Trying to sell a house is so frustrating!!

This has been a total shit show since day one.

First, my house was mismarketed for the first 6 weeks.

Now the sales contract is up shortly. The owner of the brokerage called, lied and said he had a potential buyer and wanted to see the house. Really he wanted to see why the house hasn't moved. The feedback was the kitchen in the other part of the house is too small. What would you like me to do about that? How about some constructive criticism? He then said we are $50K overpriced.

Now, I'm not living in lala land about my house. I'm very realistic about it. We "priced to sell". It is right on par with the comps. My house was completely redone and is turn key. To tell me it's $50K overpriced was just insulting. I am not lowering my price so that he could have another notch on the bed post of houses his brokerage sold.

Then yesterday, a realtor shows up with buyers who brought their dog. Who the hell goes househunting with a dog? And what realtor with half a brain in her head doesn't tell the buyers to leave the dog in the car? It was inappropriate and rude. Then that realtor told me my house can't sell because there is no bus to the elementary school. You could spit from my front yard and hit the elementary school so that's why there is no bus. Again, what would you like me to do about that?

Tonight a realtor from a different brokerage showed my house. Before he left he told DH that we have a beautiful home, perfectly priced and that our house is not being properly advertised.

I'm so over this. The way my realtor calls to minimize the house in an effort to get us to lower the price is rude and degrading. I told her that unless she can give me constructive feedback on what I can do to make it more appealing, don't bother me. I'm not petitioning the school board to get a bus stop. I'm not blowing out walls to reconfigure a kitchen. I'm so losing my patience. I buried St. Joseph so I hope it helps.

Okay. Final WAH. Whining session is over.

Re: Trying to sell a house is so frustrating!!

First, I am sorry that you are going through this. Selling your house is stressful and inconvenient under the best of circumstances - and it sounds like you've had less than ideal circumstances.

What do you mean the house has been "mismarketed" for the first 6 weeks (and what did the other agent mean about it not being marketed properly - did he give examples)? Do you think it hasn't been advertised on enough websites and things like that, or are you saying that the information on the listing and the photos don't accurately convey the selling points of your home?

If a house isn't selling, it's ALWAYS one of 3 things: (i) marketing (or lack thereof), (ii) access (to the home for showings), or (iii) price (and condition is tied to price). And truthfully, it is usually price.

I don't know the facts of your situation at all, so I am not saying it is price. But you need to be wary of other agents (who are not your listing agent or her company) and what they tell you. If your home is on the MLS, agents can see when your listing agreement is about to expire. And it's not unheard of for an agent to go in and try to butter up a homeowner with the hopes of getting the listing when you decide to relist.

Personally, I think it was very unprofessional of this other agent to essentially badmouth your current agent and directly criticize the job he is doing. It may or may not be valid, but I would not talk negatively about another agent in the business to his client. It's a little different if you had invited him in for a listing consultation, and he explained what he would do differently to better market your home, but I don't think a showing is the time or place. And I think feedback from an agent who shows the home should be conveyed back through the listing agent, not directly to the homeowner.

I agree that it sounds like your current listing agent isn't doing a very professional job, either, in her communications with you. And feedback isn't being conveyed appropriately. But I wouldn't totally dismiss the idea of a price adjustment just because of how it was presented. I often recommend price adjustments to sellers if I know the house has been marketed fully but we are not getting the activity or offers that we should be getting, and I think it's in THEIR best interest (because after all, the goal is to sell the house, not just have it on the market). This is especially true if things are being pointed out that can't be fixed -- such as an issue with location or layout. The price can be adjusted to compensate for that, but that's about it! Again, I am not commenting on whether the feedback you getting is valid or not, but I think it helps to keep an open mind...

Can you maybe schedule a consultation with your current agent to express your frustration and ask for more backup (comps, data, etc.) that support a price change? Or, if your contract is up very soon, start researching and thinking about agents who you would like to interview to take the listing next. On the positive side, after having a bad experience, you'll know what questions to ask (about marketing, feedback, etc.) to try to avoid the issues that are upsetting you now.

Good luck! Feel free to FM me if you have questions that you don't want to ask in the public forum. I'm always happy to help!

Re: Trying to sell a house is so frustrating!!

WOW!!!! Cant believe that someone had the NERVE to bring their dog in your house??
When we were showing our house, we did everything possible to put the dog in the car or at my inlaws because we werent sure if the people looking were terrifies or allergic.
Sorry this is happeneing.
I know my realtor is aggressive and passed out flyers with our listing, although I think we sold our house too low But wehn we lowered the price we did get more traffic. It is sad that all the hard work you put in, will give you nothing in return.
Good luck...hey maybe get that statue of St. Joeseph....it sold my house the same weekend I buried him.

Re: Trying to sell a house is so frustrating!!

OMG I am with you!!!! You sound just as frustrated as I am right now!!

We are going though similar situations SO all I can say is I feel your pain and

THE DOG!!!! THAT I CANT BELIEVE!!!!

That tops all of my crazy stories!!!




I am going to FM you.

Re: Trying to sell a house is so frustrating!!

Selling a house is VERY frustrating. Having the right realtor is important. You have to have confidence in them. Because if you had confidence and trusted your realtor and they said you need to lower your price "a bit" you would knowing full on they knew what they were talking about.

My DH sold his house for less then he paid for it and had to pay to get out. AAnd that was after 60K of work he put into it 4 years before. It was total turn key, huge and huge property. The market just stinks for sellers. We had to get out, ran out of time (on the market for almost a year) and dropped the price - sold right away after that. It's all about price and the buyers have you by the balls.

Sorry you're going through this. It really takes it's toll

Re: Trying to sell a house is so frustrating!!

Re: Trying to sell a house is so frustrating!!

Hang in there! It seems like at least you are on the right track now, with marketing and price.

It's definitely a different story if you have a one family v. a two family house. You should definitely be marketing to investors. So many of our investor clientele are looking to buy now.

And yes, if the house was built in 1960 but completely renovated in 2003, then I agree that it should say 1960 for "year built" on the listing, but the comments/description should make clear that it's newly renovated.

The dog thing is crazy - unless it was a seeing eye dog or something. I have honestly seen and heard a lot of crazy things in this business, but that's a first! At least once you successfully sell, you will have some interesting stories (and maybe even look back and laugh).

Realtors are like any other profession - there are great ones, and average ones, and really bad ones out there. Hopefully you can straighten things out to your satisfaction with your current realtor or find someone who is a better fit for what you need/want.

Good luck!