A friend of mine listed her Mom's house nearly a year ago - only one low offer, not accepted, two big price drops and relatively few showings since.
It is listed with another agent - another of her good friend's. I received a message from her the other day - can you help? Should we paint? Upgrade? Anything to sell it? My response? Stop waiting for the right buyer and just price the home right.
Why hasn't that been done? Because:
1) The son, my friend's brother, tells mom that the right buyer will come along
2) Son says Mom's house is worth more than what it's listed for - just wait it out.
3) Son says the agent is just not doing their job - it needs marketing, open houses, etc.
Why is this type of thinking a mistake?
1) Nobody is going to love your home or be attached to it like you are.
2) The "right" family still won't overpay for a home.
3) As for the agent - I wouldn't spend money to market an overpriced home either - the job of the agent should have been to facilitate pricing the home correctly from the beginning.
Mom makes all the decisions about the house - it is her right to be overly attached and keep it overpriced. Because the agent is a friend of the family - perhaps her emotions are getting in the way of having a price talk with Mom.
Back to my friend's question - what can be done - anything to sell the house? Nothing - until Mom changes her mind about the price. And what is the fallout from this? Depends on how you look at it - Mom clearly thinks there is no fall out (even though she complains that the house hasn't sold and someone should do something about it!)
But there are fallouts to think about if you are overly attached and overpriced to a house that is not selling:
1) Consider what it is costing you to continue owning a home that sits vacant on the market - at some point it will turn "negative" and will cost more than a price drop would.
2) The longer it sits on the market - the less appealing it becomes and the fewer if any showings it will get.
3) If you are lucky - lowball offers will come - especially after nearly a year on the market - so be emotionally prepared for that to happen.
4) Vacant homes, with out of state sellers and no caretaker or relatives to check on the house? Potential for vandalism and theft of whatever is left inside the house.
