If you were in our around Rochester NY, I'd recommend the realtor I used. This guy rocked. Before him, I used two others who were no better than 7/11 clerks. I was buying, and the two lousy ones knew next to nothing about houses, their mechanical systems, the history of building in the area, the economy, and the psychology of sellers.
Did you sign a contract with this realtor? If so, read it carefully and see if you have the option to hire another at this point. If so, do this:
Walk into 3 offices of big-name agencies. See whose names are on the sales award plaques, if any. And/or ask to speak to the branch manager and explain the situation. Hire the best person they've got.
The paint excuse is a crock, by the way. I think you need a second (or third) opinion as to why the house is taking too long to sell, and you're not going to get that from a TYPICAL realtor. You need to hire a real producer.
Finally, not all realtors share listings with other agencies. I bought through a large, locally owned agency. But, their web site also showed listings from ReMax and 3 or 4 other agencies. Look for a similar arrangement if possible.
It looks like a nice house and plenty of space for the money (at least compared to New England)
Could be taxes, could be houses are not selling well in military areas with a lot of the owners deployed. Considering the price of paint, I'd try the white. Or get another opinion. There is a show on HGTV about homes that don't move. I think it is called "priced to sell" or something like that. They show what is needed to move some houses and a $500 investment can bring a $5000 higher offer. Comes down to perception. Get someone to take a look and give an honest opinion.
I remember the military having a program to "buy" houses from folks in your position. Check with Family Services or what ever they call it these days. TB
Realtors in Texas seem to be a different breed. This is my second. They take the listing and NEVER show the house themselves. They seem to just sit on their asses as wait for someone else to sell it, then collect the 3% they have coming. So much for 'representing the seller'. What you wind up with is realtors that show the house and represent the buyer.
Nice house! I'd go AWOL just to stay there. :-) But seriously, are you there when it's being shown? If not, find a way to get the buyers' realtors to call you and tell you what kinds of objections they're getting to the house. They won't all cooperate, but I'm sure some of them will.
Details:
1) I don't see the satellite dish in the pictures. But, when I was buying, I looked very carefully at any accessories which involved screws through the roof shingles. If that's where yours is, offer to have a real roofer remove the dish and do whatever patching or shingle replacement is needed. Holes in the roof make people nervous.
2) I realize you're in a much warmer place than Rochester NY, but are pools a liability down your way? Not in terms of kids falling in, but in terms of turning away buyers who aren't interested in a pool no matter HOW easy it is to maintain.
3) In the picture on your main page, it looks like the tree overhangs the gutters. If it does, that could dissuade some buyers. Might be worthwhile to call in a reputable tree service to give the tree a COMPETENT haircut. In some cities, the utility company uses the better companies for seasonal tree work. They have to. They can't afford to have morons damaging homeowners' trees.
4) Here's a biggie: Most of the sellers I spoke with didn't really understand their furnace & AC warranties. Get with your literature, call the manufacturer if necessary, and xerox & highlight the crucial parts if necessary so it can be handed to potential buyers. Focus on whether the warranty is transferable. The wording's not always clear. If it's in your favor, highlight it. Ask the same questions of the company which installed the equipment. This is important. I bought my home this past summer. Naturally, the inspectors and I tested the furnace, but it began acting up in early October. It was installed this past April. The problems turned out to be due to installation errors. The installer tried to claim that his warranty was non-transferable and became confrontational at my attempts to reorient his thinking. The manufacturer (Goodman) ended up paying a reputable installer of my choice to straighten out the problem.
#4 might be especially important if American Standard is in the same category as Goodman equipment. I'd never heard of Goodman until I looked at this house. Inquiries turned up many similar answers: "It's OK. It's contractor-grade stuff". Or, "usually installed by people who know they're leaving the house soon. Otherwise, they'd install Trane or Carrier". Whether this is true or not, you have to deal with peoples' impressions.
That borders on being illegal in NY. :-) If a realtor represents both parties, it requires a really nit-picking set of paperwork.
Another thought: List it online with America's Choice, if you have the time to show it yourself. If the realtor has a problem with this, tell him to start doing his job. You're his employer. In any other sales position, you'd be entitled to hold his ass to the fire as much as you want. Maybe a little competition would help.
Short story: When I began looking at houses with my agent, I'd also visit homes being sold by owners via America's Choice. I stopped into one house which was damned near perfect, except it was a bit too close to the highway for my tastes. By this point, my realtor was doing such a great job that I thought I'd toss him a potential listing. I mentioned the house. He asked how it was decorated. I described it, and mentioned that the guy was a hunter and had a couple of antlers on the walls. My realtor laughed and said the antlers would turn off people who don't like hunters. He called the owner and got the listing. The house was sold in 2 weeks. The owner had been trying for 6 months.
I'm not sure if the web pages you have set up are much of a factor, but the pictures are not very flattering. The main outside shot was taken with the sun behind the house, leaving the sky and lawn nice and bright, but the house shadowy and gray looking.
The pictures of the individual rooms look dark and cramped. The darkness could be improved with a little bit of picture enhancing (add brightness AND contrast, at least) , but I think you should re-take the pictures entirely. Find a friend who's a photo buff that might have a pretty wide lens to use.
In all your photos we can only see part of the room. Try to get more of it in. Experiment with what angles make the best impression. Take the photos with a tripod (or some other support) so you don't need flash. Remove any interfering foreground objects first, like the table we see a corner of in the living room photo.
You should also remove as much bric-a-brac as possible, both for the pictures and the showing. Even people who may fill the house with their own photos and trophies don't want to see yours.
The satellite dish is located on the beam on the back porch. Holes in the roof make me nervous too.
Pools, I'm told, are a plus. And it was for me, too, when we bought it.
Trees have been trimmed. I do that annually. Driving around I notice most homes have taller trees with limbs overhanging roof, provided they are above the roof and not within 3 or 4 feet of roof itself.
I'll have the warranties out when they come in. I'm always here when it shows. It's transferrable and only 15 months old.
That can be part of the problem. Get out of there and let the realtor do their work. Buys don't want the owner hanging around when they talk about the plusses and minuses of the house.
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