Need creative ideas to get this house sold!

**mateosbaby** · 03-29-2009, 11:15 PM

OK, we are so sick of showings that go nowhere (mainly, we are sick of cleaning every day and having the people really hate our house - too small, bad layout, whatever). Baby is due in mid-May, and that's only about 6 weeks away! And all our baby stuff is in storage, and I really hate the thought of having to re-buy everything when I have it sitting in the driveway, just not accessible. Short of dropping the price yet again, which we've done many times and are now the lowest in our neighborhood (even same price as houses with less sq. ft. and fewer bedrooms, etc), what else can we do? We are working with an agent, who is very good, but in this market, we need to do something more. Any ideas?

ETA: If you're the praying type, we would appreciate those, as well!

**ml2620** · 03-30-2009, 08:11 AM

First off, we are Catholic, but my aunt buried a statue of St. Joseph in her yard after six frustrating months of not selling her house. It sold within 3 weeks.

http://www.snopes.com/luck/stjoseph.asp

Secondly, instead of showings, what about hosting a party so buyers can come in and see how the house functions in action?

Lastly, I don't know what your circumstances are, but maybe take the house off the market, enjoy the last six weeks of pregnancy and a new born, and put the house back on the market in the Fall for a new crop of buyers.

**Greebo** · 03-30-2009, 08:24 AM

You could tell the agent to update the listing to say "Motivated seller", however that will result in buyers offering lowball bids.

**Michelle** · 03-30-2009, 08:27 AM

Have you watched any of the real estate shows on HGTV and TLC? There's a show on HGTV called Designed to Sell. Maybe watch that one or the other shows for ideas?

Sorry you're having a tough time selling--the market is really bad now. I hope you are able to sell it soon!

**Momto2Boyz** · 03-30-2009, 08:29 AM

Do what they do on those TV shows! Find out what people's complaints are and try to fix them (at least what you can fix without dropping a ton of money).

Try to remember what features attracted you to the house and play them up, but also try to showcase the features that you love. Has a great fireplace? Make sure its a focal point in a room, just make the house work to your advantage!

And remember, the less furniture in a house, the bigger it looks! So if you have "extra" furniture that can be put into storage, do it. Space sells a house pretty quickly!

**Denvergirlie** · 03-30-2009, 08:50 AM

If I remember the last thread you posted about your house had a lot of good ideas in terms of using your space better. [ame="http://www.frugalvillage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117170"]What would you do? - Frugal Village Forums[/ame]

You had decultered to the max and it ended up looking stark and un-lived in.

That's what I would start with. Staging it to show how to use the space, as you've got a lot of dead space in the house.

If you don't show people how to use the space, they themselves will have no idea how to live in the house either.

**PrairieGirl** · 03-30-2009, 12:34 PM

Some ideas:

-repaint all the walls a warm, neutral color
-add some plants or fresh flowers in vases (creates an inviting space)
-get some sheer curtains that let a lot of light in and create a light and flowy feeling to your house
-make sure the house smells nice when people come see it (think scented candles, oils, etc.)

Could you post some pictures of what your house looks like now so we can comment? That might give you some great ideas on first impressions!

**kmonokwe** · 03-30-2009, 01:30 PM

Sara, I read your last thread about your frustrations with your home, and I'm so sorry this has been such a struggle for you guys!

I know you don't want to hear this, but my suggestion would be (based on your comment about prayers, I assume you're praying people

) that perhaps your difficulty with this home is an indication that you need to unpack that storage, sell some stuff (so your house isn't stuffed to the brim with all of your things in storage), and LIVE in your home. Moving is one of the most stressful things in life - up there with divorce and death of a loved one! I was glad to read in your other thread that you are making changes in the way you're living in this house...how is that going?

I agree with ml2620's idea of taking it off the market for awhile - let the stress of keeping the place immaculate go for awhile, enjoy your wonderful new baby!

**2ndGenGranola** · 03-30-2009, 01:36 PM

I agree with those who said to "live" in a home. You want it to feel warm and loved. Even the "weirdest" home that is "loved" will be warm and sell. Do something "out of the box" with some of you difficult areas. Make it say "fun" not "difficult".

**Denvergirlie** · 03-30-2009, 01:55 PM

Originally Posted by PrairieGirl

Could you post some pictures of what your house looks like now so we can comment? That might give you some great ideas on first impressions!

There are photos of her house in the other thread, see my above post with link to that thread. She had a link within that thread to the real estate listing that thus had photos of the spaces.

**elphie** · 03-30-2009, 04:38 PM

I'm agreeing with Sarah about staging... lots of space, a good flow with the furniture, nothing hanging on the fridge, clear counter tops so people don't think there isn't enough cabinet space, recaulking areas around sinks and tubs if the original is discolored, etc. Its about subtly suggesting to the buyers, "It's so easy to be organized and tidy here!"

On the tv shows with stagers they always have the space decorated but not with personal items. For example, if you have family pictures hanging up buy a decorative calendar and do a photo grouping with the pics in the same frames.

If you have a spare bedroom being used for more than one use pack up the stuff for one of those uses. An office sells better than a guest room/office because a dual use room reminds buyers that there isn't as much space.

Make sure you have good curb appeal! Concrete paint to dress up the front walk, bird feeders, and inexpensive flowers (if you put them in large planters or hanging pots you can take them with you when you move) go a long way.

Good luck!

ETA: After looking at you're pics I notice that some rooms are really jam packed (the office and the little girls room) while others are bare, is there any way you can move some things around to accomplish two goals- make it look more homey and lived in while also deemphasizing some of the smaller spaces. I'd also take down the awnings, I think they are charming but others may like shutters or plain windows and this could interfere with the curb appeal. And definately get some matching frames (cheap at the dollar store and spray painted to all one color) to put in prints and do photo groupings, people like to see things hanging on the wall! HTH.

**Thevail** · 03-30-2009, 04:54 PM

When you're going to have someone coming over...

Bake cinammon rolls..wierd but it works. I heard it ranks as most people favorite smell, a combination of the holidays (cinnamon) and fresh baked bread.

Wash and iron your curtains..once again, sounds wierd, but clean sparkling curtains make a house look "newer".

A new shower curtain can work wonders for an old bathroom. No one wants to see soap scum.

Get some cheap but pretty silk flowers and tie your realtors card with the address of the house written on the back to it with pretty thin ribbon. Give one to each woman that stops by. It's so easy to lose the cards or forget where that particular house was when you're seeing a couple a day for several weeks.

Make sure that there is something interesting or pretty to see out of each window in your house. People take away a great impression of the place that way.

**PrairieGirl** · 03-30-2009, 05:18 PM

Originally Posted by Denvergirlie

There are photos of her house in the other thread, see my above post with link to that thread. She had a link within that thread to the real estate listing that thus had photos of the spaces.

Ah thank you! I missed it originally!

From the pictures, you definitly need to put things in your house to make it look lived in. I think a fresh coat of paint in the living room and sheer curtains on the windows will do wonders; a nice plant on the mantel would also look nice.

As for the kitchen, a few items on the countertops would be nice (jars of spices, or herbs), again a few plants, some kids drawings on the fridge....

The bedrooms also need some personal touches.

From the looks of it, your house is rather cute, I really like it! But its just too bare!

Good luck!

**FrugalMomof3** · 03-30-2009, 05:51 PM

Hi there,

Ok I had to go back to your old post and here are some suggestions:

The small bedroom with the 2 kids twin beds, hummmm looks small with both the beds in there, anyway to just have one bed and add a dresser, will make it look more like a bedroom.

The foyer? or small room with the beautiful chandelier in it, OMG that is toooooo die for, make that a focal point, add a small loveseat with a table a light, put some magazines on the table, etc...

Your living room has a fireplace.... show that off! I would love a fireplace

Small rooms with too much stuff makes it look even smaller. Big rooms are great so show off the assets it has. Your kitchen is beautiful BTW.

**mateosbaby** · 03-30-2009, 07:12 PM

Thanks for all your replies. As for personal-type stuff and making the house look "lived in," just about any Realtor will tell you that the less stuff you have in a house, the better. And absolutely no personal stuff out at all (especially pics on walls, even kids' drawings and magnets on the fridge, etc.). We talked with several before fixing up the place and again before actually putting it on the market, and every one of them said these things.

I do agree we need to get stuff out of those small rooms upstairs. It's been tough trying to decide if this will be good or bad for the sale, though. Just moving an office downstairs isn't bad, but to switch rooms with the kids might be. I need to talk to our realtor again about this. She never did give me an answer when I emailed the first time. Now that Baby is almost here, we most definitely need to rearrange something quickly.

With the creative ideas I was looking for, I saw a lot online that work with FSBO, but not necessarily with a realtor. We could offer to pay points or some such thing, but not sure how much out of pocket we'd be paying at closing (and thus saving up even more for our own closing and buying of another home). How much would something like that cost? Anyone know?

We thought about renting, but everyone here seemed adamant that it was not a good idea.

We thought about rent-to-own, or seller financing, but that seems awfully risky in these hard economic times. I'd rather a bank have to deal with foreclosure or late payments than me, KWIM? We are thinking seriously about being "motivated sellers" (because in a way we are), but at the same time, those lowball offers are kind of scary, too. We just had a showing yesterday, and in the feedback they suggested lowering the price to $105,000. Another guy a couple weeks ago suggested $90,000! But those are foreclosure prices, and while I know we are competing with foreclosures, there comes a point when you just plain can't, ya know? I am thinking lowering the price yet again is just the only way to go, but as it is almost any offer we get below our $119,000 asking price will leave more money still on the original mortgage and therefore less money available for the next house. We still owe about $105,000 on this house, plus paying the realtor, plus the home warranty, plus closing costs, etc on this house, plus the down payment, closing costs, etc. on the next house. Ach, so frustrating and confusing as to what to do, what to do.

BTW, the paint in the living room IS new! LOL We just painted over the ugly brown wood paneling that was in there and got rid of the nasty green 60s carpet (which was filled with dust mites, btw - YUCK!). All the curtains and drapes were nasty when we moved in, so down and in the garbage they went. Still have more to get rid of, actually, out in the sun room. Those are brown instead of white now... We also painted upstairs, and we've touched up all caulking. There's not much in the way of cleaning we can do now, except the regular stuff and touch ups. Our furnace and water heater are very old, but with the home warranty, it doesn't seem to be affecting people much. We've only had one feedback concerning those, and that was a long, long time ago.

Anyway, off to keep thinking. Wish me luck!