I can't sell my condo!
#1
Fuct in the hed!
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I can't sell my condo!
I've had my condo for sale since the end of May and I haven't even had a low-ball offer! I paid $192K for in in 2005...yes, I know, I bought at the worst time!
Its a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom manor/townhome in the Chicago suburbs.
I've put laminate flooring and new paint into it....it has an updated kitchen and barthroom. I started at $195K.....then $190K.....then $185K....then $180K, and now I'm at $174,500! I'm priced very competitively....I'm just wondering what else I can do to sell this place. I have alot of money put aside for a house, but I have to sell this place before I can go forward.
Here is a link to my place....
http://www.starckrealtors.com/search...sortby=1&row=9
Its a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom manor/townhome in the Chicago suburbs.
I've put laminate flooring and new paint into it....it has an updated kitchen and barthroom. I started at $195K.....then $190K.....then $185K....then $180K, and now I'm at $174,500! I'm priced very competitively....I'm just wondering what else I can do to sell this place. I have alot of money put aside for a house, but I have to sell this place before I can go forward.
Here is a link to my place....
http://www.starckrealtors.com/search...sortby=1&row=9
#4
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Says who?
Are people coming to see the house?
Have you had any open houses?
How many other units on the market?
What do you know about them?
Have you gone inside them?
What has sold in the last 90 days?
My one suggestion is to keep everything neutral. I'm sure you love the red walls but prospective buyers sometimes have a hard time seeing past the cosmetic. Make everything neutral as possible. Consider painting over the red.
Probably not going to make you feel better but it took my wife and I over a year to sell our townhouse.
You need to make your home unique. You want people to look at your home amongst all the others in your development and understand why it's priced where it is. Otherwise it's just another condo.
Are people coming to see the house?
Have you had any open houses?
How many other units on the market?
What do you know about them?
Have you gone inside them?
What has sold in the last 90 days?
My one suggestion is to keep everything neutral. I'm sure you love the red walls but prospective buyers sometimes have a hard time seeing past the cosmetic. Make everything neutral as possible. Consider painting over the red.
Probably not going to make you feel better but it took my wife and I over a year to sell our townhouse.
You need to make your home unique. You want people to look at your home amongst all the others in your development and understand why it's priced where it is. Otherwise it's just another condo.
#5
Bent = #1
It's a tough market.. my parents have had their house on the market for at least 2 years now... maybe 3. Although my Dad hasn't tried to upgrade the kitchen or master bath yet.
Your place looks nice, but I'd definitely paint over the red... If someone is looking at pictures and they hate red then they won't look at your place.
Your place looks nice, but I'd definitely paint over the red... If someone is looking at pictures and they hate red then they won't look at your place.
#6
WOT in the new ATLP V2s!
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PM me, I am realtor with RE/MAX in the Chicago area and may have some ideas. Something isn't adding up, the place looks GREAT and you're in a great area...however, the only thing I can see affecting you is only having the 1 bath...most at that price will have the 1/2 bath or a 2nd full bath which people really want.
#7
Fuct in the hed!
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PM me, I am realtor with RE/MAX in the Chicago area and may have some ideas. Something isn't adding up, the place looks GREAT and you're in a great area...however, the only thing I can see affecting you is only having the 1 bath...most at that price will have the 1/2 bath or a 2nd full bath which people really want.
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#9
Bent = #1
Could be that it only has one bathroom.
#10
05/5AT/Navi/ABP/Quartz
Profile states that all rooms are upper level, is this correct?
As NSX says, priced OK according to who or what?
What are similar units in your complex listed and selling for over the past 30-60 days?
Sometimes listings get stale from being on the market for extended period and agents stop showing them. Perhaps pull it off market for a week or so and get a new MLS#.
G/L
As NSX says, priced OK according to who or what?
What are similar units in your complex listed and selling for over the past 30-60 days?
Sometimes listings get stale from being on the market for extended period and agents stop showing them. Perhaps pull it off market for a week or so and get a new MLS#.
G/L
#11
Fuct in the hed!
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I've gone to the open houses in the area....I can honestly say that my is 5 times cleaner then the few that I've looked at. My realtor sends my area details that get updated daily. I'm priced 3 lowest in the entire complex....and only one has sold in the last 60 days and it was a 2 bed 2 bath and it sold for $180K...asking 189,999
#12
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I've gone to the open houses in the area....I can honestly say that my is 5 times cleaner then the few that I've looked at. My realtor sends my area details that get updated daily. I'm priced 3 lowest in the entire complex....and only one has sold in the last 60 days and it was a 2 bed 2 bath and it sold for $180K...asking 189,999
Any more 2 bath units or are they all 1 bath?
#13
Administrator Alumnus
Condos are a bitch to sell even in a good market. And in a market like this, if you need to get out, prepare to bend over and basically give the place away.
#15
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So why dont you hold on to it and rent it?
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#18
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Not only will that allow you to at least get your condo occupied, you may be able to make money off of it. At the very least you should be able to cover your monthly obligations with the rent (hopefully). You can also tell anyone interested in renting that is available for sale. Plus, once someone rents it and moves in, they may fall in love with it and want to buy it!
Additionally, pulling it off the market will reset the "days on market" counter meaning if you re-list it in the spring of 2010, "days on market" will start at zero again...
#19
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Its a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom manor/townhome in the Chicago suburbs.
I've put laminate flooring and new paint into it....it has an updated kitchen and barthroom. I started at $195K.....then $190K.....then $185K....then $180K, and now I'm at $174,500! I'm priced very competitively....url]
I've put laminate flooring and new paint into it....it has an updated kitchen and barthroom. I started at $195K.....then $190K.....then $185K....then $180K, and now I'm at $174,500! I'm priced very competitively....url]
The diff between A $175K mortgage and a $180K mortgage is like $25 a month. A renter would happily pay WAY more than $25 to have a real roommate setup. And that assumes everything else is equal between the units. Look at the rental market if you want a scientific calculation of what the extra bath is worth. $160K ask would be aggressive, but you're still not going to get the traffic that a 2BA gets.
The staging looks good (Mrs. Squire is a stager), but I'd agree with something less personal than red walls. Use whatever they're showing at Pottery Barrel this week.
#20
How many open houses has your realtor held? How much has she pushed showing the place to potential clients and to other realtors? How much advertising has she done? Do you feel she's doing a good job?
Aside from that, I would consider the possible benefit of taking the house off the market for a while...people are sometimes afraid of houses that sit on the market and don't sell. It doesn't necessarily mean there's anything wrong with the place, but it gets people wondering, and sometimes that's enough to push them away from even looking at it...they start to wonder why so many other people must've gone through the place but didn't put in an offer..."There must be something going on with that place!...". Re-list it in a while so it appears as a new showing. Plus, at this point with the DOM, your listing is WAY at the bottom of the list for prospective buyers who are browsing the MLS. Winter-time is also the slowest season to sell, so aside from the market conditions themselves, now will be a tough time to get people in.
As others have suggested, you can always continue living there and try again in the Spring when the market will naturally pick up (even just a bit), or consider renting it for now to earn some money on it. I would not take the huge loss you are projecting from your numbers (incl. downpayment)...it just doesn't make sense to push a sale to lose so much. What's the big rush? Even if you wait a year or less, at least earn something (or even just come out even) on this property....
Aside from that, I would consider the possible benefit of taking the house off the market for a while...people are sometimes afraid of houses that sit on the market and don't sell. It doesn't necessarily mean there's anything wrong with the place, but it gets people wondering, and sometimes that's enough to push them away from even looking at it...they start to wonder why so many other people must've gone through the place but didn't put in an offer..."There must be something going on with that place!...". Re-list it in a while so it appears as a new showing. Plus, at this point with the DOM, your listing is WAY at the bottom of the list for prospective buyers who are browsing the MLS. Winter-time is also the slowest season to sell, so aside from the market conditions themselves, now will be a tough time to get people in.
As others have suggested, you can always continue living there and try again in the Spring when the market will naturally pick up (even just a bit), or consider renting it for now to earn some money on it. I would not take the huge loss you are projecting from your numbers (incl. downpayment)...it just doesn't make sense to push a sale to lose so much. What's the big rush? Even if you wait a year or less, at least earn something (or even just come out even) on this property....
#21
is learning to moonwalk i
As others have said, your place does look really nice and clean, but the red (at least in the kitchen) should be painted over. The fireplace accent wall could stay or go.
Also, I think you are priced a little high - as are others in the area. The last home that sold in your neighborhood was a 2/1 for ~$165k. No, it isn't as nice as yours, but that's the only thing that has sold in the last 3 months. There are also 3 other 2/1 units listed in your neighborhood for around the same price as you, plus a 2/2 listed less than yours (don't know what the condition of the 2/2 is since there are no pictures).
What is your realtor doing to get your unit noticed? Is she doing any marketing? Any open houses? After this long, it may be time to look for a new agent.
Renting the place out could be a good idea if you can get close to break even. Not sure your exact terms of your loan or the rental market, but you are probably paying about $1k/mo of PI. Then you have almost $300/mo HOA, ~$300/mo taxes and then insurance on top of that. Not sure you can rent it for $1600/mo. It's definitely worth looking into - just depends on how much rent you can get or how much you can afford to pay out of pocket each month.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Also, I think you are priced a little high - as are others in the area. The last home that sold in your neighborhood was a 2/1 for ~$165k. No, it isn't as nice as yours, but that's the only thing that has sold in the last 3 months. There are also 3 other 2/1 units listed in your neighborhood for around the same price as you, plus a 2/2 listed less than yours (don't know what the condition of the 2/2 is since there are no pictures).
What is your realtor doing to get your unit noticed? Is she doing any marketing? Any open houses? After this long, it may be time to look for a new agent.
Renting the place out could be a good idea if you can get close to break even. Not sure your exact terms of your loan or the rental market, but you are probably paying about $1k/mo of PI. Then you have almost $300/mo HOA, ~$300/mo taxes and then insurance on top of that. Not sure you can rent it for $1600/mo. It's definitely worth looking into - just depends on how much rent you can get or how much you can afford to pay out of pocket each month.
Good luck and keep us posted.
#22
One on the right for me
I don't mind the red in the kitchen although I do think that you are limiting the number of buyers it will appeal to.
I would suggest matching your appliances. I like the cabinets but the white fridge and black stove clash and don't really fit in with the rest of the kitchen.
I would suggest matching your appliances. I like the cabinets but the white fridge and black stove clash and don't really fit in with the rest of the kitchen.
#24
Unofficial Goat
iTrader: (1)
Man, if you moved that place to Toronto you'd be pulling in 300K and it would be sold in 5 days. Have you thought about ditching your realtor, maybe they aren't doing enough. What's your motivation to move? need more space? growing family? If there's no huge reason to take the loss on the sale there's 2 things I would do.
1. Rent it out and just try to cover costs. At the end of the day someone is paying into your equity.
2. Refi to a variable open mortgage if you haven't already, this will help in 2 area's it will make renting and covering your costs easier, or if you end up staying in the place a little longer it will help you pay down more of your principle quicker because less of your money is going towards interest.
1. Rent it out and just try to cover costs. At the end of the day someone is paying into your equity.
2. Refi to a variable open mortgage if you haven't already, this will help in 2 area's it will make renting and covering your costs easier, or if you end up staying in the place a little longer it will help you pay down more of your principle quicker because less of your money is going towards interest.
#25
Fuct in the hed!
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The association only allows 3% for rental units and they are currently at 7%. The only way I could rent it is if it was to a family member.....and to do that, I have to go to the monthly meeting and present my case, then wait until the next month to see if it passed.
As for putting more work into it....I don't want to spend money to get nothing out of it. You should have seen some of the crap that has sold....I don't think its my appliances!
As for putting more work into it....I don't want to spend money to get nothing out of it. You should have seen some of the crap that has sold....I don't think its my appliances!
#27
Team Owner
Well since you don't seem to want to take any of our suggestions, what's the purpose of this thread again?
#28
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1) The single bath would be a HUGE issue-- that's what would eliminate a 2-bedroom condo from consideration for me.
2) The kitchen would look much nicer if the appliances all match-- can you get black cover panels for the fridge and stove top cover? If not, maybe investing a couple hundred into a used black refrigerator would help you sell the place.
3) I like the red accent walls.
2) The kitchen would look much nicer if the appliances all match-- can you get black cover panels for the fridge and stove top cover? If not, maybe investing a couple hundred into a used black refrigerator would help you sell the place.
3) I like the red accent walls.
#30
Team Owner
#31
The Box
It's a nice area, I don't think the price is bad....I'd look at possibly looking at other realtors.
#32
Senior Moderator
Your place looks really nice. Unfortunately, it's the lack of a 2nd bathroom that would keep me from even considering it. Even more unfortunate, there's really nothing you can do about that.
Winter is not the best time to try to sell a house. I'd probably think about taking it off the market until spring. Maybe switch realtors and/or have more open houses.
I really like the cleanliness of your place. I immediately get turned off from a home that is dirty or hasn't been kept up well.
Winter is not the best time to try to sell a house. I'd probably think about taking it off the market until spring. Maybe switch realtors and/or have more open houses.
I really like the cleanliness of your place. I immediately get turned off from a home that is dirty or hasn't been kept up well.
#33
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Depersonalization and Neutralization will go a long way when selling a home and it does not cost much money at all. I think the one bath is what is keeping it on the market... so you may have to go even lower if you want to move it.
Also, I do not know how things are in Chicago, but when we sold in NY and had the house on the market here in NC we did only one open house (in NY). All open houses seem to do is attract nosey neighbors. Most of the agents here do not even bother with open houses. Just seems to be a waste of time for the homeowner and the agent. Make sure your agent has a good strategy as far as online marketing. We found that to be our best asset. Our agent listed our house as featured, so whenever you would search in the area, our house would always be on top. Stuff like that moved the house very quickly. Hopefully we have that luck in the spring when we list again
#34
WOT in the new ATLP V2s!
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I do agree with the fact that neutral colors would work best, however, I disagree with the painting idea at a large scale. You did your accent in the right spot by the fireplace which draw attention to an added feature others may not have. You also carried this into the kichen which makes the updated cabinets stand out some. If anything maybe just neutralize one of the walls in the kitchen, the rest looks great. With the 1bath Id worry more about price than anything. Is there any room to do a half bath relatively inexpensive? Maybe like an XL laundry room that can be cut into two rooms or something? Just a thought.
#35
I haven't read every post. But is the agent busting her hump telling to sell it or is it just listed?
#37
05/5AT/Navi/ABP/Quartz
You say that you don't want to waste more money on improvements. You are losing money every day it sits on the market while you continue to pay. The paint and appliance changes mentioned would cost less than $1500. Yes it is very nice looking but still overpriced for your current market.
The decision to be made is if you are willing to do what you need to do to get it sold? You didn't say why you are planning to sell right now. If there is no serious and compelling reason just stay there.
The decision to be made is if you are willing to do what you need to do to get it sold? You didn't say why you are planning to sell right now. If there is no serious and compelling reason just stay there.
#39
is learning to moonwalk i
Sounds like he wants to move into a house, but it doesn't sound like there is an urgent need to sell/move.
I've had my condo for sale since the end of May and I haven't even had a low-ball offer! I paid $192K for in in 2005...yes, I know, I bought at the worst time!
Its a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom manor/townhome in the Chicago suburbs.
I've put laminate flooring and new paint into it....it has an updated kitchen and barthroom. I started at $195K.....then $190K.....then $185K....then $180K, and now I'm at $174,500! I'm priced very competitively....I'm just wondering what else I can do to sell this place. I have alot of money put aside for a house, but I have to sell this place before I can go forward.
Here is a link to my place....
http://www.starckrealtors.com/search...sortby=1&row=9
Its a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom manor/townhome in the Chicago suburbs.
I've put laminate flooring and new paint into it....it has an updated kitchen and barthroom. I started at $195K.....then $190K.....then $185K....then $180K, and now I'm at $174,500! I'm priced very competitively....I'm just wondering what else I can do to sell this place. I have alot of money put aside for a house, but I have to sell this place before I can go forward.
Here is a link to my place....
http://www.starckrealtors.com/search...sortby=1&row=9