In my experience, if you keep coming in second place, you are priced just a bit high. The buyers like your place, but keep finding other places that offer more value. Either reduce the price a bit or wait for the market to reach your current price.

Sounds overpriced.

What was your asking price based on?

This post was edited by brickeyee on Thu, Feb 14, 13 at 16:35

I can speak to "a home that took forever to sell" issue. We had our last home on the market for 4 years. Finally sold it in the spring of 2012.

How did we finally get it sold? The right people came along. We had a unique property and it needed unique buyers. We did not HAVE to sell, we just wanted to. We still live in the same community, but our old house was very large and located on 30 acres of wooded land. As we have aged, and our kids grew up, the place was simply too much for us. But we didn't want to give it away nor lose $$.

We had multiple showings through the years, but no solid offers. Very, very painful.

We now live in town in a smaller house on a MUCH smaller piece of land. And as far as our mortgage goes, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. A good thing as we near retirement.

As I write this comment, we have had three contracts fall through on our house since it was first listed in May, 2014. The first contract was cancelled due to the buyer not being able to obtain a mortgage. We lost over two months of having our house listed. The second contract was cancelled rather quickly, within a couple of weeks, after the inspection report which suggested possible but unsubstantiated health issues. The buyer was highly neurotic and immediately cancelled. The house received a couple of low offers that were not accepted after that and then we re-listed the house with another realtor, reducing the price by $40,000. We then accepted another low offer, due to the fatigue of upkeeping this home (we have already moved out of state). The home inspector ran our home into the ground, again with innuendo and unsubstantiated claims, which we subsequently had debunked by independent contractors. Still, these buyers were nervous and untrusting, and cancelled the sale. That is three for three now. I have never experienced anything as unpleasant as trying to sell your home. We sold our first home, 28 years ago, easily. Wondering if anyone else can share a similar experience, so that I don't feel so alone in this stressful situation.

What motive do you think the two Home Inspectors would have to invent "innuendo and unsubstantiated claims?"

What were the "claims?"

Home inspectors always point out tons of things that may or may not be a problem. It's better for them to warn about something and it turns out it isn't a problem, than for them to not mention something and it actually is a problem.
Jack of all trades, master of none. They know a little bit about a lot of things, but usually aren't too knowledgeable about anything.
This scares a lot of people who don't know that a home inspection is really just a general look and anything that is pointed out that's significant should warrant a second look by a professional in that specific field.

Our home took a year to sell but there were some extenuating circumstances. We listed with a relative that had a real estate business in a nearby town. Big mistake. They held an open house and no local agents toured. They maintained that they could sell it but really didn't work it and we had to wait out the three month listing period. We let it sit for a few months before re-listing it with a local company. Like a previous poster it was a somewhat unique property - semi-rural, not in a neighborhood so to speak but with a fantastic view. The right owners came along and gave us full price asking. We were fortunate that we could afford the wait.

Good luck in selling your home.

@saltidawg: 2 health issues . Fiberglass in hvac system, lead to respiratory problems? Dry crawl space with white line on cinderblock, evidence of past water there ( house is 50 years old). Two contractors followed up- no fiberglass, no problem with hvac and no current moisture problems. Buyers were too freaked out at that point and pulled out of sale.

This inspector actually criticized our neighbor's maintenance of an asphalt walk that runs down our block. It is town owned but the town refuses to maintain it. We put in a new walk along our property to the tune of $2000. This inspector was so out of line that I wish I could retaliate. Can't imagine his motive but he surely drummed up enough bogus crap to ruin the sale.

Selling a house is a very bad place to be. We have been relocated several times in my adult life, and lucky enough that the employer pays the bridge costs of selling a home. This last time, we had no such bridge loan...and the new job was hours away. We had to move.

At first, we had a lot of traffic and a lot of interest. We listed in the middle of summer, somewhat past the peak. No offers. What is worse, a friend of mine listed at the same time and sold to the very first looker!. That was a kick in the teeth.

We sold the following January. The house was on the market for six months or so, priced as low as we could go. Sometimes I wonder if we let that house go too low, but I wanted to be done with it.

It was a rollercoaster to the end. Even at a reduced price (and we had to repair things after inspection), the finances were unstable for the buyers. Closing was moved several times. It was nail biting, but it got done.

If it is priced right, it will sell, eventually. It sounds like you are using a realtor. Try to let that person worry about the sale and go about your business. I know that is hard. I did a ritual of letting go before the offer came in on our house.

As a buyer, I am surprised at what has sold. We passed on a few houses that were overpriced and had obvious water damage to the basements, yet they sold!

Thanks for sharing your story. I do mental exercise and physical exercise to push away the black cloud that this house sale has created in my life. I know that it is only money and not my health or that of those I love, so I try to enjoy every day . Guess the thoughts of "will this nightmare ever end?" try to creep into my mind and I have to push them away as son as possible.

We've been on the market about four weeks now. We have an open mind and has not turned into a nightmare just yet. The market is just opening up and we've had only a few showings, mostly folk who really loved the photos online and wanted to see for themselves. Only one serious family who was ready to make an offer however his 16 year old daughter thought it was too big; c'mon it's not big, just well laid out. It's big, its small...reminds me of lyrics in Piece of Me by Britney Spears..lol

I'm immune to criticism of my house. I don't live there anymore and it is just something that I want sold so we don't have to keep paying taxes, utiilities and landscaping fees. This money is simply flushing down the drain money. People will say the stupidest things, but you have to just say "next" and hope you don't go into contract with unqualified buyers or buyers with extreme anxiety about buying a house, who cancel a contract without thinking things through,. We're heading into another re-listing in a couple of days and it feels like doing another tour of duty in a war. Selling a house in today's market is definitely a test of one"s ability to withstand uncertainty and remain positive that it will all work out in the end.

The highest utility bill we had during the 20 year period we owned our previous home occurred when the house was vacant and up for sale. We'd come by and find all the lights on and the A/C or heat turned to the extreme.

My stupid buyers just backed out and I could scream. They held our house off market for 2 weeks then decided to pull out after inspection "because they were worried about some cracking in the caulk in the tub". BS!!!!!!!!!!! They just got cold feet but now they get to walk away with all their money and we are left with a black flag on our house about a deal that fell through after inspection. They have the same employer I do and I have half a mind to send them a reall nasty email, but I'm venting here instead.

My friend, who's been in the RE business for more than 35 years, just had a deal fall thru three days before closing. The buyer decided he didn't want to buy flood insurance. (She's the listing agent.)

House is in a flood zone (tho not that worrisome, there is just a slough close by), never got close to a problem 20 years ago when we did have flooding in the county, flood zone was disclosed in listing, in all paperwork (and signed off by buyer), discussed ad infinitum. But when it came to actually buying the insurance, they backed out.

@Butternut. We have had two cancelled contracts over overzealous inspectors who implied problems that didn" t even exist. We are going back and correcting some minor things in hopes that we don't have another contract cancellation in the future. Home selling is simply a nghtmare that doesn't seem to end. I hate it!

After three weeks and not a month I said earlier, on the market and no offers, I dropped the price by $25K last night, bringing it somewhat closer to the comps. I can't understand comps. Two houses, one a standard home in average condition, zero or minimal upgrades, can vastly bring down the price of a much superior home with huge and significant upgrades. Off six showings, one serious, each feedback provided glowing reviews about the property, only one said the price was right. We don't have a deadline per se, then again, I feel we have a deadline. My daughter is expecting her second baby in September and we want to be closer to her sooner than later. It's going to be a tough adventure; selling what I built as our last dream home, moving coast to coast, renting a home in an area with very few large rental homes since I'd hate to put my stuff in storage, building a new home, then start living again. I can see a minimum two year struggle, however the thought of being closer to the grandkids is priceless.

Salzy - My house is 2 years old and in perfect condition. There is nothing wrong with it. The caulk between the tub and tiled wall cracked a little during the house settling and I should have repaired it but didn't - it's in the basement and doesn't get much use, and honestly I hadn't even noticed! It has not leaked. It doesn't leak. It's a 20 minute job with a $8 can of caulk from Home Depot. The builder is sending a guy out on Monday to repair it even thought it's out of his official warranty period, because he's a good guy.

It's an insane thing to cancel a contract over, without any attempt to have us fix it, 5 minutes after receiving the inspection report. It could have been a burned out lightbulb and they would have still cancelled. Which is why all involved suppose that the buyers changed their mind and just wanted an easy out.

Which is what they got, and we have no recourse. Jerks.

Butternut- that's really awful and I can understand your frustration. My guess is the caulk didn't concern them at all but they found something they *think* they like better before the inspection was done or perhaps found something they could more easily afford. I don't know why the system is set up the way it is - buyers get their earnest money back for almost any situation. It does the seller no good at all to require substantial earnest money anymore - used to be the buyer's feet were held to the fire at risk of losing it but not any more.

We're considering listing our home but don't have to sell. Now I'm wondering if we should. We sold our starter home when a 2nd baby came along and we had only 2 small bedrooms, total, with no space for 2 boys to share a room.

We thought the next home, which we instantly loved, would be our "forever" home . We have lived here 27 years and built a wealth of memories. It tears me up to think of moving. But it is becoming too much house.

But reading of these home sale woes ...well, I feel for all of you who've gone through such emotional ups and downs. And how on earth do you time a home sale so that you have a new place to move? When we sold our starter home, we were in the less than desirable position of having bought our "forever" home while still holding a mortgage on the first one..Luckily we sold the first home in less than a month. Huge relief. I wouldn't take the same leap of faith in today's housing market.

I have to relocate so I sold my house first and negotiated a rent back from my buyer so I could find a house in my new city. In my area, it's a hot seller's market so my house sold very quickly but it's also a seller's market in the city I am moving to. Since there are multiple offers/bidding wars for houses there, I was unlikely to have my offer accepted if it was contingent on a home sale. Luckily I just ratified a contract on a house so if everything goes well with the inspection it will all work out. Otherwise I would probably have had to find a short term rental while still looking for a home to buy.

My house has been on the market for 1 1/2 years with no offers but it's a horse farm with riding ring in the front yard. I've had people interested in it who don't have horses but no actual follow-through. I can understand; no way I'd buy a house with a pasture to have to bush hog and the riding ring unless I had horses. People with horses are few and far between; those people have been closer to making offers although haven't for one reason or another. I hate living in limbo, not being able to commit to things in the future that take money to confirm now, as I might not be in the area. But then again I may be; by history I will be... It is not fun to have a house on the market and to show it here and there, but at least I don't have to sell it. I can just stay here till and if it sells.

My god! when I move to our new home Cromwell, It’s all new to me. The area, where are the lights, you can’t remember where you put your keys for your car. The kids are unsettled; the dogs are fighting with the neighbors dogs, the cats have run away. You forgot to put the rubbish out on the day because you normally do it on a Wednesday and here they fetch on a Tuesday. The electricity just tripped, oh my goodness what have we done! This isn't my home; I miss the sounds, the smells, and the familiarity. It’s all my fault, I wanted to move.

Kitchenomics, you are so funny. I can understand your pain; you will get used it soon and be second nature. It's funny but I can imagine/wandering around in our next 'currently virtual' home with my eyes closed.

In the meantime, no movement on our current home sale, getting antsy however realize we need to be patient; buyers are just waking up in this region. My DW feels we may not see significant movement till after Easter, whatever, grrrr!. I think we underestimated the time it would take to sell this home. In the recent past, homes in our development sold within days.

My business clients are also beckoning me to the NW for an immediate start, since I announced my availablity thinking this home sale would be a piece of cake and we'd be out of here 1st week of May; I may have jumped the gun a bit.

My first thought is if you're still with the original agent, you need to switch to a new one. She's not telling you what YOU need to do and somewhere along the line isn't doing what she needs to do.

Buying a home is based a lot on emotions(especially on the part of the woma b)and if she see's something she likes, she'll somehow figure out how she's going to get it. Have you staged, and removed clutter? Done touch up painting or completely repainted, neutral? Have you cleaned up around the premises? Made it cozy and comfy? Is it clean and tidy? It comes down to it looking like no one lives there, like they will be the first owners, even though they ' know' they' re not, i even removed the coffee maker from the counter when there was a showing, and all other small appliances should be out of sight as well.

I sold my condo almost 8 years ago in the horrific Ca market, putting it on the market in Sept and selling in Dec. In those 3 mos I had 5 offers, but all too low(according to comps) to accept. When the 6th offer came in at $3000 under asking, I jumped and, gave them the 2 weeks they wanted. Be as accommodating as possible!

Patty, it's been five weeks today and one serious buyer and five just curious to see the basement because they loved the pictures and wanted to get ideas. The one serious buyer was ready to make an offer however his 16 year old daughter was calling the shots; she said the home was too big; no way. Home is immaculate, unmarked floors, carpet and walls, exceptionally clean and is supported by the feedback received (even from tire-kickers); it's just two of us living here, no pets or kids with us.
Sure this home is priced higher than COMPS but comes with significant upgrades. I understand I won't recover value of upgrades but at least 30-40%; then what do I know. Dropped the price, new price showing on MLS since yeaterday, all sites are still not updated and now waiting for a reaction.

The feedback below was before the price drop; absolutely everyone had the same comments about the property condition. If I were not moving coast to coast, I'd be tempted to just lock up, move, be closer to our daughter and commence building the new home; one can't leave a home unattended with no one but cameras to take care.

1.
How was the curb appeal of this home?
**Excellent**
Good
Fair
Poor
2.
What was the appearance of the interior of the home?
**Clean and well-kept**
Average
Improvement Needed
3.
Are there any features of the home that need improvement or updating?
**No Improvements**
Exterior
Interior
Carpet
Appliances
4.
How is this property priced in comparison to similar properties in the area?
About Right
**Somewhat overpriced**
Substantially overpriced
5.
What other items stood out about this property?
The basement is fabulous! The home shows very well.

Somewhat overpriced.

Hopefully you will find someone who will appreciate the extra value. They are out there.

A couple in our neighborhood haven't found that person yet. Their home has a lot of extras (for this community). Three years the house has been on and off the market. They are trying again now.

My memory is hazy, but House #1 was under contract at least twice (maybe three) before it sold. One couple loooved it, wife called me to talk about it on the phone, had a dream that this was their house, and in the end couldn't qualify for a mortgage. Realtor called us six weeks later, the same couple *thinks* they can qualify now. No thanks.

A couple months after that we went through the sales process and the buyer disappeared four days before closing, never to be heard from again. This was after looking at the house multiple times, including the time she insisted I leave work hours early to be there are show her around.

There was also the woman who called me and admitted she couldn't afford the house, but tried to talk me into a rent-to-own arrangement.

House finally sold in about 15 months, in the spring of 2003.

I guess I don't understand the mindset of some buyers. Pulling out of a sale because of tub caulk? Just a waste of everyone's time. This thread is over two years old but to answer the question if anyone had a house that took forever to sell, I would say no. I dropped the price of my previous house to rock bottom to get a quick sale. Was called a fool by my neighbor.

His very nice brick house has been on the market for a year now. He has dropped the price 1/4 and his sale just fell through due to the buyers not being pleased with the inspection. It's a buyers market here, and buyers want a new roof, siding, AC, furnace, kitchen with granite counters, etc., or they want the price dropped.

After a year of paying two mortgages and a failed sale I wonder if he still thinks us a fools? I didn't trust the realtor to pick a price as I had exhaustingly done the market research in my area. Eventually the market will turn around and favor the seller, but I took advantage of the market and bought in a nicer neighborhood for cheap. I think every seller needs to look at the big picture on what they are trying to accomplish, and how much stress or missed opportunity they will encounter while waiting for their house to sell.

More than just cracked caulk as I understood it.Other thread.

Cracked putty at the drain. Took the plumber 15 min to fix. Not much different.

Had 4 showings this week and a second open house on Friday (12 showings since listing in five weeks). One or two serious buyers, rest just curious time wasters. 100% positive feedback, no one complained this time about price since I dropped it; surely (as per the realtor) should attract a new range of buyers. Absolutely everyone loved the home; all say they came after seeing the pictures however the home is way better than what even the professional photographer could capture in his photos and many say it's like straight out of a magazine. I know we have an immaculate home and though praise is good for my ego, it is absolutely meaningless unless someone makes an offer. Can buyers feel intimidated? I feel introducing a dent or two may help it sell, perhaps knock off a fawcet, a cabinet and put crayon marks on the walls; need something for sure. The last showing this afternoon seemed more positive/serious than most, it's so hard to tell. Realtors tell me the market has been really down due to bad weather and is just picking up this week however the good thing is inventory is low; not one home has moved for miles around since Feb.

As of this writing, we successfully closed on our house, after a year plus on the market, on 7/10. We were put through the wringer again, even though the general inspection was acceptable to the buyer. Our chimney was inspected separately and we wound up having to give back $4500.00 in closing costs to the buyer, in order for the sale to go through. The original closing date of 6/30, was postponed until 7/10 and we weren't notified until 6/29. We hung on for those last 10 days but it was a real nail biter. We ultimately got $70,000 less than our first contract and had to reduce our price as time went on, but we are so happy to be rid of the house and are now flush with a big chunk of money, which we will invest. We are mortgage free in our beautiful town house, which we built 6 years ago, in anticipation of moving here. I guess I would tell anyone out there, who is living in the nightmare of trying to sell their house and experiencing numerous problems, that one day, it will happen.