Browse Forums Real Estate 1 May 29, 2010 1:39 pm Hi, we have listed our property for sale. So far we have not had any offers after four weeks on the market. Our house is on the upper end of the price range in our suburb so we were anticipating that it would take a bit longer to sell. However I am concerned that the property does not go "stale". What is normally considered to be the maximum period before a property goes stale. Does relisting with another agent help. Should there be a break between listings, different photos etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Re: How long before a property goes stale 2May 29, 2010 3:09 pm Hi there. 4 weeks is not so long I think. We have sold a lot of houses in the upper range for our area (as builders) and we found that in this range you just need one "heart" buyer. MOST important (esp. in the upper range) is presentaion- like getting rid os ALL clutter, making the place smell nice (flowers, baking buiscuits etc). Also little things like a loadly ticking clock, open fire lit (if you have one), fresh air if it's warm. Discuss with your agent what they think the issue is. Ask them to be 100% frank. Tell them that you will not be offended. They might have an opinion but are afraid to mention that Rover is a bit smally or whatever. They do this every day, and they want to sell your house. It can be price, but it is more likely to be presentation. We just sold a rental which was empty. Just by spending a day putting some nice furniture into it we increased the price we were expecting by $15,000! Good luck with it, Dennis Re: How long before a property goes stale 3May 30, 2010 12:59 pm Good advise dennis.. If your property is in the higher end of the market and is moving a bit slow you could have it listed for 3 months or so without going stale. As dennis mentioned you only need that emotional buyer and it is hard to say when they will come along or hit the market. It could take 1 week or it could take 6 months. Are you having many people through your property if you not there could be a problem with advertising, photos and marketing script that might need to be revisited. And of course there is also price. If you have listed above the market price of homes selling in the area this also could deter people from going through your property. If you are getting the numbers through but no offers this could be due to presentation or the right buyer just hasnt come along as yet. Ask your agent for honest feedback what potential buyers are saying about your property take it on board and work towards fixing any issues if possible. Try and leave your emotions out of the sale process and take on any criticism that may be presented. Treat it like a business transaction. Oh your question about changing agents if your happy with the one you have there may be no need to swap agents. You could try changing up the photos revisiting the price stragegy listed ie: you could have a range of different options, offers above, a listed price, price range or sale by negotiation. Hope this helps please feel free to send me a msg if you have any questions as I used to be an Agent also Michelle on the forum has just got into realestate she is very good and also does interior design so presentation questions could go her way All the best with your sale. Budde Design 3D Architecural Visualizations, Architectural Rendering, Artist Impressions, 2D & 3D floor plans http://www.buddedesign.com nathan@buddedesign.com Re: How long before a property goes stale 4Jun 03, 2010 12:47 am Hi, we have had around 20 people come through but not one has made an offer. No one has ever returned either. We have done all the things that are recommended such as decluttering as much as possible, making sure the house is nice an clean and in a great state of repair. Our agents constantly remarks how well we have prepared the property. We were expecting that at least someone would make an offer, even an unreasonable one. So far all they are telling us is that the market has slowed quite a bit. Of the two people dealing with us one is constantly trying to get us to reduce the price. The other one says we are not unreasonable in our expectation. I am not sure if the one who seems negative is actually the one we should trust and the one who is being more positive is doing so because he is afraid to upset us. So many unknowns. Re: How long before a property goes stale 5Jun 03, 2010 1:13 am snshami Hi, we have had around 20 people come through but not one has made an offer. No one has ever returned either. We have done all the things that are recommended such as decluttering as much as possible, making sure the house is nice an clean and in a great state of repair. Our agents constantly remarks how well we have prepared the property. We were expecting that at least someone would make an offer, even an unreasonable one. So far all they are telling us is that the market has slowed quite a bit. Of the two people dealing with us one is constantly trying to get us to reduce the price. The other one says we are not unreasonable in our expectation. I am not sure if the one who seems negative is actually the one we should trust and the one who is being more positive is doing so because he is afraid to upset us. So many unknowns. Can you give us a link to an advert for your home. People may have more feedback if they can see this. Re: How long before a property goes stale 6Jun 03, 2010 11:50 am inmho if you have twenty people come through and no one is making an offer then your property is being marketed to the wrong buyer, either the price indication is to low or too high. If ist too low people may come into it and no that it is not going to go for the advertised price or if it is too high people think they can get better value else where. Or simply the property is being marketed as something it is not, and therefore you are getting the wrong crowed coming through . Re: How long before a property goes stale 7Jun 03, 2010 11:48 pm Hi, I would love to add a link but then everyone will see the agent and that could cause some issues. If you would like to see a link to the property and agree not to add it to this blog then I can pm it to you. The property is a double storey house in an exclusive enclave within our suburb. It is very well presented with all the luxury touches that are in vogue. Granite, 9 foot ceilings, spa, timber floor boards, very large and many rooms, a block size that is over 800 sq meters. The block is nicely landscaped and well presented. The enclave our property is within has its own landscaped parks where children can run and play. We have people who come through, say wow and then leave. I fear it is the property agents who are at fault because they are obviously sending the wrong message to the potential buyers. Its like they are spooking them. The feedback I have gotten has been in some cases that the buyers were looking at a property $200,000 less, in other cases it was because they felt that another house offered larger bedrooms, in most cases however there is no feedback and its as if they do not hear from them again. I was hoping that they would ask every buyer what they thought the good and bad points of the house were and why they were not interested. I find this would give us very useful information to find the right buyer. I would have thought any property agent worth his or her salt would try to get this kind of information. Am I wrong? I have told them to get someone to make an offer so at least we can have a starting offer on the table to give us something to work with. I have said that I am willing to consider any reasonable offer. There was a buyer who came to the auction, had the right type of family and had money from a previous home sale. The agent let the buyer leave because she indicated that her offer was around $50,000 away from our price. I found that approach very frustrating since I believe that once a person makes an offer, then they get even more drawn into and committed to a property. Also in today's day and age most people are able to stretch their finances a bit to get something special. Anyway I'll shut up now. I do appreciate your comments since it helps ease my mind a bit. I have actually already bought another block of land and will have to settle on that soon. All the extra interest payments, which will be lost money, is what is giving me the jitters. Re: How long before a property goes stale 9Jun 04, 2010 4:18 pm Its got a gate but its only for decoration. Its also only eight houses. Its got a five hundred year old river red gum that is floodlit at night in the middle of the court. Its also got a largeish grassed area. Re: How long before a property goes stale 10Jun 04, 2010 5:05 pm From what you are telling me it sounds like a problem with your agent and/or your asking price is too high. I am doing the DIY sell as I can pass on the agent's comission to the buyer and turn around the sale hopefully faster. Secondly I am sure I can do a better job of selling MY home that an agent can Well for the sake of it here is the link to my house I have for sale. NOT using agent at all. Listing was FREE and I am still to upload more shots. Not available for inspection until July - so I am currently just generating interest http://www.homesales.com.au/buy/queensl ... s2774.aspx Re: How long before a property goes stale 11Jun 07, 2010 7:40 pm Here is the link. http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-craigieburn-106552611# I suppose it cannot hurt. Re: How long before a property goes stale 12Jun 07, 2010 8:12 pm Hi, I just had a look at your advertisment and there's a couple of things that stand out to me. Firstly, there is no floorplan in your ad. When I've looked at properties the floorplan was the first thing I looked at. If I was happy with that then I looked further. Secondly, I can't see any price or price range. Potential buyers don't really know if it's in their price range. When I've looked at real estate in the past I would just sail by those without a price range. I didn't want to waste my time looking at properties I couldn't afford. Thirdly, if you're wanting a higher price range than the median for the area it might pay to have the house professionally staged as this makes a huge difference to the appeal of the home. Finally, there aren't any photos of bathrooms, bedrooms or anything apart from main living and kitchen. It means that buyers aren't really getting a good overall view of the property. Forgive me if I've mistaken things but real estate is a huge hobby of mine. I've looked at thousands of properties and these are the things that seem glaringly obvious to me. Handover February 2011 Happy with our home Re: How long before a property goes stale 13Jun 07, 2010 8:59 pm Hi, thanks for your great feedback. You are obviously able to think about this clearly. It gives me something to work on. I asked the real estate agent about the bedrooms and floor plan and they told me it wasn't necessary. Also the price range is something they are not keen to advertise. I'll add the images. Re: How long before a property goes stale 14Jun 07, 2010 9:28 pm I agree with Robinred - I always like to look at a floor plan both before and after viewing a house - before so I can make a decision about whether house would work for me, after so I can think about things in my own time - eg is the lounge bigger than the one I have now, would my furniture fit here, did that kitchen have a window or not etc etc. I notice real estate ads dont always have a plan and I wish they would. Is there a flyer being handed out at open inspections or real estate office that includes a plan? Also, I do not understand the logic that photos of bedrooms and bathrooms would not be included - other house ads nearly always do include them, check a few out at random to see this for yourself. The logic in not showing a price range floors me totally - how can buyers possibly know whether to consider your house if they dont know the aproximate price? As a buyer it is very hard to make an offer without knowing an acceptable starting point. However re people going to open inspections but not making an offer - you have to remember many people (myself included ) just love sticky-beaking at houses - if your house is unusual or special or top-of-the-range you will attract more sticky-beaks. I am always honest about this and never pretend to be a serious buyer - usually greet agent with Hello, Im just haveing a sticky beak, sometimes they ask for feedback anyway and I mention the yard would be too small for me, or Im not really into purple kitchens or whatever - or Wow, as some of your viewers have said - but even though my feedback is "Wow" - I was still only looking Re: How long before a property goes stale 15Jun 07, 2010 9:29 pm I think you may need to either give this agent a good review - how much experience does your salesperson have? The photos (I am sorry to be blunt) are uninspiring. The angle of the front shot is poor and most of the photos are very average looking. Obviously taken by an amateur without the right photo gear. I looked at other houses in your area and gather your home is around the $500k mark. At least that's my impression. Not listing a price on property sales IMO is wrong - it merely generates ill feeling with buyers who are confused. Having a realistic price or range will attract buyers to your home, especially if your home looks great in the photos. As far as price goes find out what this house sold for in your street http://www.raywhite.com/cgi-bin/rsearch ... n-raywhite The internet now generates 80% of sales so your ad must be top class and you need a top class agent to deal with the enquires. Re: How long before a property goes stale 16Jun 07, 2010 9:44 pm Hi snshami, Great house, love all that space! If I can be critical though, the first thing I notice when looking over the pictures of your home is... clutter (and lots of it). Now clutter isn't always a bad thing - clutter is what often makes a house, a home. But remember your trying to sell your house to someone who is looking to make it 'their' home. This means it's time to pack the clutter away, thus showcasing your home as a blank canvas for it's new owners to make their own. Now as far as de-cluttering goes, be ruthless! Clear yourself some space in the garage and place everything (I mean everything, rugs, paintings, ornaments, clocks, flowers, everything!) in the garage so you can see it. Once the house is bare it's time to re-organise the furniture. The formal living room should be staged showcasing both its purpose, as a formal room for adults to entertain. Out the the back half of the house I would remove some of the furniture from the family/tv area - just leave the main setting and the black arm chair (that's plenty of seating), you can then move the lounges closer together to make the space a little more intimate... somewhere to sit back, relax, watch tv or have a good conversation with friends. That's about as much help as I can give without a floor plan (it's a little hard to say where exactly to place the furniture without knowing how big the rooms are etc), but hopefully this give you a bit to work with. Oh I almost forget, once the furniture is arranged you can bring some (no more then 25%) of your belongings back in (remember less is more!). I wouldn't hang anything in the entry as the staircase should be the focal point, perhaps put one of your nice big pictures back up in the formal living, and keep the family/dining/kitchen fairly free from wall hangings as there is such an expanse of glass (the garden should become the feature). And keep the big rug in the family room as it ties the seating together. Re: How long before a property goes stale 18Jun 07, 2010 10:57 pm snshami Hi dad and sue The house in the link you sent sold for 600,000. Thats a good indicator. You can calculate the selling prive of your home by making variations on features and size (use $1000 per sq meter as a guide). Re: How long before a property goes stale 20Jun 08, 2010 11:03 am Where does it say that, borg - I couldnt find a price range for the house on the link at all? I think the price range needs to be on the first link, not somewhere buyers can find it if they click further on - because many of them wont do so. They'll just skim past to the next house which does have an up front price range. I know, Ive done this myself. The estate Covenants (design requirements) must be included in the land contract. If you purchased a resale block then the vender is required to provide/include a copy… 2 9194 You might be able to apply to divert the sewer at your expense. In NSW you would contact a Water services co-ordinator and they would give you advice as to whether or not… 1 12945 Ask for some kickplate to be added and also for tradies to be requested to use lanyards on tools on that side of the building. Be respectful and have the discussion… 1 735 |