Good luck! Don't worry about it selling for more last summer - nothing you can do about that. Look at it as living rent-free for 2 years, hopefully you'll get close to your $238k...?

Agree with your pool comment.

We're in AZ so some people want the pool. I would love it this time of year, but boy do they have alot of maintenance and additional costs. The listing also only has pics of the front of the house and the pool in the backyard, which is why I want to view it to get a solid comparison. They were originally listed at $259K but quickly reduced their price.

You're right - nothing I can do about the declining market. Luckily, we have alot of equity in the house so we won't have to take money to the table at closing.

I hope to get $238K, but listing at $245K doesn't give us much wiggle room in terms of negotiation. We have the remodel on our side - brand new tile everywhere but new carpet in the bedrooms. Freshly painted, including the ceilings. New roof in the last 6 months. Large lot with nice backyard oasis, no pool but nice small pond and waterfall, nicely landscaped. We get compliments all the time about how nice our yard is.

Here's a question - would it be helpful if we had a binder on the kitchen table of the before and after pics? We stripped horrendous wallpaper, every room was a different colour and the living areas had old carpet.

I know turnkey is a subjective word, but we feel our house is. We updated not only the renos mentioned above, but removed all the 80's lighting and plumbing fixtures and put new. Old wood kitchen cabinets now painted white which really brightens up the kitchen.

I also don't want to put the fridge or W/D in the listing, but leave them open for negotiation. We don't have alot of wiggle room with the comps in our area.

Having just viewed over 25 houses last weekend to find a home in another state, PLEASE make sure that your front door lock/door latch work well. I can't tell you how many of the houses we went to gave us grief when trying to open the front door (not to mention how many front entries were filthy, cobwebby, and downright nasty). One house had a dead bolt but no door knob - just a handle without a thumb-latch. We could hear the dead bolt move but couldn't figure out how to open the door. One house had a note over the dead bolt saying that the door was difficult to open, gave hints about lifting on this while pressing on that, and then gave a number to call if it wouldn't work. No wonder many of these homes have been on the market for a very long time. If the seller can't make sure your entry into the home won't cause a problem, how can they expect you to trust that anything else in the house works?

Sorry, just needed to vent.

Good luck, hopefully, your market is better than ours. Look at listings for anything under your price to see if there are other 3 bedroom houses that people may pick; with 1 bath if you have two. Someone may be able to buy the lesser priced and add another bathroom by changing the layout if rooms are big enough.

I've been saying for a while, the only buyers in my area are under $225 and buying fixers. Seems like anything over this price takes 5 months.

I saw you mention in another post that you were hiring people, I was going to joke, saying wouldn't it be nice if your MIL would "gift" you a nice check for these services... lol

I almost did that but didn't due to not having any names / numbers and having to just get it done. I'd asked my agent, but she didn't realize it was an asap thing. I emailed asking if she had references, she replied back yes... was hoping she'd say yes with their info. Oh well, I saved a bunch doing it myself

Keep us posted. Do you have any possibles to look at to buy?

Best wishes, sparksals :-)

sparksals: "Luckily, I had him look at our ceiling fans because on two of them, blades were loose! One of them is above our bed and runs 24/7!"

I realize that this is somewhat off topic, but why on earth are you running your ceiling fan 24/7? Unlike air conditioners, ceiling fans do not lower air temperature at all. Their purpose is to circulate air so that the room appears cooler on a person's skin. If there is no person in the room, then all you are doing is wasting electricity and money.

sparksals wrote: "Here's a question - would it be helpful if we had a binder on the kitchen table of the before and after pics? We stripped horrendous wallpaper, every room was a different colour and the living areas had old carpet. I know turnkey is a subjective word, but we feel our house is. We updated not only the renos mentioned above, but removed all the 80's lighting and plumbing fixtures and put new. Old wood kitchen cabinets now painted white which really brightens up the kitchen."

I would think twice about doing this unless the only problems you corrected were cosmetic ones. You have only had the house for two years. If buyers see how rough it was before you and DH bought (and refurbished) it, they might wonder what else the previous owner's neglected.

sewhappy - wow! Those sellers seem a bit daft. It doesn't cost very much to buy a new door or locks! They're not leaving a very good first impression at all. Our door opens very easily, no problems there!

roselvr - thanks for the tip. Never thought of that situation before, although, there must also be buyers who don't want to have to do anything to the home, right? Knocking walls to put in a 2nd bathroom when they can buy a home with one doesn't make sense, especially in today's market where people's funds are really tight. I will definitely take a look at those listings, although none in our area have one bath - all homes have two full baths. I'd have to look in communities outside our area, but still nearby.

Our realtor has alot of connections. His wife is a faux painter and knows alot of people in different trades. She recco'd the cleaning company and they do a good job. They recco'd the guy who did the window cleaning, nice old man, and he did a fantastic job. Got all the windows cleaned inside and out for $90. I can't believe what a difference clean windows make! It's amazing!

We have to wait til Jan for our annual "gift" from MIL. She gives each of us 10K to help with her taxes. However, now that she has an extra bundle of money with the sale of her home, perhaps more will be coming our way!! LOL

Bethesdaman - I didn't realize that about CF's! Although, we do live in AZ and we dont' use the AC at night. I also make sure the CF's are on for the dogs when we are out. I will turn off the CF in the bedroom when we're not there.

xamsx - thanks! --crossing fingers -- lol

dreamgarden - I would think twice about doing this unless the only problems you corrected were cosmetic ones. You have only had the house for two years. If buyers see how rough it was before you and DH bought (and refurbished) it, they might wonder what else the previous owner's neglected.

Ohhh never thought of it that way. Although wouldn't the "costmetics" you described be viewed by most as just a difference in decorating style/taste? It certainly wasn't in rough condition - just had a wild decorating style where I think the wife was an interior designer wannabe who shouldn't be! lol When I say the kitchen cabinets were "old", they're original to the house and actually in great shape. Very solid. In fact, I contemplated refacing, but the reno guy said they were excellent quality and it would be a waste of money to do that. So, it's not a case where the cabinets were falling apart - they were just showing their age and a bit dated. Painting them white really freshened them up.

We certainly learned alot with this house. When we look in Minneapolis, I will not even consider homes that need as much costmetic work that this one did. It was just too disruptive to our lives.

Does anyone know how I post a photo directly in the thread rather than sending a link to photo bucket? I've tried the tags there, but they don't display the pic here. If someone can tell me how to do it, I will post a before and after photo of our kitchen.

I follow the bubble markets pretty closely. The one thing you don't want to do is chase the market down. I expect prices to continue to go down at least for 2 more years.

You say you can "test the market". Just keep in mind that while you are testing, the price a buyer is willing to pay is likely going down. You could test at $244k while the market will only support $238k. Then when you don't sell and lower to $238k, your market may only support $230k. I would be looking at how long the others like yours have been on the market, price aggressively and get out ASAP.

You say you can "test the market". Just keep in mind that while you are testing, the price a buyer is willing to pay is likely going down. You could test at $244k while the market will only support $238k. Then when you don't sell and lower to $238k, your market may only support $230k. I would be looking at how long the others like yours have been on the market, price aggressively and get out ASAP.

I totally agree. I have found that homes that start out a little high end up taking longer to sell and usually sell for less than appropriately priced homes. It seems like it would be a good idea to "test" the market with a higher price, but it doesn't usually work out well in the long run. Especially in a declining market.

I also don't see the point of showing people what the house used to look like. They are buying it the way it is now, and really don't care how much work you did to get it the way it is. However, I would be interested in seeing the transformation if you would like to post pics.

Thanks for the advice, Charlotte. Deep down, I knew that. After all the time on this board, telling people to lower their price etc., now that I"m in the position, I have to take my own advice! lol

Having said that, we do have time to sell. My husband will be away at the Academy for 6 months and I'm not interested in rushing to Minneapolis where I don't know anyone and be there myself for that period of time. I guess I need to find a balance so as not to chase the market, but price it to get it sold.

Terriks - do you know how I post pics directly in the thread and not a link to photobucket? I would have to moved alot of photos to a separate album and I don't have time to do that.

If anyone knows how to post the pics right here, please tell me and I'll post a few of the before and after.

Posting pics from Photobucket is super easy. You just copy the HTML tag under the picture and paste it into your post. Make sure that the pictures aren't too big, so no one has do do any side to side scrolling. If they are to big it is easy to resize them using the edit button.

For some reason, that doesn't work for me. It just shows the link that is copied from photobucket. I want the photo to display in the thread, not the link so people don't have to copy and paste.

I tried the share url, IMG code and url link.

{{gwi:2048786}}

Hmm, I used the HTML tag to post this picture. Did you the picture not show up when you previewed your post? Maybe you need to change your account settings. My album is public.

Sparksal,

I don't have any particular words of wisdom for you; but wanted to just say, "I'm thinking of you & sending positive selling vibes your way".

Wishing you fair winds & safe harbor.
Tricia

roselvr - thanks for the tip. Never thought of that situation before, although, there must also be buyers who don't want to have to do anything to the home, right? Knocking walls to put in a 2nd bathroom when they can buy a home with one doesn't make sense, especially in today's market where people's funds are really tight. I will definitely take a look at those listings, although none in our area have one bath - all homes have two full baths. I'd have to look in communities outside our area, but still nearby.

I got the idea after watching one of those HGTV shows. The agent said to knock a room out to give the master a bathroom, but they didn't. It was then that I realized what some buyers may be doing / thinking when buying the lower priced homes around here. One bathroom may be fine to move in with, but eventually, they would do something like that in their own time. Beats having to spend a lot more money on a house with the 2nd bathroom.

We paid $238K two years ago. Curry house listed for $239K, other with pool listed for $249K. Looks like we'll have to list in the middle.

I hope to get $238K, but listing at $245K doesn't give us much wiggle room in terms of negotiation.

I would think that listing at $244k would be ok, but if you want to set what looks like a quick sale price, lower a little, maybe something like $233,599?

The problem, as you know, is people are out to low ball these days; the lower you go, the less negotiating you can do without losing money. Look at what happened to your MIL.

Sellers here are not budging much on price. I'm actually very surprised that we don't have lookers. If you look at what is for sale in my market, our house is reasonable; and we are not seeing people look over what they can afford. We're listed at $232,900; houses selling are $225 and under. If I was searching for that price range, my search would include the $250 range; but people looking in my area are not doing that. Keep this in mind for yourself. Also ask your agent to pull comps from recent sales so that you know what's selling. I've tried to talk to my agent about this, hoping she would print them but she hasn't. Since the contract is almost up, I'm going to be looking for actual papers being handed to me for this so that I have it to reference, so I can analyze for myself.

Another thing, see what commission your agent is giving. Even with our agent offering half; it's not enough to budge the local agents to show our house. She told me she was also offering a $1,000 bonus (which I haven't seen listed on research of our advertising), even that isn't helping.

Sorry; I'm very frustrated and getting more frustrated every day. I hope this doesn't happen to you.

If you'd like to email me the link to the photo, I can try to post it for you.

Terriks - No, it didn't display on preview. I bet the pics are not displaying because my albums are private! *smacks head* I will head over there to change the settings.

Triciae - Thanks a bunch!

Roselvr - I just checked both listings again and pool house is priced lower per sq. ft. than curry house. If I listed in the middle based on sq. ft compared to those two houses, I'd have to list around the $233K mark. If I listed btwn the two price-wise, say at $244K, we'd be the most expensive per sq. ft. Not liking that scenario. I'm not adverse to pricing to sell despite having time to wait, it's just a tough pill to swallow taking a loss. If that's what I have to do, then I'll do it. *sigh*

Come to think of it, our realtor did give me a spec sheet of the comps that are listed and have sold in the last while. I can't find it right now to see how in line they are with comps, but as someone said upthread about chasing the market, they may be over priced and I will have to bite the bullet. *another sigh* lol

Sounds like your realtor hasn't been very responsive. Are you going to change realtors when the contract is up if you don't sell?

I'm fully prepared to offer the going rate for commission and not cut corners there as we want to get people in here to look.

We are actually in a very desirable area, the houses do sell when they are priced right. We also have the competition of new builds somewhat nearby, but not too close. To our benefit, the lots here are alot bigger with mature landscaping. We are also close to the interstate which is a major bonus because the further east you go in Tucson, the more you have to tackle city traffic.

Another bonus for our area is that during monsoon season, our roads don't wash out and flood like many areas of the city. The new builds are in prime flooding/washout locations. Listing right now will be a good selling point for the monsoon issue because I've never been stranded or stuck because of the monsoons.

I sure wish we were in MIL's position! LOL She didn't need one cent from the sale of her house, but of course, she is not the ordinary home seller who does need the money to buy another one.

All these photos are prior to hanging pictures and decluttering. These were taken just after the renos were finished in February, so it does look sterile without pics and decorations. Many items have been moved around or removed (like the buffet in the FR beside the TV) and the cables btwn the Kitchen and FR are gone too. I will post the listing once new photos are taken.

Looking into kitchen from FR. The flooring is pebbletec and it took the tile guys over a week to jackhammer it all out from the kitchen, entry and bathrooms.

After, but from different angle

Before

Before

Before

After

After

This was the house when we took photos before putting in an offer. From the DR with back to kitchen fridge looking into DR/LR and hallway to bedrooms

After

After

LR before

After - we have put in a burgundy rug to anchor the couch and loveseat and a nice mirror with burgundy frame above the couch. What a difference! They will be shown in the listing photos.

Masterbed before - yes, that is horizontal borders placed vertically as stripes.

I don't have an after for the masterbedroom.

FR Before

In FR looking to front of house where DR and LR are
Before

FR After - we got a nice rug to anchor the couch and chair and we have an awesome picture above the couch of fall maple leaves.

Here's the maple leaf picture before we hung it up.

Hopefully you all can see why I've been there, done that before and absolutely will not buy a home that has so much wallpaper and painting to do. We're definitely happy with how it turned out, but looking back, we just don't want the hassle of having to have our lives disrupted again for nearly two months.

You put a lot of sweat into it! What were they thinking with the master stripes? Can't wait to see the final pics on the listing!

Sounds like your realtor hasn't been very responsive. Are you going to change realtors when the contract is up if you don't sell?

I don't know. As I said, I'm frustrated, I don't have a clue if it all has to do with her not being local or what. There's another 2 weeks left, so we'll have to decide what to do.

Rose - I hear you on the master stripes!!! LOL We bought in the height of the seller's market. We didn't have alot of choice in what to buy because homes were sold before the sign could be put up.

We like the floorplan of the house and naively thought that a bit of paint would be easy to do. It got frustrating b/c dh was away for 6 months, I couldn't do it myself because of the osteoarthritis in my hip.

Now that it's a buyer's market, we would definitely take more time to choose a house that doesn't have so much sweat required. However our hands were tied because of the nature of the market at the time. This house was the best we saw in our price range.

It's a shame we won't get the sweat equity back, but we were prepared for it when we did it knowing the market was turning. I look at it as we will hopefully get more and sell faster than if we just left it as it was.

Keep us posted about your listing. Perhaps a realtor familiar with your location would be better. Wasn't there also a problem with your home not being on realtor.com or something like that? I remember you searching for your home and it never came up.

Just think, had you paid someone to do the work, then it would hurt even more. I wish you lots of luck looking and hope that houses you find are in better shape then what I've seen for us. We're so disgusted we are thinking of building for the same price as used a little farther away. We've spent the last 3 weeks looking & driving around. I'm seeing what you just finished :(

The house is advertised on the major sites just not in the newspaper, or on other sites like C21 where they push their own stuff. I really need to send her an email to let her know what I'm not happy with, the phone won't cut it with the amount of pain I've been in lately from driving around. My gripes aren't big, but none the less have been bothering me. It's one of the reasons I didn't go with the friend, and the exact opposite of why I went with her to begin with; if you can understand that. I don't want to say too much.

After I spouted off to sell next year, my wife insists on placing our house on the market end of this week.
So, I think we'll test the waters of our local RE market in Colo. Spgs. and compare notes as we go along.
Best of luck to all sellers.
As a REALTOR it is only fair to be exposed to the ups and downs of buying and selling every few years. (I hope my next purchase is cash, but I'm not counting on it)

rose -

We DID pay someone to do the work and we took out a home equity loan. Actually, first it was a HELOC, then we locked in after everything was done.

The only thing we did ourselves was to remove the wallpaper. That took two full weekends. We had a painting crew come in to paint and retexture the walls and spray the ceilings. The sweat I talk about is the disruption to our lives by having workmen infiltrating our house for nearly two months.

The new window coverings, tile, carpet, paint, railing removal, cupboard painting, lighting and plumbing fixtures cost us about $13K for a nearly 1800 sq. ft. house - which included the pebbletec removal which took over a week of jackhammering! lol Even with the HE loan, we're still in good shape equity-wise, but the loss is still a tough pill to swallow. I just have to keep telling myself that we were able to make a large down payment on this house because we made so much on our Flagstaff house selling in a hot seller's market. When it's all said and done, we will probably come out even over the two houses.

Funny, I was cleaning up the kitchen last night, packing things up, clearing out cupboards and I asked dh to bring the crockpot down from on top of one of the cupboards and we found a bowl up there that held a plant so that water didn't go onto the cupboards. You know what was in the bowl??? Pebbles from the pebbletec removal!! Waaay up on top of the cupboards. LOL

On the plus side, we can get more house for the same money in the Twin Cities. Actually, the house will be larger because they have basements. No basements here in AZ which really takes a chunk out of storage space.

I think you need to speak up to your realtor. While the market is soft, it sounds like she has dropped the ball.

I know the frustration of looking at houses. I will have a short timeframe to look once this house is under contract. Many of the existing homes up there are similar to what we bought here - lots of work. The only hope we have for what we really want is to buy new.

Berniek - Let's do the comparison to see how things go. We can vent our frustrations here! lol I don't know how someone can just up and decide to sell their house and list within a week. We've been preparing for months! I'm with you!

"We've been preparing for months! I'm with you!"

5 hours in the basement today, the 4 car garage is next. The house is only 3 1/2 years old, it's going on the market for $294,500 Thu. or Fri. I feel your pain!

I *finally* hope to be on the market by this weekend also. I was shooting for beginning of July, but that never materialized because of 'circumstances beyond my control.'

New carpert will go in tomorrow, and I have a few more 'adjustments' I need to make, but will meet with the realtor Tuesday eve to sign the contract, *IF* we can come to an agreement on commission.

Can everyone tell me what rate they're paying? I certainly won't agree to 6, and am thinking between 4 1/2 and 4 3/4, on a property that will list between $435K-$445K, according to comps.

I'm in CA where the market has definitely taken a nosedive. TIA ;o)

berniek are you listing your own or taking a step back and using an agent?

patty cakes...
When we sold our home in CA we paid 4.5 commission. We did sell when the market was booming in '04. My understanding from the realtors we interviewed was that they discount their commission only on the high end homes. My daughter sold her condo in CA and the commission was 5%.

Here is FL it's 6% and they really wanted 7%!! For 6% they do nothing and I'm listed with a large agency. Because the market is so slow they won't sign a listing agreement for less then 6 months here.

It is taking longer to sell(here anyway)it doesn't matter what you do to "get it ready". It isn't the house. Most buyers are just waiting to see how low will the owner go. Most of the investors who purchased here and have multiple mortgages are again ruining the market with taking ridiculous offers just to unload their homes. Not of course, thinking or caring what they are doing to the market. I'm sure most of the RE agents here will come back at me for the above statement but again most of the investors in FL were/are realtors.

We are moving back to CA but we are not looking for a condo ;o(

Best of luck to you and ALL the sellers.

"Here's a question - would it be helpful if we had a binder on the kitchen table of the before and after pics? We stripped horrendous wallpaper, every room was a different colour and the living areas had old carpet."

I've always heard that buyers don't really care about what you've done to a house. I, too, stripped terrible wallpaper from my last house and had yucky old carpet ripped out and the hardwood under it refinished. I had photos, but my realtor advised not to put them out. She said buyers don't care what you paid for a house and how much money you've put into it. They'll only offer you what they think it's worth or what it's worth to them. Pictures of before and after really don't sway them much, she said, so I didn't go to the work of displaying them.

Good luck with your sale! Looks like a very nice and comfortable house.

rita 2007: Most of the investors who purchased here and have multiple mortgages are again ruining the market with taking ridiculous offers just to unload their homes. Not of course, thinking or caring what they are doing to the market. I'm sure most of the RE agents here will come back at me for the above statement but again most of the investors in FL were/are realtors.

Rita, I'm not a Realtor and your statement leaves me amazed! I sincerely doubt anyone cares what impact the sale of their house has on the market - they just want to sell to best serve their financial situation. Until my neighbor starts paying my bills, they have exactly zero say in the pricing of my home or the offer I accept.

The only thing we did ourselves was to remove the wallpaper. That took two full weekends. We had a painting crew come in to paint and retexture the walls and spray the ceilings. The sweat I talk about is the disruption to our lives by having workmen infiltrating our house for nearly two months.

I misunderstood the sweat equity lol. I figured you did what we did, a lot of the work ourselves, then brought in people to do things we couldn't like taping & spackling and making the linen closet. It was money well spent! The work you had done looks like it was worth it. I couldn't imagine having to take that floor out.

Yes, the disruption is hard to take, especially if you have kids.

"berniek are you listing your own or taking a step back and using an agent?"

My wife (was a broker for 9 years and has done interior design) and I have always listed and sold our own homes in less than 2 weeks on the market, I have a feeling this market will be different.

Well, best of luck berniek :-)

berniek - the last house we sold was less than a year old so we didn't have alot of stuff to do except to keep it tidy. This house has been a whole different ball of wax! lol

Patty -cakes -- You need to check what the going rate is for your price range in CA. If you offer too low of a commission, you won't get the buyer agents in to show the home. That can be a very costly mistake.

terrig - thanks for the info about before and after pics. Buyer's markets certainly are different, eh?

We're definitely happy with how the house turned out. Hopefully buyers will see it as a nice and comfortable home too!

rose - I wish we could have done more ourselves. I can't get up on ladders or do alot of heavy work and dh's job was such that it would have taken years to finish the paint alone because of his long hours.

"Can everyone tell me what rate they're paying?"

5.2% on the contract that runs out shortly; 5% is the typical commission around here and the rate our new realtor (we're switching to a Re/Max agency) is recommending. It comes out to only a couple of hundred dollars difference anyway. Many FSBOs around here are offering 4% to buyer's agents, they're still saving 1% over the typical commission but the philosophy is that the buyer's agents will make a good bit more than they would on a standard two-agent transaction and therefore they won't avoid that FSBO the way they often do. I have no idea if it works; after a lot of talking we decided not to go FSBO once our current contract expires. DH doesn't have the time and I don't have the energy or the personality to market it properly.

It took us 3 months to get the house ready to go on the market (too many people where I live are spoilt rotten, they want new-construction perfection no matter what the age of the house, so we had to put a LOT of work into the place to get it updated), and it's a stinker keeping it show ready every minute. We can't cook decent meals (because they make messes and odors - we like fish and garlic and other smelly things), we can't do our hobbies which also make a mess, we're spending all our time cleaning and doing yardwork instead of things we'd really rather be doing. I'm very tired of it already.

We are paying 5% - the fees ranged from 4-6% when we interviewed agents at the end of June. Typical buyer's agent commission is 2.5% of the above. Interviewed 5 or 6 agents. Many with only 4-5 years experience. No real experience in this type of market.

Decided to interview one last agent who sold the TH across the street in 50 days for 97% of their asking price. She has 15+ years of experience - what really sold me was that she was the only one to sit down and explain how to choose your price point. Since I am an analyzer at heart I loved it! So far I've been very happy with her.

Good luck!

We signed all the papers today - paying 6% commission or 5% if he brings the buyer.

We viewed the 4 bedroom house with a pool. It is vacant and needs alot of work. On its side, it has the 4th bedroom, but the house is in rough shape. Listing says freshly painted, but they had to mean the exterior because the inside walls are in horrible shape. Tile in kitchen old, dirty and shows age. The entire yard is taken by the pool - that's a subjective thing as a buyer either wants one or doesn't in this AZ market. It's on a corner lot on the main drag of the area. Ours is a quiet street.

Huge EWWWEEEEEE factor - fridge included in kitchen was DISGUSTING! Mold and crap growing inside. Something small, but huge turnoff to me. Dh and I looked at a house when we were looking to buy two years ago. Nicely remodelled, but dead roaches everywhere. It was off our list.

Closet doors off their rails, bathtub cracked and chipped, door frames, baseboards and trim terrible. Old 80's brown carpet in LR, bedrooms and masterbath. Original light fixtures. House was quite dirty and there were ants and other bugs inside.

Our house is in considerably better shape. Not dated, clean, no bugs, doors, frames etc., in good condition compared to this house.

With the other two and our home, ours is in the best shape and by far needs the least work.

Pool house is listed at $249,900. I was worried about going higher, but our realtor said let's give it a shot and reassess in a couple weeks after we've had feedback. We're listing at $253,500. Price per square footage is smack dab in the middle with other homes in the area.

Most recent comp from June sold for $240K, so that gives us wiggle room.

He's coming on Thurs AM to take photos and will have an infotube on sign. Open house most likely next Saturday.

Let the fun begin!

You all sound like you have worked hard and I wish you the very best luck in making quick anad profitable sales. May you have no tales of strange, leaky, or impossible buyers. May all mortgage companies recognize the values of your homes and the low risk of your buyers. May all of the mortgage companies remain solvent through your closings, and may you all find foreclosed homes in excellent condition with all the amenities you love in your new towns!

I'm not religious, but AMEN to that, Nancy!! lol

Dh and I looked at a house when we were looking to buy two years ago. Nicely remodelled, but dead roaches everywhere. It was off our list.

2 years ago the house looked decent but had roaches...
How did it get so beat up in such a short time? What was remodeled when you saw it?

I have to say that from the way it sounds, you just might get the price you're listing at. :)

Are you having an agents open or an open house?

Rose - the roach house is not the same house that is the comp to ours. We looked at that house when we were first looking before moving to Tucson. I was explaining how little things like that are a turnoff to me when I compared it to the disgusting moldy fridge in the house we looked at yesterday to compare to ours.

Our realtor said the price is realistic and he said that we should list a bit higher to compensate for the differences in the condition. Ours by far is the nicest with the least to nothing to do save personal taste updates.

We just wanted to have some negotiating wiggle room. Solid comp sold for $240 a couple months ago, so we're in the ballpark.

They don't do agents opens here because there's just too much on the market. It does sound like our realtor will do a good job of marketing our home. He said that he already has a couple prospects for buyers. I doubt they will pan out, but he does have a great marketing plan.

First open house will be next Saturday. He also said that sometimes he will do impromptu ones on a weekday and I asked him why he does that as there won't be alot of lookers. He said that the serious buyers are usually looking on weekdays if on a househunting trip and he will send out a mass email to a huge list of realtors from his company and others to notify them of it.

I will also approve the description and photos. Anything I want changed, he said to speak up and he will change it immediately.

I did forget to ask him about if he pays for upgraded features at Realtor.com. If he doesn't, I'm not too worried about it.

Glad I asked the question! I wasn't thinking about outside agents, but that stands to reason. If he suggests doing it for 4 3/4%, how do I handle that? It would be insane to tell him, 'no, I WANT to pay you more'.LOL If a slightly larger commission is going to attract outside agents, that seems the way to go. After all, isn't getting more showings part of the 'game'? ;o)

pattycakes - Yes, absolutely - you need the buyer agents to get a buyer! Typically, the agents split the commission. Don't get fancy with it.

So, first step is to find out the going commission rate - and just pay it. Don't cut corners on the one area that actually brings buyers to your home.

You could interview 4 or 5 to see what the going rate is to get a feel for it. Once you find a realtor you like, ask him/her if they will reduce their commission if they bring in the buyer. Mine will do that.

In order to save a bit of money, you can try to scrimp on closing costs to the buyer which will work out to be close to the same as a reduced commission.

Sparksals, thank you, and you are right! I met with my 'chosen' agent last night, and he directly asked me what *I* thought would be a reasonable commission. I initially said 4 1/2 as I wanted to know his reasoning for going lower versus higher~his opinion was exactly what you stated about the buyer agents. We decided at 5% as a 2.5 split would be reasonable to each, as well as an incentive for them to show also.

If I feel he's being as agressive as *I* feel he should be, I may take the initiative and ask if he'll consider a lower commission if he sells.

Sparksals, I didn't undrstand your comment 'don't get fancy with it'. LOL ;o)

What I meant with "don't get fancy" is not to try to save bucks by reducing the realtor's commission. You can find other ways to make up the money such as reduced closing costs.

Out of curiosity, why are you trying to get a lower commission? I know saving a few bucks here and there is a good thing, but lowering your price will give a better effect than lowering the commission.

Sparksals, I guess my thought process was still relating back to the way the market was a year ago~very little effort was needed on the part of the selling agent.

Realistically, he'll have to work harder, but still feel 5% is fair. *Hopefully* the property will sell for $400+K, which even at 2.5%, is a nice little chunk of change. ;o)