Unfortunately, I think it's a buyers market out there. There is so much inventory buyers can be choosy. You've had a lot of traffic so that is a good thing.

Personally, if I was looking for a house I'd need STORAGE space. A small bedroom I could deal with, if the closets were decent. A functional layout that flows too. Basically if the "bones" of the house are good, it has potential. Also, if a house is not clean, makes me wonder what other areas were not maintained.

Ravencajun, would you please share the Staging materials that you are referring to?

Frankly your house is much larger than mine is. I would love a larger home but that may never happen. Sooner or later just the right buyer will come along as long as your house is priced right. Often a lot of the buyers are just curious lookers interested in decorating ideas so I wouldn't get too hung up on rejections.

I was in the same situation 8 years ago. I had decided the time had come for me to sell and move into a retirement community. I had listed the house and it wasn't selling.

Fast forward: I was writing the story of this episode of my life, and if I may I would like to share one short piece of it

Speaking of St Joseph:

Just yesterday I saw an article that had a suggestion on how to sell your house quickly if it has been on the market a long time with no results. What you have to do is get a small statue of St. Joseph and bury it head down, facing the road, in the front yard of your house. This will guarantee that the house will be sold almost immediately. Several accounts of success with this strategy were cited in the article. #1 the house sold within a month . . . #2 in two days. . . #3 another within a month. . . #4 in three days. . . #5 8 1/2 hours!

I am not superstitious, and the article didn't say whether or not you have to be Catholic. But, hmmm, I have a shovel, anybody know where I can get a statue of St. Joseph?

Bottom line: No St. Joseph, but I went ahead and moved; the house sold 3 months later.

Sue

I think you need a very aggressive Realtor. My first home sold in the 70's. After 3 months I hired a new Realtor and she brought van loads of their Realtors to tour all their listings. It sold in a couple of weeks for the same price I was asking before. You need to follow the advice given in this thread about getting rid of some of the stuff, most of the stuff and get a new Realtor. I've never been one to fill up my home with stuff, nothing under the beds or on the floor of the closets because it makes it hard to clean.

The material I was provided came from my realtor, it was books and several video tapes showing exactly how to do it and how to prepare for showings, I wish I could have kept it but he provided them to his customers for free to use so I had to return them. That may be something to ask an agent to see if they can provide that material also. It was awesome and has paid off well for us in the other sales of our homes.

When I do the statue this is exactly how I do it and how I was instructed to do it. I am Catholic but it makes no difference anyone can do this. You can buy kits on line actually just google it.

I dig the hole in direct line with the front door of the house not real deep just a foot or so, lay him face down ( not head first!) laying face down with his head pointed toward the front door. As it is buried you say a prayer asking for his help in selling your home, there is an actual prayer that comes with the kits you can find that online too, I just do my own prayer. Once he is buried I never remove him he stays there to protect the home and property.

I got mine at a religious book store it was about 6" tall, the others my real estate agents provided for me for free.

My rule of thumb which I picked up from the tapes was do the clean up and removal of all un-necessary items in the house, put in storage. Then once you have done that go back and remove another 10%. And do not leave any family photos or kitchy things out it makes it very hard for people to see past that kind of stuff. Plus paint hides a multitude of sins and is cheap!!

Other things the tapes pointed out were have all window treatments open so you get full light into all rooms have all the lights on in every room the brighter the better, have all the doors to the rooms open so it seems as open as possible, do not hide assets (do not put furniture blocking a fireplace or glass doors).

In my last home I had 2 rooms that the carpet was original and I knew would not show well so I chose to have it removed, left the floor bare and gave the option to pick out new carpet or matching tile that was in the rest of the house and I would pay for it. That was a win win for both of us, they did not end up with carpet they hated and would want to change and I did not spend money on something that could be a negative to someone with different taste.
So many people commented on what a great idea that was. I did have samples of the tile and some carpet samples laid out to give ideas.
The couple that bought it loved it and I had the berber carpet they picked out installed for them to their liking.
It was very unconventional and I have to say my Realtor was opposed to the idea but I think she saw the light after the comments we got.

Size is a relative thing and layout is important. One thing that gets me giving a real estate agent a lot of flak is when they include things they shouldn't on square footage. Here, the square footage measurement is main floor square footage. Some sleazy agents like to total the attic and basement in on the s.f measurement and that's misrepresentation to me.

It doesn't sound like *you* are doing anything wrong but it sure sounds like your real estate agents are slacking off! With everyone coming back saying "too small" then the agents aren't doing their job. Period. They should be finding out if they want that size or not. I'd be slapping the agents upside their heads and asking what they're doing. Granted, move enough people and someone might fall in love with it and realize it'll work fine for them but how many people do you want trudging through there before that happens? It could also be that the agents aren't motivated. There's a lot of little things you can do but you wanted to give a bit of a rant and I can understand that.

Hang in there. People will buy anything under the right conditions. And you're early in your selling process.

Also, as for what people are looking for, well many are lookylous. Many are looking for the "perfect" house. And probably will never find it. I've known people who would go look at houses for recreation. Kill an afternoon rather than going to the mall and fighting crowds "shopping" (but not *buying*). Some want ideas to perk up their place. Yes, some even case places to see if they're worth burglariing. Some are looking to get rich on real estate. Some see these infomercials and want to pick them up and do the quick-turn. Out of the 40 you had through, maybe 3 were actually looking to buy something and whether they could afford it is another question altogether.

And don't forget, what's a good layout for one is a bad layout for others. I've looked at a lot of smaller places since I don't need the room I have, but I want a practical layout for me. Finding that isn't the easiest.

I had never googled for info on free home staging tips but just tried it and found some really good sites this was one
http://www.stagingbug.com/

Field Guide to Preparing and Staging a House For Sale

House Staging
that one has some great check off lists you can print

now granted some are trying to sell you something(skip those) but there is good info available and HGTV is your friend! Luckily I loved doing it and now I try to live that same way I hate clutter! and makes dusting a lot easier.LOL

Where do you live? We had our house on the market from May '10 to Dec. '10 and it only showed 2 times. We re-listed with a different Realtor 2 months ago and it's shown 3 times. Houses are not selling in our area. (Athens, GA) The market is saturated with homes for sale here. Be thankful they are at least looking. We put a lot of stuff in storage and the house looks nice when we have a showing. There just aren't enough folks looking.

I have another house I'm trying to rent through a property management company. It's been on the market since Jan. as well. Lots of lookers but no takers. I have never seen as many for rent signs on private property as there are right now.

I can't imagine a person not buying a house because it isn't presented properly. I would look at the sq footage, the lay out, the neighborhood and I wouldn't worry if it needed painted or carpet. Of course severely dirty carpet would be a sign of worse problems. What's a paint job if you really like the house. I might use the problems as a bargaining chip, but it wouldn't stop me from buying the house. A lot of people paint and replace carpet before they movie in anyway.

Our home is about your square footage and no one believes it is "that small". Ours is a very open floor plan. I am wondering if yours is not. You have a lot of rooms for that footage, so I am thinking the house shows like a lot of little rooms. The up side is you liked it so someone else will too. As far as St. Joseph, his feast day was just this week, please just let him hang out on a mantle or widow sill. Where this idea came from I do not know but the idea of using a Christian symbol in a pagan way creeps me out. Our Realtor set St. Joseph out on a shelf, he didn't even tell us he was going to. I wondered if he forgot it after an open house. That house sold the first day it was on the market. We had three offers, all over the asking price. It is a mistake to believe the shows that have people looking for places to live is REAL. Neat and tidy is all that is needed. The rest is fluff.

This is all so very valuable to me. I'm about to list my house and it's smaller than 1200 sq'. Frankly, I dread it, because pristine and I just don't get along! And my house is an antique, so hardly perfect, and I've got pets.

Oh my.

So - thank you for your responses to declansmom; they're also helping me. And declansmom, I feel for you and will be pulling for you. Vent away!

As to how the St. Joseph custom started well you might want to talk to the Carmelite order of Nuns about all that, they were the first to use St. Joseph in this manner.

"The custom hearkens back at least to the great St. Teresa of Avila (A.D. 1515 - 1582), foundress of the Disalced Carmelite Order. As her Order spread, a new convent had to be built, and in order for a new convent to be built, land must be had. When the nuns found a particular piece of land that was perfect for their purposes, they also found that their coffers weren't full enough to purchase it, so they decided to ask the intercession of St. Joseph, burying medals imprinted with his likeness in the ground of the desired property as a sign of their prayers. It worked.

It also worked for Blessed Brother Andre Bessette, who was able to get the land on which he built the Shrine of St. Joseph of Mount Royal, in Montreal, Canada by praying to St. Joseph and burying a St. Joseph medal on the grounds of the future site as a sign of his prayers."

I am glad to follow in such a tradition and in such company, and do it with the highest regard and respect, I do not find praying to Saints, asking for their help and guidance in any way strange (or creepy), it has been done for decades. No matter if on a shelf or buried he was still being called upon for assistance.

not that this really matters..but if ppl think 1245 is small,try this place...560 sq.ft!! :)

I don't think 1245 is terribly small but I don't live in an area where there are many McMansions. Sure there are larger homes but we have many smaller homes too. A certain style of cape is quite popular here and I've found some of the bathrooms and kitchens to be so small, they make the entire house feel small, even though they have plenty of space otherwise.

Maybe you should lower your asking price. Talk with the realty company. Your house may be a hidden gem. I haven't had any experience since we sold my late MILs house in 2005. It sold in one day because she had kept her house immaculate. The week before she died she had exterminators in because she saw 4 ants in her kitchen.

WOW....thankyou everyone, for all your great ideas and insight. We have already lowered the price, and it is right on target according to everyone that has seen the house.
Our realtor is working really hard, but here in NY, the realtor does not attend every showing. Only the realtor showing the house comes in, and I think that is the problem. They don't know to point out that the upstairs is fully plumbed and heated in case anyone wants to convert the room to a master with a bath or whatever. We leave notes on the table with the listing pointing these things out, but I don't think anyone bothers reading them.

I have attached a link to my photo album that shows the pics of the house. If anyone has any suggestions on how I can make it look even bigger, I would appreciate it. I can take criticism :)
http://s1187.photobucket.com/albums/z392/tombarbara/House%20for%20sale/

I'm a Realtor.

People (all of us) want the most we can get.

My guess is that people want to see the house because of the price, & they cross their fingers that it's really bigger.

Eventually one of 'em will love it & will buy it.

Hang in there!

Declansmom, your site is password protected, so we can't see the photos.

mary c....the password is chester
The only pics on there are the house, so it does not matter if everyone can access them.

Nope, "chester" isn't letting me in.

Try tombarbara as the search and chester as the password

I can't get in using tombarbara and chester either

It everyone really thinks your home is beautiful and houses in your area are selling in two weeks and you've had 40 showings and no bites then the price is too high. Houses priced right in a hot market sell. You must be in a hot market if it's typical for homes to sell within two weeks of listing. I live in a good market but houses rarely sold in two weeks even pre-recession.

Declansmom - you said you leave notes, why not make your own handouts?
Use some glossy paper, put on few pictures with minimal descriptions, highlighting features that may be easily overlooked...and a link to a site with more photos and your agents contact info.
Instruct the agents showing the house to hand a copy to each visitor.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read my post.
I am really bad at the computer and cannot for the life of me figure out how to post some of the pictures to get your feedback.
So, once again, thank you and I guess I will just have to be patient and hope this will sell soon.
I have done everything and more that the realtor has told me, the price has been lowered, the place is spotless, decluttered, depersonalized and my bathrooms and kitchen are new (within the last 5 years).
I guess prayers to St. Joseph are all that is left.
Thanks again G-webbers!!!!

Declansmom- when we listed our first home many years ago we were in the same kind of market...houses just weren't selling not because of the economy but because mortgage rates were 15%.

I pulled out some photos of our house in different seasons - one with a fresh snow fall, one with the bright autumn leaves, one with all the spring flowers and then I typed up a short list of things the real estate agent hadn't included in the listing.

I went to the local Staples and had 100 copies made and left them on the hall table where visiting realtors and potential buyers could take them. The couple who ultimately bought our home said that they appreciated the photos because it helped them envision living there. Every little bit helps.

Oh, I forgot to mention that my husband put together a slideshow on the computer, so when people come in, they can see what the house looks like in all the seasons. We also included pics of the park at the end of our cul de sac.
My DH also helped me with Photobucket, so if you log on, you can hopefully see the pics of the house.
I would appreciate your brutal honesty in letting me know what YOU don't like.
http://photobucket.com
My user id is chestersmom33 and my password is declan33
Thank you all so much again!

If you only have house photos on that site, then make it public.

gibby3000 is right - price.

I am a former real estate agent. Any room that does not have a method of egress - perhaps the bonus room and basement - cannot be included in the sq ft

If you have already done this - please ignore. Remove everything from your kitchen counters - toaster oven, microwave, knife block, bread box etc. Take down all the cute knick knacks and wall hangings all over the house. Remove ALL family pics from everywhere and all handcrafted items - embroidery, afghans, etc. Do you have kids? If you do - remove all of their toys etc from every room prior to a showing. Hide ALL the remotes. Make believe you don't live there - it is a hotel.

Silly - but real - either bake bread or cookies prior to a showing.

I do not believe in the St Joseph thing - no offense. I am Catholic but I don't think real estate is guided by Saints.

Good luck!

There is nothing wrong with that presentation. You are a good decorator and have a lovely home. My home is much bigger but would never look that good.

Beautiful home. I love that front door.

Linda

The slide show is perfect. And I agree with Linda - that front door is fantastic!

Very pretty. Does the green bathroom have a shower? If not, maybe you should add a shower head and tile around the tub. That is the only easily fixable negative I could see.

Your home is very pretty. It's a little hard to tell from the photos I'm looking at on my iPhone but it does seem like there may be a bit too much furniture in some rooms - or some pieces that are a bit large along with everything else in the rooms. If it were possible to remove a few items it would probably seem more spacious. But I still think price is the issue.

I would love to see the slideshow, but I can't get to the site. Could someone please post a link?

Thanks.

Sue

Having just gone through house-selling he!! for 2 years, I think the idea of handouts with pictures is a good idea. The electronic pics are also, but when looking, I wanted pictures/plans to take with me to refer back to and talk about with DH. JMHO.

I love your home. Wish it was in my town because I would buy it.

Declans, I LOVE your home. Those are my favourite colours; it's so elegant and just stunning.

Your yard is gorgeous as well, and Chester (I'm assuming that's your dogs name).

When my ex-DH and I broke up, I too had pictures displayed of the yard in summer. We planted lots of perennials, had a huge maple tree, red crushed brick pathways. The neighbours all loved our yard and always commented on it.

We sold it in 2 weeks, and when we saw it again, the owners had torn out all the flowers and beds and sodded the whole back yard. :(
We dug out the sod to make the walkways and flowerbeds.
Depressing when people don't appreciate beauty.

I'm not a realtor, but I don't understand why the bonus rooms aren't included in the square footage? We had a bonus room over our attached garage & it was included, although it was listed as x square footage home, 3bedrooms, 3 baths, bonus room over garage for 4th bedroom [egress size window is state requirement for that]. I would say that in the smaller rooms, take out 1 piece of furniture -- if 2 chairs, remove 1. If your art on the walls has personal photos, even just sceanic, take down; Ditch anything that sits on the floor if you can, like those tan boxes in the room w/rocker, or the art piece in your master. Are your closets half-empty & organized?
I also like additional handouts w/photos of seasonal views; maybe actual room sizes for bedrooms & bonus rooms? Good luck. and don't take anything I recommend personally.. I'd buy your house in an instant!

Beautiful home and looks great in the pics, very very nice indeed and really does not look that small, the one thing I would say is possibly too much furniture since you have such large pieces that fill the space, less furniture makes it seem more spacious to people. It is strange that some people simply can not see past certain things but it is sure true, seeing the shows on HGTV where they pass on a house just because they do not like the paint colors or the carpet prove that point. I think a more seasoned buyer that has been in the game before is more likely to be able to envision themselves there more than first timers.
This market is hard right now I have been helping a friend who is buying and I am amazed at how low the house prices have dropped since we bought here a little over a year ago, and they are still not selling, some of the same houses we saw on sale when we bought are still on the market, my neighbors has been on for almost a year now with minimal showings.
Agent open houses for the local agents and regular open houses are definitely helpful, if your agent has not been doing those that might be what to do now.

again beautiful home!

I liked your home a lot and think if you have too much furniture, then I'd have to put 80% of MY stuff in storage. People are so stupid. If they can't see above paint colors or family photos, then they should stay in their apartments. What little imagination people have. I ignored the stuff in this house that the other owner had and imagined what I'd do when I got the place. Come to think of it, in the four homes I've owned, only this one was furnished. Two were empty and one we built.

Oh I wish I lived in your town and was house-hunting. I love every single thing about it except maybe the kitchen is a little small, but the rest of the house minimizes that for me. I love the archways, the door, the look of the house outside and in. Your house is perfect! And spotless and not too crowded. Why in the world do you want to move?

Sorry everyone...I am swamped at work and just got a chance to check my post. Thank you all so much for your invaluable feedback!

I don't want anyone feeling left out, but I cannot directly address each of you, so, to sum it all up....I was thinking of decluttering some more. As far as taking pictures down, I really can't do that because these are plaster walls and I would have so many holes to fill and repaint and since the house is being shown almost every day at some point, that would be very difficult. I also work full time, so my time is very limited.

We have had 4 realtor open houses and more than 75 realtors showed up in total.

The kitchen is actually larger in person than it appears in the picture....the realtor only got one view of it.
I adore this house....it is really my dream home, however, my DH is retired and we have always talked about retiring to Cape Cod, MA. We are in the process of buying a house there, so selling this one is becoming more and more critical.

The taxes here are too high for us for retirement, and my DH really wants to be by the water. He loves to fish.

After this weekend, we will have shown the house a total of 50 times!!!!! I am truly hoping that "my time has come" and the right buyer is around the corner!!!

Here ya go Sue_va.

Here is a link that might be useful: chestersmom33's album

Again, Chemocurl to the rescue! Thanks, Sue.

Declan, your home is beautiful and has such a warm, inviting "feel" to it.

I'm sure you and the Realtors have done the Comps, so the price must be right. The right buyer just hasn't come along yet.

It will happen.

Sue

Your home is charming and spotless! With no offense to any realtors among us, bringing boat-loads of realtors thru and having multiple open-houses I've always felt helps the realtors and not the seller so much.

Looking at your photos and getting a vibe of 'frustration' from you might I offer a few suggestions? Take or leave at will. Even tho you have decluttered, there's still a lot of 'little things' around. You seem to love greenery in pots and vases and I would ditch ALL of them with the exception of the one on the shelf in the bathroom. Only keep any REAL plants (including ditching the orchid in the LVRM if that's not real). Take the brown blanket off the sofa, and the throw off the wing chair. Are you planning on leaving the draperies in the LR and DR? If not, take them down right now so it's not even an issue - and besides, they read "heavy". Could you remove the table in the foyer, plus the thing on top of the rad? (It will make the foyer feel bigger - plus it is so unique in its size - let the next buyer find their own). Along with storing that table, try to store the wicker chair/foot stool in the downstairs room. Master Bedroom: take Everything off the top surfaces, pictures, more greenery, on rad, etc. While you are at it, pack away most everything on the LR mantle. In the 2nd bedroom, can that little cube be placed within the knee-space of the desk? About the kitchen: That cabinet shown in the photo - on the right side - storing dishes, etc. : could some 'lookers' be interpreting that as 'not enough room to store dishes; guess we'll have to fin a piece of furniture like that to fit this space'? If so, maybe pack up the dishes and only show some pretty things - or cookbooks, or non-essential things - or maybe even there is where you can prop some of your framed photos along with a greenery or two.

Your house is so welcoming and comfortable looking. I would make very sure that your realtor translates the room sizes to prospective buyers BEFORE scheduling a showing. It is not only a waste of their time (realtor and buyer) but yours as well. You're lucky you work full time and thus hopefully most showings could happen during the day. Trust me, I know what it is like to have to vacate a home for showings and then not to be able to return because the 'lookers' got talkative in the driveway! If they make an offer, fine.....talk all evening. But don't hold me up from returning to my own home if you are discussing the buyers REAL needs!

Me again, I understand about the stuff on the walls, but I'd still say remove what you can from shelves & ledges. And remove more furniture, say the big buffet in the living room [I have no place to put it but would love to have it!]. Make any shelf half-empty. pack up more books & accessories, you'll want to move them anyway. It's kinda like getting ready to go out.. You dress, put on accessories, jewelry & then take away one or 2 pieces.. You have lots of lovely things, keep just a few in each room. Less is more. And the buying public is really dense and has no imagination; and in this market - terribly picky. I don't know where you live, but is there anyway to 'broaden your market area'? it it an easy commute, a retirement area, etc.

I think your home is lovely. It is very inviting, and very tastefully decorated. From the pictures it doesn't look too small.

There were two things that I noticed they may help in the appearance of more space. The buffet that you have in the kitchen, tends to make it look like your kitchen doesn't have enough storage space. I know that from my own experience, when we were selling our home in 2008. Removing ours made our kitchen appear much bigger. Also along the same line, be sure you don't have the cabinets overstuffed. You need to have some groceries, but only one set of dishes.

Another thing I thought might possibly help (I love your furniture arrangement in the living room) but you might have a more spacious look if the big couch was just pushed back by the window. Then other things would need to be balanced off too.

I love your color choices and I think you did a good job of decluttering. When we were selling our house, it took me a long time to be willing to remove enough of my beloved STUFF.

BTW it will help if you start no longer thinking of it as your home -- but instead -- someone elses house. That can help to make those changes to entice others.

There is a perfect buyer out there, they just haven't come along yet.

A lot of suggestions here and as you can see some opposing opinions and they are all just opinions. Someone may come along looking for a starter home and grab it.

The only thing I would suggest at this point is the removal of two small tables sitting side by side in one of the rooms. They are small like night stands. In another room there are two chests side by side, I would remove them even if it were presently my home, to crowded. I would not want such a small house but when I was younger I would probably grab it.

I for one like a small kitchen, turn around and you are there, I have had large and small. The reason I like a parade of Realtors coming through is this, they have all kinds of buyers looking for a home. One may say, I need a small starter home with a nice location with curb appeal. The Realtor would remember the one on the tour.