I agree with you, baths might be a problem. What has your agent recommended? How does your house compare in other areas, such as age, condition, lot, etc. In my area each lot varies greatly, some have beautiful views, some none. Does your house have a desirable location?

Friends and realtors who know your area might be able to give you the best idea. If you have a space and the home's construction would accomodate adding a half or full bath, then roughly the cost of adding the plumbing, fixtures and finishes -- as little as $5-10k or more. But if the layout of the home means a family would really want or need another bath and there isn't a way to easily add one, then it's a bigger difference. And it might be something you can't overcome short of a major addition -- which might or might not be permitted. Simple question with a simple -- or a very complex, answer. That's how I see it anyway.

Who came up with the asking price? You or your agent?

Also, what does the price per square foot have to do with anything? There are so many things that could make two identical houses have different square foot prices. Land size, location, landscaping, neighborhood, etc. You can have two identical houses built by the same builder, yet one will command a higher price because of the above items.

The house is in a very desirable neighborhood near the university and homes generally command higher prices than those in other neighborhoods. The housing market is extremely hot right now. Last year my realtor suggested listing at $650-$680 "if I wanted to sell fast", but we think that is too much and, selling FSBO with an MLS listing, came up with the lower price. We lived in the home with 3 kids for 23 years, so I do not think it is essential to have another bath, it's just what people seem to want. There are two bedrooms and a full bath on the main floor, two BR and a full bath and an office upstairs. Several possibilities for adding a third bath on first, second floor or basement.

I used price per square foot because that's what 2 realtors did when they produced comps. There are 2 homes very similar to ours ( BRs on both floors) on the market but these are all 65 - 70 year old homes which have been remodeled, added on to, etc, so there are some differences. They have more and nicer baths; one has a more prestigious location "up the hill" but has radiator heat and no air conditioning. The other has a weird bedroom configuration and poor curb appeal. Ours has a two-car (tandem) garage, beautiful mature gardens, backs onto green space, a first floor family room and large screen porch. We all have new kitchens, hardwood floors, and are well-maintained.

I have also thought that our gardens scare people off as being a lot of work, and we have an ornamental pond which would be easily and cheaply filled in but which concerns people with small children. Again, we are willing to adjust our price if it would help attract more interest.

Thanks for the questions and feedback, and hope this info helps.

Right, no master bath, and I know some people want one--this is something we cannot change at this time and so I'm wondering how to adjust the price.

A tandem garage is one car forward, one back. Not as desirable as side by side, but in this older neighborhood two car garages tend to be in short supply. Of the two homes I mentioned that are similar to ours, one has a tandem garage and one has a one-car garage.

Ah - no master bath. That's a deal-breaker for me.

And your pricing info comes from an agent a year ago? And "Supposedly" the market is hot? You don't have correct and up-to-date information, period.

Not having a master bath or even a second half bath on the main floor would be a much bigger deal than having a master bath annd three BR sahring the second bath. I think that's you're biggest issue. I suspect the gardens and pond are the other and FSBO on top of that. It may be marketing to get the right buyers as much as or more than price. That's an area where an egent can be really helpful.

You say your kitchen and baths are updated. When were they updated? Would you be willing to share your photos with us?

No master bath would be a deal breaker for me as well. Is the master upstairs or down? Can you convert the other downstairs bedroom to a full bath ensuite for the mstr? Or if mstr is upstairs, convert either the other bdm or office into an ensuite? The other issue for many of my buyers is that if the master is upstairs, they don't want the kids downstairs on the main level for safety (someone breaking in and abducting them, or with teens, it's too easy to sneak out/sneak boyfriends or girlfriends in.

I looked into that when I decided to add a MBR and discovered an additional BR adds ~10-20K or up to 10% the value of the house.

You may find different info, but that is what I found when doing a cost-benefit analysis. Searched online and spoke w/ real-estate agents to get those #'s which were pretty consistent among all sources.

You said you researched other homes. Did they have a master bath?

I hate to sound like Mr McNasty, but if I'm in the market to spend over a half million dollars for a home, and it doesn't have a master bath that has at least a toilet, sink and shower, I'm not interested.

I would suggest you call your local bank and find out who they use as their appraiser when they write a mortgage. Have a licensed real estate appraiser come in and give you the real fair market value for your home. S/he will be honest about how much the lack of a master bath will cost you. Once that's done you can show a potential buyer how you arrived at your asking price.

It'll be the best $250 to $400 you'll spend.

Agreed. Have the home appraised. Did the homes that sold have a master bath?

I have to agree that the bath is the problem. The other problem is FSBO. In a high priced area, you should properly list your home with a licensed professional who will comp it out and market it for you.

I wouldn't pay for an appraisal. This has been discussed before. Lender ordered appraisals come in much lower, and the one you pay for will not have the same confinements. You pay for it, the appraiser will want to please you and the appraisal might be higher. The bank pays, whole different ballgame.

Suzi, that may the case where you are, but around here that license means you do a unbiased appraisal. The banks around here don't have an appraiser on staff so they hire an independent person. If they were to appraise a piece of real estate up or down according to who writes the check, they would lose their license.

Banks do more or less unbiased appraisals. Owner ordered appraisal are typically higher because there is no one to answer to, and the know the owner wants it as high as possible. If they want referrals, they appraise high. There is no fallout from using higher comps that are not as valid as some lower ones. Banks, on the other hand, need to be sure they don't end up foreclosing on a home and being out of equity/really buried.

"If they were to appraise a piece of real estate up or down according to who writes the check, they would lose their license."

And exactly who has the knowledge of the absolutely correct value for a property so as to be able yank an appraiser's license because his valuation was a few thousand higher?

lol

And to suggest that appraisers do "more or less unbiased appraisals" begs the same question. Who says what the absolutely correct value is? (Does anyone believe that a given bank would be happy with a specific appraiser if that appraiser consistently valued properties thousands more than other appraisers?)

Lots of really surprising stuff being thrown out here.
lol

It's hard to believe a 2700+ sq ft house wouldn't have a powder room or 3rd. If it was custom, didn't the contractor suggest it? My home isn't a custom build, and only 2640 sq ft, but has 3 full baths. I wouldn't purchase a home that didn't have a private master bath. If there is a MB, and the 2nd bath is ideally located, it could work.

The house was built in 1947. It was not the custom to have so many baths at that time. It originally had two bedrooms, and like most homes in the neighborhood, has been added on to several times. Neither of our parental homes, which were quite lovely, had master baths, and our previous home did not either. And as I mentioned, we lived here for 23 years without one. Perhaps we are marketing to a small audience that will forgive the lack, but it is definitely not unheard of.

My mom and dad built their 2 bedroom 1 bath in 1946. We all shared that one bath. After they passed, I updated it and it sold fast with a bidding war. It still has 2 baths and 1 bedroom and it still has the killer view of Los Angeles clear to Catalina on a non-smoggy day.

It's not a negative for an older home to have a communal bath rather than an exclusive master bath, unless the surrounding comps have mostly updated and added that master. If you are comparing your home to others who have done that remodel, then you aren't getting a true picture of the actual comps. Then there's the whole FSBO issue and the turnoff that that can be.

You need to contact several local realtors for a CMA. They will provide you one because they ae interested in getting you to list with them. And you should listen to them, and seriously consider picking one.

You can almost be your own 'appraiser' these days. "Sold" information is online, as are photos and full descriptions of properties. It sounds like you have already done some of this. Have you toured your 'competition' on open house days? Are you looking beyond number of bedrooms and baths and square footage? (I wouldn't find a two up, two down situation ideal, nor ad hoc 'additions'.)

Ditto GreenDesigns about getting Realtors involved. Their recommendations would be useful, along with your own homework, even if you don't list with anyone. If you are serious about selling soon, I would list!

We are presuming you have done all the usual prep work -- de-cluttering, painting, repairing -- polishing up the handle on the big front door! LOL

Also...there may be a 'hot market' only within certain price ranges, or only for 'newer' homes, or even just for *smaller* homes. There are three large, older-with-additions homes in my neighborhood that have been on market for over three years. They are between $1.7 and $3 million. It's a smaller market, and few buyers are eager to invest the upfront cash that banks are now requiring. (You may need to get creative about helping finance the sale.)

When I look on realtor.com my selection criteria include 2.5 or more baths. So some people who are looking would not see your home come up in their search. Perhaps your agent can find a way to market your property to those who might be searching on criteria that exclude your home. I'm not sure how that would be done other than by market to other agents.

I thought I would provide an update on our home. To answer various questions: yes, we cleaned, painted, repaired and de cluttered it meticulously and it showed very well, especially with the mid-summer gardens. After receiving all your feedback, we did consult several realtors, who said they thought it was properly priced but would market if more aggressively. One was very helpful explaining about how buyers look on the web and drive by, and recommended keeping our front blinds open and using our best photo (three-season porch) first to grab interest. We planned to list with her but she had to delay signing us up, so we revised our price down to $619,000 and held another open house. Suddenly buyers came crawling out of the woodwork, including some who ultimately decided they couln't afford the house. We ended up with three full-price offers over two days. So it appeared that lowering the price a bit was the key, as well as being patient since the house is in a higher price bracket.

the appraisal that the buyers arranged for financing came in at $620,000.

thanks for all your suggestions.

Thank you for coming back and giving us an update, nadd. Congratulations on getting three! full-priced offers. It sounds as if you discovered what would motivate the buyers in your area. Sometimes buyers enter their max purchase amount, (perhaps $625,000 in your case) and miss out on some potential homes that are priced just a bit over. When we were getting ready to buy, I always searched at least $75,000 over our target, to catch any homes that might drop into our price range. Hope everything proceeds smoothly through the rest of your selling process.