Everything looks very clean and neat, so that's good. I live in the midwest, so it is hard to be objective, but we don't really have "row" houses here, so for me personally, I wouldn't like the bowling alley feel of it and no windows on either side. But, I know that's a regional thing. I was told the other day that it's taking an average of 6 months for houses to sell in our area now. It use to be 3 months. Your showings are probably becoming less frequent because the property is becoming "stale". A price reduction may be your only recourse. Good luck!

I'm not used to the row house style either, so the dining room photo bothered me. It seemed claustrophobic. I would replace it with a picture of the master bedroom or bath - whichever looks more inviting.

The garden looks a little messy - it wouldn't bother me, as I like to play in the dirt, but for some people it might look like an area that would need some work. Can you make it a little more child friendly? Just by clearing up some of the areas to make it look more like easy maintenance.

Those are the only two points that really stood out in the photos, for me. Otherwise looks nice and well-kept.

Ditto on the row house thing, but I'll bet the dining room isn't as narrow as that pic makes it look. I'd try to re-shoot that. Also I'd re-shoot the fireplace picture after removing the tv and stand, trying to get a more close-up picture of the fireplace itself without including the ceiling in the photo.

You might have to accept that the garden will be a deal breaker (or at least a negative) for some -- including me. I'd have to change it back to a grassy area with just a few plantings and that would be a lot of work. Not much you can probably do about that. Except maybe exclude the picture so that you're not excluding a subgroup of people who won't even view the home because of this. If you can get them to view the home, they might fall in love with other features of the home and the garden would be less of an issue.

How many offers have you had? It sounds like you have had several. Have you worked with these buyers? I don't know the market in this area but you may have to accept that you will have to give a little more (on price) if you want to sell the house, especially now that your listing is stale. I don't personally think it's unreasonable for a first offer to be less than listing and ask for some closing costs (I would never make a first offer that was not less than listing, no matter what, unless I was in one of those very high demand areas where things are selling with multiple offers in one day for more than asking). I think many houses in today's market are selling for less than listing, with some closing costs paid by seller. It sounds to me like you may have had some good offers already. How much less than your asking price were these offers?

Another thing to keep in mind. You won't recoup that $30k in upgrades dollar for dollar, so if you are factoring that into your asking price, that might be the problem.

Also, as to your first offer being "not worth entertaining", I think there are actually very few offers made by buyers that aren't worth a counter-offer.

>>Received offer the first month, however, it was an outrageous offer that was not worth entertaining. Other offers came in but buyers wanted between 2% - 4% closing cost and price reduction on home.

Where I live, in this situation, I'd probably be under contract by now. Here, buyers always get some of the closing costs paid, and the contract is always a bit under the listing price. Are you saying that you'll only take a contract for full list price and no incentives to the buyers? You must be in a pretty hot area.

What have comparable houses sold for in your area, and how long did it take? Buyers generally don't care what money the seller has put into the house, they care that they're getting a good price based on what else they've been seeing, and recent sales in the area.

Bluntly stated, you should have worked the other offers you've received. That was a mistake. But, now the question is how do you get another offer?

First, prune down that shrub entirely blocking your front window. Resod the front yard. Get some color in front...I think I can see planters on the porch but it looks like there's nothing in them?

Curb appeal is critical. If you're not going to be flexible on price then your house had better be a stand-out. Right now, your front exterior picture is just depressing. Correct it.

Rear patio area...it looks like there's a perennial garden there but not much is in bloom. It's May? Why no flowers blooming? Also, it looks a bit messy in the picture. If it is a perennial garden...cut things back a bit & add 2-3 plants that are in bloom now. If it's weeds...for Heaven's sake get rid of them. The pavers are great...I wouldn't change those. It really looks like it just needs an afternoon of your time. Or, alternatively, don't use that photo. But, if the garden is messy...it will hurt you when people do come for a tour.

The interior pictures look fine to me. I'd lose the fireplace picture & replace with one of the nicest bath. You've got 3-1/2 baths...that's a great selling feature & you're not taking advantage of it.

The biggest thing that will help you sell though is to be flexible & reasonable with the price. Your spending $30K on upgrades is not relevant to your property's market value. Sure, some things do add value but not dollar for dollar. For instance, if you added air conditioning...and every home in your neighborhood already had air; then you'll probably not get any added value because A/C is expected. If you gutted the kitchen & renovated...you "may" see about an 85% return on your investment. In some cases, upgrades translate into a faster sell but not necessarily a higher sale.

Get with your Realtor & reevaluate your price point. Ultimately, it's all about the price.

Tricia

The photos could be better. They are not terrible, but they don't make your house stand out. Personally, I like the perennial garden in the back, but agree that the front could have more curb appeal.

I notice that you are using a real estate agent who belongs to a local agency, not part of a famous name national chain. I would be interested in hearing from other agents whether this helps or hurts. He and his group seem to focus on Montgomery County, so it might be a positive.

Did you interview three or more agents and get opinions on pricing?

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to your listing

I have asked the agent to re-shoot exterior photos to give the listing a fresh look. I agree the exterior shots, need improvement. I do have issues with the angles of the photos, and I brought that up with agent. The pictures were taken early Spring with not much in bloom, especially the shot of the backyard looks bleak. I've mentioned to agent that the perennial garden is now in its's full glory and they need to take advantage of this, especially since there is a 360 virtual tour with my listing. The front of the house has the rose bush in full bloom, and I have added annuals, so it now has curb appeal, but it just doesn't show it with the current pictures. I know not many people care for a garden, but as a gardener, it looks wonderful.
As far as agent, this person's got a great reputation. I've interviewed 10 including national chains, and pricing points were the same. I felt that a local agency was the way to go.

I really LIKE the garden -- and expect I'll like it even more with a new, in-bloom photo. I don't like the selection of still photos and the virtual tour is too, too much with all those blank walls. A floorplan might be good. What is the square footage of the house?

Especially disliked the rec room fireplace shot. Also, although we all have them, we don't enjoy seeing TVs in these photos.

My house has been on the market for 72 days, received lots of showings the first month, however the last 4 weeks, showings have dramatically dropped to 2 per week. Received offer the first month, however, it was an outrageous offer that was not worth entertaining. Other offers came in but buyers wanted between 2% - 4% closing cost and price reduction on home.

I'm probably the only one, but I don't think you really need to do anything with the house; garden, dining room, etc. You've gotten offers and so you definitely have something people want. But are you not willing to counteroffer? Must the offer come in exactly on price?

Home prices in Montgomery County are on a downward trend. Like elsewhere in DC metro, prices peaked last year. Lots of inventory. Something to think about when another offer comes in.

If I got an offer 2-4% off and/or closing cost, I would have countered and sold by now.

I, too, am not familiar with row houses as I, too, live in the Midwest. But I agree about removing the shrub from the front yard. I like sunny rooms, and I bet that thing blocks a lot of sun. Plus, I'd clean up the backyard. It looks like a lot of work to maintain...work I wouldn't want to do. I'd include a photo of a bedroom...right now it looks like the house doesn't have any bedrooms, which is hardly the case. And, I agree, lose the TV. It really distracts from the beautiful fireplace, which surely is the highlight of that room. I also agree that you should work more with your buyers. We'd give anything for a buyer asking for closing costs! We just want to sell.

I found the VT very annoying as the forced music drives me batty.

I was astounded that a closeup photo was taken of your back fence. What purpose does that serve?

The kitchen photo doesn't show any space or size. It's from a poor angle.

I'm with the others who think that perhaps you let a good offer go. It is common to come in lower than list and to ask for closing costs in this market.

If you want to sell, you have to be flexible and never turn down an offer. Countering should be a given, even if you countered a few thousand lower and 1% of closing costs.

I met with my agent, and we adjusted to a lower pricepoint ($339,900)in the hopes of recapturing traffic and eventually an offer. The listing photos have been refreshed, and we are having an Open House this weekend. As far as the Virtual Tour, agent is still working on refreshing the photos. I know photos in VT looks depressing, the exterior shots were taken latter part of February 2007 and early March.

Let me know what you think of the refresh. Here is a link of listing on realtor.com that might be useful: "Link to listing"

Yeah, you messed up walking away from those offers, but that's as much your realtor's fault as it is yours; he/she should have explained to you that you work with offers like that, not walk away from them.

The dining room photo has a fisheye effect on the lens which distorts the picture. Was your realtor lying on his stomach to take it? He needs to use a fill flash or put his back to the window so the room does not look so dark and grim.

Kitchen picture is dominated by the fridge, make it look like there aren't enough cabinets.

Living room picture is shot towards the window again causing the meter for the room to be off, making it look dark except for the weird plant stand and plant, which cuts the room off visually.

Can you see how dark the ceiling looks? It's because the camera is metering on the bright white light coming in through the window. The ceiling should look high, bright and white in a good photo.

The bedroom has an off-center bed crammed into the corner, which looks odd. It will also keep people who are looking in that room from looking out the windows.

The back yard looks very small and cluttered. What's that rainbow tchochke thing dominating the middle of the picture and cutting off your line of sight?

You've got a good house; but a terrible realtor. Kick him in the butt and make him take some better pictures. There's no excuse for those in the digital age. Better yet, find a friend who's a hobby photographer and get them to take them.

I agree about the fridge standing out in the kitchen photo. The LR photo is horrible too because that plant blocks full view of the room and is the focus of the photo. Not only that, the LR pic is taken from a horrible angle. I also agree the placement of the bed hinders access to the windows and makes the room look extremely unbalanced.

MHO is a very poor realtor who doesn't pay attention to the photos.

Below is a link to the realtor's website with other photos. In this set, the kitchen photo is horrible and has the same LR pic shot from a horrible angle focussing too much on the plant. It also includes the FP pic with the old TV, but nothing to showcase the room itself.

There is no description at the Realtor.com website, but an OK description on his site.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to listing at Realtor's Website

We're in No. VA and sold our house 10 days ago. As hard as this is you've got to be priced for what the market will pay. That is likely below what you'd like to walk away with. And being that this is a definite buyers market you will have to pay some or all of their closing costs. In our county the killer is all the completed new construction with builders desperate to sell. They are paying 6 months of new mortgages, all of closing costs, etc. I know in the Post a few weeks ago I read a story that was also happening in Montgomery County.
When we listed our house March 1st, my husband and I thought we were overpriced by $25,000, but agreed with our realtor to test the waters. A month later we lowered by 25,000 and got an offer within a week. We settled on a little lower sales price, paid part of their closing costs and are doing a free 6 week rent back from the buyers. It's a tough time to be selling a home in this area for sure.

Best of luck on your sale and hope your open house does great tomorrow.

It's a lovely home, just a few suggestions. In the dining room, set the table as if you were expecting guests, 4 of them, fresh flowers and all. Kitchen should have fresh fruit showing in the realtor picture, nothing on the counter next to the fridge and nothing in the pass thru window. You might want to try angling the living room furniture, everything is against the walls and even in a smaller living room (which we have too), getting the furniture away from the walls and putting a tall plant with up lighting under it makes the room look alot larger. Use the area rug to anchor the angled arrangement. In the Master Bedroom, get the bed away from the windows, makes the room look lopsided and if you don't want to make the black swags match, take them both down so the windows look airy, they look unbalanced. I have to agree with many of the garden statements, trim up the front and put a big pot of annuals on the steps next to the front door. Make the back yard not look so busy. Here in the Chicago area, we refer to houses for sale as 'Stepford Houses' because they all look like no one lives there. Ours is going up for sale too so we can sympathize, good luck and hope you sell it soon!