16 DOM. Daily showings. No offers. Common complaints.

[Scott K.]

I'm selling my house in Hawaii. There are 12 houses in my subdivision for sale. My house is the 3rd highest priced listing, priced at $597K. The next 2 highest priced listings are $608K and $649K. There was another listing for $649K which was 13 DOM and just sold.

My realtor says that they are having daily showings. She said there are 5 common comments:

1. negative - They don't like the floorplan (can't change that)

2. negative - Needs painting

3. negative - Needs new carpet

4. positive - The view is spectacular (unobstructed ocean view, best in the subdivision)

5. positive - Price is good

My realtor has been telling the buyers that we are priced lower because rather than putting money into paint and new carpet which the buyer will probably want to change anyway, we've lowered the price.

I've already sunk about $5,000 into repairs and cleaning for the house (after 2 horrible renters), at the realtors request to make it "sale-ready" and now I'm hearing about paint and carpet. I feel like I'm dying by a thousand paper cuts.

I have to also be mindful of the huge mortgage payments I'm making while the house sits. If paint and carpet will definitely sell the house tomorrow without question, it's a no-brainer because I'd spend the same money on mortgage payments in a couple of months.

The house has been on the market for 16 days thus far with daily showings and the common comments and no offers. Maybe it's too soon to try and chase offers by making drastic expenses like new paint and carpet. I don't know, I'm not a pro at this.

16 DOM. Maybe it's too soon to react. What do you recommend?

[Jake Oreskovich]

Scott, 16 days is nothing! Just hang in there buddy. I definitely wouldn't worry about the paint other than touch ups. It sounds as though your property's selling point is the view. If I'm a buyer looking for a view, I could care less about the paint. As you mentioned before, they will paint it anyway.

Carpet may be a minor issue depending on how much carpet you have. However, being that you are just a smidge under 600k, I don't think carpet would be a major deterrent for someone spending that much on a house with a view.

Just my opinion but I think you just wait it out until you find the person who LOVES the view. That's all it takes is 1 person to love the view, then the carpet, floor plan and paint become irrelevant issues.