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Anyone else trying (desperately) to sell a house in the northern suburbs?
Hi everyone -- It's been quite a while since I was last on here, but I figured it was a good place to get some feedback from others in the area. We listed our house early this Spring and were hoping to have sold it by now. We're priced right (according to the realtors that have been through it lately) and the house shows really well (again, their opinion and not my biased one). It seems as though all of the people who have looked at it have passed on it for a "bigger" house. I'm just venting I suppose, but when did 2000 square feet become little? It's a ranch, I get that, but it's the perfect size house for a young couple or family just getting into the housing market and you can't beat the neighborhood. Here's the link to the listing if anyone wants to offer up any constructive criticism. http://www.joeguli.com/address.php?property_ID=448
Thanks,
Betsy
Re: Anyone else trying (desperately) to sell a house in the northern suburbs?
Hi Betsy,
I've taken a quick look at your listing. I mostly looked at the pictures, because that one of the main things that draw buyers in. I can't say anything about the price because I do not know the Mundeline market. I can only speak generally. There are a few specifics mentioned in the description such as hardwood floors and a wired basement. Specifics are great! If you can add more go for it. The pictures are good, clean rooms, the photographer made an effort to show as much as he could in each room. Here is what I noticed (be prepared it's a lot)?
The front of your house looks bare. If you want to spend $$$ you could plant larger bushes. A less expensive fix would be something decorative for the outside walls of the house, maybe iron work under the small window?
The living room: It looks like this is the room one walks into when entering the house. It's spacious, but missing a table. How can one entertain in that room? There is no place to play chess or place a drink.
The kitchen: There is very little counter space and it just looks smaller with so many things on it. Try to remove as much as possible from the counters. Also find a new place for your towel, even if it's in a drawer or cabinet. The less you have out in a space like that, the larger and cleaner it will look.
Dining nook: To make it look more open and inviting try moving (not turning) the chairs around the table 45 degrees. That way when you look at the table instead of looking at the back of a chair you see the corners of two chairs. It will seem more inviting to sit down, no one will have their back to the room. Also your photographer should take care to not have a small part of a ceiling light showing at the top of the image, it is distracting.
Bedrooms: Remove the dog bed. It looks like there is no room to walk in that bedroom. Add pictures. All of the walls are bare. They are painted beautifully, but great color only takes a room so far. Pictures will add personality and mood. There is a fine line between removing personal items and staging. These rooms need more!
There is one room that looks like it just holds a dresser. What is the purpose of this room? Can you turn it into the office and put the dog bed in the nook that holds the desk?
Blue bathroom: Judging by the tile on the ceiling I guess this one is in the basement. One of the tiles is stained. It should be replaced. Also the towels are mismatched and hung in a messy manner. There is no reason for the shower curtain to be open in this picture.
I just bought a condo and I wish the previous owners had not painted everything a bland neutral color. Now I have to save money to repaint all of the walls! I love that your house has bright colors in every room. They are also shades that serve a similar purpose as neutrals. I hope my comments are helpful and you have the best of luck selling your house!
GL trying to sell, first of all! I'll send out some vibes for you.
We're trying to sell a house in Libertyville, but we haven't listed it with a realtor yet, just casually listing on craigslist and stuff.
Price-wise, I'm just not sure. Ours is also a three bedroom, two bathroom ranch house. The lot is 50' x 137' (I think about 1/3 acre). We've got a full finished basement with fourth bedroom, hardwood floors throughout the first floor, completely fenced in yard and walking distance to award-winning schools, Condell Hospital, downtown area and Metra and we've got ours listed at $299,000. Did you get any other opinions about listing price besides from Joe?
As far as the pictures go, the only things that really threw me off were the linoleum in the kitchen and the bright blue bedroom. Other than that, I think it looks great.
Again, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!
Thanks so much for the feedback and good luck to those of you also trying to sell. Most of the things mentioned by MoLotus have been done since the original listing pics went up. I guess I should have the realtor come out and take new ones. We staged the bedroom that just had a dresser with a twin bed and some wall hangings, so that made a huge difference. We always put the dog bed away for showings (not sure why they didn't move it when they took the pic to begin with) and the counters are cleared. Love the idea of angling the kitchen chairs a bit to be more inviting and the living room definitely needs a table of some sort. We know the kitchen floors aren't the best, but haven't decided if it's worth it to redo them since none of the showings have given feedback about the floor. Most are concerned with the size of the bedrooms and there isn't much we can do about that. I guess it's time to go bargain hunting and see if I can find something for the bedroom walls and a table for that living room!
Thanks so much!
Cute house! I agree with removing the black chair in the living room and I'd put a flower box outside of the front window on the right. I think it would add some great color and look homey.
Good luck!
I would lower the price, update your pictures and your listing info. It may be 2K sf, but it just doesn't look it on the listing. ?
I agree that people are probably passing your home up for something bigger. I just did a search for Mundelein and I think you should come down on your asking price a bit.?
1212 Ashbrook drive is being offered for $259K and I would pick that type of house if I was choosing between the two.?
sorry-- randomly lurking around here today... Cute house! I love how clean the outside looks & might just use your house for inspiration when we get rid of our awful siding.
Anyway-- the big thing that WHOAed to me was the kitchen floor. It's the same that was in my great-grandma's house. Recently we picked up 13"X13" tiles from Lowes for .68/ea for our bathroom! With tiles that big, because the area is small, it will be cheap & fast. Besides, with a neutral tile, the green walls will pop. The curtain in the yellow bedroom is way too long, hem it up. Everyone had great ideas about the black chair & kitchen table chairs. Put a small bed-standish table where the black chair is, somewhere guests can drop their purse/keys. I also like the idea of a flower box under the right window with lots of diff colors. And stage all your rooms-- get pictures up & borrow furniture from friends & family if you need to!
Good luck selling!
Usually buyers look at a range of prices, say $250m - $300m. Your current price places you on the lower end of that range and so those looking at your home can pottentially afford to go after the supposedly larger homes. Maybe ask your agent to send you a comp analysis, which usually provides pictures of homes and features in your area, see for yourself! My husband is a realtor and often provides this to potential sellers. When we put our place on the market last spring, we looked through the comps together, and aso through the other listings, and priced at the low end of our range. We had a contract in 10 days and were out in 30 (thus sending us to live at my p's until we found another home!)
Pictures are SO important. My husband and I recently sold our condo and have been searching for a house. If we don't like the MLS pictures, we don't even go see the home. THe pictures on the listing seem a little dark. You should open the curtains, let the light come in, this will give justice to your large home! 2000 sq. ft. is big....it just doesn't come accros that way in the pices, IMO.
Otherwise, patience is key. Average market time is longer recently. There is a right buyer out there, you just need to get them in your door....maybe a price drop will do what you need to increase actively. HOWEVER, August is a very slow month, so maybe you will want to wait a little, right before the fall season pics up again.