I really like your house! I like the contemporary exterior. Some of the interior is unusual (the poles by the staircase) but it looks functional and comfortable and I would be happy there.

This photo tour is so much better than the last one. One suggestion on it: see if the photos can be put in an order that makes it seem as if the viewer is actually walking through the house, not having them all mixed up. For instance, use Front, Front Entry, Foyer, Living, Dining and Sunroom, Sunroom, Kitchen, Laundry, Master Bed, Master Bath, Tub.

I confess I didn't read all the description details but it looks nicely laid out and it seems as if you hit the important parts.

Good luck with this, and with your move to Maine. We have family and a summer house up there - the local saying is "Maine, the way life is supposed to be."

WOW! I love how the sunroom looks now! I think the whole house looks good in the pictures. Honestly I don't get the same dated feel from these pictures at all.

Just a couple of nit picky things. Is the jetted tub in the master bath? If so you might want to put master bath jetted tub for the description.

The other thing would be the stair case. You might want to leave that off as it is a unique feature of your house, but is one of those that may make somebody rule the house out without seeing it in person first.

I actually like the staircase and think it's one of the high points of the home especially given the exterior design. This home tour looks so much better than the realtor's tour -- looks great !! I agree with Minet though, put the pictures in order so it seems as if you're walking through the home. Good luck!

MUCH better. Seriously. Your home doesn't look dated at *all* anymore. Fantastic job.

Good luck!!

Looks lovely! Can't see why it wouldn't sell, but I don't know the market in AL. Good luck!

Great job! Do put the photos in order as suggested.

Would you be able to clear enough if the house WAS listed? In a buyer's market, you may HAVE to list to get it sold. I hate to see you miss the spring market and possibly still not have a contract. (The "choose your bonus" just strikes me as screaming, "I'm Desperate!")

Let's skip the "realtor friends". List with someone else who is a top performer in your area, and who is NOT a friend.

Love your house......it looks so much better and updated.

Hopefully, it won't be to long to find a buyer.

Good luck~

The house looks really nice, and does not look dated to me. I am a fan of contempary architecture (this resembles the house we're buying-LOL). I agree that the "choose your bonus" makes you seem desperate and may get you some low-ball offers.

Just wanted to second chisue's advice to skip the "friend" if you do decide to list with a Realtor....we did that on our first go round and it was a disaster. :(

Nice house! Yep, put pics in order.
As to the realtor friends, what you could do if especially close to one of them is ask that realtor to "refer" you to a good nonfriend realtor. That way your friend realtor would get a few $$ for the referal. Tell them you want a realtor that brings lots of business to the mortgage companies.
Kathy G in MI

Thanks. My daughter and I have really tried. We even took up the rug in the big upstairs bedroom so people could see the wood floor and we are polishing that today. By the way, editing out the furniture has made the living room cold - I will never ever in my life ever buy another house with a vaulted ceiling what a waste of heat and it also echos.

Am I desperate - oh yes. Any offer is at least an offer I can deal with. Primarily I just want them in the house now. I went to an "upscale" open house (similar price in as my house - actually more now) a couple of weeks ago and the agents were begging people to put in an offer - that "any offer considered" ad. It was empty.

Listing with an agent would really cut into my net and hamper my bargaining ability. It's really not about top selling agents around here - I've actually been through two of the top three. Who by the way should have pushed me to paint and edit(both advised me not to). The top selling agent is a "discount broker" who simply lists your house on the MLS. He gets the sales because he has the most listed because of his "discount". He personally doesn't really actually sell any house. They are very dependent on the MLS - open houses are a waste - print advertising is not effective - or not as effective as it used to be. But nevertheless the company I am using is doing a magazine next month. Realtor caravans may get some realtors in your house, but only about 10 - 20 out of the 1200 in our town. Every realtor I have talked to - has said that getting your house listed in the MLS is the major thing around here. So we will see.

I will try on the photos. It has something to do with the way the website loads them. I plan on taking a newer photo of the livingroom today anyway and a photo of the upstairs bedroom to show off the wood floor. I think I will have to delete them all and reload them again to do it. I really do like having control over the listing ad though. And the website gets lots of hits and gives you very detailed information so you know what was actually looked at (ad v. slide show, etc.) Pretty good for free.

The new photos look great. I am feeling very upbeat for you.

Many people on here ask for advice and then get offended and we never hear from them again.

Some of the advice you were given was not too tactful. I am so glad you could see it for what it was worth and use it to tweak things in your home a bit.

Here's wishing you great success.

Wow! What a difference! It looks like a different house. I'm glad you took all the comments in the spirit of helpfulness as they were intended.

One other suggestion - you might want to turf the background music on your website listing. There's nothing I hate more than being forced to listen to music I don't want to hear and then having to go through the motions of finding the spot to shut it off. I think it's a distraction from your photos and may very well make people move on to the next listing without looking at yours.

I agree that the house looks great and also that you should ditch the music. A lot of people will be at work while they're browsing that site and they won't be happy to have their activities made so public.

Am I the only one confused? (very possible). mmelko and gracifer are the same person? But different birthdays listed.

Wow. This presentation is definitely a tremendous improvement - concise, not too long. I agree the order can be better but I LIKE the staircase and I thought it was a great first interior picture. It definitely grabs one's attention.

Drop the incentives. Let the buyer ask for them. That's what our agent said. Don't offer closing costs but consider them if the buyer requests it as part of the offer.

Am I the only one confused? (very possible). mmelko and gracifer are the same person? But different birthdays listed.

Quite possibly mother and daughter? I am also a bit confused.

Except for the exterior--which is a tasteful 70s style and nothing to be ashamed of--it looks timeless and current. It may be a cold hard place to live now, but it looks great in the pictures! :) Good luck!

Wow, you did a really great job redoing the photos and tour. What a difference -- everything looks great and the house shows off beautifully now. I love what you did with your front entry, it's perfect and so welcoming!

Good luck and hope everything goes well for you going forward.

Mother and daughter.

Thanks so much. I want to sell this house - I told you I gleaned what was dated from the many posts. By the way you guys have blown away the hit counter on the website.

I had a couple of martinis and made her help me. She has been a trouper. I had to make her cosmopolitans. Many. We even put the basset hound up in the attic - it made her sad. And she is thrilled to take the two plaid chairs to her house.

I just posted on her login. I didn't realize she had logged in on my computer. mmelko is the mom. She is visiting with me helping me pack and get the house fixed up for sale.

mmelko,

I love the photos and your listing description! Too many "buy owner" descriptions read like they were written by a 9th grader who was told they would be given extra credit points for use of adjectives! :-)

You description is fantastic. You kept the paragraphs short, to the point and about the tangible features of your home!

Best of luck selling your place. I wish I could find something this nice in my price range here in Chicago!

Kim

Looks great! And I think you'll like the flat fee MLS choice. We had good luck with that--our sale came down to two offers, same price with both, one agented and one not. Of course, we took the one without an agent. Hope you're just as successful!

Thanks. We are crossing our fingers and I want to thank all of you who offered advice. It was most helpful and after a couple of martinis I got past the more critical ones. I wish I could show you all the empty closets and the huge amount of trash that has been cleaned out of drawers. Anyway we are packing in hopeful anticipation!