Selling House

I'd leave it on the market and then when the 6 months is up do like you stated, go with another agent. I wouldn't take it off the market, that makes no sense.

I agree, leave it on. The market is bad but it just takes one buyer. Make her earn her commission and sell it!

My Dad is a real estate agent and if your house has been on the market for 2 months and only had 5 showings, your real estate agent sucks. She should be doing things to drive traffic to your house. 5 showings should happen in one weekend.

You might want to check out DIYNetwork.com or HGTV.com for ideas on making your house more appealing. There are certain things you want to clear from your house when trying to sell it. Like all personal photos, ONLY 2 appliances on the kitchen counter. Stuff like that. But those two websites will have a ton of that kind of information. If you need any help let me know!

Good Luck!!
LP

I would leave it on for another month, you have nothing to loose. I do agree that the market has slowed down and with the collapse of the sub prime market and now the impeding implosions of major mortgage firms a lot of potential buyers can no longer afford to buy homes. I do have many years or decades of real estate and new home sales experience as does my family so I tend to watch these trends very closely. Your price range is the real key. Many of the lower price homes sales have slowed down. However the upper end of the market is thriving. Don’t let this scare you off. If you want or need to sell your home definitely keep re listing it. I would continue to sign at max a 6 month agreement. Just don’t get caught up in it selling quickly. Your home just as a rule of thumb in this market if it is priced correctly may take about 8 months. I would find a real estate firm that really focuses on the following:

1. Radio shows
2. Mass mail out media
3. People who specialize in staging your home
4. Can give you an unbiased opinion on what items need to be cleaned or touched up.
5. Give you feedback on every showing

None of these items will cost you more money. A great agent or team should do them routinely. Once you find someone who can do this or more then I would stick with them. Rarely does the listing agent sell your home. Rarely. Therefore you need someone who will do more than yard sign, open house (huge waste of your time – don’t do them unless you live in CA) flyer and MLS listing. These items do not and will not sell your home. If you have more questions please do not hesitate in emailing me. I am very happy to pass on any knowledge that I have been blessed with. Best of luck.

I'm not sure about the contract but my parents are going through the same thing. She even talked them into a bunch of updates then dropping their home price. It really is a buyers market right now. They just took theirs off the market. I would wait a few months probably before relisting it with someone else. They are waiting until either prices go back up or next summer.

As a buyer, when I see that a house has been on the market for a while, I automatically think three things - overpriced, unattractive or some other defect. The longer it's on the market, the more appealing it becomes to me as a buyer because I think the seller may be more flexible with price and terms if they really want to get it sold. That, of course, is not always the case, but both houses I've bought in the past 10 years were on the market longer than 6 months and we did get some reasonable allowances during the sale (i.e., some closing costs covered, lowered price, interior upgrades, etc.).

If I were you, I would not take it off the market. There's one thing you know for sure. If you take it off the market, it will definitely not sell. At least if you have it listed, there's a chance the perfect buyer will come along.

I agree with some of the other posters that you need to make sure you're priced right and that your home is in excellent showing condition. The first house we bought we saw when it was first on the market and it was overpriced and needed new paint, carpet and was way too cluttered. The price went down $10k and so we looked at it again several months later and they had replaced the carpet, repainted, and by then the house was empty as the owners had moved on and it looked like a completely different house. We put a bid in on it that day.

And in regards to the contract with your listing agent, if you're not happy with them, you can ask if you can cancel your contract. Some realtors advertise you can cancel at any time and some do it as a courtesy even if they don't advertise it. I'm not saying yours will, but I can't imagine that it would hurt to ask.

Good luck in whatever you decide!

Emma - the market has slowed, but is not bad. Don't take it of the market and put it back on with the same realtor. You nned to determine what is being done to market your home first. If it's the Realtor, then re-listing it later isn't going to make any difference. Currently it is a buyers market - you have to be willing to price it accordingly, and make the interior appeal to what buyers are looking for.
As a Realtor I can't and won't solicit your business - all I can say is give your Realtor a fair chance, find out what the average days on the market is, tour some of the homes that you are competing against, and find out what is being done to market your home.
Good Luck! L.:)

As a realtor and a seller right now, I can feel your pain both ways. My own house has granite counters, wood floors, freize carpeting and the latest colors and the floorplan won architectural design in 2001 (so not that old either). It received alot of showings, but many people are either looking for bargains or already have an idea what they are looking for. I chose to lease my house rather than take a loss on the sales price for now. It leased pretty quickly. Since then I have put several others on the market with a lease option and are getting many more responses on the lease.

Emma,

I know exactly where you are coming from. It sucks, doesn't it?! We got rid of our first realtor because we didn't feel he was doing ANYTHING to sell our house for us, and now we have a realtor who sold us our house in the first place. He has told us that even though we are "early in the game" that due to the market, we should consider the posibility that we might have to rent out our house for now. WHAT?! I sure do not want to deal with renters. (I have heard horror stories about renters, I am not saying all renters are bad! :)) My husbnad and I have decided to take matters into our own hands, and we are going to market our own house. We are going to get business cards and postcards from VistaPrint, and hand them out. We are trying to find out who is renting in our current neighborhood, and send them flyers letting them know that they can own a house in the same neighborhood for less than what they are paying for rent... the fact is, we are doing this on our own. Nobody wants to sell your house more than you do!
I don't know about the whole listing contract time... but I hope this has helped.
E.

Hi
I'm a realtor in Mckinney. She is correct in saying that the market is slow right now. They say it should pick up after school gets started. What she is thinking is by pulling it off the market now and relisting it, it will save on the "days on market". After so many days on market it makes it look like something is "wrong" with your house even thought there may not be. I don't think 2 months is giving it enough time though. I agree with you to keep it on at least another month or two. I've sold 2 houses in the last year where there has been less than 5 showings. It really only takes one showing to the right person!
It use to be that the realtor could pull the house off the market and relist it and the days on market would start over. They just changed that. Now if the same realtor relists it all the days are added together. If you change realtors it starts the days over.
Ask your realtor what they are doing for marketing. Have you seen what is on MLS for your house? A lot of times they put bad pictures or not enough pictures. You should have at least 8 pictures of your house. Do they have it on CSS answering service to schedule the appointments? Are they giving you feedback on what your showings have said? These are some of the things you should check out.
If you would like I can send you the MLS sheet on your house if you don't want to ask them. It is not a problem. Just send me your address.

If you need anything else just let me know. Good luck!
L. Oldham
eHomePro
###-###-####

Hi Emma,
Has your Realtor done a open house yet, If not request it. I think 2 mths is too early to be taken it off the market. When I brought my home in mansfield, my realtor said it was common for this area house on the market for 2 to 6 mths. When I sold my house in triangle NC it took 3 mths, and that was surpose to be a "hot spot".

Well good luck.

J.

I would definitely suggest changing your realtor if she's only gotten you 5 showings in a few months! My grandparents were selling their house, and it was up on the market for MONTHS and no one made an offer, but when they finally did, at the last minute the people who made one backed out! So they switched realtors and the lady who took care of them sold it within two weeks! My sister-in-law is now using the same woman, and she has brought quite a few people through with her as well.

It all has to do with personality, if you think she's not doing a good job, fire her. Seems harsh, but you have to do what you have to do. Let me know if you'd like the lady's name. She's really nice. =)

When a home is on the market for an extended period of time, many realtors stop showing it, because people will think there is something wrong with the house, and that's why it's not selling or getting any offers. So having a long showing time can be a negative thing.

But then again, this is a great time of year to sale it seems. I think people may be less wary of a home being on the market for so long because the market is so bad right now.

If your realtor isn't working very hard to get your house shown, reducing the asking price or giving you tips on how to make your house show better (declutter, take pics down, rearrange furniture, have excellent lighting...) than maybe you need a new realtor.

My husband is a realtor and they are having a super busy month, although it does tend to slow down Oct-Jan. I can't recall him EVER telling a client to take your house off the market! That just eliminates it from being possibly seen or sold, even if it is slow. I suggest you find another realtor that is serious about selling your home! I posted my husbands website below, check it out!
http://www.harpersmithteam.com/

You can quit your realtor at any time - 6 months is 6 months from the time you signed with her. So if you took ur house off the market with her and you still had three months on this contract, you would have to wait that three months to sign w/a new realtor.

You can always call another real estate agent on the side to get confirmation.

Good Luck!

Hello.
The market really isn't that bad! My sister is a Realtor and her team is going strong right now. I'm not trying to solicit her or anything, but if you decide to change Realtors, call her. I know that her group is running a program till the end of December: If you buy your next home through them, they will sell your current house for free. There are no gimmicks or tricks...it's just that simple.
Anyways, check out her team website and you can call her with any questions. Her name is Lara Tkacs ###-###-####
www.wasergroup.com
her email is ____@____.com
They are with Keller Williams.
Good luck!!

Definitely ride out the contract with your current agent and then switch if you get no results. If she were to market it more aggressively, you might get more people looking at it.

Where are you located? Maybe the moms here could recommend agents they have used in that area.

M.
"Our family doctor misses us. So does the pharmacist."
www.GoodHealthMadeSimple.com

Your realtor is right. My ex is smart but I got him on one. The market was soft and we had a huge house. Now I realize the biggest and best house in the neighborhood may be the hardest to sell. So he had in the divorce papers to keep it on the market. I let it lapse once and he served me papers at work. Then it came to renew again and he wanted another realtor. I was to interview them. In my interviews they wanted to come down on price and no way. Then all said to take it off the market for awhile. Well, I stuck to the same realtor and sent my letter to my ex that it had to be off. It was one for 299 days which in any buyer's knowledge would look like something was wrong. It came off the pc for three days and sold in those three days. So Honey go for it. Take it off and reenlist. It will appear to be a brand new listing and a flag for new buyers to come see. Good Luck. G. W

The market is soft right now for many economic reasons. Watch the financial news for 5 minutes and you'll understand why.

I own a mortgage, and my husband owns a realty/loss mitigation company.

***********PRICE ALWAYS SELLS!!*****************

Good luck! Email me if you have further questions - ____@____.com

C.

Wow! You've got a lot of advice here-there are lots helpful moms on here! My husband is also a real estate agent.
The market defiantely slows down once school starts but not enough to yank a home off the market. In regard to your showings, there are several factors you need to consider. First, your price range--if you are above $500,000, you will not get the same number of showings as say a $220,000 home (my husband has listed a few million dollar homes and they have a much slower showing rate than 'average' homes). Second, you need to look at your area. If you are in Flower Mound (hubby's market), you will get a lot more showings than say Prosper (love that little town btw!). Third, if something BIG needs to be fixed, it might be good to take it off the market andstage the home.
If your home should be getting showings, the odds are something is wrong with the price point or you have really bad pictures in MLS. Your agent should be able to quickly fix either of these. Pulilng your home off the market when you want to move is in my opinion a pain. If she is not understanding your needs (and to blunt, it sounds like she is not), you need a new realtor, a person who KNOWS your area. I don't know where you live but you may want to ask neighbors who they recommend. If you are at a loss, please contact my husband, Mike at ###-###-####. He is in a network (By Referral Only) that specializes in putting people's needs first (google the program if you want more info, it is fantastic!). (Note this is not his agency, this a networking group for realtors/mortgage brokers from all over the country). He could find a member of this group in YOUR area and refer you.
Best of luck and and I am so sorry you are having to deal with this!

Hi Emma,

The market is really slow right now and there is a lot of inventory. Buyers are very picky right now because they have so much to choose from. If you have a little cushion in your pricing, talk with your agent about reducing the price.

Taking your house off the market will not extend your listing agreement.

I hope this helps.

Respectfully,
G. H.
Realtor®

Hi Emma! Don't take it off the market..that will get you nowhere. I suggest leaving it on the market and after your contract is up with your Realtor, find another one if you are not getting more showings than that. I agree that the market is slow around us...we have several houses on our street for sale and some of them have been on the market for months! However, I have seen a couple of them with "sale pending" signs on them recently (in N. Ft. Worth). The house next door to us is for sale, and I know they have reduced the price because they are moving back to their country and just want the house to go. It is a former model and I am not sure why it has not sold yet. But it just takes the right person to come and look at it. I don't think the market is so bad that you should take it off, as I have slowly seen houses starting to move off the market around me :) Best of luck to you.

i was just wondering where your home is and what the details are... bdrms, baths, etc..... my husband and i are looking at buying a house in the ft worth area so just wanted some details.

Hi,
I'm not sure where your selling your house from but our realtor sold our home in Ft.Worth in five days! We had listed it with a different agent for 8 months before that with no luck. I really believe now that its all in who is listing the home. Our agent that we ended up getting rid of told us the same thing you said"the markets slow" etc....I would love to pass on our realtors info. to you,she is a wonderful,honest,christian lady who will go above and beyond for her clients! Let me know!
Sincerely,
N.

Hopefully considering your post was in August, your home has sold. If not, have you considered staging? I stage houses for agents and owners alike. It definitely gives you an edge.
email me privately if you'd like more information.
K

HI I am an agent and you need to just be honest with her- tell her the truth- that is much better than trying to sneak something past her!!

Has your home sold since August? The market does tend to slow down after school starts up. There are people that do buy homes and move during the winter months just not nearly as many as do during the warmer months. If your house has not sold and before considering using a different agent first of all ask yourself...are homes selling in your community? How much are homes selling for per square foot that are similar to yours? Are you in the bottom 25% of the price range with other active listings in your area? How many times have you lowered your price? Why didn't the 5 showings bring an offer? What condition is your house in? Does it show like a model home? Is it cluttered and not clean when its being shown? What about the location? All these need to be taken into consideration. I'm not sure what area you are in but the market has been favoring buyers for a while now. There are too many homes on the market and not enough buyers. You do not have to stay with that agent but please consider all the above before changing to another one because if any of the above is the problem, changing agents is not going to solve the problem. - Licensed Texas agent since 2005.