My parents have moved and left their house empty. Early in the selling game, they had two offers, but from fairly unreasonable/ unrealistic buyers, so we passed. Now my mom is saying, "We should have taken one of those offers, blah, blah, blah...Don't know what we're going to do, etc." I'm starting to get worried, myself. The house is 15 years old. It is in need of some landscaping (my dad didn't want anything except for grass) new designer paint (white walls throughout) probably new carpet (clean, just tired) and some updated light fixtures.

My dad is very unrealistic and says, "H*ll, any buyer will want to paint and change the carpet anyway, let them do it!"

We hired a newbie realtor, hoping that his enthusiasm would carry him through. It hasn't. Now he's saying, "Maybe we'd better look at lowering the price, etc."

Guys, I am totally at a loss here. My mom and dad are maitaining two households, they are retired and in their early 80's. They don't NEED the money to live, but, it would be nice not to waste the money maintaining two residences. They now live 400 miles away and when their insurance is up, the company won't renew it because the property is vacant. HELP!!!

It is normal to offer incentives now. In my area it is a buyers market. It does not sound like your agent has done anything wrong at all.
Infact your Dad is correct about people changing things thier way. You could have the home professionally staged it does cost something but helps sell the home. What are they offering in closing costs or money to be used at the buyers discretion?
If your home is priced too high with so many other homes on the market it will not sell. Being just a little under market value could help.

It sounds like the home does not show very well and needs work. If your parents refuse to invest a little money (landscaping, carpet, painting, and any other issues), then they need to drop the price.

Think like a buyer. They see the house and it needs a lot of work. Most buyers are not looking for any work-they want "move-in ready." The few that are willing to take on a project are looking for a deep discount (see the two offers you already received.)

One problem they now have is that the listing has probably become "stale." Agents have been through it and know the condition vs. the price. So many agents are probably not going to cart their clients over to the place, thinking it will just be a waste of time.

So, encourage them to invest a little money and fix everything or cut the price. Then have your agent follow up with a new round of marketing to let people know what they have done.

When we priced it, we thought we were pricing it a little under the market. So now, I guess we need to go up, buy carpet, paint and fixtures. There won't be any landscaping done, that I can say for certain. If we do all this, can we relist with a different agent and up the price?

If the market is just slow in your area? How will doing any of that help? Why not offer some money to the buyers to pick thier own colors or pay closing costs thier choice. I fail to see where your current agent has gone wrong? The market has changed all over the US. You cannot expect a quick sale unless you drop the price unfairly low. I do not recomend that at all. I do not believe you are here to listen but to justify your already made up mind on what to do. Yes someone will agree with you if you ask enough. This may not sell the home either though. Then who will you blame? Let me be very clear to you. IT'S A BUYERS MARKET NOW !!! There are more buyers than sellers in most areas and I feel certain this applies to your market but ask your agent.

Quote:
There are more buyers than sellers in most areas...

Then wouldn't that make it a seller's market?

:rolleyes:

I just think that our agent hasn't done anything. He's had the listing nearly six months, has hosted only one open house, I haven't seen him advertising this property like he told us he was going to, and the photos he took of the house, well, let's just say that my six-year-old takes better pictures. He got laid off from his job and went and took a real estate course, and now he has a license to sell houses. I think he thought it was going to be like shooting fish in a barrel. I won't ask my agent anything except when his contract expires. Why? Because I don't think he knows beans from sour-apple-butter.

He said he could sell the house better if it was empty. So, my parents moved out. When he came over for us to sign the contract, he went on and on about how nice the house looked, how well kept it was, all the selling features, etc. Now he says, "Well, the market is getting soft, you need to drop the price, blah, blah, blah..." All the things I would expect a very inexperienced agent to fall back on.

We have entertained the thought of offering a few thousand dollars for a "carpet allowance". We may do that in the end.

The two offers that we had were ridiculous at best. First offer: buyer offered two-thousand dollars less than asking price. We said "OK" Then, they hire an "inspector" who also just happens to own a roofing business. He says the house needs a new roof. D*mn funny because the roof that's on there was replaced about 8 years ago, right after a huge hail storm. We told them we'd pay for 1/2 a roof, not the whole thing. Then, to cover our behinds, we hired an inspector that said, "No way does this house need a new roof. Is it new? No, but it's got about 15-20 years left in it." We told those buyers, "No thank you."

Second offer: Full price offer, but the buyer wanted us to pay ALL his closing costs. We said we'd pay 1/2. He tells his agent to tell us, "That's my final offer, take it or leave it." Well, I may be hard headed, but if anyone puts anything to me in those terms, I'll leave it, thank you. My thought is that he couldn't qualify for a house in that price range, and he was grasping at straws. I don't think we've been unreasonable by any stretch of the imagination.

~~We said we'd pay 1/2. He tells his agent to tell us, "That's my final offer, take it or leave it." Well, I may be hard headed, but if anyone puts anything to me in those terms, I'll leave it, thank you.~~

In some markets you can be hard headed. But most of the time, you have to take your emotions out of the picture and just deal with reality. The attitude of the buyer shouldn't matter any more than the color of the buyer's skin. Work on paper, and if the numbers speak, sell.
--A

If the home was priced a little below market you should have gone up in price to allow the buyer to purchase with 100% financing.

Are you negotiating for your parents or is the agent helping out?

When we receive an offer, my husband and I sit down and discuss it with my folks.

I did talk to our agent today. He has had some interest in the house. We will see what pans out. He still has seven weeks left on his listing.