Cute little house!

But I would pass on it because of all the wallpaper...

I know - people either love it or hate it...

I just see lots of work to remove it all as none of it is MY taste...

2 bedroom/1 bath homes will always be more difficult to sell. The wallpaper isn't helping either.

Would you believe I know where Bad Axe is? My husband's family is all from that area...my husband graduated from Harbor Beach high school!

Anyway, I'd say that it's mostly the thumb's economy (for those of you who aren't familiar with Michigan terminology, the "thumb" of Michigan is the part north of Detroit that sticks out like the thumb of a mitten) that you're battling against. I'm not sure if there's much you can do at all. Have you thought about renting it if you can't get it sold?

I'm also familiar with the Bad Axe area and have to agree with fruitgirl, it's probably the economy up in the thumb.

It's a very cute house at a good price! Is it in a good neighborhood? That might be hurting you, plus the economy, of course. You might have to drop the price. The wallpaper would be a turn-off for me too. Did you put it up? Can you take it down and paint the walls a neutral color?

What's the unemployment number in Bad Axe...especially for 24-35 year olds? It's a starter house (or, maybe, retirees?) so that's the likely demographic you're targeting. Wiki says that 15% of your population is living below the poverty level. That's high.

I guess what I'm thinking is that even $59,900 is tough for a young person in Bad Axe to manage. You mention a lot of showings. What feedback are you getting from your Realtor? Has the wallpaper been mentioned by potential buyers? Most people will, probably, want to change it because wallpaper is very personal in nature. I'm thinking that, in your case, lookers see it more of a cost burden to remove than a decorating issue. Could you afford to offer a redecorating allowance of $500? That might help.

Also, two bedrooms & one bath homes usually take longer to market. In Bad Axe, that's probably compounded significantly because of the overall economy.

Wow, I wish you lots of luck on selling your little cottage (it's cute) as well as on your new build.

/tricia

Thanks! I agree with the wallpaper. It was there when I bought the house 11 years ago and never liked it. (However, I did the border in the bathroom and am regretting it now.) The other bedroom had wallpaper and it was pure *&%$ ripping it down so therefore never bothered with the other bedroom. I have considered just drywalling over it as I have heard people do.

Potential buyers never comment on that sort of thing. (Not that I hear back anyway). Mostly they just say it is "cute".

I have thought about removing the desk & computer for dining room and getting rid of the large headboard in the bedroom. Stuff like that maybe would make the rooms look larger?

Unfortunately the market is slow in Bad Axe, as well as other places. I don't think the unemployment rate is any lower than anywhere else. I just thought if I could improve my chances in any way I'd give it try. Your suggestions are helpful.

Fruitgirl! My husband is from Harbor Beach and that is where we are building our house. That is cool...I bet we know your husbands family. At least by name. :-)

I don't even have to look at your pictures.

Drop the price until it sells. That's the only thing that will work.

I had a house on the market for 9 months. I tried everything. I had to drop the price 100k eventually (from 400 to 300). That worked.

I had a nice house in a "transitional" neighborhood. I was too dumb to understand that it wasn't "transitioning" the right direction. Last I heard they're now putting up a quikie mart on the corner. I'm glad, so glad, that I got out when I did, even if it did cost me.

My husband graduated in 1994. If they're anywhere near the same age, I'm postive they do know each other. My husband's parents live on Verona Road, just north of Rapson.

Hey Tricia, on the other thread you told the woman that it didn't matter what the house looked like and to leave the wallpaper alone, but here you advise this poster to remove it. What gives?

If you have hardwood floors under that carpeting, I'd get rid of the carpet. In the living/dining room, the carpet chops the space into 2 obvious spaces. It'll appear larger without the carpet.

The wallpaper and borders are a negative to me. It's dated. I'd get rid of as much of it as you can. I'd also open the curtains in your photos...show off your windows.

Your house has alot of original features which is good. I think you are suffering from the economy in Michigan.

Michigan's real estate market is not exactly hopping right now.

As far as your house:

Take new pictures that are not dated 2005. It makes me think your house has been for sale for three years.

When you update the pictures, do the following first:

Get rid of the wallpaper and paint a neutral color (not white). Take the "eyebrows" off the windows. That closes off the light. If there is hardwood under the living room carpet, let it show! And get rid of the computer in the dining room. Yes, the house is small but this just points out how little room there really is when you make an eating room dual purpose.

At $60K you really don't want to spend a lot on this house. Removing the wallpaper and painting will be relatively inexpensive. And definitely get updated pictures.

We didn't open the curtains because we thought the old windows would deter people. I personally like the old woodwork and stuff but the windows are not new.

I bought the house for $50,000 11 years ago. I put new carpet, new kitchen flooring, completely redid the bathroom. I would prefer to not sell for less than I bought it but will if I have to. I am reluctant to rent it out for fear of getting poor tenants that won't take care of it.

I appreciate all words of wisdom from all of you.

Fruitgirl - my husband graduated in 1997 from Harbor Beach. I graduated from Bad Axe in 1995. I lived just north of Rapson too. Corner of Verona and Minnick Roads. You have to tell me names! I can give you my email address or something. Don't know if you want to tell everyone. :-)

Sure, post your email addy. My name is very google-able, so I don't want to post it on line so much!

No, I didn't. I asked if her agent had mentioned the wallpaper & suggested a $500 decorating allowance qualifying my suggestion by noting that I was thinking it might be a cost issue in a depressed area with 15% of the population living below poverty level.

/t

It's a darling little house and looks well maintained. I had a house very much like that I sold a few months ago. Our real estate market is going down for third time here. The poverty level is at least as high, and jobs? What jobs?

What do I see in your house? Well, it's very small. Very. I had the same issue. Prospects all thought it was 'darling', but hesitated at the square footage. Houses that small are a niche market and you have to justify to buyers why that is a good thing. If you have very low utility bills, like my house had, let it be public knowledge! I zeroed in on that and although first time buyers don't always even think of cost of utilities, the ones who have been paying them awhile do.

The bedrooms are also very small. Mine were about 11X14 and I got a lot of feedback about furniture not fitting. If you can, zero in on removing absolutely anything superfluous in the house to make it look larger. And get as much light in the rooms as possible. If you look at the old house forum, you'll see a lot of people actually love the old wooden windows.

The thing what sold my house I think is my suggestion to the realtor I would be more than happy to contribute to the closing costs. People who are good fits into that home (we also singled in on the singles market and bingo, that's what we sold to) often have steady jobs, credit, but no cash. It can be very tempting to buy a home where that's not an issue, even if that means you've held your price and they'll pay a few dollars more a month because of it.

Have you thought about renting it out? After a year on the market, a fresh start would help. Can you come off the market for awhile and then come back with a new listing?

If you close the curtains, why does the living room picture say that the windows have natural woodwork? That doesn't make sense.

My other comments, especially about the carpet, still hold.

Too much wallpaper. This house should be targeted as a starter house, to either a single, or a small family. The problem is, all the wallpaper gives off a "grandma" vibe that is not going to be attractive to that kind of buyer (nor are they the kind of buyer that is going to want to spend the time taking down the wallpaper).

I'd get rid of the wallpaper, do some attractive neutral paint, and get rid of the carpet in the living room (if there's hardwood under there). You've got good bones to work with -- the floors and trim are great, your furniture itself doesn't shout "grandma" -- you just need to do a little updating so that the younger set can see themselves living there. And the changes that are necessary can be done inexpensively.

If all else fails, lower the price.

The kitchen picture makes the kitchen look too small. All you see is the huge white fridge that is hogging up the photo. It makes it look like you have to squeeze around the fridge to get into the kitchen. Try some other angles if you have to shoot 10 photos to get it right.

Maybe ask the agent to get rid of the term "cupboards" and instead call them cabinets. If you don't want to hurt her feelings, just leave out that reference. It says they are updated or something like that, but they don't look real new to me.

I agree with the others about all the borders and wallpaper. You can soak a sponge in water and then rub over the wallpaper and most of it will come right off with no scrubbing or cutting. The key is to saturate the paper for a minute or so with the wet sponge so that it makes the glue wet. This works if the wallpaper is paper based and not vinyl. Then you just run a wet sponge over the glue (after the paper is gone) and you might not even need to paint (unless the paint color is bad).

Drop the price to 54,900 if your current price is 59,900. That is almost 10%. Or try 56,500. The market has dropped in the past year anyway. So if you priced well at 59,900 12 months ago, then you really need to drop the price now because the market has gone down in that 12 month period.

Drop the price now since it is spring up there when folks are starting to shop for homes. If you wait another few months to drop the price,you could be stuck with the place another year since things cool down after the summer.

I agree - it is cute and well kept. Maybe take a photo of the garage? It is mentioned but it is hard to imagine where it is because it doesn't seem like it is attached. A garage is always a plus.

I think it is a cute house!
I would open the curtains in the living room photo to show of the windows/trim.
The kitchen picture makes the room look super tiny and that nothing more than a fridge can fit in there.
I agree the wallpaper is a turnoff but it isn't a deal breaker for me. In the picture of the bedroom with the black/mirrored headboard it clashes with the linens and walls. Is there a way to remove the headboard and maybe use some solid white linens?
I think it is a cute house and I wish you the best of luck!

Your house is very cute and I love the picture of the outside.

You need new pictures without the date on them. The kitchen picture is very bad, all you see if the frig. I agree about taking down the headboard and removing the computer desk. I also agree you should remove the wallpaper and paint a warm beige, not white.

The living room walls are very white, consider painting them a warmer beige. I would replace the white drapes with nice looking panels in a nice light brown or green. Have them frame the windows but not cover them in the pictures and when the house is shown.

Good luck!

Well, I think you've got a neat little house with potential, wallpaper and all. Maybe you could jazz up the description a bit: for instance if there's hardwood under the liv. rm carpet, then say so; describe the finish of the kitchen cabs (maple, oak, etc.). What does it cost to heat the house; does it have energy-saving features other than its small size? I wouldn't worry about the windows being "old", I live in a 175+ yo house and I brag about my old windows, leaking though they may be. Also I'd open your curtains and in the description note that the drapes are included so it seems more like they're an extra being thrown in rather than something that may be required (because of an ugly view for instance). What size lot is there - does it have trees or room for a garden? Which direction does the house face? And the porch - I didn't see it in the pictures. If it's more than just a front stoop, then you might show it.

Perhaps you could try to deliberately market your house at places that might employ people new to the community who need small houses. Is there a hospital nearby? Often new residents arrive in early July and they are looking for small houses or apartments. Or if not a hospital, then a school or something similar. What would be the typical monthly mortgage on such a small house? Frankly, I think it's harder to find nicely-kept small houses than "normal" sized ones. Often your price-point indicates a larger house that's poorly maintained instead of what you have to offer.

Regarding the pics, I agree about removing the computer and the mirrored headboard and taking a kitchen pic without the fridge blocking the view. Move it for the picture if necessary, so you can get a better view of the kitchen. It's not a lie to not have it in the pic, since its size is not an inherent architectural defect. Your buyers could sell it and purchase a counter-depth model if that bugged them enough.

As for the wallpaper, I don't like it, but it's not a deal killer for me. One could remove it, or even heresy of heresy, simply paint over it until time and finances allowed for a change. (I know one accumulates bad decorating karma for painting over wallpaper, but it can be expiated by scrapping off painted wallpaper, though I believe there's a two-for-one sq. ft. penalty. Scraping off old linoleum mastic from a floor earns one extra painted wallpaper forgiveness, too.)

I wish you good luck. Your house is just the size I would have loved to have found years ago when I was single and looking for my first house.

Molly~

First I want to say, what a cute house! I was amazed at the price, under $60,000.! You could not find a house with a garage here for that price. I think the house is in good shape, wallpaper and all.

I think that if you took that white monitor off of the desk, people wouldn't realize it was a computer area. I don't know many people that don't have a computer in their living room (we do) dining room or bedrooms (we do). With 4 people, we each have our own computer, I currently am using the office for mine. No one has said a word about any of our computers.

I also agree, get the date off of the pictures.

The living room, the white is very white. I think it would look warmer in a sage, the woodwork wouldn't look so dark. Or you could go a little darker then your couch. That is if you want to paint. People see white and know they have to paint.

Bedroom - as was mentioned, get rid of the headboard. I wouldn't even put it back after pictures, it looks like it is blocking the window. I also wonder if using a wide angle lens would make the room look bigger.

Get a different comforter & curtains - something to co-ordinate with the wallpaper, it won't look as bad. We have a printed paneling in our one bathroom, so I got a shower curtain & window curtain that would take the focus away from the paneling. You should be able to go to Walmart or Target and find something blue, with cute pillow shams, instead of pulling the comforter over the pillows.

I went to the search page at the site you linked to - your photo has a big "Reduced" ribbon on it. When did you reduce?

Your write up is "lots of storage" do you have any pictures of a cute closet or laundry area? I ended up getting wicker baskets, then staging the laundry area a little better, it came out pretty good.

I did a little research at realtor.com. You are the only one to not even have a listing picture. Since none appear to have enhanced listings, I can't see what the other houses look like inside, so it's hard to say if you are priced right.

I also think that dropping the price will sell the house. A full year is a long time and I don't believe that the wallpaper is the reason why it hasn't sold in the past year. I actually think the wallpaper is cute in this type of house (and I just hate wallpaper).

I'd drop it down to $49990 and would not negotiate at all for that low price (assuming the comps support that price). $10k discount is a lot, I know, but 1 year DOM is long, too, and this calls for drastic measures.

"I have thought about removing the desk & computer for dining room and getting rid of the large headboard in the bedroom." I think both of these are good ideas. Headboard blocks part of the window in MB. It could be a starter but also "ready for retirement" home. As for wallpaper if you don't want to go through tearing down offer a $500 allowance for redecorating like mentioned.

Wow..thanks for the all the feedback.

I originally was asking $64,500 and just reduced it a couple weeks ago to $59,900.

I am definately going to get rid of headboard. I want to sell the whole bedroom set. I don't care for it much myself. I am going to go through the rooms and only have necessities such as bed, dresser, nightstand. Is it ok for the bed to not have a headboard at all?

I am very hesitant to pull up the carpet because the hardwood floors need a lot of work. The dining room was the best out of the floors and that cost over $500.00 to redo. I personally dislike the hardwood floors. They scratch easily and I feel like I avoid the room for fear of ruining the floors.

I will have to talk to my realtor. I did notice that the dates were wrong on her pictures but didn't say anything. I kind of have a reputation in my house for being anal and thought this was just another one of those moments. :-)

I am going to start with removing items. I am also going to repaint the rooms that are easy to repaint right now. I am afraid to remove the wallpaper in bedroom due to plaster walls underneath. Yikes! I am going to look into tearing the walls out and putting up drywall.

About the kitchen. The cabinets aren't new...they were new when I bought the house. 11 years ago! :-) My realtor put the listing on and I think everyone has different ideas of what looks nice and what doesn't, etc.

I really appreciate the feedback. I am going to have a busy weekend. :-)

And..fruitgirl...my email is kimkss@avci.net :-)

If someone is good with Microsoft Paint, they can change the date from 2005 to an 8 fairly easily. Your agent really needs to either set her date correctly or go into the camera properties and take it off all together.

Yes, you can have a bed with no headboard. It's why I suggested pillow shams. While we do have a headboard in the master, it surely was not needed. If you want to see the bedrooms, go to www.307springlakeblvd.com while the house is under contract, our url is still working for the tour.

Seriously, it is easier & cheaper to try to work with what you have then to tear out wall paper or sheet rock. New bedding may run you about $100 verses what you would spend for sheet rock, spackle & paint.

I'm going to suggest something that goes against my grain, but if the wall paper is hard to remove you could just paint over it assuming it is firmly adhered. One other thing if you remove it and plaster have some damage you could create a trowel technique type texture on the walls and then paint. Neither of these would be bad or expensive to do.

If the wallpaper is stuck down that good do consider painting over it. I had the same problem in a bathroom and I hired someone to come in a mud all the seams and spray a light texture on the walls. I painted them and you can't tell there is wallpaper there. It's been 4 years and no problems.

You could spray the texture yourself or just mud over the seams if you don't want a texture (texture is popular here). If you do paint you have to make sure the wall paper is really stuck and that the seams don't show.

I live in a 2 bedroom/2 full bath house. Built on a slab so no basement. You have a basement!!! Yes this is a niche house....and people fit into that niche.

I don't think the wallpaper would be a deal breaker ...others can change if necessary.

• I would definitely remove "cozy" from the realtor listing.

• And add "Full basement provides work room space and storage. Laundry area in the basement (or wherever it is). 1.5 garage provides room to store yard tools."

• I would also add a picture of the house from the garage angle.

• And a better picture of the kitchen maybe showing the window view which I see from the dining room shot.

• Also a better picture of the bathroom showing the tub as it looks like a shower stall.

• Open the curtains in the living room - plenty of people love old windows.

• Perhaps get a different realtor. If this one hasn't panned out.

Good luck.

"I am afraid to remove the wallpaper in bedroom due to plaster walls underneath. Yikes! I am going to look into tearing the walls out and putting up drywall."

NO! Go to the old house forum and say that. LOL. Those of us who prefer older homes hate it when plaster is removed unless it's just not repairable. It costs and arm and a leg to get plaster work done anymore, if you can even find a good mason to do it. It's a selling point.

I've been there and done that with a small home. It's a niche market and it helps if all the wonderful things about a small home are emphatically advertised. Low taxes, easy upkeep, low utilities, cozy in winter. Basement storage! Garage! I hate the old saw "payments cheaper than rent", but gosh........the mortgage payment would be and they'd be building equity at the same time.

I've bought and sold a good many homes in my life, and wallpaper never swayed me one way or the other. It's not a one room cosmetic issue here. Your house shows well. It's convincing a buyer they don't need a McMansion. My last realtor told me that she was happy to get my listing, because in this economy it's what is selling. The target audience for this type of home (young people starting out) or small, growing families have everything but a gob of cash for closings.

I searched on Realtor.com, and found 9 other homes priced less than $60,000. All but one were larger than yours and 8 of them have 3 bedrooms, some with 2 baths. Your house doesn't even have any pictures on Realtor.com, not even one of the front.