6.5% lower than the asking price). Sometimes just making an offer (albeit a low one) still sends the message that your a serious buyer. Receiving an offer opens the doors to negotiation, and negotiation should make both parties emerge feeling happy. If he didn't even make an offer, than I don't think he was "serious" in this sense. Asking someone if they'd be willing to move on a price is for used cars or yard sales. Making an offer in writing, sends a statement.

 
^ agreed. Badal are you using a realtor or selling on your own? I think all realtors would encourage a perspective buyer to present a formal offer for the owner to either accept, flat out reject, or counter on. I'm not a fan of this preliminary verbal negotiation and it takes the spontenaeity out of the decision. Who knows? If you had a written commitment on an offical offer, you and Mrs. Badal could talk about whether or not you want to take it and move on. Similarly, if the buyer had a committed response number to his firm price, he could also take some time to think about it.

Like pbrme said verbal haggling is reserved for lesser purchases.

 
Ok, 3 weeks later, he wanted to pay for an appraisal, knowing up front that I did not commit to abiding by it. We got the appraisal back in and it shows the house being worth $10k under what i told him was my bottom dollar. He offered $2k less than the appraised value. If I accept, I won't have the 20% down for the house we want to buy right away. I will have enough after the year is up to put with the proceeds from the house for 20% down, but I'm not sure how to get to the end of the year. Could I do something like a construction loan and after 3-4 months close it out? Or some sort of 1 year note and refi for a 30 year in january? Of course I am going to talk to a banker or two about this, just wanted ya'lls input.

 
Why do you need 20% down? Put down a bit less, pay PMI if need be, and then when you hit your 20% you're good to go. If you've been stagnant for this long, $2k is a drop in the bucket, especially if you're chipping in on closing costs. He's offering you more than the appraised value in a down market, take the money and run!

 
^ +1 on the PMI. So you bring 15% now and by the time the paperwork is over and the end of the year comes dump the rest on and eliminate PMI. Sure, the mortgage payments would be higher by only putting 15% and not the 20% but what's the rule..?... payments go down $10 for every $1000 off the principle..?...

 

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