Advise for House

We had our house staged and it sold quickly. The people we used were called Stagehands Home Stagers. Check out their website www.stagehandshs.com they do a wonderful job!

Post the listing details (with a link to the listing info) everywhere you can think of. On this page, craigslist, any other chicago area web sites you/they post on. You never know when someone is looking for the right house. Craigslist will get you a lot of looks.

Definitely make sure their agent has included a virtual tour on the listing. With so many listings, people who are actually in the market are slow to look at listings that don't get a preview. And the fee to get a virtual tour done is quite small (less than $200) -- it ought to be part of the marketing package their agent is providing.

And if they are in a desirable neighborhood - make sure they have listing sheets available out front. Although they mostly go to nosy neighbors, people who want in a particular neighborhood do searches for properties the old fashioned way -- driving around.

And either have it staged as others have suggested, or if money is tight, watch a HGTV staging show and follow all their directions -- most importantly, get rid of everything but the furniture! and some of that if your rooms are crowded. It's a pain, but absolutely essential.

I know all of this because this is how we sold 2 properties and bought one in the past year (got married and consolidated).

Hi S.- I'm a Realtor on the side (mostly just stay home with my little ones :D), and I just wanted to share some things that I've found helpful. Have you tried renting with the option to buy? That is an appealing option for those who can't get a loan right now. Also, have you listed on craigslist?
Zillow is helpful, but I don't think the prices are accurately reflecting this market.
Everyone is looking for a bargain right now, and they aren't necessarily basing their expectations in reality when it comes to price :D
Things are just really, really slow right now, so be patient!
Good luck!

Sadly we really do have a poor market. Don't know of any network. I saw a woman on television yesterday recommending Zillow.com to see what else is selling in the neighborhood.Can she possibly look and sign up there? I'm on my fourth home ownership, so when I sold the other three for various reasons, one of the things is to completely declutter it, make sure outside and inside are attractive, too. School Districts sell homes, too. People want homes in good school districts, even people without children because they would like to eventually sell. Are the appliances negotiable. Is the price fair or too high? How are the neighbrs? All things to think about. It might be a tough market, but some people have sold.Just takes a little longer.

Your friends could consider looking into staging. It makes the property more appealing. Check out Nilda Carlo~she is listed here on Mamasource. ###-###-####