Please help us sell our townhome!It's coming up on our third wedding anniversary, and in the shadow of that lovely day lurks a dark, and defeating feeling of hopelessness.
No, not the marriage, but the exhausting effort of combining two households, and getting rid of the excess. In short, selling my home to move into our new home.
I got the townhome ready for the market: new garage door, new ceramic tile flooring, updated the countertops, restored all of the trim and woodwork in the home, oiled the front door woodwork and repainted all of the wrought iron, re-sealed and resurfaced all of the patios, re-coated the roof, tore out the master bedroom carpeting, sanded, and put a modern, painted cement floor in, painted the garage - in fact, painted the entire house in the four years I lived there, cleaned EVERY thing, put in a new cook top, and got rid of all clutter.
My neighbor's home, same floor plan, no updates, was appraised at x amount of dollars. So, I put my townhome several thousand below that to look competitive. As the months dragged by, we slowly lowered the price.
It's a nice, sturdy townhome in a private, small community in the foothills of Tucson. Pride of ownership is number one in this collection of 23 homes. My home has a front patio with grapefruit tree, a nice sized back yard, fully landscaped. There are no cracks in the home, it's clean and immaculate. It's not totally renovated, I can't afford to throw away money on that, but there are many improvements that keep it comparable in this zip code.
In the first 18 months on the market, the top critisism I received was, only 2 bedrooms, walnut wood trim, beamed ceilings, dark interior, and dated bathrooms.
End of 2009, we took it off the market for five months and put in all new plumbing in the kitchens and bath. We repainted the kitchen cabinets to an off white, and took down one row of cabinets to make it more airy. The entire kitchen was painted bright white to open it up. The bathrooms got brand new tile vanities, new sinks, recoated shower and bath fixtures. I spent hundreds on staging materials to create a cozy atmosphere. The patios were re-sealed, the house thoroughly re-cleaned, and back it went on the market again in April, with another price drop.
In two months, perhaps ten people have viewed this property. At this point, we've lowered the price - to match the market of course, $120,000. At this stage, to lower the price anymore doesn't cover the mortgage payoff at close of escrow. It is more than $30 a sq ft lower than the average of every home on the market in a one mile radius. It is $20 a sq ft lower than the most "comparable" average. Yes, the market is saturated: A square mile radius reveals 87 homes for sale, 52 of them townhomes or condos. This home has been advertised in over 30 places online, and in the local color magazines.
I've attached the video of the townhome.
The best anniversary present we could receive is an offer on this townhome. If someone you know is looking for a 2 bedroom townhome in the foothills of Tucson, please share this video with them.
You be the judge. Please watch this video and share your opinion. Please help us sell our townhome.
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