Need help/Advice......

We are selling our 3bdrm/1bth home in Shirley/East Yaphank. Its been on the market since early November. We had a price reduction of $10k already & can't really afford to take too much more off the price & know we will have to negotiate. MLS#2442923
We did about $50k of upgrades over the last 3yrs & the only reason we are moving is because we got a great deal on a new build that we cldn't refuse. We have to sell b/c our new mtg is contingent on this sale so we can't keep it to rent out. There are 3 other houses on our block for sale all priced at $299k or $309k so we are priced fair.
Does anyone know of any other ways to sell this house quick?? Anyone looking or know someone who is?? We have open houses all the time & tons of traffic w/great feedback! Even the realtors want to know who staged our house & it was me.....we have to sell by Sept which i know is a ways off but the more progress I see on the new build the more anxiety I feel about the sale of this one....HELP anyone!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Need help/Advice......

no help, but it's beautiful!!!

no way could we have looked that far east bc of our jobs, but otherwise that would have been perfect for us, and almost 100k less than what we just bought

Re: Need help/Advice......

I wish I could move that far east! I can't offer you anything but good luck!!

Re: Need help/Advice......

Your house looks beautiful, as far as the photos! I'm not surprised you've had a lot of interest and positive feedback?

Does your realtor have any thoughts for why you are not getting offers? When she gets the positive feedback, but no offer, does she follow up with the other agents to find out why their buyers aren't pulling the trigger? Does she think it's priced appropriately?

I haven't looked at the sold comps, so I can't comment on the price -- but what have other similarly sized ranch homes sold for in Yaphank/Longwood SD sold for in the past 3-6 months? I would talk to your listing agent about that. As far as whether you are priced in line with market value, what else is available on the market isn't really that relevant. Someone could ask a million dollars for a house comparable to yours, so you can't really measure your price against other people's list prices. It's good to know what else is on the market, though, and where your house fits in - because buyers compare and they want the best house for the best price.

I see there are 2 other homes available on MLS on your street -- one is a short sale 4 bed/2 bath cape asking $200K, and the one that is asking $329K is a 5 bedroom/3.5 bath colonial. So I wouldn't put too much emphasis on those homes' list price; they don't seem like comparable homes to yours. I usually look at the same style house when I look at comps, so you want to find other ranch homes in the area to compare your home against.

If price isn't the issue, or if reducing the price isn't an option, what about offering some sort of incentive to either the selling agent or the buyer, to make your home stand out and drive more traffic through the door? You could talk to you realtor about it, but something like a $1500 bonus to any selling agent if the house is in contract by June 15 or something like that. Or you could offer to put a bit of money toward the buyer's closing costs ($2500 or something). It is more money that will come out of your proceeds at closing, but it's a smaller hit than reducing your price by $10K or more. And if there's a lot of inventory on the market, incentives can be a very effective way to make sure your house is on the top of the agents' and/or buyers' lists!

Re: Need help/Advice......

I live in the Longwood district too, but in Ridge. Houses in my particular neighborhood usually sell pretty quickly but lately even really affordable starters ($229 or less) are sitting for almost a year. I think its because of the new development in Ridge mentioned in this article
Paramount Woods
From what I've been told they are offering VERY creative financing and they have a signifigant number of units sold.
IMO its hurting the entire area. Although these homes are priced much higher than yours, its my belief that its much easier to get the financing because its all in house. 99% of buyers would want the new home and would be willing to stretch for it, especially if they are having trouble getting a convential mortgage on their own.
There is triple the amount of inventory in my neighborhood of 800 homes than there was from 2007-2010.

As for your listing, maybe ask your realtor to take new pics. Your seasonal decor gives the feeling you've been listed a while. Does your realtor work with a lender? can they put a package together to market to first time buyers for your house? Does your agent speak spanish? Have you marketed to the spanish speaking community?
I think its really hard for people getting into the lower end market to come up with a DP & get approved these days and that is your biggest problem.

Good luck, I hope the nice weather brings you eager buyers!

Re: Need help/Advice......

thank you all for the comments & feedback. I have been in touch with my realtor about a lot of what you mentioned but the incentives may be a good plan. i will talk to hubby tonight about that one. i know i have a few more months before the new house is done but i am due in 27days, and don't want to stress about this anymore & than keep stressing while I am taking care of 2 kids under 2yrs.....I have a lot going on right now with the new baby & houses...lol

I will also def look into new pics, great point! The comps, I research all of the time. The two comps referenced are on the other side of my block and are still the 3 others on my side....I have seen houses comparable to my size sell for $175 w/o the upgrades & then in the $200k's also and then others for more....its all over in the neighborhood. We did get one offer early on for almost $50k off of asking b/c thats all the buyer was approved for.

Thank you all, I appreciate the help

Re: Need help/Advice......

I forwarded your listing to a fried of mine who's looking :) Your house is beautiful!

Re: Need help/Advice......

Looking completely unbiased, b/c I don't know the area at all. Here are the listing book recent sales. It seems that you are on the edge of being a tiny bit too high. (disclaimer: I don't know anything about the area, so some of the comps might not match, etc)



Address
Town
Age
Bed
Bath
List$
Sale$
Sold

3 Waldorf Dr
Shirley
36
5
F2
$239,000
$212,000
12-22-11


41 Norwood Dr
Shirley
52
4
F1 H1
$147,500
$143,000
01-21-12


404 West End Ave
Shirley
75
3
F2
$239,900
$235,000
01-26-12


441 W End Ave
Shirley
47
4
F3
$240,000
$225,000
01-27-12


481 West End Ave
Shirley
23
3
F1
$199,999
$190,000
02-03-12


569 Sleepy Hollow Dr
Shirley
26
3
F2
$259,000
$240,000
03-02-12


595 Sleepy Hollow Dr
Shirley
1
3
F2
$229,900
$227,000
03-15-12


422 Puritan Dr
Shirley
52
3
F2
$199,000
$190,000
03-30-12


7 Rose Ct
Shirley
17
4
F3
$249,000
$227,000
04-05-12