Hungry real estate agents don’t like leftovers.
Those are the properties that for some reason can’t quite seem to find the right buyer. Frustrated home sellers often take the properties off the market for a time, select a new agent, or try to sell the property themselves.
Or they listen to their agent and make a few changes.
One such homeowner is Grant Schuldt who enlisted the aid of Brian Steinke, a Shorewest Realtors sales associate who works out of Oconomowoc, Wis.
The single-family home has a nice slice of frontage on Moose Lake.
With other lake properties selling like cold beer at a July firefighters’ picnic, Steinke said he knew after numerous showings that something needed to be done to make the property more attractive.
“We had lots of activity toward the end of last year but enough people made the same comments that I knew I had to convince the owner he had to make some changes,” said Steinke. “We didn’t actually take the property off the market but I didn’t push it and we sort of took a break.”
It wasn’t much of a break for Schuldt, who was recently widowed and who doesn’t like living alone or giving up the house where he spent most of his married years.
Schuldt says leaving the lake is almost as hard as the loneliness he fights.
“It’s time to sell and I know that if I listen to Brian we will sell this house,” he said.
Listening to Brian meant taking on several major updating projects on the lake property and spending close to $10,000.
Steinke convinced Schuldt that he needed to remove an old furnace, run a gas line into the home, get environmental clearance showing the ground was not contaminated and put in a new well.
“This is a cozy little lake cottage that’s a terrific deal, but people could not get over those major items like the well and the furnace,” said Steinke. “We were getting the same comments from many people who looked at the property.”
Steinke said he looks at himself as a “real estate midwife” who has the job of bringing about the birth of a sale. Often that birth has more than its share of labor pains, but that’s part of the job, and he’s glad when a client listens.
“With this house and with other houses, it’s almost as if some issues are binding the house and you have to break those shackles to get the sale,” Steinke said. “It’s wonderful to have a client who listens and is willing to work with you.”
Schuldt paid $16,900 for his three-bedroom, two-bath cottage when he bought it in 1958. Today, it’s listed for $214,900.
Surrounding homes on the clear, quiet, Moose Lake waters have skyrocketed; it’s almost impossible to find a home under $250,000.
Steinke said he’s positive the home will sell this spring because of the changes and Schuldt’s willingness to do what it takes to make the house more attractive.
Joan Arneson, with Re/Max Suburban Realty in Waukesha, Wis., said leftover homes that don’t sell quickly typically are priced too high or may need some minor repairs.
“Sometimes something as simple as fixing a broken garage door is all it takes to get something sold,” she said.
Arneson advises people to take a critical walk around their home and try to see it through a buyer’s eyes.
“I walked around my own home and was shocked at some things that should have been obvious,” she said. “But often, as homeowners, we just learn to live with things. That’s not how a buyer looks at it.”
Kathleen Wheaton, a sales associate with Better Homes and Gardens First Realty in Waukesha, Wis., said that if a home isn’t selling, the agent and seller need to look carefully at the home and ask themselves some serious questions.
“Contact other brokers to see what comments they have received from people who went through the home,” said Wheaton. “If the house has been on and then off the market, you shouldn’t just slap up another sign.”
She and Arneson agreed that someone is always looking for a home, no matter what time of year it is, and that’s why it’s important to keep trying to find a way to sell.
“Taking homes off the market really is a big mistake because people are always being transferred and someone is always out looking for a home,” said Arneson.
“Making certain that the price is right helps,” said Wheaton. “If you make the price attractive, people are going to come and look and you will find the buyer.”
Marianne Holzhauser, a sales associate with Coldwell Banker Equitable Stefaniak in Muskego, Wis., says a common problem stems from homeowners wanting to recoup all their costs from updating their house.
“Sellers have to remember that the deck or the kitchen update was for their benefit,” she said. “What they did is not necessarily what the buyer wants. They will get a percentage of the cost back, but nine times out of 10 they’re not going to get it all back.”
Holzhauser also advises home sellers to pay close attention to homes nearby that currently are for sale.
“Buyers are comparing your house to the one down the street,” she said. “Your home may have a few extra features compared to the other one that would justify your price, but unless they’re pointed out to the buyer, your house will basically look the same as the others.”
