Friday, March 20, 2015

Follow-up

WOW!  I had no idea so many people would weigh in on the St. Joseph concept.  My take away from the discussion was that it really is the power of belief and faith, along with positive thinking, not necessarily St. Joseph himself that is the key.   I also found it interesting the number of people who had never heard of this, including Catholics!  It sort of makes you wonder how traditions are started and spread......that is a whole other concept, but an interesting one.  Any Anthropologists out there???  I am still not inclined to actually go through the ritual, but maybe I will explore other rituals that are more in line with my personal beliefs.  So thank you for all of that!

A few people made some comment that I did want to address.

The Price.  We had many discussions about the price.  The price was set based on several things, one of which includes our current mortgage.  But it also was based on the fact that our property is about 2x the size of alot of the properties in our neighborhood, and bigger than most of the properties in the "comp" area.  We also have a deck and pool (which could be a negative as well....but it really comes down to a buyer).  It is also NOT in disrepair (more on this in a minute).

The discussion we had (between us, and with the realtor) was that if we set the price where we did, and we weren't getting traffic, then we would have to assume it was the price.  If we were getting activity, then we would then assume that the price wasn't the barrier.  If people are willing to look at the house, then from the start they are willing to spend this amount of money on a house, even if it this isn't THE house for them after they have seen it.

We dropped the price in November.  But we also knew when we put our house on the market that we were looking at a long haul.  Unless the house sold by October, we were probably not going to sell it until Spring.  No one wants to move during the holidays.  And January and February in New England are really not prime either!

But here we are at Mid-March, and this IS the time that people want to buy and move.  I am just a little weary after a long winter.

The buyer doesn't care about our personal situation....totally get that.  We aren't trying to make money on this house.  We just need to clear the mortgage.  If the house doesn't sell as we get further into the spring, then more discussions will be had.  But right now...here is where we are.

Condition.  One commenter (unpublished) assumed that my house is in such a state of disrepair and that we are refusing to fix things!  NO!!!!

My house is NOT in disrepair.  Disrepair means that things are broken.  Nothing is broken.  Anything that was broken was fixed (such as a cracked window pane).  In fact, all of the comments we have had from the showings have commented that the house is very clean and well maintained.

My house needs some UPGRADING by today's tastes.  We do not have granite countertops or 42" cherry cabinets or glass tile backsplashes.  If that is what you are looking for, that is NOT in this house.  And as the realtor has said, if that is what you are wanting.....then you are looking in the wrong price range to start with.

But the cabinets are not falling apart.  The floors are not rotted.  The appliances work (even though they are older).  With the exception of the kitchen, the house has a neutral color scheme (ok...Sassy's room screams 12 year old girl....).  There is nothing that a new buyer HAS to do to make the house livable.....but all people want to put their personal stamp on things.  I fully expect a new homeowner will paint, or rip out the vanity in the downstairs bathroom (which was Golden Oak and we painted about 5 years ago...but stylistically it is an older vanity). We have older items....but they still are in working condition.


I have complained about my house....and if that has led people to think it is worse than it it....I am sorry.  But in reality, the house is fine.  It just doesn't suit us anymore.  In 2001, it was perfect.  In 2015, not as much.  If we were staying here forever, then we would upgrade things in the coming years.  But we aren't staying.  And ripping out a kitchen to put in a cheap upgrade isn't the answer to selling the house.  All that looks like is that we put a cheap upgrade in.


We originally were going to take the house off the market for the winter and put it back on, well...NOW.  The realtor talked us into leaving it on the market.  That was a mistake.  Yes, we had alot of traffic in January and February.  But I think most of those buyer were new to looking at homes, and weren't ready to buy yet.  Plus, the added pressure of the weather made it very difficult.  If we had left it off, I would still be where I am....just less weary.

So here we are....Spring this weekend (but we will still have snow on the ground, and 2"-4" coming later today!).  I will trade my snow shovel for a lawnmower in a few weeks.  We can't do any planting for awhile, as it typically is May before we get past the frost point.  Once we are able to, I look forward to putting a few plants in the front yard, taking out the patio furniture, and doing some sprucing up outside after the winter.   I probably will get a Spring Wreath for the front door.  

Inside, I think some fresh air will be lovely, when we can open the windows again!  I already have a "spring" set of curtains (ok...they are actually table runners we use as curtains!) for the living room that will go up this weekend, and I may get some new "spring" hand towels for the kitchen.

So come on Spring....come on buyers! 


11 comments:

  1. I hope the house gets sold soon, as it is so tiring trying to keep it "showing" ready and also annoying to have to keep leaving the house, so people can look around.

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    1. It is impossible to keep it show ready 24/7. But usually the house just needs a wipe down and quick straightening. I think laundry is the hardest for me. There is always laundry! I try and do a load every few days...but with just 3 of us...it isn't much. But if I wait...that's when I get a showing request...

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  2. When you mentioned rituals that are more in line with your personal beliefs, can you share what those beliefs are?

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    1. At this point.... and in this arena....I am not going to get into it at any depth. This is something I have explored off and on for 20 years but haven't really embraced and enveloped into my life. I think discussing it here will just open a can of worms. I won't have satisfactory answers for most of the questions and I am not wanting to get into a philosophical debate nor do I want to defend myself.

      I will say it is a Pagan path....and that is as far as I will go.

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  3. A realtor told us the longer a house is on the the market the Hardee it is to sell because people assume there must be problems with it. I could see how that could happen.

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    1. Ours actually was taken off the market for 24 hrs and put back to reset the listing.

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    2. Sorry about the typo. I was typing on my phone. Stupid auto correct!

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  4. I don't think your house is in disrepair either, but even if there needs to be significcant upgrades, that could be putting off some buyers. We bought a smaller house, but it was all updated. Conversely, there was a much bigger house in our neighborhood with a pool that was selling for only $40K more than ours, but required a lot of upgrading. Again, everything was in working condition, but it had that old 90's tile floor, outdated kitchen, the original 1970's bathrooms, the whole house needed to be painted, the garage was FILLED with stuff, like you couldn't even walk through the garage bc there were boxes everywhere, and it just made me think--if that's how people kept their garage, imagine how they took care of the house? I'm not saying that your house is like that at all, but just that's how some buyers perceive things. I would ask your friends for some honest opinions.

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    1. When I say upgraded...it isn't like the house hasn't been touched in 40 years. But there are things that are older....like the kitchen. We have sheet linoleum floors, "country" cabinets (that have been painted), and laminate counters that are 10 yrs old. As I said...if you want all upgraded....this is the wrong price point. You are not going to find it in this area. My friends and neighbors have all said we have one of the nicer houses around here. I think the buyers we have had come through are brand new at this (which have been told to us by the realtor) and they are still figuring out what they want, can afford, etc.

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  5. I pray constantly for you to sell your house for the price you want. I just can't imagine that you would have anything broken or run down. You seem pretty ion top of things.

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    1. The light bulb just blew above the sink....lol.

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