The paint. Seriously, way too dark, bright, too much color. Most buyers want a light neutral color, and not a different color for each room, let alone each wall..

I would have to agree with the paint. I know it's only paint, but I also know that different paint colors require different amounts of effort, time and materials (cost) to cover up. I would look at all of those colors and imagine the multiple coats of Kilz needed to cover up and then multiple coats of paint. I once repainted a dark navy hallway--not too large--that required 2 gallons of Kilz and 2 coats of paint to cover it up. It took as long to paint that 15 foot hallway as it did to paint the entire family room.

I also think you need to do a bit more de-personalizing. There are lots of what appears to be personal photos and other stuff on the walls. Take them down, properly fill in the holes and repaint. Put up a few pieces, but cut it way back. Remove the stuff from the doors also. A few of the rooms look like there is a bit too much furniture. For example, in the upper living room you could easily get rid of the black table. It appears to block traffic flow into and out of the room. Could you remove one part of the sectional in the lower level?

The primary turnoff for me would be no wood floors.

- curb appeal - front door - maybe a nice awning???- chairs out front, replace with some landscaping

- carpeted stairs

- a lot of carpet, what is the condition?

- kitchen - paint color prefer something similar to countertops

- green paint downstairs

- magenta bedroom

- pink & green bedroom

- nice yard - add a couple trees to hide some neighbors houses

Good luck!

Please paint every room a warm tan. When prospective buyers walk in, the colors may not be too their liking and see the work ahead of them or the expense of paying someone else. Have a weekend pizza painting party. ;)

There is too much carpeting for my taste. On the stairs, through the hallway, in the bedroom. What is underneath? Do you have wood floors? That would be a better choice. The bedrooms need painting and decluttering. The sectional in the bottom level is too big for the room. Take some of the sections out or remove altogether and put in smaller sofa and end tables. Make it appear more open and spacious. The front of the house could use some color. A few pots of flowers by the doorway. Larger pots on the patio to the left. That should get you started. Good luck with the sale. NancyLouise

I am sorry to pile on but it's the paint. Your house is already a bit dark and the dark paint colors make it more so. The colors aren't bad but they are unusual and probably clash with most buyer's existing things. All the painting is going to take a lot of work or $ and it is hard for buyers to see past that.

I would use the entry way color in the rest of the house and keep the blue bathroom.

Are split levels common in your area? If the house style is unusual that may be another reason why buyers aren't interested.

Ditto the paint. To me the nicest room is the living room because the color doesn't attack you.

This is off topic but deee_gw called your home a split level. We in the northeast have always referred to these as bi levels. "Bi" meaning two.

I used to own a split level and it looked just like this:

Living, kitchen, and dining rooms on one level, bedrooms and bath on upper level, and garage, family room and 1/2 bath on lower level.

Paint and carpet.

Painting is one of those skills that has served me well over my lifetime. If you are not a good painter hire it out. A bad paint job would be worse than not painting.

The carpet (at least in the photos) looks about 20 years old. HD and Lowes typically have a budget stock carpet that looks good with greiges and beiges. I did Stainmaster "Fireworks" for about a dollar a foot and it really looked good with my fresh SW Requisite Gray paint. I sold in 4 days for over asking, and my home was a split entry (our term is 'modified 2 story').

For your price range you don't want to spend too much. If it was a choice between carpet and paint I would do the paint.

Good luck!

Is it overpriced? I only looked at the houses on the side bar, but they all seemed to have around the same square footage and they were $50K+ lower in price than yours??

What Kati said. I just looked at the neighborhood overview and it appears you are 25-50K overpriced?

I don't think it's overly personal as some people suggested. It is ok to keep some personal items. The paint and carpeting will for sure deter anyone that is not willing to put a little work in.

Master in the basement is a big turn off. You're house looks very similar to my layout and if it is, I know that the upstairs bedrooms can be small. What I would do is make one of the upstairs bedrooms into the master and set up the basement as a guest bedroom. That way people have the option. The way you have it set up would turn off a lot of couples with young families, which is likely your major demographic.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9504-Elm-Ave-Mokena-IL-60448/5441009_zpid/

Use this home in your neighborhood as a guide. It has a pending offer, is likely priced right for the market and is move in ready for paint. Someone doesn't have to move in and think about updating, they can live with a neutral paint and later personalize it.

The price doesnt seem that off to me compared to your competition in your town. It is in the range for the same sq footage of homes. There are only 18 homes available in the 200k to 230k price point which could explain 20 showings. However, it does seem high compared to your specific neighborhood. That being said, with 20 showings and no offers, SOMETHING is wrong. The paint definitely isnt helping. IMO every bedroom needs to be de cluttered and repainted in a neutral color. They all appear too dark. The rest of the house seems to be neutral enough, decorated nicely and inviting. The first thing I notice when you walk in the door is stepping on carpet. YUCK!!! Your entry way, where you take off your shoes, needs to be something that can easily be cleaned! That isnt an expensive fix. This is the FIRST THING YOU SEE WHEN YOU WALK IN THE DOOR!

linda117117 that looks like tile in the entry and carpet on the stairs.

Thanks for all the input, I knew unless others had girl children they probably wouldn't want the pink and purple rooms, didn't ever imagine it would be a deal breaker. A little background on the house, Built in 70's, total rehab 8 years ago, every piece of drywall, carpet, windows, appliances are within that age. Carpets are recently cleaned, no stains no obvious heavy traffic patterns. The reason we haven't done hardwood is because the children are all under age of 3 and were learning to walk. Our master was upstairs and the green and purple room was the girls toy room, when child number 3 came along we put two girls in 1 room and the baby in her own, that left 2 beds in one bedroom and all upstairs rooms looked really small. We only moved the master downstairs the week before we listed to make all rooms look bigger, was this a bad idea? House is considered a "raised ranch" in our neighborhood and there are either ranches or raised ranches in our subdivision.

Here are a few comps

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/19525-Crabapple-Ln-Mokena-IL-60448/5441291_zpid/

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/19550-Beechnut-Dr-Mokena-IL-60448/5441265_zpid/

Thanks again, we just get generic feedback from the "no's"

Entry, kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry are all tile. The rest of the house is carpet

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the paint. ;)

Personally i think the purple room with the tree mural, and the navy blue room, seem fine to me. The doors are what stands out, and I see little things stuck on the doors. I recommend clearing the stuff off the doors. I have two boys sharing a small room, and their door has stuff on it too, but if we were trying to sell I'd take it down.

The hot pink room with a crib, and the pink/green room definitely need to be toned down...it kind of reminds me of a watermelon :-) I know my son, who LOVES watermelon, would love that room.

I remember looking at homes as a first-time buyer. It was hard to look past silly things like paint, or clutter, or even a small section of leaning fence! In retrospect we passed up nicer homes for these silly reasons, and bought a smaller, less-updated home because it seemed to need less work (ha, weren't we wrong) and was totally neutralized with respect to paint and decor.

So even though many people CAN look past things like carpet and paint, or personalization, the proportion of first-time buyers who can is probably smaller since this is their first home (most of the time). Good luck!

The paint would be a big issue for me, and it's probably the easiest thing to remodel, BUT first impressions can kill! People see stickers on doors, and roll their eyes. Have you ever had to remove stickers? Not a fun job!! You say the carpet is in good shape, but I would always have to replace it all because only God knows what's hiding IN that carpet. Not one person here has mentioned your roof, although you did. Maybe people knowing the age of the house see that big repair looming? Not sure. This is just my honest opinion. Good luck with your sale.

I have a friend who lives in your town, another factor may be there seem to be a lot of homes for sale right now. It a very family type community and maybe many people are trying to sell their home before the new school year. JMHO

Since everyone has addressed the paint I won't go into that.

We have sold 3 houses and looked at many houses before we bought. In selling our houses the whole house was spotless with minimal clutter. The last house we sold had a contract within a week and closed two weeks later. We repaired everything that needed to be fixed but the buyer found a few small cosmetic items we fixed.

When I am looking at a house and I see many things not fixed I wonder how many things you cannot see that need repaired. We looked at one house where the bathtub was dirty. Yuk! Now in fairness the sellers were already out of town and coming back periodically to the house. We sold our last house the same way and it was spotless.

I am in no way saying your house is not clean, just giving some hints what some people look at when viewing a house. De cluttering will make the house more open.

Also, cleaning the carpets will make a big difference when showing the house.

You are brave to ask for advice but doing small things sometimes makes a house more presentable and sell faster.

Good luck!

I’d carry the paint color you used in your entry/stair area throughout the house, it goes well with the carpet and is a nice neutral. It’s not that your colors look bad, but they get in the way of the move-in-ready vibe.

I’d also up the curb appeal of the house -- move the chairs to the back yard, trim the shrubs into a more natural shape, maybe change the front light fixture, add lots of annuals, and if the door is not an accent color, I’d go ahead and paint it in a nice accent color to draw they eye to the front door area.

The first thing that I would see when entering your home is the sectional on the lower level. The fact that the downstairs is so open to the rest of the house would be a problem for me, but I don't know how you would minimize that impression.

Purchasing25, the two "comps" you linked are not valid comparisons. They're each 1900-2000 sf - 700 to 800 larger than your 1200 - with 2-3 full baths rather than your single bath & powder room. The largest on Beechnut sold a year ago, so any bank appraiser would discard it (as should any agent) for not being within a 6-month range of closed sales. It was also an unusual sale at $78,000 despite Zillow's estimate of $210,000, so disqualified in any circumstance. The Crabapple pending sale at 2000 sf with 3 full baths is an "orange" to your 1200 sf with 1.5 baths "apple". Find similar apples in similar neighborhoods/school districts that have sold as recently as possible for comparison as a start. Compare your home to those currently on the market, including those "under contract" & "pending", since until a sale closes it can still fall through & you only know the listed price rather than the sale price & terms. Active (ready & able) buyers will either be familiar with these offerings or in the process of touring & evaluating them. These homes are competing for the same buyers as your home & are your competition. Littlemonkeys3's suggestion is one "apple".

All the neutral paint suggestions are on target for the excellent reasons given, including making the rooms appear more spacious. Concentrate on the bedrooms & get it done pronto, then post new photos on your listing materials. Honestly, the interior photos are bad, taken from odd corners that do not represent the rooms at all. The upstairs bedrooms are the worst shots, looking at doors & hallway instead of into the room. Take another kitchen shot looking down the room to the table & shots looking into the LR from the top of the stairs & from the dining table into the LR. Present the photos on the listing in their order of importance starting with the outside front, the public rooms (kitchen shots, LR, entry, downstairs room), deck, bedrooms, back yard.

You know the strongest selling point of your home. "(Built in 70's), total rehab 8 years ago, every piece of drywall, carpet, windows, (stainless) appliances (are within that age) (replaced with new)." That's what your listing & ads should trumpet, rather than "new stone face, front door & backyard deck". Bedroom paint, rewrite, good photos will present your house in its best light & prompt buyers who've already been there to look again.

If your roof looks like its on its last legs, get a roofer (or 3) out to inspect it & write up a current report & proposal for replacement if warranted, as if you're considering replacement (often free). Serious buyers will specify a home inspection & financing appraisal will include the roof's condition anyway. Knowing the condition & replacement cost is a handy negotiating tool.

I'd move the master back up to the bedroom floor after it's painted - and then paint the downstairs room where you have the master at the moment. Many couples with young children will want to be on the same floor as their kids with the full bath nearby & see the room will accommodate a large bed. This leaves how to use the lower floor bedroom up to the buyer, as a home office, playroom, guest bedroom, or alternate master. Put the toys from the lower level family room back in there, along with any overflow from other rooms, to streamline movement of agents & buyers through the rooms & present a more serene mood.

About 35 years ago, DH and I were looking for a starter home in this community (we still live here). We saw a house with a lavender bedroom and still today when I drive past that house I wonder if the bedroom is still lavender. THAT'S how strong an impression that paint colors made on me because that's all I remember about the house. Even though we were young at the time, we didn't want to buy a house and then immediately have to do something to it.

I can only speak for myself, but I don't care about paint colors, as I know whatever the color I'll be repainting when I decorate the house for my taste and furnishings.

The deal killer for me is that I hate split levels, and don't like the cheap 70's trim and hollow doors that you've got. I'm surprised that you replaced all the drywall but didn't update the doors and trim.

The back yard is nice, and the garage. The condition of the house looks good, and it's clean and uncluttered, so no issues there.

All of the pictures are so dark! I know some of that is because of the dark paint, but your shades are also drawn in a lot of the rooms. Open them up! Wait for a sunny day to snap the pictures!

Greg_2015, out of the first 9 posts, I believe 8 mentioned the paint. ;)

As far as the style of the house, "it IS what it IS". If you're looking on line and see pictures of split levels and don't care for them, why bother to look? It' not going to magically change into a ranch or 2 story...geez. I'll be listing soon and will be looking for a ranch and won't waste my time looking at anything else. Doesn't that make sense?

We actually bought the house after the total rehab was finished, didn't intend on moving so soon but we have out grown the house. Also the pictures don't seem to deter people from coming to look at the house (3-5 viewings wk), getting them to put an offer in on it is the problem. As far as the comp's go, I'm not sure how they are measuring their square footage as all the houses in our neighborhood that are raised ranch's are pretty typical (within 100-200 sq ft). Our agent measured livable area inside the house, outside footprint is 36'x25' and I think that is what they are listing. The $78,000 was listed but has since been removed, it was buy owner for $215,000 as well. Do you think $215,000 is to high to even get an offer? Also, knowing that the house will be needing a roof, would you rather negotiate the cost off of the list price or just offer a roof incentive/allowance upfront?

Either price your home considering that the roof needs replaced OR replace it yourselves. If you offer an allowance, the buyers will take it AND will discount the list price. They'll do so because of the hassle factor of arranging the re-roofing themselves and because they'll assume the allowance won't cover the actual cost of a new roof.

To help put the split level debate into perspective: I am also familiar with this area. Split levels are VERY common, and generally looked at positively as a means of getting extra space. I would definitely not blame it on the split level.

As far as the sq footage--my guess is that they are all similar in size or at least within a couple hundred feet. Some agents appear to be only counting the upper level and others are counting both levels.

OP--people will look at pictures and think "Maybe it won't be so bad. Let's see it." Once they are overwhelmed with the colors and the kids personal stuff it's too much.

If I were an agent there trying to sell my listing, I'd be taking buyers to see that home, and saying "this is what people are asking ($) for...mine is X sf larger, doesn't need paint, and less money (or same price). I'd use it to sell against, since it doesn't show well, and is smaller that similarly priced homes. So you could be getting a lot of showings for that reason.

Linda do agents actually DO that? I guess I'm not surprised, but how awful to be the person trying to sell and agents are going to the house to point out its shortcomings and why the buyers should choose some other property.

Yes, Melle, they do do that. I've bought too many homes in too many States and had it happen in every one. I quickly stop using realtors who do this since it's a waste of my time and energy.

And, you all have me worried about all the rich colors on my walls.... IF I ever want to sell. ;-)

Even if the agents aren't showing the house for it's shortcomings, the buyers are comparing your house to others they are viewing in the area. And you can bet those are the types of things they are thinking.

@CA Kate: Every house, neutral or no, needs fresh paint to show well, and houses need to show well to get their max price at selling. In all my years of painting and repainting rooms, I’ve never had a room that needed more than two coats of paint (and primer in my pre-BM Aura days -- now I can get by with just the two coats of paint), and never less than two coats of paint, even if covering white or beige. So don’t let the need to repaint boldly colored rooms scare you - you’re gonna have to repaint anyway, and it makes little difference what color you’re going over.

Kris_MA Some of those colors are not two coat paints. I recently painted over a 1990's forest green bedroom and it took 1 coat of primer and 3 coats of white paint.

Every room in this house needed a face lift and had 90's colors and wallpaper. It turned off many buyers. The seller told me that people said it was too much work. Lucky for us we aren't afraid of work, but we did manage to get this house for a great price because of it. That's NOT what you want. You want to get the best price you can, as quickly you can. I am actually surprised your agent didn't mention painting some of the rooms. It's one thing if it's a sellers market but it doesn't seem like that is the case where you are.

Certain rooms of your house may be appearing dark and gloomy because of the paint choices. But in addition, I notice that there is not one lamp in any photo, not even bedside lamps, which means you are relying solely on the overhead light fixtures when showing the house. One center ceiling light fixtures doesn't put out adequate light for a room, and the light it provides is not attractive. You need other light sources in the rooms.

As for the comment that the on-line photos are producing showings, that is true, but you don't know how many people are not coming for a showing based on the photos.

For me I would want less carpet (more hardwood floors) and neutral paint colors.

The paint!!! This was posted last week. Almost a week ago. Just wondering if any painting has been done? There are way too many colors. You have an updated kitchen(nice appliances). The scalloped piece above the sink needs to be pulled down. I would also take the mirror down. Go to home goods and pick up salad plates. Then grab some plate hangers from Home Depot. Hang those above the sink.

I am not a fan of those doors and closet doors. I also think you are way over priced. From looking at OTM. I think about 30,000

Painting needs to happen pronto. Best wishes to you. It is a lot having 3 little ones and your house on the market.

I want to add. lowes and Home Depot are both having paint sales this week. Home Depot guareentees their new marque line will cover in one coat.

So since I last posted, I have been taking everything in stride. I will definitely keep painting as an option but we did receive 2 offers over the weekend, we will be awaiting final offers tomorrow and hopefully the new owners will be able to paint the rooms the color of THEIR choice! Thanks to everyone that posted I really do appreciate it.

This is great!! And you do not need to paint!! I am glad it worked out for you!