There is no defect that price can't cure ... if other similar homes have been selling, while yours hasn't, then your price is too high.

How low was the "lowball" offer. Did you counter and try to work it out?

Ask your Realtor to call the Realtors who showed the house & ask what their clients' responses were.

Nothing price won't fix

You think the sloping yard (or what buyers call 'yard on a hill that is unuseable) is worth only 5-7 1/2% less than the comps

The buyers disagree.

You are NOT gonna get what you want.

What you call "viable" buyers call No Way In Hell

What you call 'lowball" buyers call All That It Is Worth With That 'Yard On A Hill"

Feedback is that yard is a major issue.

What is not 'viable' is what you want.

It is not worth what you want - cut the price.

BTW giving your MLS number is just useless. It can be in any MLS database anywhere in the US. MLS is NOT a national system.

Tried the MLS # with a google. You are either a condo/lani in Hawaii or a modest 1930ish frame house in NY or this http://www.c21affiliated.com/Property/IN/47401/Bloomington/880_S_Romans_Way

If it is the last - yeah you have HUGE problems over that 'yard'. Looks like the yard drops away so sharply from front to back that you have a walk-out basement (treadmill photo + screen porch photos)

According to that listing, it is only a 7380 sq ft lot -- that is itsy-bitsy teeny in the Midwest.

That is an enormously steep drop from front to back - over 8 ft drop in just the depth of the house. Sheesh...why else the stairs from the 1st floor down to the ground in the back? You know that is not a 'slope' in the yard but a house built on a falling-away-hill behind the house Probably drops over 16 -24 feet from the front o the lot to the back - a huge slope of around 1::6.

With that slope (see screened porch pic etc) you have NO USEABLE backyard - unless someone doesn't mind having to mow going uphill at nearly 45 degrees and not being able to walk on the flat

Doesn't matter how much granite you put on countertops -- you can not fix or obscure the problem of the way the land lies .

Most important thing is always the land - any building can be changed or even knocked down and replaced. You can't change that yard - short of hauling in enormous quantities of fill and building a retaining way at the back.

No one into gardening is going to want that land.

No one with kids is going to want that land - can't play on it as it is downhill, forget a swing set for the kids and those stairs from the first floor to the yard are a hazard with toddlers.

No one with dogs who romp in the fenced backyard is going to want that land - hell's bells couldn't even let the dogs out to potty in the backyard without (a) dogs having to scramble up and down a full flight of exterior open-backed stairs from the first floor - in a midwestern winter or (b) you having to scramble up and downstairs to the basement walk-out doors. (And neither would happen with my elderly retired 100 lb Service Dog with arthritis)

No one who wants to be able to sit out in the backyard on the patio or cookout in the backyard will want it.

No one who is looking at aging in place is going to want that land - can't even get to the backyard without hiking up and down stairs.

Way too big a house for a 2-career childless couple - unless they have a lot of overnight visitors and entertain indoors a lot.

It is basically a gigantic condo with a 2 car garage and a patch of grass (sloping off to the side) in front.

Possible buyers = someone in their 30-40s with no little or younger kids or only with a lot of teens who are out and about with their friends but who have no dogs to let in and out and who entertain a lot - indoors - and who doesn't mind paying twice as much as normal to have a lawn service mow that hill - and who doesn't plan on staying in that house when they age.

Need to price it as a large condo with a 2 car garage and a view - not as if a suburban home with a backyard.

Of course you are not getting an offer equivalent to same size homes but which are on FLAT land! And doubt you ever will.

Oh and looking up the property history, if this is the right house, you bought this thing back in 2012 and paid LESS than $319,000 and probably more like $300L or even less (that was dead bottom of the market).

Sorry but no it did NOT increase in value 19-20% in less than 4 years -granite counters and paint and interior decorating can not fix that land.

There is a reason that when previously for sale starting in 2010 at $350K it sat on the market for over 2 years until the price was dropped to $319K. Stuff was selling well in 2010 -at least stuff priced for the market was selling and selling fast. Obviously this wasn't priced well in 2010 either.

Assessed value is $307K.

PS the HOA fee of $120 PER MONTH ......deal killer as that represents another $27000 in a mortgage and would get the buyer into $390000+ house with a flat yard.

I got a lowball offer on my condo. (Almost 20% Lower than asking) We countered close to our asking and almost a month later she came back with a still low offer. We countered again and wound up selling to her for 4% less than our asking price. However we were priced right for our market.

That hill will be a deterrent. If you are not getting offers, then you are priced too high

I purchased a home in 1993 - here in Minneapolis. It had a large back/side yard - but it was steep - bad / old retaining wall. I managed to knock $25,000 off the price (in 93 dollars). Put up a new Keystone wall - $60,000 - brought the entire yard level. Everyone who sees it, loves it.

In your neighborhood (or at least neighborhood to a buyer)

http://www.c21affiliated.com/Property/IN/47401-2426/Bloomington/3311_E_Mulberry_Drive

FLAT yard $359,900

http://www.c21affiliated.com/Property/IN/47401/Bloomington/3022_E_Daniel_Street

FLATTER yard - fits pool $389K

And only 4 minutes away - http://www.c21affiliated.com/Property/IN/47401/Bloomington/3600_E_Winston_Street

FLAT - very FLAT yard -- $349,900

Quick check on realtor.com shows

35 houses in your zip code with 4+ bedroom 3+ baths priced $300 -400K

Houses with your amount of land or less

(1) you

(2) 3746 E Villa Glen Ct $369K - FLAT access to rear yard (tons of landscaping)

(3) 2425 E Cathcart St - not built. Proposed construction

You are the ONLY listing in that price range that has (1) a way teeny tiny amount of land -typically 1/4 -1+ acres for the other 32 listings AND (b) a cliff for a yard.

Of course then there are these within 10 minutes of you (and to a buyer, the same area) http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2144-S-Bent-Tree-Dr_Bloomington_IN_47401_M45644-35673#photo28 and like you itsy teeny lot of .18 acres or less and hill for a backyard and stairs to get there -$269K

and this http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/4412-S-Sophia-Ct_Bloomington_IN_47401_M32760-40243#photo0 FLAT YARD -$329K

. THe big difference? The land is flat on the $329K and a hill like you on the $269K

That steep grade = a $60000 difference in list or a 18.2% hit on price.

Price = your problem = price because of that yard

You have never really cut the price - started at $379,900 - 364500 -356980

All of 6.2%. 4.1% and then another 2.1%

That's chump change on a percentage basis and niggling it down.

That yard is gonna take a cut of a lot more than that to get it sold.

I'm gonna take a guess that your "low ball offer" was somewhere between $315 and 325 --- just about where it would be after adjusting for the cliff-like yard. $315 is right about where it would comp with adjusting for the yard and $325 would be a gift.

Views on Zillow (not the most trust worthy data source on prices) are meaningless except to tell you people looked at the pictures and probably got to the last bunch that show that 'off a cliff' yard and moved on. Betting the 40 who actually came out to look at it hadn't twigged to the lay of the land from the photos and then saw it and moved on

Where are you all seeing a cliff in the pictures? I went through all the photos but didn't see it.

jewelisabulous

They changed the pictures after I saw them earlier. There were 22 or 23 -- now there are 20.

They took out the photo of

(1) Enclosed screen porch off the big yellow room with the treadmill (basement room) - one photo was much closer to the porch from within the rec room.

#13 just barely shows the screen door to the enclosed porch to the outside. The one photo that has been 'vanished" showed the enclosed porch, some big planter looking thing to the left of the porch outside and a huge exterior staircase on the right going up to the deck that comes across along the kitchen/breakfast/sitting area. (you can just see the deck upstairs in #10.)

(2) Photo out that screen porch of the yard going downhill to a fence

No point in taking out the pics o the backyard- can't hide it from a buyer who will see it the minute they walk onto the property. Faking it is not going get someone to buy it -- they will just be annoyed at wasting their time because of disingenuous photos that tried to hide the fact that backyard goes right downhill..

If you read the description, the kitchen/brkst etc are on the 1st floor and there is a 'rec' room in the walkout basement. To have a walkout basement means the ground drops away at least 8 ft . You can see the land slopes away to the viewer's right in the front of the house -#1. The 'rec room' and that screened in porch (under the deck) face the backyard - and the land has to be 8 ft lower in the rear than the 1st floor to do that.

"If" the OP's house is the one in Bloomington, IN, I know the neighborhood and town well. It's the city I practiced real estate in for 10 years.

One of the comments above has a few inaccuracies.

I can assure you that the $120 HOA fee is per year--not per month.

The lot size is normal for that neighborhood and is similar to what is found in nearby neighborhoods of houses of similar age. Some of the other listings mentioned are very different neighborhoods than this one.

It's also not unusual to have a sloped backyard in this area. Despite popular thought this part of Indiana is not flat but hilly. There would definitely not be a huge price deduction for the hilly yard.

In my experience one of the biggest drawbacks of this neighborhood though is the proximity of neighbors.

For a variety of reasons this town/city DID NOT experience the fall in prices found in many places in the country. The main employer here is a large university. There are constantly people moving in/out. Prices didn't rise dramatically, but prices also did not fall.

The house on Villa Glen Ct. is a duplex/condo which would not be used as a comp locally.

The new construction on Carthcart is likely the same builder as this house. That price will not include a basement. The lot backs up to a busy road (one of only a few east/west corridors) and sits near the entrance to the neighborhood. Across the main entrance is a commercial area.

The house on Bent Tree is not close enough to be considered a comp for this neighborhood and it is an attached home also. The neighborhoods are too different and the OPs is in a better elementary school district. The yard is likely much smaller than the house of the OP. The Bent Tree house neighborhood can be a hard sell for that reason.

Sophia Ct is about 2 blocks away, if that, from a local racing speedway. Very nice houses, but a hard sell for that reason.

The other houses with MLS's above are in one nearby neighborhood of older homes. Some have been updated--some not.

rrah

RE: I can assure you that the $120 HOA fee is per year--not per month

The LISTING said $120 a month

RE: lot size

There are 34 other listings in that $300 -400K price range in that zip code. 32 of them have larger lots.

RE: Slope

The photos are gone - oh now they are back - see below for link - but is it not a 'little slope." From the front to the back of the house is at minimum an 8 ft drop over maybe 40 feet -- and it keeps going down down down down to the back property line ..... you can't see it as they cut those pics from the listing late this afternoon

There is no way to get to the backyard without a full flight of stairs.

RE: Other neighborhoods

I pulled those last 2 listings because they were near each other and, while nearly identical on sq ft, and the matching on bdrm & baths, the only difference was that the one had a backyard that was flat and accessible from the first floor and the other was like the OP's house - no way to the backyard except a full flight of stairs. Only difference was the lay of the land - and the one took a big price hit.

Given that the OPS steep downhill backyard is un-useable for young children to play (unless it is sledding) and the sole backyard access is a full flight of stairs which is unsafe with toddlers in the house and one can't let them out the front door to bounce a ball so stairs it has to be, the school district - particularly the elementary - do not mean squat. It is not a kid-friendly yard or access to the yard.

Greetings Sachin Bhushan, it seems you are getting a lot of chump unhelpful advice here. I would ask your realtor to stop being "at a loss" and get over that "we have broken the record of showings with no reasonable offers" and do his/her job to learn why and what to do about it. Or, and this is what I would do, get a new realtor. Zillow is worthless in my own opinion, the deets in my zip code don't match the market or the parcel data at all.

jewel

Just went to close a link I had open and now the pics of the backyard are back.

http://www.c21affiliated.com/Property/IN/47401/Bloomington/880_S_Romans_Way

Photo #27 - planter/raised garden thing on left - big staircase up to deck along kitchen on right and the yard going down down down

Photo #15

Photo #13

Ann Scott-Arnold--again being argumentative--Real Estate is local. Having worked in this location for 10 years I think I know a thing or two about what is normal and what is and what is not acceptable to buyers in terms of schools and how appraisers will value things like a slope in the backyard. Plenty of children live in that neighborhood and in other neighborhoods with similar lots.

Goodness--it's quite an exaggeration to say one could not get into the backyard without stairs. I've been in 100's of houses here. I've been in houses in that neighborhood. My own property has a several ravines that are steeper than the backyard shown here. Stairs are not necessary. Believe it or not.

Look again--the fee, as I said is $10/month or $120/year.

For what it's worth, the listing agent is a limited service agent. I do know him, and he was always very professional and competent in our interactions. He actually did more work than I anticipated given his pricing structure.

The listing you are linking is a company that does not operate in this area. The listing is showing as a result of the national affiliation. In my experience when things are transferred in IDX mistakes happen.

I have a couple of guesses as to why this house is not getting offers, but not having seen this house recently I will not post them.

Per Zillow - it looks like you've been trying to sell it since last June - not 60 days. That really scares a lot of folks away. The photo that google maps brings up shows an overgrown yard, pity you can't get that changed. However, a look at the grass in the current MLS photo shows what looks like mowed weeds, but perhaps I can't see it well.

I would never buy a house on a hill again, but that is me. There is enough yard there for children to play. Unfortunate with all the fences...sledding would be a blast otherwise.

The wooden steps (in the back yard) make it look closed in - you would think it was a duplex.

40 showings and not a single buyer out of the 40 was willing to offer you a bid with your asking price. There is an elephant in the room. In addition, you should have a ton of useful feedback to identify trends.

I agree that there is an elephant somewhere, if 40 (holy cow!) people looked at your house and you have received only ONE offer.

Either there's something you are not telling us about your property that 39 people strongly dislike, or the 1 person who made you an offer actually made you a REASONABLE offer.

So, someone who knows the area and the house has a couple of ideas why it's not selling; posts that statement; then refuses further comment publicly? Come on! Tell us!

Things are very regional. Walk out basements are a selling point here. I had one and had children. Going in the backyard was not like navigating a cliff.

The house does look good. You can't change the yard, and it does sound like it is an issue if it has been mentioned multiple times. You can change the price. Good luck.

This comments on this post were so intriguing. The house on the cliff- I had to see the pics. The links posted promised the pics of the yard, but then they were gone, then they were back and then they were gone again. I expected to see something like this.

But...... it this listing site shows it to be much less dramatic. http://tours.janedanielsphotography.com/public/vtour/display/356141?a=1

All in all when a house doesn't sell in a reasonable amount of time the only recourse (besides waiting, waiting, waiting) is to drop the price.

I have seen beautiful above-ground pools installed on slopes like that. Landscaped lushly all around so that they look built-in, but with advantage of being easily accessible, removable, and not triggering a tax reassessment. A large hot tub could be done the same way. I have a question about how listing the property's address here, along with this long thread of trash talk about it, will not really kill your chances. What buyer doesn't google the address of a property they are interested in?? BTW if you're in a university town, wouldn't the best return on your investment be to rent to students?? Does the HOA prohibit that?

It is a bit funny how people are describing this treacherous slope! It is just a normal small suburban lot with enough slope to allow a walk-out basement.

I live in LA ... I suggest you come visit to view some real cliff-top or cliff-bottom homes!

In my town probably only half of the houses are on "flat" lots. I refused to live at the bottom or top of a cliff, so it did limit our choices. People pay extra for those views too!

There are also things that photos do not convey, such as odors. Maybe the homeowners have smelly cats or fry a lot of food and those smells would turn off most buyers.

I was thinking the same thing chispa or the owners are smokers.

I guess there could be a defect not visible in pictures. Smells, or a smoker like someone said above. A tragedy in the house. Or a crime. Or a neighbor(s) from h@ll. Or pending construction of something detrimental to the neighborhood. Or very close proximity to an airport or superhighway.

Littlebug, you are right... all of those could be a problem. And at least one of them probably is. But, the pictures are not really where the clues lie. It's in the OP's title and statements saying that there have been 40 showings and no contracts. I don't know if the OPs market is hot, slow or stable. But, usually the next 40 buyers will tell you the same thing as the first 40. I'd be interested to know the value of the first offer, just to see what the one and only person that was willing to bring an offer, was thinking. If, in hindsight, that offer seems relevant now, then go seek them out.

The home shows fairly well, so the answer is probably not something like staging or paint, or condition. If rrah recalls something about the neighborhood or this particular property, then it is probably concerning one of the items that Littlebug lists.

Sorry I'm just getting back to this--busy week and weekend with house guests.

Littlebug is correct on my guess--it's something we can't see, maybe cooking odors or pet odors, that is keeping people from making an offer. While I don't know the cooking style or nationality of the OP, I do know I've gone into many houses here that have strong cooking/spice odors that come from traditional foods of other nations. Sometimes it's the little things.

Nothing close to the neighborhood in terms of pending construction, highways, etc. Buried bodies--I don't think so--haha.

Again--the grade school for this house is the first/second top requested school for people relocating here. Middle schools and high schools here are all pretty equivalent. When people ask for a particular secondary school, it's usually because they attended that school or have friends with kids in that school.

A few issues with renting this house--first, the city requires a rental occupancy permit. It involves time, money and an inspection. The permit limits unrelated adults to 3 people even if there are more than 3 bedrooms. Perhaps the family of a visiting professor or a graduate student and family might be interested. I suspect the rent would be too high for a grad student though. It's also a bit removed from campus. There is a bus stop a few blocks away, but most students prefer to be closer to campus. Those that live this distance from campus expect to pay much less than this house would be worth.

I did look at the most recent (04/18/16) market supply report (anticipated sales this year vs. total houses available vs. pending sales) I could find online. In the 350,000 to 374,999 range there is a slight oversupply of houses with a 6.9 months supply. The norm here is about 5.5/6 months. In the 325,000-349,000 range there is a slight undersupply with 4.9 months available. If the OP is able to lower the price just a bit to 350 even, he may catch those in the lower price range and hit the range with the undersupply. Hitting that range might allow him to stick to price a bit more firmly. The local public MLS here does not list pending properties so I check if those numbers have changes.