Wow, great responses I really appreciate them.

Dianne, I have my house staged which is why it is frustrating because I am walking on eggshells in my house. It isn't feeling like home. The hour I talk about putting away stuff, it is toothbrushes, razors, creams hiding laundry that hasn't been done, etc.... I am not sloppy, but it's frustrating not to have a home, if that makes sense. Anyway, when I start back at work, I am going to need an extra hour than usual just incase someone comes and looks at the house while we are out.

I had asked her to do some open houses. Her response was that we would be lucky to have 2 people show and the others are mostly neighbors that want to check out your house. I didn't want to waste the time. But on the other hand, I see open house signs everywhere on Sundays. It must work if many realtors are doing it.

Hannelore, I don't have the kind of time to try to sell this myself. I am back and forth in N. VA trying to take care of my dad and help my mom out. Then in November I start to work again. But I understand about the smell. I haven't tried the brewing coffee. I have been chopping apples, putting them in a small casserole dish. Adding cinnamon, brown sugar, etc...and putting it in the oven. Trying to give the home type apple pie smell, LOL. I have the plug in air freshners. Thanks for the tips on leaving the lamps on when it is cloudy outside. I hadn't thought of that. The pictures are a good tip as well.

Quote:

......just answer questions right to the point without adding anything more.



Good point. I am not always at home when the house is being shown. When I at home, the only thing I ever add, if the client has children, is the fact that the school district is one of the best in VA Beach. The realtors are not allowed to do that, but I can. I do this because I remember when we were looking, Sofia was 8 years old. That was a very big factor in where we bought. In fact, there was another house we really liked and were considering buying. When we found out the school she would go to (not a safe one), we turn it down without hesitation. Maybe I am wrong.

I have experience in sales, not RE. I use to sell cosmetics and one of them was Color Me Beautiful. I mention that brand because they require you to go out and approach customers. Something I felt uncomfortable about at first, until I found a way to do it without being a "pushy salesperson". It was a numbers game and the purpose was to show as many customers as possible. That way your chances of selling increases. I have to say, I wouldn't have sold as much as I did if I hadn't done that. RE shouldn't be different in that respect and I can't help but think if at least 5-10 people came and saw the house in a weeks time, our chances of selling would've been better.

Thanks everyone for your input. I did get a call from my cousin not too long after I posted this. She is going to come over later and we are going to talk about it. In the meantime, we have had realtors approaching us because the listing time has expired. Some have told us they have buyers for our area. Our price is lower than the others in our area. Of course, I wasn't born yesterday either, so I really need to be a little more cautious.

Thanks again.

Cheers,
Cathi