Five weeks is not that long to be on the market. When you say no nibbles, does that mean no showings or no offers? In this short period of time, I think resorting to renting is a bit premature, unless you need the money out of this house.

Renting can be iffy, even with a property mgmt company. You risk damage to your home, extra taxes etc.

If you're not even getting showings, then your house is most likely overpriced. What are the comps in the area?

Have you decluttered? Can you post a link to the listing?

We rented out a house that we couldn't sell (this was 8 years ago). We did not use a property management company, though. We moved only a few miles away, so we did everything ourselves. The house was near a big university, so I advertised it on their Internet housing board rather than in the newspaper and was able to rent it out quickly to some good tenants.

There were no major disasters, although the place did get a bit run down after 6 years of being rented out. We spent about $20k fixing it up to sell it when the market picked up a couple of years ago.

I would feel uneasy about trusting a property management company to handle everything to my satisfaction, but it must work out for some people or these places would not stay in business. It might be a good idea if you asked these companies for some references, and follow up on them, before you make a decision.

One thought check with your tax advisor as I was told several years ago that if you hire a management co, you cannot deduct the expenses and when you do sell, there could be a big capital gain problem. How about a lease option to buy?

Thanks all for the input. We are looking at a mgmt company that is part of a major real estate company (along with insurance, etc., think big blue P) so I know they are reputable. Since we are going to be 900 miles away, I don't know what we would do if there was a problem with the house or they didn't pay the rent, if I even could figure out a way to find someone decent to rent it. I feel more confident with the background and credit checks they would run. Of course, it is costly, first months rent, 10% there after and we pay for the advertising and website listings.

mariend and harriothomeowner, thanks for the info. We will check out, but I think since we are looking at leasing for 1 year, we might be alright.

sparksal, No nibbles means not 1 showing. I keep thinking we are over priced or something would happen, but we are at the low end of the comps (for sale) in our area and way below the last sales in the area (20%). There is no new construction within 5 miles. The realtors we have spoken with say the house shows beautifully and is a great deal, so I am believing them to a point. We have decluttered to the point that we are buying things because we tossed them or they are in storage:-) I have called 4 RAs this week, and they are getting no calls for anything in our price range ($250k)so we are at a loss. I can stay here while dh moves, but I just don't want to be here a year from now still waiting. We thought that maybe renting for a year would loosen the market up a bit. DH thinks I may be panicing too soon, but I want to get on with it. Here is the link and no, I am not crazy about the pictures. It was built in the 70s so there aren't a lot of windows, but it isn't as dark as they appear. The lot is huge for this part of Tampa, but the house is small. Thanks for any help you can give.

Donna

Here is a link that might be useful: Cozy Place

Just watch the time limits on the '2 of the previous 5 years rule' and you can escape without capital gains.

Any losses will be passive and your ability to write them off against earned income is limited ((to varying degrees depending in income and a bunch of other things).

You must take depreciation, and then must pay the recapture tax.

Try very hard to meet the deadlines for capital gains exemption and a lot of things go away.

Thanks, brickeyee. We will be very careful if we go this route.

We did this when we moved from LA to WI. We didn't sell it then, thinking if we move back to CA, we won't be able to buy a house here again. So we rented it out to our neighbor's pastor. It's been almost 3 years and so far it's working out great. We don't have problems with the renter, they pay on time, all the time. If there was a problem in the house like a leak or spinkler not working, the renter would inform us, and we give them permission to call someone to fix it, and they just deduct the expenses from the rent.

tuscanlover - you only posted the link to the realtor's webpage, not the actual listing.

Sorry sparksals, but that is how the site works. It is the first home under her listings. I am going to request new photos this weekend. I see so many thibgs that I hate in them.

rich69, thanks for the positives! I need them right now;-)

I agree, if you're renting, do it yourself - just make sure you have a good understanding with, and trust in the individual or family who will be moving in. If you have trouble finding someone, there are plenty of free places to advertise your home (craigslist.com is just one of many).

Whether youÂre renting or selling, I am convinced the best way to generate interest in your home is to give searching parties a visual impression of how great the place is. You can list all the perks you want in text, but a photograph will grab someoneÂs emotions and can make them really want your place.

Unless you're in a very lucky location (like a hot-spot in the Big Apple where it doesn't matter if an apartment has the size (and appeal) of a small closet, because people will always want the location...) you're going to have to spruce the place up and promote all of your home's good sides.
So I suggest two things: First, definitely clean the place up to stage it, and I'm sure you already have started. If you haven't, there are plenty of resources with tips for home decoration specific to selling / renting your home: curbly.com, for example, and many others.
One of the best timesaving things you can do is to put up some tasteful and "safe" artwork (no framed posters, modern art or family photos) on your walls. I recommend a place like http://artcollectorsguild.com because you know you're getting a solid time tested piece that really looks good and brightens up a room with atmosphere.

Then, you need to get someone to help you take some professional, appealing photographs to show off your home in posts on the web (you don't want to have to pay for ads if you don't have to). In a country of over 300,000,000 people, there must be one searching for a home in you're area and they may well be looking for it on line.

I rented out my apartment and shared photos with the Art Collectors' Guild because it was really the artwork I got from them that made the difference. This was my first experience with home staging and I learned a lot. I do think itÂs a good example of what can be done with some artwork, a camera and the World Wide Web.

Here is a link that might be useful: staging my appartment

tuscanlover, I don't blame you for being disenchanted with those pictures - they are awful! You probably don't want my initial reaction to those pictures, but let's just say you should probably have a professional retake them. Bad angles, bad lighting and nothing is played up!

I doubt you'll get many showing if your market is slow and that is what is being used to entice buyers.

Our house has been on the market for four weeks now. We had one offer but the buyer backed out. We've had lots of showings and two open houses so far. We've had one person come back for a second showing. We dropped our price yesterday. We have faith it will sell, though we may have to drop our price again. We won't considering renting...too many irresponsible people out there and too much wear and tear. Besides, we don't want to become landlords. Five weeks is nothing...give it time. Change realtors.

Your realtor seemed to be able to obtain a stunning glamour shot of herself for the main page of her website. Plus she says she will "exceed your expectations" in bold print. Take her up on that! You need new pictures -- that is why you're not getting showings. You would be better off with NO pictures, so at least people won't be turned off. The house itself looks fine, but the pics are not going to intrigue anyone into viewing the home.

One other thing -- I know the house is small, but I would avoid using the word 'cozy' in the listing title. 'Cozy' is code for 'tiny'. Even people who are looking for a smaller home might mentally avoid any home with the main descriptor of 'cozy'. There's got to be something positive about the home that could be part of the listing title.

If I were you, I would lower the price before I would consider renting. I would take my losses NOW.

My DH had properties. When you live that far away there is no way you can trust ANYBODY.
He kept getting bills from the rental management company for carpet replacement & things like every 2 years. It was ridiculous. The property cost him way too much money to keep. He was "paying in" like 6k yearly! In other words, he was in the negative. If you take that 6k yearly & multiply it by approx. 10 years, you paid for the place twice over!

Finally, I made him sell it & cut the losses. We were too busy to fly out & check on the situation. Lesson learned: NEVER own a rental property far away.

I tried to find your listing on realtor.com by using your mls #. Your house did not come up. Did your realtor say she would use it?

Thanks everyone for your input. After 6 weeks with no showings, I am in the process of firing my realtor and going with one of the big agencies. I have talked to their top producer in the area (Carrollwood area of Tampa) and she uses a professional to take photos. She is really usually a buyers agent, but that's what we need, a buyer;-)Both she and another agent in her office say that they have no problems getting showings in our price range and that we are priced close to where we should be, so I am hoping a new start is what we need.

After looking at the idea of leasing, I am not comfortable enough to move ahead, so I will be on this forum constantly, while dh moves on and I try to sell.

Wish me luck.

Okay, we have a new realtor, new photos, new price and we are at it once more. Still no curb appeal, but the interior shots are much better and I am happy with the wording this time. Please let me know what you think of this listing.

Thanks, guys.

Here is a link that might be useful: New Realtor.com