I'd ask my agent is the market is hot, medium or cold right now. Real estate in your area may just not be selling. And I'd have that open house..

In my area row houses take a lot longer to sell. Presently it is a sellers market and stand alone homes sell quickly..There is some row houses that have been for sale for almost a year. If a row house is priced the same as a stand alone house buyers would rather buy the stand alone house. Two things sell a house price and location. Maybe your agent should re-evaluate what row houses in you area sold for. Not what they were asking. I noticed there was one 3 bedroom row house on your street that sold in July for $220,000.

Thank you both for your input. The market was pretty busy up until recently, things have started to slow down. As for the one that sold for $220k, it's actually right across the street from me....it's smaller, it's 13 years older, no finished basement (people tend to like that out here) and I know it wasn't in great shape. The one nearly identical to mine which doesn't have the walkout just sold for $6k less than mine is currently listed.

I'm completely willing to wait, my biggest concern is just no showings when I should be seeing the most activity. There are new apartments that are going up around the corner from me which while very nice, are going to be Section 8, so I'm just anxious to get this place sold before those are completed.

Two weeks on the market without any showings is a long time.

There are a few things that would keep buyers from looking: location, price, condition and the terms of sale. Your photos look decent. Your home is nice, neat and clean. The thing I would do is add lamps/lighting to the downstairs so it shows a little bit brighter and clean up that corner between the TV and the sliding glass door.

LOCATION: I don't know your area so I can't speak to the location. Your Realtor should be able to answer this question. The area looks nice on the link you shared. Isn't the new apartment building going up a disclosure requirement in your area? It would be a requirement here (I'm a Realtor).

PRICE: This is the big one. As mentioned above, if you have a multi-family home, townhome, villa, condo and it is priced within the same range as the single family homes in similar neighborhoods, you will lose buyers to the SFR. Not all buyers want a SFR, but it looks like your monthly maintenance fee doesn't cover much of anything. I'm guessing because there is no explanation for what the added fee actually pays for in your listing (on your link) . People that buy attached homes (TH's, villas, etc) typically desire less maintenance for their properties. It looks like your fee is so low that the owners still have to maintain the property themselves plus pay a nominal monthly fee anyway. This is regional, so have a talk with your agent. Get actual comps for the neighborhood for the past 12 months. Get SFR comps too for the surrounding areas. Are buyers passing over your home to pick up a SFR home for only a few thousand more?

One more thing: builders charge a premium to buy new construction. The price is usually lower than what was paid to the builder for the first few years since the property is now not new (never lived in). Have the agent graph it out for you showing the performance of the new construction properties in your neighborhood vs the older properties. Also, compare the sold prices for those with walk-out basements and those without walk-out basements.

CONDITION: Your home looks great from the pics. Your home is virtually new so the condition should appeal to most TH buyers that are looking for your location.

TERMS OF SALE: Is the fee you are offering to the selling brokerage in the market or less than what is typical? Are banks willing to finance in your neighborhood? There are some lending restrictions if you have a community with too many rentals or if that community isn't FHA/VA approved. Have your agent find out if there are any financing restrictions for your unit.

If you want to sell it fast (not sure when the apartments are expected to be finished, or why it really matters that they are affordable/subsidized housing - I mean, is there a great big sign out in front that says "POOR PEOPLE WILL BE LIVING HERE!" ??) regardless of the fact that you have a finished walkout basement and your townhouse is newer than the one across the street, you'll need to drop the price.

People may not even know that your house is the only one with the finished walkout, or that the one that recently sold is older and smaller! They see a townhouse, possibly skim any online listing for it, and definitely notice that the others are lower in price than yours is - an open house is a pain in the tush, but it gives people a chance to walk through and the gives the agent the opportunity to point out the differences that presumably make your townhouse better and worth more money.

I don't blame you for wanting to get out. I know some people will give flack for wanting to move because of a section 8 building going up, but that is one of the reasons we sold our last house. The once nice town over the hill from us bit by bit as the older home owners died out houses were bought by shady land lords and turned section 8 and the town turned bad. The fungus was spreading our way. Our townships police was always flying down there to assist the towns police in some sort of problem. We sold our house before people realized what was happening and still could get top dollar. Good luck on selling your home.

This is great feedback, thank you. The townhomes are part of a neighborhood that is one of the nicest subdivisions in our town (40k population). I think that the impact on Section 8 is just a perception factor, this location is at least 10 mins from most conveniences (gas, stores, public transportation), but it's all about perception, and unfortunately, it's negative for a lot of people.

I think the point about new construction on single family homes is also a factor...the prices are similar, but most are without upgrades, and a walkout basement is pretty difficult to add to an existing home. I will ask for comps for those, it's a great point.

The homeowner's fee does include all maintenance, so I will add that statement in description.

I'm going to check to see if there's a broker tour and will probably do the open house. We are moving out in a month, so those will be easier to handle.

Thanks again!

Don't forget to add in the comment section that the house was built in 2017, right? That is very new. Yes, it's elsewhere in the MLS sheets, but consumers need to have it pointed out to them right up front. Most consumers just scan the photos and then the details and don't retain much.

Broker's tours are useful. Open houses to general public are usually useless. Nosy neighbors and a few criminals.

The property shows well. You are priced high enough that you are competing with single family homes and yours is an attached home. It's not a row house by any means.

You will sell this to someone who needs a home quickly and can't afford to wait for something to be built.

There isn't much that you can do other than an additional price reduction.

Homechef59, thanks for validating what I'm thinking...just have to wait.

One small thing I noticed was the deck would look better if it had a new coat of either stain of paint and then repost the picture. Everything else looks finished although it is a little disconcerting, basically not to my taste, with those golden oak cabinets in the kitchen with the dark wood look floors.

One more tip: the reviews of the community at the bottom of the link you posted have a very negative review for the first comment. Is that your community? If so, is the information accurate about not being able to ride bikes in the community or play basketball? If so, this would be a turn off to people with children. If it isn't true or is another neighborhood, make sure another review is more accurate that is placed in front of that poor review of the neighborhood. Put your own review there. Or have others in the community put their accurate reviews there. Right now the negative review may or may not be affecting showings if the buyers have children. Even if it isn't your neighborhood, it sure looks like it is your community.

Denita and other commenters have covered most of it.

My comment is about getting more people in the front door by improving the presentation of photos. The exterior already looks great. In contrast, the interior photos look dark and gloomy. The grays come across as dreary, not fashionable. The intense blues come across as personal colors, resulting in "Oh, no, it will take several coats of primer before we can even move in" not "Fabulous! What nice clean bright rooms ." I think if you get a professional photographer to light up the rooms better, the interior will look much, much more attractive.

Also, if you have $200 to spend, buy a bright colored throw for the sofa, new colorful pillow covers for its two pillows, and two or three large $50 colorful paintings from Home Goods for the living room, kitchen area, and master bedroom. The paintings just need to be colorful and cheerful, they don't need to be meaningful Art with a capital A.

I hope you've had some interest in your house since you started this post. As someone that lives a suburb over from you, I can give my opinion. Note, I am not a real estate agent.

There are single family homes for sale in school district 202 and 204 that are around the same price as yours, and whose taxes are not as high. Your taxes are very high (our entire area is ridiculously high but for a townhouse I feel yours is really high). Granted, the houses in the other school districts are not as new, but many people will overlook that to have lower taxes. And many of those houses have 4 bedrooms.

You are also very far west for someone that has to commute to the city. I'm guessing it would take at least 30 minutes just to get to the Metra station on Route 59. And that's even before the nearly hour train ride. You're also far from I 88 and I 55.

I definitely think you need a bit more color. You're right, things do look dark, but that's something I personally could overlook. Many people can't though so I think you need to make it more inviting. Put some flowers on the counter (I see some on the table but I think you need more), some colorful throw pillows and an area rug. I also hate to say it, and sound just like House Hunters, but I think the laminate countertops will turn a lot of people off. All the houses around me that sell quickly have updated kitchens and yours looks dark especially with the black appliances.

It's hard to tell from your pictures, but it doesn't look like you have any window treatments on the main level. For a younger family that's buying their first place, that may be an expense they do not want to take on.

Your backyard also does not look inviting. There is no patio. Again, a big expense for a young family.

Now I'm not saying you need to add all these things, but because of the expenses involved, I think you need to lower your price.

2 weeks no showings is a long time. IMO pricing high seems like a bad idea. o would've had an open house that drives interest and excitement

I appreciate everyone's feedback and agree on most accounts...this was my first house after getting divorced and had to stay basic, thinking I would replace later on. But most of what's been pointed out are not things that I'm going to change given I'm moving out in a week....I'm definitely not going to put the money and work into painting or replacing cabinets or appliances. If anything, I would offer a painting credit.

The unit similar to mine that has upgrades & white cabinets but no walkout basement sold a few months ago for $272, which is what I currently have mine listed for. The 2 older units that are around the same size as mine don't have upgrades and are listed for $235k. Upgrades can be added later, but a walkout basement cannot (I technically have a 3 level home)...the 4 units in my subdivision that have the walkouts as new builds were all listed new around $20k more than the upgraded units that didn't, so IMO, it's coming down to personal preference which I have little control over.

I've still had very little activity, I've dropped the price twice (now $10k less than initial listing end of July), and there's not much inventory. The market just appears to be slowing down considerably. I realize you don't have my comps, but any opinions on approach to pricing? I'm also considering keeping it and renting, which my husband has agreed to handle.

I think you are putting too much value on a walk out basement. All that means is your yard slopes down. Walkout cellars add no additional value to a home.
Most people would prefer to walk out to their back yard from the main floor, not having to go down stairs into a basement to get to their back yard. Upward sloping or level yards are preferred because you have direct access to the yard. What effects value is if a basement is finished or not. So I would certainly pay more for a upgraded main floors of a home over a walkout basement just because it has a door. People spend most of their time on the main floors, not the cellar.

@functionthenlook it's finished, adds to the sq ft of the home and is considered a third level so I don't think that most people would refer to it as a "cellar". And yes, research I've done and what I've been told by multiple realtors is that they do indeed add value to your home. I appreciate your input, it just confirms what I said, it's a matter of personal preference.

We don't have a walkout but we do get the driveway/garage snow melted off pretty quick during winter due to the driveway facing South! Here in the Midwest, it actually can make a difference to have a walkout vs a regular basement, some people like the former more than the latter, personally we have the family room/kids tv watching area down in our basement, and the 3rd bedroom down there is my home office/craft room. We moved here in August 2017 from SoCal, so it's quite a bit different here than it was out there - sold our home in SoCal with plain tile counters in the kitchen, ordinary cabinets from 1978 (the year the place was built), and white appliances! For more than twice what I paid for it back in 2002! We just needed more space to start building our family, had job offers, and my family lives out here in Nebraska which is a plus!

My parents have a walkout, my brother/SIL have a regular basement only theirs has a door at the top of the stairs that helps keep the noise from my two oldest nephews down there (their bedroom is also in the basement off of the family room with all their computers), and the mister and I have a regular basement - no door but our kiddos are pretty quiet and keep themselves entertained/do homework down there. My parents' house was built from the lot up, in a neighborhood that was just beginning to have people building there, ours was built more recently than theirs was, but we bought from the original owner - my folks have more storage space than they could possibly fill, part of it is underneath the garage above which attaches to the main floor. I do wish we had a dedicated 'safe room' space in case of tornadoes, but we can huddle up in the basement bathroom because it's positioned right in the center of the main home structure so it's as safe as we're gonna get in this house. I like that most of our living space is on the main floor, even though the laundry is down in the basement it's in a finished room area and the stairs going down/up from the split entry are nice and wide enough to not worry about anyone falling.

KVM, are you saying the other row houses don't have basements at all? My basement is finished, but I still call it the basement or cellar. Most people around here do also to distinguish between the floors of living space. No offense.

Oh no offense taken, I just hear the word "cellar" and think of unfinished storage space. The townhomes aren't rows, they are 2 attached homes, and all have typical basements or "cellars", some are finished, some are not. There are only 4 total townhomes in my subdivision that have the finished walkout set up. Our neighbors have a nice patio outside of theirs.

I think this is the norm, but at least in Illinois, if it's a full walkout and has windows that aren't below the ground (we have a spare room with a standard window that could be converted into a 4th bedroom), then the sq ft is included in the total and considered a third level whereas other finished basements the sq ft cannot be included in the total.

We call your home a duplex. Yea, different areas have different rules as what counts as sq footage. The basement just has to be finished to count as sq footage in my county. Of course basement bedrooms have different rules.

KVM - I think part of the problem is that school has already started and things slow down considerably once that happens. You may have missed the window by not listing your house sooner than July. Plainfield started school August 14 if I remember correctly. Families with school aged kids are likely going to wait until the following spring to look instead of going through the hassle of changing schools and going through a move mid year.

@chocolatebunny123 you are exactly right! My timing wasn't good for sure, and now the issue is that if I wait and list it in the Spring, the apartments and accompanying increase in traffic will be in place. We shall see what happens....thanks for your input.

You need to rethink what you want. One thread you mention you are moving out in a week and the last one mention listing it in the Spring. You may be renting it out but it makes little sense, at least to me, if it is vacant to take it off the market until Spring as people do move all year round.

Yes, it will be vacant in a week, but my concern with keeping it listed is that from my understanding, people are turned off by seeing a high number of days on the market. I'm in the process of thinking about what I want, hence my questions....

Sorry but your comments are not making any sense. Just because it has not sold you could remove it from sale until next Spring missing a sale between now and then while leaving it vacant. Taking if off market should mean there would be no days on market until you list it again. If it is still on the market someone might buy it between now and Spring so there would not be all that high number of days on the market unless it just does not sell. You should talk to your sales rep.

Why leave the home vacant all winter. I would lower the price $10, 000. Apparently your price is too high or you would of had lookers. Yes, the market slows down this time of year, but it doesn't go dead. It is only going to cost you money sitting empty. Your still going to be paying utilities, taxes and insurace on the place. In fact your insurance is probably going to go up because the house is vacant. Then your chances of someone breaking in and ripping out anything sellable is higher.

If you rent it out who knows what they will do to the place.

I’ve read on this site many, many times that price is what sells. No matter what other houses have sold for, no matter what you think the value is, no matter what you paid for it, your market is telling you it’s too high - evidenced by the fact that you’ve had no interest.

@littlebug zone 5 Missouri unfortunately I know you’re right. I received feedback from the latest showing that said that they loved it and felt it was priced well but it’s just not the right location (too far from highway). At the end of the day, outside of lowering the price, I just have to wait for the right buyer. Thanks for all of the input.

IME few homeowners are cut out for the realities of landlording. Especially if it is a first property for you. There are hidden expenses that crop up when you become a landlord. Vacancy and collection expenses, screening difficulties (screening prospective tenants adequately), repairs and maintenance when the property is vacant and when it is tenant occupied. Rule of thumb is that your maintenance and repair expenses can range from 40% to 50% of your gross rental income from the rental. This is something that most first time landlords don't think about before turning their last primary residence into a rental. Even if you get your repairs, maintenance, vacancy and collection expenses down to an unrealistic 25%, do you make a profit then or are you digging a bigger hole?

Having your ex husband handle the rental is another whole level of complexity you are adding to the already difficult transition from homeowner to landlord.

How do I know this? I was a landlord myself with my own properties for 20 years and a Realtor for 40 years (still a Realtor) working with professional small investors. It just isn't as easy as it looks if you are doing the right things to protect your property.

It is far better to recognize that the market is speaking to you now loud and clear. Drop your price to what the market will accept.

You are 100% correct @homechef59 (except for the list price, it’s at $272k not $172k). The only other consideration is could my agent be doing more? I don’t really know, but to me, it feel like it’s the just current market.

The “current market” is the only market that exists. I’d cut my losses and stress levels now, reducing the price till it sells.

It's not unusual for an owner of a home to look at it through rose colored glasses. I think no matter what we suggest the price is not the reason the house doesn't have any lookers per the OP.

When we were looking for our present house we put in bid for a different house. It was owned by a son and his parents. The house needed painted, new kitchen, floors refinished, and the guest bath updated. The master bath was new. It was listed for the exact same price as a fully updated house down the street sold for. The son, mother and agent though our offer was fair and wanted to take it, but the father was fixated on the fact that it had a new bathroom and the exact house sold for x amount of dollars. His family couldn't reason with him. All he kept on saying is that it had a new bathroom. He couldn't see what other updates the house needed and refused the offer. We found out later from our agent we weren't the only ones who made an lower offer and the father rejected. He just wouldn't take off the rose colored glasses. It took them a whole year to sell that house. For a lower price than what we offered because the market changed.

Well believe me, I’ve taken off the glasses and already asked my agent to lower the price. At the end of the day, I asked the question just to ensure that there weren’t any other factors I should consider and to get objective opinions which is exactly what I received, so thanks again for all of the input!

Good luck. Hope all goes well.

Best of luck, I know that the answers to your questions that have been provided here couldn't have been easy to accept nor to hear. That's the nature of things though. I was lucky that I trusted our agent a whole lot, it made putting things like what to set the price at, a lot easier (which is always pretty challenging for me, I know! Letting someone else be in charge of things!).

You are asking if your agent could be doing more? Fair question. Let's explore this issue.

Judging from your listing it looks as if the listing is in good shape. The description, pictures and important details are nicely presented. The listing itself is not an issue. It's a nice listing of a nice property.

Is the property easy to show? Double check that the showing instructions make it easy to show. Now, that it is empty, a lock box and immediate access are reasonable.

Has the agent had an open house for the general public or an agent's only open house? Open houses are of dubious value. At best, your neighbors get to go through your house and criticize your decorating. They are mostly used by the agent to make contacts for their new business. They are of limited benefit to the seller.

Agents only open houses are valuable when you have an unusual property. It's really an excuse for a free lunch for the area agents. They have some value, but it's limited.

Does your agent use the newspaper? That used to be a good question, but all real estate has migrated to online viewing. It's all about the Zillow and Trulia listing.

Does your agent answer the phone, emails or texts in a reasonable period of time? Hopefully, the answer is yes. If it's no, then you might consider a change.

From the outside looking in, I doubt your agent could be doing any more than they have already.

Pricing is a different matter. There is room for improvement without a lot of price reduction.

Should you consider an additional reduction in price? I think yes. But, it needs to be a strategic number.

The current listing price at $272,000 is a weird number from a sales behavior standpoint. Potential buyer viewing behavior will suggest you drop the price into the next price point zone. You will generate more activity by dropping into the next price zone. You will capture the viewers that are shopping between $260,000 and $270,000. Right now, you are missing those buyers. Currently, you are attracting buyers in the $270,000 and $280,000.

You need to drop into the next pool of buyers. I suggest pricing the property at $269,900 to capture this pool of buyers.

Should a price reduction to $269,900 not spur showings, your next pricing zone will be between $250,000 and $260,000. If you are in that price zone I would suggest a listing price of $259,900.

If I put on my appraiser's hat, I would suggest that the added value of the finished basement to the property somewhere between $25,000 and $30,000 to the price. You have two sales around $230,000. Add the basement at $30,000 and you have a price around $260,000. That's at the bottom of the next price zone. You need to get into that price zone.

Talk to your agent about dropping into that next pricing zone. If she doesn't understand pricing ranges and buyer behavior, then you need a new agent.

@homechef59 thank you for this, it’s pretty much on point with my thoughts, and yes, my agent feels the same way about open houses. If there is no activity within the next week, I will be dropping the price. I’ve already dropped it by $10k, which, as I said previously, I thought original listing was too high. I went with her suggestion because I trust her....there is a similar unit that is currently contingent st $294k, but it’s been under contract for over a year, weird situation. Anyways, appreciate the validation.

Hi KVM,

I just went back and looked at your listing again. Your agent has not dropped the price yet. I would have him/her do it ASAP. It's Thursday already - people that want to look this weekend are checking out listings today, if not earlier in the week. You need to get your house at the top of the listings again with the "new" comment.

I would not bother with an open house (not saying you were considering it, but just my opinion). Football season has started, there's a professional baseball team that may get into the playoffs, the weather is nice still (surprisingly)...I don't think you would get a lot of interest.

One thing my friend who works in RE does is virtual staging. Her company has "before" and "after" pictures of furniture staged. Her experience is people need to see the potential, that most cannot visualize it without help. She also does a lot of photoshopping making cabinets white, since white is still the rage here.

I hope you gather more interest. My friend is still really busy and the slow season hasn't started yet.

No showings, no offers... way overpriced.

Few showings but still no offers... overpriced

Lots of showings but no offers... almost there

Lots of showings and offers... priced correctly.