Hello,

My wife and I are trying to sell our first house. We went with an experienced agent as we know little about the process. We live approx. 1 hour from NYC and are relocating to the midwest in early August.

Our house has been on the market for almost a month and we've had exactly 5 visits. Our house is on the lower end of the market price wise, due to size. However, the house is in very good condition compared to other houses in our price range. According to our realtor it is priced right.

Is there anything we can do? I am starting to freak out.

It's normal to have your feelings of FEAR and wanting to seek reassurance that you are doing all you can to sell your home.

Yes does your agent use homefeedback?

This captures all the agents that viewed the property with the buyers electronically and asks for there crucial feedback.

Example:buyers said house is too small.

What you could then do is find a way to get rid of the clutter and stage your home to where it appears to have more square footage.Also make sure your baths,master bedroom,and kitchen are top notch,this is where a majority of homeowners spend there time so they look at these areas closely.

good luck

Here is a tip for you get 500 business cards made up or have the agent do it.The cost will be minimal 30 to 50 bucks.Have pictures of the property on the front and details on the back then hand them out to your friends,family,and acqaintences.Someone might see your home and become interested.

Thanks for the suggestions. Yesterday we had a "broker's open house". Today we will call our agent to get some feedback.

The agent does use homefeedback. So far the comments have been mostly positive, but no takers.

Next question:

Could the lack of traffic mean we have priced the house too high. If so, is it better to reduce the price right away or wait and see if we get more visitors?

Thanks in advance.

If the price is too high, lower it ASAP. Listings aren't like Twinkies... They have a shelf life.

Yours is The Million Dollar Question of the Year - besides should we buy a horse (ga$oline). Mkt has cooled a LOT in the Tampa area/past 8 mo. My sellers are Very Freaked Out!
My listings r in every free site I can find, like Craigslist + paid for positioning on Realtor.com and other sites. I agree with all above comments. HAVE A PROFESSIONAL ABRIDGED APPRAISAL if you're insecure about $. I've been searching for inspiration: price=perceived value sells; agent to call EVERYBODY ever (mortgage, title, old clients) enthusiastic, excellent opportunity. One-on-one is The Most agressive mktng! is what is giving us results.
I have done Happy (One/Lunch Hour) House Hunting in downtown St. Pete. Lots of directionals, sandwich board person on st = lots of traffic, fun! Taita

Before you go dropping the price. Have your agent check comps for the area again. Its been a month, so there might be a few more sales in the area. See what the most recent sales have been and go from there.

I usually recommend to my clients to drop the price after 30 days, nothing drastic though.

When I have clients that want to sell there home quick, I usually suggest to them to do an open house several times a week. I provide them with signs, flyers, and my business cards and they put the signs up, usually 3-4 times a week. They get alot of traffic and it does help sometimes.

I know some people reading this would say, thats the agents job to do the open house. I am up front and honest with my client and I advise them that there is no way that I could do an open house 3 times a week. So far, I have had many clients want to do this and I think it helps sell the house quicker.

Our home is 4 months old, and $40,000 below comps. It has been on the market for 99 days (today), and we have only had 1 couple look at it. There's so much inventory in this area, that we can't even give it away.

A clarification question from Taita-The-Slave.

Worried seller:

Did I get this right? Your home is 4 months old?

You mean to say to us that you bought this home brand new, and one month later you listed it into the re-sale market?
Do you expect to "turn a profit" or to cover your closing expenses on both transactions?

I ask this because if there is new construction still going on around you, you are now competing with it.
We have turned into a Buyers Market here, and sellers in this position are finding that the Developers are offering to cover Buyers Closing Costs and in some cases a fat 7% commission to Buyers agents, plus a huge Bonu$.

Unless there is something very unique about your home - like it is a waterfront property, with a deep water canal connecting to the Gulf, loaded with a dock and a davit in an area where you can't get even a dock permit anymore; or a totally above builders basic: tray ceilings, double corwn moulding, real hardwood floors, Italian granite counter tops, faucet over the stove/gourmet ovens, floating sinks with high-end Kohler faucets, dressing room with built-in detailed rotating closets, double sided fireplace, energy efficient windows, radiant heat built into the floors, stationary lap pool, blah, blah ... you get my point.
These developers have sunk tons of money into their present projects, and they are cutting throats to get their inventory going.

So, wWhere is "home"?

In my area, the time for a quick flip is long over!
It is like, you bought it, you own it.
Live in it or live with it.
I would never advised a client to buy a house with the expectations of even breaking even on a sale under 3 to 5 years, at a minimum.
Real Estate is a great investiment.
It only has one bad aspect: liquidity.
You can almost never cash it in fast.

Are you truly trying to sell it?
What are you willing to accept?
Are you doing a 1031 exchange?
Are you willing to finance the sale yourself, or carry some of the buyers loan?
Did you take a assignable loan?
Could you post some more info, if your house has not sold yet?
Taita, the busy scribler

No, our home is not four months old. That was someone else. The house is actually about 60 years old but has been remodled a number of times.

We recently (this winter) put a brand new roof on the house, put about $2,000 dollars into the yard/landscaping (last spring and fall), and bought all new top of the line appliances (one year ago).

Since my first e-mail we've had a couple of visitors, but no takers yet. Our agent told us to sit tight for a few more weeks.

Being the closest to you, I can say on LI buyers are very picky these days. However, I have a house that has an offer after being on the market only 10 days. I do believe that many homes in this area are still very overpriced. Buyers know they are in control right now, and they have so many to pick from, and either one of 2 things are going to happen. Either you will wait a great deal longer (the avearge selling time is increasing here) or you will have to lower you price. Where in NY are you?

It's always about price.

We llive in Northern Westchester county.

Well the NY market is different now, so it will take time, but price can always remedy most problems.

This thread is a month or so old, but I work in Westchester. My office is located in mid-Westchester, however I have sold in Northern Westchester. Northern Westchester is slow, Putnam is dead. Right now that area is having a rough time. Even Mid and Lower Westchester is quiet. Buyers are in the drivers seat and they have suddenly become a very fussy bunch. A creampuff of a house will still sell fast, but if your house is in anything but picture-perfect condition, you will either have to lower the price or sweat it out.

Wish I had better news...in the meantime, I hope the home sold or at least has more activity.