What is the buyer feedback? With 23 showings in the last 30 days there has to be something that is turning off the buyers. Price is one element, what else are the buyers saying?

Also, if the comps showed $245k how did you get to $276K?

Some comments are 3rd bedroom too small and they don't like the sloped
lot. These are things I can't change and the size of the bedrooms is on
the MLS listing and it's pretty obvious from the pics and an easy
google street view search that the lot is sloped because the house is
built into the side of a hill with a walk out basement.

I'm sure
that unless you want a 1000 sq ft workshop/garage you may not want to
pay the extra $$$ for this feature. It's as if we are selling a starter
home but it has acreage and the big workshop, so obviously is priced
more than just a small starter home on a tiny lot. The realtor says we
need the right buyer that really wants/needs the big workshop.

Everyone loves the workshop and the guy that lowballed was only approved for 200k, so we didn't even bother countering because we're not at the point yet where we are willing to drop the price 20k, pay all his inspections and go through the hassle of someone with a VA loan.

Also, I know appraising properties isn't an exact science but the first guy was way off and he's meant to be the expert. I just don't get it.

Not all Realtors are equal. Some are good at pricing and others aren't. I run into it all the time because I'm a Realtor.

If your home is vacant, then it is possible that the 3rd bedroom isn't too small. Most buyers have difficulty envisioning space. In fact, it is the rare buyer that has the ability to see a room and see it furnished in their mind's eye. Most buyers have a huge problem with scale. To solve this problem, stage the property. You don't have to stage every room, but a few select areas in the house + the 3rd bedroom (in your case). Staging works wonders with the scale issue. It also helps when your home is priced right.

If your home is furnished, then what the buyers are saying is that there is too much furniture or too much stuff in Bedroom #3. In that case, edit the stuff until the room feels spacious. If Bedroom #3 is not an actual bedroom, then the answer is different.

Another tactic is changing your marketing - or more accurately, have the agent change the marketing focus. I personally would prefer a walk out basement and a workshop and I bet there are a lot of buyers that feel the same way. It's a matter of focusing your marketing on the segment of the market that wants the features you have in place. If the agent doesn't understand this aspect, then consider changing agents. Again, we are not all the same by any means.

"In the local market inventory is low. Lots of buyers, few houses. Very
few houses under 220k with a garage and none with acreage and a garage."

So, what are the actual selling prices of houses that have sold recently?

The house is empty for the most part. We did put a twin bed in the small bedroom. It's big enough for a twin, side table and a dresser, but we just have the bed in there with really nice bedding. The rest of the house is empty. Pics were taken when we had furniture in the house but all the clutter was gone. Everyone says it shows really nicely and it clean and tidy.

Prices are all over the place. You could find comps above, below, or at the actual listing price. Part of the issue is there are no comps similar to our rural property, which is why the realtor paid for a professional appraisal to confirm how much the house is worth. But then again my appraiser came back 50k lower. Again it depends what comps are used.

The guy that lowballed at 185k would not be able to find anything remotely like our house. For 185k he's get a 1200 sq. ft house on a tiny lot and no garage.

Our house is on 2.25 acres, 1300 sq ft heated and cooled upstairs, 700 sq ft finished walk-out basement (no heat or air but it stays a constant temp because it's built into the side of a hill. My 3 boys used it as their bedroom/playroom for the past two decades. Was staged as a bonus room for the pics). We also have 1/2 acre fenced, 2 car carport, 1000 sq ft workshop/garage with an insulated office small with AC. We also renovated the house last summer putting in new flooring, master bath is completely renovated and updated with high end finishes, new dish washer, new paint throughout, and all known repairs done.

The realtor says we
need the right buyer that really wants/needs the big workshop.

How much emphasis has the Realtor put on that aspect in the descriptions?

Would you be willing to link to a Zillow page? or post some pictures?

Bad news. It's been six months. Your appraisal and comparable sales analysis are now stale. All of your marketing data is stale. As you described in another thread, you are in a rural area with a unique property. You won't be rewarded for your unique features. The shop will be great for the right buyer, for everyone else, it's not enough of a special feature to over look other problems and pay more than the market price. The basement is not heated or air-conditioned. While your family found it usable, it cannot be used as "finished" square footage in anyone else's calculations. Most buyers see needing to install additional HVAC. Many buyers will not buy a home on a steep hill because of the lack of usable flat land. You can't change that. Your lot size is bigger than the competition, but it's not useable and it's not enough to attract a person with livestock. So, it's really excess land that isn't useful to most buyers. Rather, it's land that needs to be maintained. Your third bedroom is small. Putting a bed in one room and no other staging will come across as strange. Stage one or two more rooms.

The good news: There is demand based on the number of showings. You've gotten one offer, but that buyer offered you what he could afford. You are getting closer. But, you have lost the first opportunity and that is going to cost you.

What should you do? Cut your losses fast. Hesitation will only cost you more money as the months tick past. I'd consider a new realtor. Your current realtor encouraged listing the house way out of the pricing range. Take a second look at listing pictures. Do they sell the house? Are they dark or blurry? Are the toilet seats up in any of the pictures? Is the yard cut?

What does the listing actually say? Does it sell the property? Is it correct? Is it full of errors. Check it. Is your realtor easy to contact? Is the home easy to access? Is your realtor following up with buyers or their agents after every showing? Your realtor may be the greatest in the world. I'd say probably not if you are still waiting after six months. If all of the data is correct and the pictures are great, you are left with bad pricing. You need to let that previous data go. It's proven to be worthless.

Do you have a real understanding of psychology and pricing? I know it sounds crazy, but you need to list your home at $219,000 rather than $220,000. Why? People think 219 is a lot less than 220. Plus, they do online searches in this price range in $10,000 increments. The lower the price, the more people in the pool.

Given the home is empty, you could give us the Zillow link. You may get some helpful suggestions. Don't give up.

Even better news: You are going to sell this. It's just a question of how much, not when.

Here is the link. Tax assessment is 192k. https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/fsba,fsbo_lt/house_type/2097257855_zpid/3-_beds/0-220000_price/0-837_mp/garage_att/35.700383,-78.787251,35.532087,-79.028606_rect/11_zm/0_mmm/?view=public

At this point the house is empty other than a twin bed in the smallest bedroom. I lived with no furniture at my new house for 3 months and then just couldn't do it any more and had to bring my furniture over.

The kitchen cabinets are real wood and in good shape. I don't have the time to paint them.

We go over on weekends and do yard work. There hasn't been much to do over the winter, although we went over last weekend and tidied up the raised bed garden. We do keep up with the front yard and back yard as best we can. The reason we're selling after 25 years is because of health issues I can't keep up with the yard any more.

This is going to come across as more brutal than I mean it to be. I went through the pictures and popped off my first thoughts without any flowery or softening touches. So, apologies ahead of time.

Needs curb appeal. Needs a landscaping crew to clean it up every weekend for at least a month to make it look inviting. If you're showing it in the winter, does it still have all that greenery or has it defoliated leaving tall sticks? Nothing says manicured or even tidy.

Is that a walking path to the front door? Is the nearest parking a 200 foot walk to the door??

Crushed rock walkway is not inviting. Different sized rocks tend to work, or even twist, your ankles.

Front porch, chimney, and side stone porch all need to be pressure washed.

Partially reworked back deck makes it look like the entire deck needs to be replaced. New wood does not look like it is pressure treated.

Kitchen looks old inside; however, WOW! I wish I had that much counter top, drawer, and cupboard space. Even if you don't like the colors or the old counter top, you have to appreciate the excellent use of space in there. In my opinion the chairs should be facing into the kitchen with the overhang out toward the dining area. There's not much you can do to stage a kitchen. We left some cookbooks out along with a knife block, big plants, and dishes visible in a glass front hutch.

House has a open look, but really a small dining room area pushed into a small living room area. Nobody would put a TV on a wall facing a window (would they?). All you see in the TV is reflections of the bright outdoors.

In image 10 of 29, the electric outlets on the far wall look like they were done by three different electricians. This makes me wonder, Was this house built by skilled craftsmen?

Master bath is a huge breath of fresh air. Very nice job on that.

Image 17 of 29, futon covered with a utility blanket facing a fireplace insert, dangling wire, and electrical panel is not appealing. Florescent light and the full length head knocker hanging down from the ceiling are similarly not appealing. I assume the head knocker is an air conditioning duct run in the basement. Finished basements are supposed to have stuff like that, so at least people should appreciate that it is finished. Change the light. This room really needs to help sell the house. Your boys must have had a blast down there.

Image 19. That room really is small. Even the wide angle lens can't fix it. I would call that an office and let the basement atone for all the sins of the upstairs. Or call it a media room and put the TV in there. If you need a TV in the kitchen, put another one in there.

The workshop is a handyman's dream come true. OMG!! Now that I'm down here in my zone I forgot all about the overgrown brush and the living room TV on the wrong wall.

To me the big positives for this house are the size of the kitchen, redone bathroom, large finished basement, and of course, the awesome workshop.

Location: I'm not real big on being 40 miles away from RTV (or whatever the initials were). Is that Raleigh? I live 50 miles from San Antonio, and it's a pain in the butt to get there. I used to live there and now I dread the drive. So what I'm saying is it takes special people to live in the country. How far is it to the grocery store? Not THAT grocery store, I mean the big one that you really want to go to.

Is your listing posted in the Raleigh newspaper? You're looking for someone who likes living away from it all, handyman, doesn't entertain at all, but likes the comforts of a nice bathroom.

No apologizes necessary, I appreciate the feedback.

The yard is a challenge. We put all our money in renovating the house. At this point there is no money to pay a yard crew. Heck, I'm eating rice and beans every day trying to get through this. Not one person has said anything negative about the yard, other than about the slope. That's not to say that it isn't an issue. Yes, everything is dead looking. I think spring and greenery will help. In the past we had goats and they kept everything down, nice cleared fenced yard. A couple of years ago we had someone come in and remove all the stumps and burned them up and had plans to regrade but medical issues with our son threw everything for a loop. Same goes for the front yard, we had the trees cleared and stumps removed and that was as far as we got.

Yes, that's a walking path to the front door. Parking is far, we always used the back door and went straight into the kitchen when we lived there. Up until last summer there wasn't even a path to the front door. I did the best I could on the budget I had.

New wood on deck is pressure treated. I agree the deck looks horrible. Listing notes state that the deck is "as is". We offered to put in a new deck and our agent told us not to because we wouldn't get our money back.

Nothing I can do about the kitchen. I agree though, center island should have had the over hang with bar stools.

My husband and I did the master bathroom. I miss it.

I've been told the basement adds very little $$$ to the value of the house. Yes, the boys had a blast and had sleeper sofas for friends to stay over.

TV has always been on the wall opposite the windows. I never had an issue with it there. The room is empty now, so maybe people can image it somewhere else.

My husband commuted to RTP for 25 years. Actually the drive wasn't bad (being relevant to expectations). He could leave at 7:15 and be to work by 8. Now we live closer but traffic is horrible and he has to leave at 6:10 in order to miss traffic.

A real grocery store is 15 minutes.

You've done a pretty good job. The listing is okay, but it could be even better. I only see two big issues and a few small items. It's weekend cleanup time. Take a weedwacker to the yard and push back the honeysuckle and wilderness. Get rid of some of the jungle pictures in the listing. You don't need them and they are emphasizing all the work needed to maintain the property. Less is better.

You've repaired the deck, but you aren't finished. Paint or stain the deck. Make it one color. Take a new picture once you've painted or stained the deck. Show the updated deck, not the overgrown yard.

Inside, either remove the sofa, TV and stand and replace it with a chair, side table, light and throw rug. Or, move the sofa to the end wall. Don't block the windows with furniture. You are trying to make the space look larger.

Replace six person dining table with 4 person table and chairs. There is no light getting in the way, move the table as far to the wall as you can. Get rid of one or two of the four chairs at the peninsula. Put, bright place mats with coordinating napkins in front of remaining chairs.

Remove microwave and add mixer or cookbook on a stand. Remove the hanging pots, they help and block the view. You need some color in the kitchen. You've got apples on the table, put them on the counter. Bright coffee mugs in front of coffee maker. Add bright dish towels on the the counter.

Get rid of picture number 2. It emphasizes the slope. Get people to the listing with picture one and three. Remove negatives and accentuate the positive.

After you have painted the deck, change listing narrative to reflect that the house is updated, renovated and in great condition rather than the rural location. Make sure to point out that it's four-sides brick. That's a great feature. Point out the huge kitchen. Great feature. Wonderful, updated bathroom, a great feature. Call the basement a large playroom/multipurpose room. Say that it is convenient to shopping and grocery. Covered parking under the pole barn. Not only is the shop building a plus, so is the storage building. Easy, commute. No traffic. Talk about those.

Homechef, you had some good tips, but you may have missed the OP said 'At this point the house is empty other than a twin bed in the smallest bedroom. I lived with no furniture at my new house for 3 months and then just couldn't do it any more and had to bring my furniture over." And, "We do keep up with the front yard and back yard as best we can. The reason we're selling after 25 years is because of health issues I can't keep up with the yard any more."

The house looks clean and well kept to me. I don't know what sales or comps are in that part of the country so I could not begin to speak to price. Part of the slow to capture interest may have been the time of year for homes in this location though - it's unfortunate that listing took place not long before the holidays and when grounds typically can look their least inviting.

Re-list at 219,900. #26 is a keeper! #2 for sure is a goner. Interior pics are pretty good, get rid of microwave and coffee maker-show off that open style kitchen! I think you should get a new realtor who has a different eye and have pictures retaken.

maybe get rid of futon and move nice couch downstairs? Remove floor lamp and tv/cart. #21 can go too.

Retake the exterior shots to show the great points. Front yard needs a cleanup! no pictures of car port, slope or gravel.

If you want to sell yesterday, maybe consider an auction...you need to get the peeps to your home to see how great it is.

I, too, was amazed at the pictures. I now understand when you say the exterior upkeep is too much for you. Heck, it's too much for me and I love yardwork!

In the first picture, what is that on the ground? Vines? Granted, I've never been to North Carolina. Is this common there? It makes me think someone has been working with a machete to knock the vines down, but they soon will grow back to take over the yard, walkway, and house. Are there any teenagers you could hire to remove everything growing there? And somebody with a tractor to scrape up roots, trunks, etc., and pile it all up and burn it. Bare ground would be preferable.

And I'd agree about the gravel pathway - very very poor surface for foot traffic.

I'd do away with all but one exterior picture (which shows the front of the house). They all seem to emphasize the tangled wildness of your lot and the work required to bring it into control. Especially the last one.

You say you are struggling to make ends meet, so you don't want to lower your price. How long to do you want to struggle? What if it doesn't sell for another 6 months? Bite the bullet and lower the price more. Cut your losses and move on.

I'm not opposed to lowering the price. We're also talking about giving an allowance towards landscaping/deck or whatever the buyer wants to use it for. The question just becomes lower the price by how much and how much allowance. Thoughts?

You need to lower the price to the lowest you can possibly manage. It needs to "read" great deal!

Would it be possible for you to rent the home?

From my monitor the front door looks lime green. Maybe that is a more popular color in the area, but where I am (NE, so not your area) doors tend to be a lot more conservative. White, Slate blue, dark red (which would look bad with your brick), beige, or black. It's a little unexpected, at least to my eye, which starts me off wondering what else is unusual. Good luck! ETA maybe it is white and it's the overlay of the glass door making it look lime.

You live near one of the hottest markets in America. And you have been on the market for 6 months AND, yet, still have had 23 showings in the last 30 days!

Forget the staging, forget the allowances, forget the landscaping, forget the stain on the deck, forget all of the old appraisals and comps. What other poster here are forgetting are your circumstances! The suggestions above are great for someone with surplus finances, good health and someone that is not tied up very emotionally about the property. The suggestions are too late given your health, financial and emotional circumstances. Lower your price tomorrow. Heck, you have not even had a single workable offer in all this time. Have your agent phone or email the agent of those 23 buyers and let them know that you have repositioned your home in the marketplace.

You probably need to be closer to $200,000 or $205,000. Get the home to market value and you will be sold in three weeks. I really hope you can do this.

I agree wholeheartedly with NCrealestateguy. No one is passing on your home for lack of a quart of paint in a different color on your door. The house is clean and appears cared for, it has a spacious kitchen and nice bath. The distance of the parking from your door is unfortunate, but not something you can reasonably change and you shouldn't try. The shop is wonderful. Have you stopped and run the figures, determined exactly what you must have for your former house to be comfortable in the new, put it down on paper and really looked at it. My only other suggestion would be when you do have other offers, counter - no matter what the buyers figure. If you are firm in your price, make it a token reduction but respond to the gesture with one of your own.

I wish you the best of luck, I hope you'll keep us updated.

I've listened to all your comments and I truly appreciate them. We have decided to give a 5k allowance for landscaping or closing costs - basically whatever the buyer wants to use it for and reduce the price 10k.

We're already past the point of what I thought would be my lowest price but that doesn't matter. The house is worth what the market says it's worth and I'll have to just deal with it.

I am not interested in renting it out. I need to sell it, so I can take the equity and put it towards my new mortgage and then have the loan recast, so my payment is manageable.

Obviously we will continue to do yard work. What choice do we have? I have 2 teenage boys who can help and my husband. Our new house has a nice flat lot with a big grassy yard, which means all we have to do is use the riding lawn mower.

Looks like a lovely, fresh house to me. The interiors are sparkling clean and bright, nicely updated, love the lower level. The workshop is great, the land is beautiful. With that many showings in only a month, the house must be appealing to many buyers. So, painfully, it has to be the price. How about dropping it to $218k and selling at $208k if you must? I like the idea of your realtor calling everyone who viewed it to announce the new price.

I believe she is already at $220,000, so a drop to $218,000 won't do it.

NCrealestateguy has a clue. Pricing is a concern. Get on it asap. I would suggest going through the listing pictures and eliminating some of them. This action is free. Nothing says you have to use all 30 spaces allotted in a listing. It's not a large house and there just isn't enough going on to justify 30 pictures. 15 Good pictures is better than 30 so-so pictures. They become repetitive or feature areas that don't need highlighting. Get rid of a few of the outdoor pictures that have been a subject of discussion.

Now, that we are on the subject of price, let me explain some of the psychology. Price searches run in groups. Under $500,000 they run in $50,000 dollar increments. Over $500,000 they tend to run in $100,00 increments. Your basic searcher will look at houses under $150,000, under $200,000, under $250,000, so on and so forth. Then, they will search in $10,000 increments within that $50,000 range. If you can get to $199,000 you will bring in a whole new set of buyers. If you sit in the $209,000 to $200,000 range, you are in the bottom of the range and are being compared to much nicer properties. You may miss a whole group potential purchasers. It's better to be at the top of the range.

If you can take it off the market for a few days to get a new MLS number and new listing designation, it would be helpful. There are different rules for different MLS associations, ask the realtor if this is possible.

Do not despair, you are going to get this done.

"Under $500,000 they run in $50,000 dollar increments. Over $500,000 they
tend to run in $100,00 increments."

How do you know that?

Nosoccermom,

Because that's how it works. There are studies about how people perceive numbers and studies about how people search the internet. It's a study of human behavior. If you engage a realtor that doesn't understand this, hasn't been trained in it or doesn't practice it, they aren't competent to do their job.

As an exercise, go look at some houses in your area. I don't know where you live, but if you will look at Zillow, look at a few that are priced $299,000 and $250,000. The homes at the top of the range look great when compared to the one's at the bottom of the range.

Sometimes, you will see the occasional use of a particular number such as 8. That's someone who believes in lucky numbers.

Above 1 million, it's in $250,000 increments. Above $5 million it's in million dollar increments.

I like it ! It has a nice woodsy cottagey feel. People who love trees, birds, fresh country air wont mind a slope on the one side - its not like the whole lot is sloping is it? Being on a slope suggests that its on a hill - and around my neck of the woods that's a desireable thing - it means good views, good breezes on a hot day and good sunlight.

Sorry I don't have much constructive to offer except my hunch that theres going to be someone out there who loves it.

Homechef, you just explained to me why our neighbor sold her home and it has an 8 in it.

Fascinating thanks for sharing.

Outbuildings and acreage do not add a lot of additional value to a listing. You need to reevaluate your thinking on that. The home should be priced exactly as much as the same size home in the same condition on a small lot with no shop. You're not selling the shop and acreage. You're selling the house. The shop and acreage are just drawbacks/bonuses to the house, depending on a buyer's viewpoint. They aren't going to pay extra for them. As your showings and offers have shown.

Take it off the market, do a little spring maintenance, then put it on and Price it at 199, and you might get multiple offers, and even end up where you are asking currently. It's too high over that lower pricing tier to get interest from the next tier down though. But that tier of buyers is who you need to attract, and who will overbid for the shop.

Jane for what it's worth, I think it's charming! I wish I could find it in the community I'm moving to. Sure it needs some updates, but you cannot create your land. A house either has the trees or it doesn't. I would buy it if I could. :) (plus I'm missing NC :(