The townhouse needs lights in the room. It would be silly to remove them and plaster over the wiring. Your sconces are fine for a traditional style house. I suggest you sit down with the realtor for an hour to go over photos of neighborhood comps that have sold in the year that your place has been for sale. Are you otherwise happy with the realtor? Are similar places selling at one a week, one a month, or has nothing nearby sold in a year?

The realtor's comments about paint seem a bit odd. Off white is about as neutral as you can get, but perhaps he is suggesting a new coat of paint is needed because the existing paint is a few years old and showing wear and tear.

If you feel comfortable posting some photos, you may get some helpful comments about staging and presentation.

Can you post some of your pictures for us to see? That would help.

Otherwise if your house hasn't sold in a year, and other houses in the area are selling, it has nothing to do with lights or neutral paint color (since you say your paint color is neutral.) It has everything to do with price. Meaning if other homes are selling and yours isn't, you're overpriced. Plain and simple. Additionally if other kitchens are updated and yours still have the 90's oak cabinets but you're asking the same price as kitchens that are updated, you are overpriced.

My price is at a reasonable level. Its not over priced according to the realtor. I've double checked it myself to see if its over priced. The average sold price of twelve similar properties over the past three years is $331,000. Mine is priced at $344,000 and should sell for low 330,000's. Where I live houses are usually priced ten or more thousand from what they sell for. Not all the other houses were highly upgraded but some sold for 355k to 360 k.

Here is one picture I have of the kitchen family room area. The paint is in good condition and light but not white or light linen. The kitchen is in good condition but not new. It seems like people want a new house but don't want to pay new house prices! And others that sold, some also were on the market for a long time.

Here is a picture I do have of the dining room. Keep in mind every thing has been removed from the room. It is a pale draw color with the bottom painted a slightly darker shade. The floor is same hardwood as in the family room. You can vaguely see the sconces on the wall.

Straw color

The furniture has been removed from the house and brought to our new house and there are only a couple of nice chairs left so there is something to sit on, only one chair in the first floor, a table and a lamp in the living room on a timer for lighting purposes. The kitchen has a convection oven, a dishwasher, granite countertops, new faucet and stainless sink bowls. The microwave is a combination convection oven. Again, not new but in good condition. Hardwood floors in kitchen/family room dining room and all neutral ceramic tile baths.

How badly do you want or need to sell? Price cures all defects!

Your realtor is very short sighted if he thinks that removing a pair of sconces will make all the difference!

You said it was a townhouse/duplex style. What does that mean? When doing your comps are you only comparing to other homes of this same style?

Thanks for photos and info about comps. Does the house have wallpaper borders or stenciling? If so, I think a fresh coat of paint would be a really good idea. Linen white is good with oak. Take a look at trendy Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter, too, with a sample board in your own space.

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From the comments on comps, the price is high if most of the others have been updated with new kitchens or bathrooms. Having wiggle room for negotiating is nice, but pricing to sell is faster. Fresh paint and a lower price may be the ticket to a quicker sale. Consider what your carrying costs are, review the current competing houses, and then decide what to do. You can also change agents when the listing expires.

I am only comparing with the same houses in the development not any others.

Oh the only wallpaper is in the powder room and I will remove that and paint. I'm also going to paint the kitchen and family room. The upstairs is already linen so that won't be painted.

It does look a bit dated, though not bad at all.

What I would do to get a big punch.

New Sconces (sorry, those aren't great): Very modern and chrome. Here is one of my favorite sites: http://www.eurostylelighting.com/sconces-category/chrome-finish/search.htm?cm_mmc=MSN-SE

Paint the kitchen and dining room a pale ice gray (solid color- get rid of those painted borders). Change out the hardware on the kitchen cabinets for CHROME modern bar pulls. The bars are popular and they come in almost every length. Check Amazon.

Buyers have no imagination. Your granite is nice but your kitchen looks dated. If you want to go further (which you probably do not), purchase some clearance sale stainless appliances (new models are coming out now, so these are easy to find - found 8 dishwashers at my local Lowes). If all else fails, paint/stain your kitchen cabinets. Oak is super dated. Even a dark stain espresso stain would do it. A couple of grand and it would look modern.

I know that might be too much but carrying houses is expensive too.

The sconce thing is silly because if you don't like them you can switch out easily enough at a reasonable cost.

Since you have the comps at hand, take an hour to go through all their photos (bet they are still online if sold in the last year) and see how they were presented and updated. Skip the agent for this part.

Well, I agree, and if you want to wait for a buyer like me, that's great. But most buyers have no imagination at all and if they don't like what they see, they move on quickly.

If the house has not sold in a year (and others in the development have) your price is too high. Period. What you think it is worth, what the realtor says its worth, and even what another house nearby sold for are not relevant. It is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Have you had lower offers you turned down?

Unfortunately the medium/heavy oak flooring, moulding, and wainscot panels are not in style right now. It may be a turn off for some people. Is there a chandelier over the dining table? The sconces do look dated to me but not sure that's at the top of the list. There are some very simple things you could do. For example I see wood light switch covers. Replace those with white plastic for $1-2 each. If the rooms are dark because they don't have windows then painting everything a lighter color may help.

Is this considered an entry level house where you live and likely buyers have never owned a home before? If so I think I would invest $5K in helping it get into a 2017 style rather than 1990s. Buyers may not have the vision or the money to do a large upgrade (especially if they are first time buyers already stretching to get into the house).

I know that photos aren't always the best way to judge a space, but your space comes across as dark and heavy, rather than light and airy, which is what so many buyers want.

Seeing the interior of the comps would be important. Because your home is priced at 344 and the average sales price is 331, then it could be that you either need to reduce the price or update your home. Reducing the price seems easier.

If other houses in the development have sold and yours hasn't, there is only one reason and it's because you are priced too high. You said the average sold prices are $331,000. That means that half sold for more, and half for less. My guess is those that sold for more were updated with stainless appliances, new fixtures, paint, etc and were staged well. Yours is not. You will be at the average or below average because your place is not updated.

Yes you can do as mid said and update but you'll never make back what it costs to update it, so the next best thing is to drop your price to where someone like myself who likes redoing old would be willing to buy it. Trust me, someone like myself will not pay top dollar for a condo that needs refreshing. I'm looking for a bargain and a bargain is BELOW the average.

If you want to sell it now, I would price it right at the average. What will probably happen is it will be priced low enough you'll finally generate interest and if it's a hot market, it might even drive the price up a little bit. If nothing else, you'll get out of the house and finally sell it.

A house is not worth what we the seller think it's worth. It's what a buyer is willing to pay for it. If you're not getting interest, it means buyers think it's too expensive.

What struck me about your post was that you considered sales for the past 3 years. Comps are sales within the last 6 months and certainly no more than a year for places with fewer sales. My guess is that what you consider comps are older sales that do not reflect current pricing.

Has your agent updated the comps in the past year? Insist he do so this week and get it priced properly.

The unfortunate thing is that it's been overpriced for a year. People may see the new price, but they will see an old stale listing. The only way to change that is to make some minor changes such as paint and then get new photos taken.

I don't understand about the photos. You showed us a photo of your dining room furniture and decor, but you say the place is now empty. Which dining room picture is showing in your listing - the one you showed us, or an empty room?

Buyers don't want to see your fancy furniture, tablecloth, and snowmen centerpiece. They want to see the ROOM.

You say that your price is reasonable - obviously your buyers don't think so. I agree that your listing is stale and your price is now too high. Cut it by $10,000.

I've seen this story before.

Fwiw I like your floors.

Yes, you could spend money bringing your house up to 2017 standards, and then sell it for market rate, which might not be much more than 330. Or you could lower the price.

I could probably bring your house current in a transitional style for about 6-10k. But that might only enable you to sell the house in 90 days for 330.

I would redo the comps and price the house to sell. It costs real money to carry it month after month.

Don't change the sconces. No reason to, they fit the style of your home. Dumb suggestion by your realtor. If you want to do more painting, do so. That is an inexpensive update. I would not change appliances, fixtures. You won't recoup the money you spend. Lower the asking price. That will get you offers. Oh, and get a new realtor if he is the one you have had all this time. A year on the market and the house hasn't sold. Time for a new one.

Also, I may be incorrect on this, but I don't think (by code) you can just plaster over the sconce junction boxes without removing all of the wiring from the walls, which can be a costly endeavor. Otherwise you have to cover them with blank wall plates, which isn't a particularly great look either.

I suggest you lower your price to the next price point, $339,000. If nothing happens after a month, lower it to $329,000.

Don't worry about the sconces. I certainly wouldn't cover them up. You could paint them white or cream with a can of spray paint. That might be a compromise. Paint anything that has a border or wall paper. Is the carpet clean? I would paint the cabinets, but that's me. I don't know it it's necessary. I think you would get a better return if you did. Take new pictures. But, you are ready to be done with it. Price it accordingly.

Please post an update when you are ready.

The last six comps sold between 340 k and 360. The pic I showed of the dining room does not appear anywhere its simple one I had to show the sconces.

So it must purely be bad luck, and any minute now you should get an offer.

" Here is a picture of some similar sconces. Do they need to be removed and the holes in the wall patched up?"

In order to do this per the NEC Code, there are specific steps required tobe taken before those wires can be abandoned. Likely it will require an electrician to properly do so, as the required steps will not be solely in the sconce boxes.

You can not have wires in an electric box that is not accessible. Plastering over the sconce box would not be permitted if power could be seen inside that box - either intentionally or unintentionally.

The simplest thing to do is replace the sconces if you wish, or do nothing.

The sconces wouldn't make one bit of difference to me. The kitchen is a dealbreaker, though. Those cabinets are so outdated... Paint the house and drop the price.

Those comps...how updated were they?

The last six comps were recent. I can't say exactly how recent but past year to six months.

OK, here goes..

Don't remove the sconces.

Don't purchase modern chrome pulls for traditional kitchen. If you want to change hardware-why not, but I wouldn't drill additional holes in all the cabinets. Especially to put in modern pulls.

Don't repaint in gray, unless you're really really curious which warm greige or green-gray will look the best with your trim, and have lots of time on your hands lol.

Don't paint the cabinets-they're totally fine. (No, I'm not a fan of oak, and never was.) Let the buyers figure out what they want them to be. Especially given you have a prominent trim in the same color. Repainting the cabinets=complicating things for buyers.

You can paint over the flower border if so inclined.

Don't try to make the house "modern"-it's not modern, and it's totally fine. It will look really silly to make the house into what it's not, without any consideration except for resale. Such things demand a clear plan and a big overhaul. Also can't be done in just any house. You can't just shape a space into what it's not. And no need to. There are plenty buyers out there who don't look for modern houses. The ones who look for modern hunt different listings anyway.

Adjust your price. And maybe it's time for a new realtor too.

Decision to buy a house-is a combo of many things, some of them totally rational, some not so much.

I don't think sconces can be counted as any of these factors..neither rational, nor irrational:)

(Even though we sold our first apartment because the buyers loved the knobs on the kitchen drawers..as per the words of the buyers))

Maybe buyers shy away from townhouses(currently, townhouse dweller myself here..the community is really beautiful, but not everyone likes to pay HOA, which townhouses usually have.). Maybe the house has not been properly marketed. Maybe you need to take new pics for the listing. Maybe it should be staged. Maybe hundred other things.

But it's most definitely not the sconces.

I mean how updated were the houses that sold at those prices. Had they had any recent remodeling?

You're on the right track.

I think you're being wise. I would also find a different RE agent if your listing is up.

I guess I am the only one that agrees with your realtor, who may be more in tune with the market/buyers for your area.

I look at your pics and think of it is a fixer upper even if it is all cosmetic, it would make me question how it was maintained over the years if it had not been updated.

If your going to paint, you might also consider removing the fridge and spending $200 on new lighting and kitchen hardware (It sounds like you really like the sconces so maybe taking them with you would not be a bad idea.)

Buyers tend to focus on the bling, even if it is cheap/inexpensive bling it will keep them from paying as much attention to the oak.

tourist, you're doing the right thing. Always disappointing when ones property is not worth what one hoped, but selling it will be a HUGE relief.

Its hard to say without seeing similar homes which have sold recently in your area. I will say, in general, if a house doesn't get offers in a year, its over priced. No one likes to hear that, but a home is only worth what buyers are willing to pay for it. I agree that painting the other rooms in linen or a pale gray would help. I'd get rid of those borders in the kitchen (I used to have them too, they are very dated) and any wallpaper. I would even suggest painting all your trim and wainscoting in white. Painting is a bit of work, but it makes a big impact for little cost. Stainless steel appliances would help too. Your cabinets look to be in fine shape and your wood floors are lovely. Paint and appliances will be an expense, but I think it would be well worth it to update the home which would appeal to more buyers.