Please help need some ideas on selling home

[Carlos Cockman]

Hello all. I have had a 4br/2.5ba house on the market since 10/09 with no offers. I originally had it offered through an agent who basically just stuck a sign in the yard and put it on the mls. I had about 15 people see the house but no offers. The house needs to be updated but all in all is in pretty good shape. I am now trying to do an fsbo with not a whole lot of luck. I am in desperate need of selling this house fast because of my wife's recent job loss and if she doesn't find a new one fast we will start falling behind on payments. Here is some of the details about what I have had it listed for and a strategy I have tried:

1. I had the property listed with an agent for $139900 and then reduced to 136900 and now with an fsbo at $133900. I am a little bit more room to go down but not much
2. I have also placed ads for a two year lease option for $139900 with $5000-$6500 option money and $1050 a month with $250-$350 a month credit but with no luck so far. Market rent in the area for this house is about $850 a month.

I really am just looking for some guidance and believe that this is the best place for it. What kinds of low cost no cost marketing works the best? How should I word the ad? Am I going about this the right way or not? Is there any other strategies that could help me out? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Carlos

[Jon Holdman]

What's it really worth? What you owe or what you want is totally irrelevant. You need to know what its worth. Are there current listings for similar houses nearby? What are those listed at? What have recent comparable sales brought? You need to figure out what it would bring if it were updated, based on recent sales of fixed up, comparable houses. The current listings are your competition, and you have to be better than them. The absolute most you can expect to get is the price for comparable sales, less the cost to update it. In reality, Don is right. Even an owner occupant is going to want a discount from that price in exchange for having to do the work. An investor is going to demand a steep discount.

You also need to realistically consider the "needs updating". That could be anything from "it needs new paint and carpet" to "the baths and cabinets are from 1950 (or 1970)." If its realistically the latter, your probably not going to get an owner occupant unless there is nothing else available. Owner occupants will want something move in ready and up-to-date. If its really out of date, investor type pricing will apply. The rule of thumb there is to figure out the fixed up price, multiple that by 70%, then subtract the cost of repairs.

What else is available? Are there lots of other houses that are in better shape? Or, is this the only thing available.

Ultimately, its all a matter of price. If you're getting showings, and no offers, its priced too high. If its well advertised (it better be on the MLS, even for a FSBO), and you're getting no showings, its overpriced.

If you are getting showings, what's the feedback?