House not selling

[cherijoh]

Do you have any pets, especially any cats?

If so then there could be pet odors that might not be all that bad but if a potential buyer gets even a whiff of an animal, or sees that there is a cat or other animal is in the house then that can be a deal killer for many if not most people.

I had the same thought about pets. A friend had several large dogs. When she had her house for sale she couldn't understand the lack of interest, but I'm sure it was the whiff of wet dog that you got whenever you walked into that house. Those Febreze ads are right about the concept of " nose blind".

Has your carpet stretched out so that there a rolls or waves? When I was selling my condo (after renting it out for a few years), I got the guy who had done the carpet installation back out to tighten it back up again in a few high traffic places. (He had let me know when it was installed that he did work on the side). A professional carpet cleaner may also be able to point you in the right direction if this is an issue.

My realtor at the time also has a good suggestion which was to replace light bulbs with higher wattage bulbs so that the rooms looked bright. It made a huge difference since my tenant had been using low wattage bulbs. (This was back in the days of all incandescent bulbs). But I find LED bulbs to be much brighter than compact fluorescent bulbs or incandescents, so you might consider whether this would help in making your house more appealing.

[Herekittykitty]

…...I live in a small town and this is a fairly expensive house for the area and sq foot ( 2700)…….

That could be part of the issue.

A few things to consider:


What exactly do you mean by "area?" Town? Subdivision? Neighborhood? Street?

Are you saying it is priced higher per square foot than houses with similar amenities and in similar condition and age? Or that the square footage of your house is higher than other houses in the area (define area)? Maybe priced similarly per square foot but has a higher square footage than standard?


How does the square footage of your house, price per square foot, total price of house, amenities, ease of purchase, and move-in time compare to that of the ones the builders are offering in the same or comparable locations? How does yours compare in those factors with recent house sales?

Are there location issues within the same neighborhood such as at your house at the bottom of a slope and so on?

If no houses were selling in your area, I might be inclined to think the "small town" and total number of available buyers could be the problem. But you are saying that people are indeed buying - just not your house.

Another consideration is that your house did not compare favorably when first shown due to the walls or other factors, and the initial batch of realtors that saw it aren't showing it any more and the initial batch of potential buyers have moved on.

Also if your house was initially priced too high compared to other available houses especially when benefits of the other available houses outweighed benefits of your house, you could have lost sales due to that. A potential buyer isn't likely to make an offer on a house that is priced too high for the market when there are houses priced right.

Whether it was initial condition of the house (marked up walls are likely a significant negative) compared to other options available to the buyer or whether the price was high compared to other options available and desireable to/by the buyer, those can be corrected. I don't know what can be done about turning off the realtors who saw it and may not be showing it (other than have your agent contact them once corrections/adjustments have been made, and certainly making sure good current photos are on MLS) - others may know.

[delamer]

In my area, in order for a house to be considered a “new listing” it has to be taken off the MLS for 60 days

So don’t assume that you can take it off for a week and then start again with a new realtor.

[cherijoh]

One problem is in our neighborhhod they constantly have new houses which means im competing with new construction. Our house price is significantly lower than the new construction prices so I’m not really sure if we are actually competing with the new houses.

I live in a small town and this is a fairly expensive house for the area and sq foot ( 2700). Maybe its just overpriced and i need to lower the price even more.

Maybe I am misunderstanding, but these two posts seem to contradict each other. Are the new constuction houses about the same size as your house with equivalent finishes/features? Or are they bigger and fancier? Was your house the most expensive one in the neighborhood when it was new? Where does it fall relative to others in the neighborhood size-wise? Were the other houses that already sold this year comparable to yours or were they smaller or larger? Smaller houses often sell more quickly because they are affordable for more people.

My home was new construction when I purchased it 20+ years ago. Neighbors who tried to sell while the builder was finishing out the neighborhood had no luck selling their 1 - 2 year old homes. Then the builder went bankrupt (because of its exposure in other parts of the country - Charlotte was still going like gangbusters) and lots of people who bought but whose houses weren't yet under construction lost out and had their contracts cancelled. All those previously unsold houses went back on the market and were snapped up quickly by those who wanted in this neighborhood. Eventually the remaining lots were sold to another builder and the neighborhood was finished out.

[mrc]

From the perspective of the buyer, a key question is, "What else can I get for your price?" If the answer is not much, you will sell. If the answer is a bigger house with a newer kitchen, better schools, and or where the foyer doesn't smell of dog, it won't.

[clemrick]

Have you gone to open houses to see what your competition is? Try looking at the houses from a buyer's perspective. Look at houses priced above yours and below and note what the differences are. Try to make your house look like the more expensive houses, if possible.

Lighting fixtures. Seriously. Are the lighting fixtures just whatever the builder decided to put in? If they were chosen by your builder, take a good look at them and then go to a lighting store and see if you can upgrade them for a small cost. I knew a lady who would buy condos, upgrade the lighting fixtures and sell for a profit while the builder was still selling new condos.

[michaelingp]

If the house has been on the market for three months, wouldn't a buyer who likes the house but thinks it is overpriced make an offer of what they think it's worth?

[rj342]

Agree with fire the agent ASAP.
Taking off the market and putting back on might be a good idea... and possibly do not advertise "NEW LOWER PRICE" when it goes back with the new lower price.
Why?
Odd counter-intuitive thing -- former boss of mine had very nice house (not quite McMansion) in a very nice area w brisk sales of existing homes . He was moving family back to their home state and aggressively priced it to move. Nothing. Finally a new realtor made a suggestion that worked - in his case raise the price some, because the overly aggressive price made people assume something must be wrong with it. It sold a week later.

Other cw more experience can weigh in on this.

[finite_difference]

Im not exactly sure why the potential buyers were saying worn. It had to have been the paint. There were stains on the walls, slime ( will never buy this again for the kids!), and they were just dirty. I tried the magic scrubs on one wall which just made things worse.There was no actual damage to the walls. This is the most expensive neighborhood in the city and i think people expect perfection. The front door was sun bleached and we stained it.

My gut is telling me to lower the price and just be patient. Its a good house in a good neighborhood in a good school district.

Repaint all walls white. Professionally. But shop around and get a good price from a good painter with glowing reviews.

[rj342]

Repaint all walls white. Professionally. But shop around and get a good price from a good painter with glowing reviews.

New saleable color really depends on the market. I would say caution about "white", as actual stark white can be too much in its own way.
Navajo white, antique white are safely vanilla. Around here a sort of pale tan wet sand color is used a lot (in deep south). Other places maybe a pale gray.

[Bogle7]

[agent] seems like a nice person... is recommending We lower the price.

Of course he is recommending lowering the price.
What can he control besides price? Nothing.

In my area, in order for a house to be considered a “new listing” it has to be taken off the MLS for 60 days

Zillow will show the entire pricing process. No resets for them.

One problem is in our neighborhhod they constantly have new houses which means im competing with new construction. Our house price is significantly lower than the new construction prices so I’m not really sure if we are actually competing with the new houses.

You are.
Some people will buy new even if "old" is better. They just want new.
Builders will offer non-visible deals. They will do anything to sell without lowering the list price.

Try to make your house look like the more expensive houses, if possible.
Lighting fixtures. Seriously.

And, landscaping.
You should have much better landscaping than any new build. If not, fix it for the lowest possible cost.

[wordsmith11]

...if a potential buyer gets even a whiff of an animal, or sees that there is a cat or other animal is in the house then that can be a deal killer for many if not most people.

Given that more than two-thirds of American households have at least one pet, your observation that "most" people won't live in a home where an animal has ever dared set foot is a little off, by a lot...

[fru-gal]

Sounds like your agent sucks. I'd look for a new one.

I haven't had time to read all the replies, but I agree with the above. The first time I went to buy a house, I wound up with a lousy agent who was very unresponsive.

[fru-gal]

Repaint all walls white. Professionally. But shop around and get a good price from a good painter with glowing reviews.

New saleable color really depends on the market. I would say caution about "white", as actual stark white can be too much in its own way.
Navajo white, antique white are safely vanilla. Around here a sort of pale wet sand color is used a lot (in deep south). Other places maybe a pale gray.

Ugh not glare white.

[fru-gal]

...if a potential buyer gets even a whiff of an animal, or sees that there is a cat or other animal is in the house then that can be a deal killer for many if not most people.

Given that more than two-thirds of American households have at least one pet, your observation that "most" people won't live in a home where an animal has ever dared set foot is a little off, by a lot...

You can tell the animal lovers and the not animal lovers here.

[cosine]

OK, let’s say I want to fire my agent. How do I go about doing this. What is the best way to do this. Do I just call him and say this is not working and say ill be getting a new agent?

[Bobby206]

OK, let’s say I want to fire my agent. How do I go about doing this. What is the best way to do this. Do I just call him and say this is not working and say ill be getting a new agent?

How long is your listing agreement for?

What has the agent done to try to sell? Open houses? Nice marketing flyer? Ads in paper? What?

GOOD LUCK!

[Archimedes]

In our area, if you are dissatisfied with your agent and you ask them to step down, they will accept your decision. In this area you are not stuck for the full term of the listing agreement.

[DanMahowny]

OK, let’s say I want to fire my agent. How do I go about doing this. What is the best way to do this. Do I just call him and say this is not working and say ill be getting a new agent?

I fired an agent at the closing table once. True story. She wouldn't stop answering personal calls/talking on her flip phone.

I simply said, "we're done here, and you are fired." I called her boss and had her replaced, closed the following week.

[jfn111]

OK, let’s say I want to fire my agent. How do I go about doing this. What is the best way to do this. Do I just call him and say this is not working and say ill be getting a new agent?

I assume you have a listing contract and it is with the broker not the agent. If your dissatisfied with the agent most brokers will let you out of the contract or assign another agent in the firm to work with you. (The closer you are to the expiration of the listing agreement the more likely they are to let you cancel the agreement).

[Glockenspiel]

What exactly do you mean by the statement that the "walls are (were) worn out" ?

What comes to mind is: banged up woodwork, gouges or cracks in sheetrock.

What does NOT come to mind is scuffed paint.

Other factors that make one house less attractive than another in the same neighborhood are as follows. Note: Obviously, I have no way of knowing whether your house has any of these problems.
- floor plan
- location or proximity to high traffic
- unattractive landscaping
- lack of a back yard, or unusable back yard (such as severe drop in grade)
- signs of water damage
- ugly window treatments
- bold/loud interior paint colors
- bold/loud tile or carpet colors
- ugly kitchen
- large item that most people don't want & would have to pay to remove. e.g. 2 story jungle gym, inground pool, outdoor hottub, ugly shed

You might want to post a few pictures from the listing (keep address & location anonymous) to get better anonymous feedback from "us" = "the internet".

ETA: large item that most people don't want & would have to pay to remove

An inground pool definately does not diminish a homes value. Can add a large amount of value in many cases. Many people have this on a wish list for a new home and look specifically for homes with a pool.

In my market, an in-ground pool is very hard to sell. Most people just don’t want them. There are only 3-4 months/year that they’re usable here so ppl don’t want the expense and added insurance cost.

[Nowizard]

Having experienced a similar thing, other posters are correct. In our case, lookers said it was the cleanest home they had seen, in excellent shape, etc. No contracts until we lowered the price below what we paid for it. Does your Realtor not have each prospect complete an evaluation? In our area, they do, and there may be a time period specified, but you can also bail at any time you choose. It does obligate you to pay the commission within a specified period of time, however, for anyone who has formally looked at the house.
Read your contract.

Tim

[jminv]

You overpriced your home and your realtor didn’t pushback because they wanted the listing. Now that you’ve recognized that pricing is a factor, you’re lowering it. That’s good. It doesn’t seem like there was much thought put into pricing. You have your anchor (which is irrelevant), which is what you paid for it 3 years ago, and you then inflated it by what builders are charging now. You bought new so very likely overpaid and you’re comparing it to builder prices which are artificially high. Builders try not to budge on price and negotiate on other things, upgrades etc. Their list prices are not the market prices. Look at what other comparable homes to yours are actually selling for and price accordingly.

A new home and a three year old home are near equivalents. Your home, however, looked like a home far beyond its years according to the people who viewed your home. Apparently. It was just paint but those are very odd comments for a near new home. Just to be clear, you heard about those comments from your realtor, not because you stayed in the house during the showing? Because staying in the house during showing is a really bad idea.

Get rid of the realtor at the earliest possible opportunity. Day or two isn’t great for response plus they didn’t manage you effectively to list at an appropriate price. You lost an easy sale at the market price. Do your pro photos reflect the house being repainted or are they from before that? If they’re from before that, redo that section since it will keep people from viewing the house and have people who do view it have preconceived notions. Only relist if your realtor can actually reset the days on market clock and preferably the pricing history too. Zillow, for example, has a 31 day rule to reset the days on market but it’s clear that there are ways around it and it’s also possible to remove the pricing history. Ask if your realtor knows how to do it.

[RollTide31457]

For 2700 square feet, anything above $300k is going to cause some sticker shock for potential buyers.

[F150HD]

Inground pool was just an example of a large item that [in many areas] most people don't want. In some areas like Florida: it's a must. In some areas, like northeast, it is a deal-breaker for >50% of home buyers.

The point is some large add-ons are deal-breakers to a large % of home buyers. Put differently, they narrow the field of prospective buyers greatly.
Better off without them if trying to appeal to a majority of buyers.

+1 I avoid looking at homes w/ pools. Same for 'hottubs'.

___

OP- you really should seek out a new Realtor. That or you aren't telling us the complete truth about the home etc. Feels like there's info missing here to me. Just that the Realtor takes 1+ days to return a call/email is a huge red flag to me personally.

[randomguy]

...if a potential buyer gets even a whiff of an animal, or sees that there is a cat or other animal is in the house then that can be a deal killer for many if not most people.

Given that more than two-thirds of American households have at least one pet, your observation that "most" people won't live in a home where an animal has ever dared set foot is a little off, by a lot...

You can tell the animal lovers and the not animal lovers here.

As an animal lover, would you buy a house that smells of wet dog and cat piss?:) Or put another way, my pet doesn't smell. Yours does.

There are also a lot of items that are pretty personal which can make selling hard. See the pool discussion. Some people want. Others don't. Maybe you have some "interesting" design choices. Make too many of them and you have to wait for a buyer to come along who wants the same things or is willing to overlook them.

Without a ton of details it is hard to say much. But it is likely people are coming through your house and then hitting 6 other ones and saying those other ones are a better deal. You need to figure out why. Ideally your Realtor should be able to provide feedback but you get a pretty wide range of quality.

[delamer]

For 2700 square feet, anything above $300k is going to cause some sticker shock for potential buyers.

In my neighborhood, you can’t buy a 1300 square foot townhome for under $400K.

If you get sticker shock as a potential buyer at the price/square footage you mentioned in my area, then you have zero understanding of the local market.

[willthrill81]

From the perspective of the buyer, a key question is, "What else can I get for your price?" If the answer is not much, you will sell. If the answer is a bigger house with a newer kitchen, better schools, and or where the foyer doesn't smell of dog, it won't.

That's the underlying argument to what I posted above, the "1% difference." Your house only needs to be 1% better than the comps to sell quickly and for good price.

[Christine_NM]

In my area, in order for a house to be considered a “new listing” it has to be taken off the MLS for 60 days

So don’t assume that you can take it off for a week and then start again with a new realtor.

I've heard (but have no experience with this) that taking it off the market for a few months will help. Everyone who is ready to buy in your neighborhood has already seen the house or heard of your address. After too long with no sale it's supposed to help to go dark for a while and let a new bunch of buyers for your area accumulate.

[Orbuculum Nongata]

Sounds like your agent sucks. I'd look for a new one.

This is correct. You have a crappy agent. How to you select your agent? Hopefully you didn't pick a friend, a relative, or someone that sells houses part time.

Fire you agent immediately, and select a true professional. The house will sell if it's prepped to sell, marketed effectively, and priced right.

Again, call your agent right now and say, "You are fired."

Doesn’t it depend on the agreement signed with the real estate company and how long their services were contracted for?

Exactly. It does no good whatsoever to fire your agent today if you have contracted with them for a guaranteed period of time. By calling them and saying something they might take as derogatory, you may get worse service over the reminder of the contracted period.

[cableguy]

Don’t panic. It’s been less than 3 months. You’ll sell the house, but it may take time. After you drop the price don’t freak out in a week or two and drop it again. These things can take time....

[randomguy]

In my area, in order for a house to be considered a “new listing” it has to be taken off the MLS for 60 days

So don’t assume that you can take it off for a week and then start again with a new realtor.

I've heard (but have no experience with this) that taking it off the market for a few months will help. Everyone who is ready to buy in your neighborhood has already seen the house or heard of your address. After too long with no sale it's supposed to help to go dark for a while and let a new bunch of buyers for your area accumulate.

And in those 60 days, the person who would love your house might hit the market and bought another house. I would hesitate to go dark over June. Dec/Jan sure....

[delamer]

In my area, in order for a house to be considered a “new listing” it has to be taken off the MLS for 60 days

So don’t assume that you can take it off for a week and then start again with a new realtor.

I've heard (but have no experience with this) that taking it off the market for a few months will help. Everyone who is ready to buy in your neighborhood has already seen the house or heard of your address. After too long with no sale it's supposed to help to go dark for a while and let a new bunch of buyers for your area accumulate.

And in those 60 days, the person who would love your house might hit the market and bought another house. I would hesitate to go dark over June. Dec/Jan sure....

To clarify, I wasn’t recommending taking the property off of the market for 60 days.

I was responding to the idea that it could be taken off for a week or so, and then would be a “new listing.” At least on our MLS, that wouldn’t be new.

[Christine_NM]

In my area, in order for a house to be considered a “new listing” it has to be taken off the MLS for 60 days

So don’t assume that you can take it off for a week and then start again with a new realtor.

I've heard (but have no experience with this) that taking it off the market for a few months will help. Everyone who is ready to buy in your neighborhood has already seen the house or heard of your address. After too long with no sale it's supposed to help to go dark for a while and let a new bunch of buyers for your area accumulate.

And in those 60 days, the person who would love your house might hit the market and bought another house. I would hesitate to go dark over June. Dec/Jan sure....

When I heard this idea, possibly on HGTV, it was to counter the myth that there's one right person who will fall in love with your house and who will come along tomorrow. It makes a lot of sense to me that there are only so many buyers for a given area and they or their agents know your property by sight or listing if it's mls for any length of time. After a few months agents won't mention it to buyers because the listing is stale -- and new buyers think something must be wrong with it. Even if nothing is wrong but the price, there are newer listings all the time.

[mchampse]

Sounds like your agent sucks. I'd look for a new one.

+1. Your realtor should have flagged how the house was showing and priced it appropriately before it went on the market. I would take the house off the market and find a new realtor. You had mentioned that other homes in your area have sold. I would talk to the realtors that sold those homes.

[mrmass]

Do the comps have carpeting? All I know is I’ve never have known anyone to say they hope the new house has carpet

[jjg247]

Only 2 reason why something won’t sell:

It’s not priced right

Or

It’s not ready to go

Take a fresh walk around the property and visit competing open houses this week to make sure you are in line.

My last realtor had a similar statement. “Two reasons a house doesn’t sell, it’s overpriced or it’s underwater”.

[JoeRetire]

For 2700 square feet, anything above $300k is going to cause some sticker shock for potential buyers.

That statement has absolutely no context. Price depends entirely on the local market.

I just sold a house that was 1650 square feet. We had 9 bids in total - all above asking price. It sold for $480k.

[JoeRetire]

I've heard (but have no experience with this) that taking it off the market for a few months will help. Everyone who is ready to buy in your neighborhood has already seen the house or heard of your address. After too long with no sale it's supposed to help to go dark for a while and let a new bunch of buyers for your area accumulate.

That would only work if yours is the only home in your neighborhood/price range for sale.

If other houses are being sold, there is some inventory and thus there will be no "buyer accumulation".

[finite_difference]

Repaint all walls white. Professionally. But shop around and get a good price from a good painter with glowing reviews.

New saleable color really depends on the market. I would say caution about "white", as actual stark white can be too much in its own way.
Navajo white, antique white are safely vanilla. Around here a sort of pale wet sand color is used a lot (in deep south). Other places maybe a pale gray.

Ugh not glare white.

I was referring of course to diamond white, with real diamonds to add that extra bit of sparkle.

Yes, definitely use an off white paint.

[WhyNotUs]

A few hard questions before I would make a change:

• What did we do to set the price initially? Was there a market study? Did I tell my realtor the time frame in which I expected to sell? Did they give me advice for a different price?
It may very well be that the realtor did not ask when I needed/wanted to sell my home by and did not give me an accurate price to sell it in that range. If so, then I selected the wrong realtor. If they did and I ignored it, that is my bad.

• How did we come to show it before it was ready and thus lose the first impression market?
It may be that the realtor did not point out the need to address the walls on the front end and if so, I may have the wrong realtor. If they did and I ignored it because I wanted to get it on the market ASAP and thought it would sell anyway, then my bad.

At this time, it still does not seem like you have a grasp on a realistic price for selling your home in short order. That would be my first goal.

[Every things free]

Many good posts for you and others to consider.

In the last 18 months I have sold 9 properties. They were single family houses I had as rentals for years. Once listed all had contracts from 1 day to 2 weeks. All closed in a timely manner. There were 2 key components to the transfer of ownership.

1. Price. Our realtor priced the properties based on their appraised values. Not what I wanted or the buyer hoped they were worth. I never once questioned our realtors. I let her and her husband do their job. I chose professionals and treated them as such.

2.Condition. Before listing they told me what I needed to do to make the property desirable. They showed me 10 other properties in the same price range. Why would someone chose mine over the others? What they told me to do I did without whining. The cost didn't matter. I took it off my taxes. They said, "have the front door painted, put in new carpet, paint the interior, it needs a new refrigerator, clean up the yard etc.....
Every property had a long to do list. When the list was completed my realtors walked through and said "wow".

My attitude was this concerning my realtors. "What can I do to make your job easier. You tell me and I'll do it." They told me I was the rarest and best client they've ever had. All the buyers remarked how grateful they were to purchase a well cared for property. We all won. That's how all deals should be.

Kim

[cosine]

Thank you all for the replies, alot of great points mentioned.

1. As far as the initial price. The attitude of the realtor seems to be very laid back. he brought some comps and recommended we price it around 415-425, i deferred to him and he said 425 would be ok.

2. He never mentioned repainting the house until we brought it up to him 1 month later. He did have some painters that he knew and we got the house painted at a reasonable price.

3. I have made my intention clear to him from day 1 that my goal was to sell the house as quickly as possible. I made it clear that i'm not looking to make any money, I just want it to be sold. 10-30 K is not worth the headache for me.

So now the question is what to do from here. Last week we spoke and decided that we would reduce the price down to 399 on Monday ( yesterday ). Well i texted him Sunday with no response. I called him monday morning and left a voicemail with no response. And now its Tuesday afternoon and still no call. Regardless of everything that has transpired over the last 3 months the one thing i find intolerable is lack of communication. I plan on seeing if he calls at all today. If he doesnt i'll call him in the morning and say, " We are unhappy with the service we have received, there has been a lack of communication and we would like to end this and find a new realtor. Of course i'll be professional but I have never fired anyone before and i'm not sure what the repercussions of this could potentially be.

I do have 2 realtors i'd like to possibly speak to after. This is just becoming one big mess. Hopefully it will end soon. If i can avoid it I will hopefully never have to move again. very frustrated. thanks for helping and listening.

[LiterallyIronic]

There is only 1 reason why a house isn't selling - the price is too high.

Lower the price so that it sells.

This. Staging helps, but if you're too high, someone else with a lower priced equal house sells.

On the staging side, will people be tripping over kids toys trying to see the house? Consider getting some big packing boxes and pack up half of what you own. Clothes (especially those taking room in the closet), toys, books, kitchen items. The key is to make the "stuff" in your house look very sparse. Pictures on tables, gone. Anything that could be called a knick nack...gone. Anything on the kitchen counter, even the toaster, gone. Pretty much anything in the bathroom, gone. If this is too inconvenient, then you will wait longer and sell for less.

This a million times. When we were looking to buy, we were taken to one house and it was literally crammed with stuff in every nook and cranny. Just piles of everything everywhere. We nope'd right on out of there. We ended up putting in an offer on a house that was completely empty (and got declined) and then later put an offer on a different house that was also completely empty (got accepted). Knowing that, when we sell someday, I'm going to completely empty out the house.

[cosine]

When the house was first for sale we had diplomas and decorations on the walls. We did declutter though, we moved all the toys in the garage. We also had picture frames up. After a month I felt that having that wasnt helping. Now our hosue is barebones. All the decorations are gone. In the kitchen we move all the appliances like toaster and put them in the closet. We essentially have couches and beds and thats it.

[snowman]

Thanks for posting, OP. It helps getting more details.

Personally, this lack of communication is a giant red flag and this realtor has to go today! Seriously. Competition in my area is so high that texts/messages/calls are returned within minutes, an hour or two at the latest if they are with another client. This, BTW, is an expectation I would state when interviewing realtors. I would also check reviews/comments from previous clients to make sure their promise is based on facts not fiction.

I would start interviewing realtors today. Go through 10 of them if you need to, but pick one that is experienced selling in your immediate area and will voluntarily provide access to former clients whom you can ask questions. I know you want the house gone ASAP, but taking a break and starting over with competent realtor seems like the best course of action to me.

[mbres60]

Have you checked your contract to see when you can "fire" the realtor? Even if he calls today I would still want to fire him/her. He/she is not helping you sell your house. They should have told you right up front to paint, declutter, and de-personalize your house.

[researcher]

Well i texted him Sunday with no response. I called him monday morning and left a voicemail with no response.

I'm not suggesting realtors should work bankers hours, but you do realize this was Memorial Day weekend, right?
Maybe he spent Monday visiting the graves of his loved ones.

the walls were ruined...
We had quite a few showings and ppl mentioned it looked worn...
bathroom countertop which had some issues ( rot from a small leak )
There were stains on the walls, slime ( will never buy this again for the kids!), and they were just dirty.

everything appears to be in very good condition.
Now the house is in great shape and is essentially like a brand new house in my opinion.
The house is very clean. My wife is an extremely clean person as am I. The only thing that was Worn was our walls.

There seems to be a disconnect between your perceptions of the house and that of prospective buyers.

How do walls get "ruined," yet everything else (carpets, cabinets, trim, ect) remain in "very good condition"?
And house with rotting countertops from a leaking faucet is certainly not "essentially like a brand new house."

[bayview]

I would definitely go to his broker as well. Your agent is definitely not doing much of a job for his boss.

[cosine]

Well i texted him Sunday with no response. I called him monday morning and left a voicemail with no response.

I'm not suggesting realtors should work bankers hours, but you do realize this was Memorial Day weekend, right?
Maybe he spent Monday visiting the graves of his loved ones.

the walls were ruined...
We had quite a few showings and ppl mentioned it looked worn...
bathroom countertop which had some issues ( rot from a small leak )
There were stains on the walls, slime ( will never buy this again for the kids!), and they were just dirty.

everything appears to be in very good condition.
Now the house is in great shape and is essentially like a brand new house in my opinion.
The house is very clean. My wife is an extremely clean person as am I. The only thing that was Worn was our walls.

There seems to be a disconnect between your perceptions of the house and that of prospective buyers.

How do walls get "ruined," yet everything else (carpets, cabinets, trim, ect) remain in "very good condition"?
And house with rotting countertops from a leaking faucet is certainly not "essentially like a brand new house."

I dont care if its memorial day, labor day, Christmas or new years. I work all types of holidays as well. All i'm asking for is a text message which takes 5 seconds. I'm not asking for a 2 hr conversation.