Introduction to Home Staging

Our agent says we are priced below our comps and that we get a lot of traffic on the internet and at open houses. Our house has been on the market for 38 days and we have has a total of 2 viewings apart from our open houses. Our house is nicely staged and it looks like a model home. What gives? What should we be asking of our agent? We basically have about $25,000 wiggle room in the price and we were hoping to use that as a "haggling" cushion. Should we shave the price now? Our house is a 1928 tudor in a neighborhood where comps are really difficult as no 2 properties are alike. Is it too early for me to freak out? Should I be concerned about lack of showings if we’re doing well with open houses and on the web as far as hits? Thanks in advance for any wisdom you can impart!
Also our next door neighbor is our agent and friend so it’s a lot more of a sensitive issue –so we can’t go all Rambo on our agent
Oooooo—good point, Angie! I didn’t really think about that. Do you think there’s a conflict of interest here?

How long is the contract with your realitor? Conflict of interest or not – it is is not selling, list it with someone else or try it on your own for say 30 days.

Offer seller concessions of up to 6 percent of the closing costs may help. Offer to pay the appriasal. Print up flyers to hospitals, factories, businesses, grocery stores, with the picture of your home. Listing price, selling price, give up some equity in the home if need be. Good Luck to you. (ok)

We are buying a model home and the builder asked us to make an offer on any furniture in the house. We have no idea how much (or how little) to offer.

From experience, I can tell you that the builder paid 25% under the going rate for that furniture. He would like to get that back, but would be willing to take a small hit since it is now slightly used for display and he would have to pay for it to be moved and stored. He would be happy to get half of what that identical furniture is going for at a Haverty’s or Rooms to Go in your area of the country. If he needs the money, and they all do right now, he will let it go for less.

Reasonable offer would be 25% of current retail price for identical furniture. Negotiate from there if you really like it.