Then make this your second photo. Great deck.

How are you getting my photos directly onto site? I couldn't copy and paste. Thank you!

jij48, if you save the photos to your device, then use the "photo" icon below to retrieve them, they will post here.

After google image search, clicked download from the Trulia site, then added to GW post. Would you like me to delete them from this thread?

The only things I see that are unappealing are the meatballed, overpruned shrubs. But people are used to seeing them and you can't easily replace them on short notice.

Reduce the price to whatever it takes instead of spending time and money trying to make it work at the current price and dilly-dallying with small price drops.

The "carrying costs" ... the house plus the motel plus the stress are adding up fast.

You have your answer - it's price. First offers are usually as good as it gets. Have they bought? If not, have realtor contact them and accept the best offer.

I agree with lazy gardens. At this point, time is money, and your emotional well-being and general health are even more important than money.

I'd add a few plant pots, take some better pictures of the exterior, re-order the photos on the broker's website, and lower the asking price.

Agree with Anglo-call the realtor and see if the best offer is still on the table. Then, take the money and run. The stress us not worth an extra $15,000. If you need to keep dropping the price, it sends a bad message and soon you will be down to one of those offers anyway. Good luck.

Thank you. No I don't mind the photos here, just wanted to learn how you did it. I will make a few changes, get better photos, have open house then see where we are.

First offers are usually as good as it gets? Where do you all live? My first offer was $60,000 below asking price (actually more, but 60 below what I would take). At the sixth week mark I got an offer five grand off of what I wanted and sixty big ones more than the first... and I took it. I was happy and the closing smooth. Hopefully your realtor isn't telling everyone how desperate you are.

BTW, I did a mockup with the blue door and it looks fantastic. For those that didn't know...you are not working with several colors as the roof and shutters are close to the same.

Hang in there JlJ, YOU CAN DO THIS!!!

Costco currently has planted pots and hanging pots with the pots looking like ceramic but actually some kind of plastic material. I had to touch it to make sure. Instant color.

Well I do believe that you only get one chance to make a first impression, so it needs to look really good at listing. I think if it looks great, has wide appeal, is structurally sound, and priced right, it will go fairly fast. We have sold 3 homes prior to this one and none were on the market more than 3 weeks. However, I think that the realtor priced it in line with the comps, and in our city the other factors that I mentioned with the schools, property taxes, crime, ect. has buyers with a tight hold on their pocket books. I wish I would have started a little lower. I will get things freshened up and get some new pictures up. I also don't like the realtors wording of our house. I hate to tell her how to do her job but I'm going to. It's my life, my house, and not my first rodeo. I think the next time I go to sell something I want to try it on my own.

It is stressful to sell and move and be separated. Things will work out though. Afterwards or a few short months later you will almost completely forget about the worries you had during this time.

Here's a little song to cheer you...

Gray skies are gonna clear up,
Put on a happy face;
Brush off the clouds and cheer up,
Put on a happy face.

Okay...this is so goofy you will have to laugh https://youtu.be/bInQnXyXnkM

That made me smile. :)

I hate to tell her how to do her job but I'm going to. It's my life, my house, and not my first rodeo.

You're not on your own -- we have your back : ) . If necessary, you can show her some of the posts her that agree with you about pricing!

If you are getting new pictures here are some more suggestions.

1. The living room picture with the large black chair. Move it under the window. All the furniture and the piano look squished into the back corner. Remove the stool next to the table on the left behind the piano. It says, I don't have enough room.

2. On the kitchen counter, a maximum of 3 items. 1 large and two smaller. Make one decorative. Put the soap under the sink. Nothing on the window sill and whatever is sticking on the window, remove it.

3. What's sitting behind the bar stools in the picture? And why is the lighting so poor? Make sure photos are taken using a wide angle lens and HDR turned on so the outdoors isn't bleached out and the indoors isn't dark.

4. Pic of the dining area. Put a big bowl of fresh flowers nicely arranged on the middle of the table instead.

5. In the den, take out the screen with the baby pictures. Depersonalize the house. Pull the stool by the couch out so it looks like it's not scrunched in there.

6. In the pool room, take the picture from in front of the gym equipment and emphasize the size of the room with the pool table and not the gym equipment shoved into the corner.

7. In the bathroom, CLOSE the door to the laundry room. It's a negative to think you have to go through the bathroom to get to the laundry. Also get rid of the parson's bench in the bathroom and the magazine rack when photographing. And if you're going to have the towel hanging, make it neat looking.

8. Your bed looks sloppily made. Make it neat looking even if you have to tuck in the comforter. And find some nicer pillows.

9. The room with the daybed: make it look like a daybed and not like someone was sleeping there, even if they do.

10. In the green bathroom, ditch the shelving unit. It implies you don't have enough storage room.

11. Ditch the first backyard pic and any showing a dog crate.

As others have said, the last pic should be your first. And others have given you great advice for the exterior.

Here's a link to my condo I sold showing how I staged it. I got the third highest price ever paid for a condo in my building. There were 10 others in my building for sale at the same time and everyone else had to drop their prices significantly. I believe my photos and staging helped a lot.

Really frame your photos before taking them and double check nothing is in the way. Add more lighting behind you if needed. It might pay to have some professional photos taken. And flowers in vases help too.

#1 way to sell a house is price it right. Tough to swallow sometimes but it just goes to prove "worth" of a home is in the eye of the seller and many sites/Realtors/homeowners INFLATE value all the time.

Looks like its priced right. Price range is roughly $225,000 to $327,000. There is an older near by neighborhood with slightly smaller older homes in the $190's. The closest comparable to age, appearance and size (although 223 sf less) is priced at $234,000. OP's house is at $239,000 built in 2001 and 2,222 sf. So, maybe something else is going on. How is the puppy aroma? How is the maintenance? OP did mention recent crime in the neighborhood?

Here are the closest comparable's for size and location.

This house ...$$242,000 1,929 sf

This house... $234,000 at 2144 sf

She got two offers initially, one was way too low but the offer for 15k less was most likely valid. The two fast offers indicate it shows well enough for its neighborhood. Valid comps are only ever based on sold prices not available prices. The ones still for sale and not pending after a week are also most likely priced too high....look at sold comps not available comps to determine fair market pricing. That is what the buyer's realtors are advising their clients to do before making offers.

This one sold in 2016 for $230,000 a few streets over but it has no deck or anything. This was last year. The only others are mostly from 2015, smaller and sold in the $220's.

There is nothing for this year in this neighborhood.

There does seem to be plenty of sales in nearby locations of small older to very old homes in the 1000 sf range. So, there seems to be a larger market for lower income first time home buyers.

The last sold comp will be closer to an accurate price even if it is from 2015, sorry no new sales is indicative of a location issue not lack of curb appeal and price needs to reflect the desirability, or in many cases, the lack there of the neighborhood. You are only as valuable as your last sold comp in this situation sadly. Her price minus 15k , i.e.about 225k, was the perfect offer according to this reality.

Yes, I think realistically if someone offered $230,000 she should take it and run if she is anxious to go. I wouldn't go lower.

She should also consider that in many areas single floor living will add value to a home so she may not be able to use that ranch comp for her colonial house or will need to adjust it to account for the differences. But yes, between 220 and 230 is most likely her realistic selling point.

I don't live in a wood deck area. I'm in a patio area with preferred under roof patio. Do wood decks add any value in IA? The OP's deck is nice, does she get value for that? Most of the homes don't have it.

They help a house sell faster in my area but not necessarily reflected in the cost, due to extra yearly maintance needs. Not quite a superadequacy, like a pool is in colder climates, but not a large profit booster either.

Okay, according to an older 2014 figure on Remodeling Net's Cost vs Value on a wood deck (not composite) and roughly the same size (although OP's is bigger) it adds a value of $6,512. It would be silly to go lower than $230,000 even if desperate. At that price a home buyer is getting a great deal.

If the listing is correct you have far better schools than in my area. The schools in my Cali home are rated at 1-3 at most for the district that I grew up in. Bare in mind looking at the whole house, even with a few things I'd want to change, if I were looking to move out to that area I would likely put your home highly on my list because it looks to be in great condition and to me looks reasonably priced.

I agree that I do not like the wording on the listing, it looks unprofessional to me. I would word the listing differently.

A basic update that would make me more likely to request a showing:

"This impressive 2 story home was built in 2001 features 4 bedrooms and 3 1/2 baths. This home includes highly sought after amenities such as a spacious kitchen, a main floor laundry room, 2 family rooms and a large living room. The spacious backyard is enclosed with vinyl fencing and features a deck and many plantings. Home includes a one year HSA home warranty."

If the basement is finished I'd say:

"This impressive 2 story home was built in 2001 features 4 bedrooms and 3 1/2 baths. This home includes highly sought after amenities such as a spacious kitchen, a main floor laundry room, 2 family rooms and a large living room. The finished basement has (xyz rooms). The spacious backyard is enclosed with vinyl fencing and features a deck and many plantings. Home includes a one year HSA home warranty."

As for photos...

With this one I like the fact the storm door is there and is glass but I do not care for the bright brass handle (this is personal taste), I think painting both doors something other than white will look better since to me the white kinda clashes a tad bit with the off white/cream siding (I had a interior door that was very white compared to the cream mouldings and it drove me nuts).

Why is everything over on that side of the room? It looks like the room is cut in half. I would want things to be more spread out and show the whole room, even if it means taking 3-4 photos to show the whole thing.

This is dark. I would want brighter lighting in here and something colorful since it looks like all the wood is the same tone.

I like that there are lights over the counters and from the other photo it looks like you have 4 times the counter space I do. That said, I am not big on the fridge sticking out so far, but I don't think there is much that can be done about that. Maybe a different angle would minimize that.

This seems like a weird angle and I'm seeing that with a lot of photos. It doesn't really show how big the room is.

I saw a brown room which looks like it's in the basement because of the window at the ceiling. I do not think that brown is a good color and I don't care for the border print.

I actually don't mind the daybed room. If you want to dress it up then I'd remove the bookcase and put a desk in the room, then make the pillows go along the back so it looks like it's just to rest on rather than made up as a bed. I currently sleep on a upholstered daybed and I have many pillows so I can make it look nice for photos.

Did it rain recently before the photos were taken? I'm seeing water on the deck.

Good luck, I hope you get a sale soon.

IN New England appraisers never ad much value for our decks. Our added tax for our decks is minimal as well. The remodeling net cost calculator is a bit like HGTV shows giving way more value to their additions and staging to increase building product sales, i.e. It is a form of marking to stimulate building. They are really just info commercials for contractor guilds and big box stores. The reality is that in areas with winters they do not add much value ask a realtor or bank assessor for a more valid local opinion.

edited to add, I will not look up the address for I felt the seller might not want me to, but the pictures others are posting show a lovely home. I really think price due to location is hindering a quick sale. In another area it would fetch top dollar.

Post this on landscape forum

That garage picture needs to be completely taken off the listing. Sheesh! I thought my real estate pictures were bad.

Thank you everyone for taking time to comment on the photos. I agree with most comments. It is hard, because we are still living here with 2 grown sons that recently moved back home and 2 lab dogs. Yes it was raining the day we signed and took photos. She is coming back to take fresh photos this week. I agree that it would be great if some things were moved out to look less cluttered and more spacious. But again, we are living here. Just like in my daughters room. It's a bit crowded, she's a teenager. She actually has gotten rid of many things, we all have, but we are still living here and when we move she will be relocating and leaving her friends and brothers behind. We are trying to make this transition as smooth as possible.

And.. we WOULD take $230 if offered. I don't think we should take lower, but we will see as time goes on. By mid summer we WILL need to cut our losses or rent it out. That makes it difficult not being in the same city to manage a rental.

I clean REALLY well before all showings. There are NO odors, NO dirt, and as little clutter as possible. Laundry is caught up, no towels hung, ect. I actually eliminated bacon and fish from our diets because the odors from cooking those foods can last until the next day. Dogs are kept outside mostly, which is why our yard is taking a beating, but they are also bathed and my carpet is shampooed every few weeks. The big room with the hardwoods is right off the kitchen and could be a wonderful formal dining room or at least listed as a "formal dining/flex room" or something like that. However, there is no overhead light fixture. I have put in a call to an electrician to see if one can be installed. If so, I may stage it as such and move out the furniture.

I agree about the wording of the listing and photos. However, our realtor is actually well known in our small city and very well respected. She has a lot of positive connections in the community. Our neighborhood is a very desirable neighborhood due to it's elementary school and close proximity to parks. The parks are 3 blocks away and have views of the Mississippi River, trails, dog park, community pool, skate park, roller rink, putt putt golf, tennis courts, a disc golf course, and little league baseball. It is known for it's flowers, trees, deer at dusk each evening, and even has a historic Indian Cave with trails. I am not kidding! We chose our home because of the parks. I have a typed flyer laminated on my counter that buyers can read during showings that states what we love about living here.

I have to believe that our increase in crime and declining schools are contributing factors. I just learned today that our district enrollment is down by 500 students for the upcoming school year. People are putting their children in other schools, particularly high school.

I'm not saying you need to live like a monk but for the Pictures, stage it well by removing the items. You need to first get people in the house and do it by well staged photos. People will understand if the kids have things in their rooms. But anything that you don't need, put in storage. For a small fee you can get a storage locker. That's what we did.

I'm kinda shocked at the drop in enrollment. How bad could it have gotten? The schools in my area are bottom of the barrel schools and no one seems to bat an eye.

Everything you just said that is near your home I believe you should put in the listing. It paints a beautiful picture of what wonderful things there are nearby. As a buyer I would at least go view a home if it were near all that great stuff. If I were looking for a home and knew about all that stuff and saw a house as nice as yours seems to be I'd be making an appointment for a showing asap. You have a wonderful home that is a classic style and is in very good condition. Once the new photos are taken and another showing or 2 happen I think your home will sell fast. Before a showing I have heard it can help to bake cookies because that smell tends to make people happy.

Given the info about the schools, could this be a home for an empty nester who maybe lived in a larger home nearby and doesn't are about schools? Are there catholic schools nearby that again the school system would not matter for those people?

I am really curious about this increase in crime. I'm surprised parents aren't getting more involved.

You need to get to the bottom line quickly here.

My sister was lucky to sell her home in Florida right before a redistricting. She lived in Florida for 30 years and moved three times. Each move with a certain school district in mind.

In only a few months time of carrying costs the offer of 225 that you rejected is the same if not more profittable as you having a possible 230 offer months from now.

Thank you all. The realtor stated we are now allowed by law to state the ammenities the home is near. I will ask her about that, because I thought you could at least state it was near the parks. And our highest offer so far also wanted all of our main level furniture and washer and dryer.

I think the schools are an issue here because the rapid decline has been within the last 5 years. There are a lot of contributing factors that go into it, but people are considering their options and are hesitant. Yes there are Catholic schools near by. But of course that is pricey, where the High School is public.

That offer was too low if it included the house contents. Washer and dryer usually do convey though and if you do not want them to maybe swap out with cheaper units. Anything attached, like chandies, window treatments, bath vanities and appliances are expected to convey unless otherwise stated. I always think it best to remove those things you wish to take with you.

Good luck, you have a tough neighborhood to sell in but your house looks lovely.

I would also add that for your new photos, it isn't necessary to box up or get rid of things, just move the stuff out of the way. For instance, grab all the throws off your chairs and move all the stuff off your washing machine. Be brutal while examining the room and remove all clutter and small decorative items before you allow the photos to be shot. You can put the things back in the room right after the picture is snapped.

Did she list the house on multiple websites? I know a lot of people only use realtor.com or zillow. That might help if she hasn't listed on those yet.

If that's a law I've never heard of it as many listings I've seen have that kinda info on them (including photos of the city and a theme park when I was looking at property in Dallas). Is it just a state law?

I don't think you really need to do much for curb appeal. It looks pretty good. Maybe paint the door and do some minor adjustments to landscape. And, get better pictures. That darker blue I posted above would work or a nice dark NAVY.

The realtor stated we are now** allowed by law to state the ammenities the home is near.

** jlj, "now" or "not"?

And if it's "not", what is the law against stating nearby amenities? I know about mandatory disclosure provisions where sellers are required to state certain things, but have never heard about not being able to note nearby facilities, etc.

And our highest offer so far also wanted all of our main level furniture and washer and dryer.

Do you mean main level appliances, or actual furniture, like dining room table and chairs, sofa, etc.?

How far are you moving, and would it actually help to be able to sell the house furnished? If so, I'd include this possibility in the listing.

Sorry, NOT allowed to state ammenities the home is near and they wanted our couches, table and chairs, bar stools, washer and dryer and pool table. No we cannot sell furnished.

Yikes. Make that double yikes.

Moving cost is labor and weight. Unless your company is paying for the move

I would consider selling some of the furnishings with the house. Washer and dryer and ref are very heavy.

Of course if they are new that could make a difference.

sorry to say your house has no curb appeal. It would not be on my list to see.

i suggested posting on landscape forum. Yardvaark on that forum has great

suggestions.

Sorry to be so brutal.

Oh and I do wish you lots of luck and happiness in your new home.

Jlj,

just want to come back and clarify what I was trying to say.

curb appeal is very important. You have a very nice home, on the inside,

but you need to make people want to come inside your home.

check out the landscape forum. I know you don't want to put more money into your home, just see what those folks recommend.

all the best

jo

The two things I'd do is to paint the garage and front door the color of your shutters and spread out the furniture in your living room,

I think the angle and time of year the photo was taken is why it might seem you lack curb appeal. I have a feeling now that the leaves and grass are green you have oddles more charm today than you did weeks ago. Now that spring has sprung you should retake all exterior shots, that with a few flower pots alone will make a big difference.

I agree with Roarah, A nice sunny day, Flowers's, a bit of green and a few minor adjustments.