Would you try to sell your home in 5 days?

[AngelaS]

Has anyone used the "How to sell your home in 5 days" book method of selling your house? Would you try it? Would you consider buying a house thru that method?

I'm considering things since our house in Iowa's been on the market since mid February and we've had NO offers on it! I'm tired of paying on it, 'vacant dwelling' insurance is going to cost us a fortune and frankly, I'm just tired of WAITING!

I tried to sell it FSBO for about 6 weeks and it's been listed w/a realtor since. It's been shown a LOT and has had open houses but so far, no takers! We have a lawyer to help us out too.

Anyone have any thoughs?

[emilyf]

I haven't heard of the book you mention, but I am a real estate agent. I know the market is very different in different parts of the country-things that would sell in a second in a city on the coast might take longer in other markets. Has your real estate agent offered up any possible reasons it hasn't sold? To be honest, if one of my listings is getting a lot of showings but no offers the reason is almost always price assuming it shows well and is in a desirable location. I know selling a house is stressful and have been in the situation of paying for 2 houses at once-not fun! Good luck-
Emily \r\nmom of Charlie born 11/02

[Momof3Labs]

Angela, what kind of feedback is your agent getting? She/he should be calling the agents who have shown your house and getting feedback from them. Is it in an area that tends to move slowly (how are other houses in the area doing)? Is it staged well (see the shows on satellite - Sell This House, and others)?

I've never heard of the method, so sorry I can't help with those specifics!

[heidi_timms]

I am an agent too! I also agree that different parts of the country are different. I am in CA and the housing market is doing pretty well. Usually, there are only two reasons a house doesn't sell-marketing or price.

Your agent should be doing a ton of marketing to get your property sold-open houses (with at least 10 signs!) either every weekend or every other weekend, it should be advertised on the web, possibly newspaper ads, realtor tours, full flyer box, etc. If not, I would recommend looking for someone else. Marketing the home is part of his/her job.

To be honest, if you are priced too high, then buyers sometimes won't even look. If they do look, they sometimes will write-off an overpriced listing. In my old office, we usually recommended lowering the price every three weeks *if* the correct marketing was in place.

HTH!


~Heidi
Mom to Kailey
4/03

[AngelaS]

Other realtors are showing it and their feedback is that generally the buyers can buy the same house brand new for the same price. Ours has a finished basement and a huge lot going for it, but pretty much everyone seems to want a brand new house for the cost of it.

It's sitting empty so staging it is not an issue at this point. :P

[heidi_timms]

I just want to say hugs to you Angela. Selling a house is so frustrating!! I would definitely use that feedback to figure out what the problem is.

~Heidi
Mom to Kailey
4/03

[aliceinwonderland]

This is the same exact problem my in-laws face in Indiana...Brand new houses are being build faster that you can say "future slums", and they are so cheap to build, they are going to have a lot of trouble selling the house they have been in for 20 years now. I am not even talking about making a profit, just selling...

Which is odd to me because on the East coast this is completley unheard of.

e.

[Momof3Labs]

Ah, yes, some of my neighbors had this problem when trying to sell in our townhouse development in Indianapolis that wasn't yet complete.

I don't know if there is much that you can do except lower the price, then, honestly. You can wait it out and hope that you snag someone who wants an older (probably higher quality) home quickly, but there are carrying costs associated with that. I think that I'd take the hit and be done with it, unfortunately.

Selling a house is a bummer (just went through it). Not being able to sell is a bigger bummer!

[murpheyblue]

>Other realtors are showing it and their feedback is that
>generally the buyers can buy the same house brand new for the
>same price.

Ah, yes. But yours doesn't come with the specter of construction defects like all those shiny new ones. At least buyers can rest assured that they are getting a good solid home, not a headache. I guess that's hard to see when you're shopping for a new house.

Sorry, don't know anything about that book but wishing you a speedy sale!