Sorry that you are going through so much aggravation. Selling right now is very stressful. Buyers (if there are any!) are very picky.

What exectly is wrong with your floor plan? Please explain so maybe someone can give you some help.
Is there anything you could do staging-wise to deter the buyers from "the floorplan"?

very difficult to try and sell now.The buyers have disappeared in droves, and those that are planning to buy have the upperhand and a plethora of homes from which to choose.I am not 100% certain if you lowered further, you'd even find a buyer...Best of luck to you

No one has given specifics on the floorplan issues. They just say "Floorplan wasn't for us." My guess is that it is not 4 bedrooms (although 3 bedrooms are more common in my neighborhood, so I dunno).
The link I've included below is a slide show of my house...there are floorplans at the end of the show.

Here is a link that might be useful: Slideshow

We actually had a couple come through who said that our floor plan wasn't "funky" enough for them. We had everything from wanting the backyard on the other side of the house, newer construction (whole neighborhood built in late 1960s), smaller yard (typical neighborhood yards were just under 1 acre) . . . Try not to take it personally. It's just a tough time out there right now.

Looking at your floor plan, you have 3 "living areas", but a tiny eating area. I would consider converting the front living room to a formal dining room, as suggested on your slideshow. Right now it appears that you just have a couple of chairs and some bookshelves in there. Kind of a waste of space. Buyers don't want to pay for square footage that is not useful. Show them how it can be used.

I agree w/ terriks. You have too many living areas. I would either turn the formal living into a dining area or stage it as an office. Also, I would get some sort of a screen to divide the space so it creates more of an entry. Maybe something wrought iron. Also, the kitchen feels cramped w/ your rectangular table. A round table would give you more room and look better. I would go w/ something black to get away from all the stained wood.

Otherwise, I think your house shows really well.

Unfortunately, I don't know that making little changes will make much of a difference. There just aren't a lot of buyers out there right now. Our home was on the market for nearly 1.5 yrs. It was very stressful. We were willing to do just about anything to sell it....better landscaping, kitchen hardware, staging, etc. In the end, we had to lower the price to our bottom limit and that is when it sold. We spent over 100K in carrying costs so I sympathize w/ your desire to price at a point you can still walk away and survive.

Good luck!

Looking at the price you have in the album, that's darned good for a house that size. We actually passed on a house with a similar floor plan.. disliked the master closet through the master bath. The rest of the house is a decent floor plan. The kitchen being off of the garage is a big plus as builders don't do that much.

With the formal living room, family room & game room, I would actually do it differently. I would keep the formal living room, use the family room as a dining area and the game room as the TV / family room. You could also get rid of the formal living room "title" and use that as the TV / living room with the game room being an office. I wouldn't want my dining room to be away from the kitchen like that

As qdognj says, there aren't many buyers out there. 120 DOM is nothing in some areas. In my area it's at least 5 months

I agree with Terriks re: living areas and converting one to a formal dining room. Buyers need to be shown how spaces can be used. I think that's the point of home staging, at least according to the gal who staged my house. Also, I don't like houses where all the bedrooms are stacked together on the same floor. That's the nice thing about our house; we have two bedrooms up and two down. But that's just a personal choice thing, and you can't change it in your house without knocking down some walls.

"So we're right around DOM ~ 120... we had our THIRD, yes, THIRD showing on Saturday"

You sound like my neighborhood back when the economy was still on solid footing. Some houses near mine are over 365 DOM now.

My house was over 200 DOM when I bought it - in early 2002.

Yes, the separate dining room thought has crossed my mind a time or two.
I'll keep it in mind. Problem is that I don't know where I'd get a cheap, yet also large enough dining room set that'd be presentable! Maybe I could rent one?
For what it's worth, most of the other homes in my neighborhood have larger front rooms and they were presented in floor plans as a formal living room AND dining room. The models are staged that way too. The space was shared by a dining room table and formal sitting space. We went with a smaller front room in order to get the eat in kitchen and fantastic family room.

I just wish a potential buyer would be a little more specific with their feedback so I know what to work on! I'm willing to do what it takes - I just don't know what it takes!

Thanks everyone!

Do you have the floor plan on your listing? If so, take it off.

What I, personally do not like about your floor plan is the 1/2 bath "in" the kitchen.
JMHO, Kathy G in MI

Well,

When I looked at the pictures, my first thought was that the rails on the staircase made it look as if the living room and the family room weren't very divided. It made it feel like one big room with a staircase in the middle, which seemed a little weird. Could this be a matter of the camera angles chosen?

My second thought was that the game room seemed to have a lot going on. If it were me, I would move the sectional and game stuff downstairs to the formal living room and put the chairs and shelves up in the game room. That way, the game room would seem bigger and would also have more of an office/library feel. Since the game room is the only part of the layout that's really atypical to me, making it not seem like "oh, a third living/family room-type space" might help things.

Reading your more recent post... you mentioned "models." Does this mean that you're competing with new construction? That could also play a role in making your situation tougher.

I'm sorry you're feeling so frustrated. I don't know if taking advice from any of us will really change things. Sometimes the hardest part of a difficult situation is when the parameters we can control don't influence the outcome.

I am 365+ on market and feel your pain. ONE house in our price range has sold in this area each month in the last 6 months. There are about 14 on the market now so at that pace, it's one selling per month. It could be another year for us. We dropped our price $20k this month and are seeing more action. I think you are doing what we did - following the market down. As painful as it is...drop to your lowest price NOW, then be prepared to take less.

Sovra - no new construction any more. The models I was referring to were models we went in when we originally built the house four years ago. The neighborhood is totally done now (although, I'd say the newest houses in my neighbohood were finished in late '06)

I'm thinking that patience will be the key. I am giving the current list price another couple of weeks (we JUST lowered it on the 15th) and will lower it again, def. below the 150 mark...

I don't know where stretchad lives, but in Texas 3 living areas is very common, especially in newer houses. We don't have basements.

The first room you see as you walk in the house is very important. Right now the living room is not inviting at all, it has a couple of so-so chairs in it. It needs to be staged better. I am not sure as what, I kind of like the idea of turning it into a dining room since you have two other living areas.

You could probably find a decent cheap dining set on Craigs list if you decide to turn the front room into a dining room. Just don't get one so big it over powers the room.

I would consider staging that front room as a dining room for sure-- it really, really does not look like a useful room the way it is set up. It was an immediate turn-off for me, and the rest of the house is so great! You have done a fabulous job with everything else. I would either stage it as a dining room (you can get a set for a hundred bucks on craiglist!!) or put more inviting living room furniture. And ditch the floorplan. The rest of it looks GREAT. I think making it into a dining room would really help.

The problem with making the front room into a dining room is that people will say how weird it is walking in the front door, straight into the dining area.

You're going to get so many opinions on your floorplan -- it seems to be a floorplan though that buyers could customize to how they live. I personally agree with Roselvr - making the front room a dining room would be awkward. You don't want the first room you see when you come into the home to be a dining room, plus it's not really close to the kitchen. Instead I'd probably put in some french doors between the entrance way and the "living room" and make that a first floor office. Taking your computer out of your bonus room, I'd stage that room as your casual television watching space and stage the family room as a more formal space.

"The problem with making the front room into a dining room is that people will say how weird it is walking in the front door, straight into the dining area."

That was the case in a friend's previous home - a $1M plus custom home! I have also seen it in many other homes in our area, so I guess enough people either like or don't actively dislike that set-up.

A bigger issue for me is the lack of counter space in the kitchen. I know the slide show states that there is room for an island, but it seems that most prospective buyers need to see something for themselves. Places like Cost Plus or HomeGoods usually have some pretty nice islands for a reasonable price, so it might make sense to buy one and make it part of the deal.

The current kitchen pictures also show a lot of "stuff" on the existing counters. Would it be possible to clear them and take fresh photos? I think that would help make the kitchen feel a little bigger.

If anyone wants the album link, it's below. I find it easier to view the album

Here is a link that might be useful: Album link.. not slide show

Whatever you do with the front room, it needs to be changed into something more inviting, right now it looks like a catch all room.

Proof once again how local real estate is. The house looks great and even at twice the price(or more!) you could sell it in about 5 minutes where I am in California. Reducing the price doesn't seem to be the issue. If there are no people out looking there is no one to sell it to. Do you have any options like renting it when you relocate?

in my area that house would go for around 500-550

House looks nice, seems like you should do something to make the front room more appealing. I don't think I or anyone else can comment on pricing as barb said its so regional its not even funny.

How about if you set up the front room as a very nice office? You should be able to get a nice set of furniture on craigslist. I still would do a dining room first, around here anyway there are tons of houses with a dining room off the foyer-- my own included. In fact, I have lived in three houses in different states with a dining room off the foyer, so it cannot be THAT uncommon.

Barbag suggested you rent it out. If it's not a seller's market it is a renter's market! And if it doesn't smell like cat pee your house will be in the top 10%.

My mom's house had a dining room right off the foyer as you walked in. She used it as an office and that's how it looked when I sold the house. The people who bought it use it as a dining room. I think the front room is kind of a flex room that can be used several ways. I'm sure it can be fixed up to be more inviting without spending too much money.

Have you considered lowering your price to $150,000 so it shows up on more realtor.com searches?

I feel your pain, my husband and I went through the real estate downturn in the mid 80's in Texas. Our house wasn't worth what we paid for it until 10 years after we bought it. I know many people who walked away or brought money to closing to make up the difference in value.

The main reason I would turn the front room into a dining room is because the only dining space right now is very small. Lots of people will look and immediately think "where will we have Thanksgiving dinner?", when the only available place for eating is a smallish nook in the kitchen. I think that showing people that there is room to have the family over for holiday gatherings could be important. The other option would be to set up a dining table in the current family room area, and make the front room more of a formal "parlor".

I just looked at the competition on realtor.com. Wow, there are lots of nice looking homes in this price range in your city. You house looks nice, but there are so many available that looks nice.

However, I noticed that there were very few homes at your price that had extra pictures or a video. Could your realtor post some of your extra pictures on realtor.com? I think it might get it more attention.

Realtors can only post more than one picture if they subscribe to enhanced listings. I recommend that when a seller is interviewing agents that they ask if the agent has an enhanced listing subscription. Otherwise the agent's listings only get the one main photo from their MLS listing. Enhanced listing also enable the agent to change the wording of the listing, add a scrolling banner, and a direct link to their email and/or website.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. If I do lower the price, it'll be below 150k. Might do that in the next few weeks.

I'm keeping my eye out for cheap dining room furniture. I think that's the most logical and quickest fix.

Fortunately for us, we have a renter now (my sister, who is taking amazing care of the place) and so it's not a horrible scenario for us if we can't sell it now. We absolutely HAVE to relocate in May, but fortunately we can afford our worst case scenario of having NO renter. I just wanted the peace of mind of not having to worry about a house that's 800 miles away.

Thanks again for all the feedback, suggestions and complements!

I just looked at the competition on realtor.com. Wow, there are lots of nice looking homes in this price range in your city. You house looks nice, but there are so many available that looks nice.

Wow, you're not kidding. From $150k-$175k 3 bed 2+ baths there are 436 properties match your search, 75 with multiple photos. My other criteria was a house 0-5 years in age. From $125k to $150k there are 740 properties match your search, 115 with multiple photos

If I do lower the price, it'll be below 150k. Might do that in the next few weeks.

IMO, you need to get a game plan asap.
I went to your agents site, clicked on search for homes on the left, then "Search By Advanced Criteria", single family home, Hendricks county, searching from $140-$160k. It then brought the houses on the map, and there's a house similar to yours from what I can read for $147,900; that has the marker right in front of your marker, so unless someone zooms in, they won't even see your marker. Next, the other house doesn't have photos, I'm not even sure if it's active as I can't find the MLS # on realtor.com.. the agent's description of that house: Beautiful Home! This home shows like a model. The most awesome interior decorating that I have seen in quite some time. Space, Space, and more Space. Did I say Space?

Now, I dug down a little more at realtor.com and below is an enhanced listing that came out of your agents office. I don't know if your agent is able to make a deal with the agent that has enhanced, but I've seen it done in my state where the listing agent some how turned the listing over to the one with enhanced.

Good luck. Hopefully you can dig deeper to figure out what you need to do. The 1st place I would start is what I usually say, search for similar homes. Since the prices vary a lot, your price range should probably be pretty big. You then need to figure out the difference between theirs and yours. Has your agent run comps?

Here is a link that might be useful: Enhanced listing

I noticed the bookcases. They seem to just sit there. Maybe remove some of the books, add some cheap knik knacks, flowers etc. I love bookcases, but these look out of place. Some of the rooms seem dark, I love light. Guess I watch HGTV too much. In the bathroom, is that curtains==instead of a mirror?

You know, just because the only negative comment from the showing was about the floorplan, that doesn't mean ANYthing was wrong with your set-up, only that it (maybe) didn't suit that one 'looker', and for all you know, he needed a very different look for who knows what cuckoo reason. That's not a reason for YOU to now try to revamp your whole house - and who knows what others were thinking, or whether the floorplan guy had the same reaction to every other house he saw too. Relax!

You've gotten some good advice, I will try and organize mine so that it is easily readable.
Kitchen: Beautiful! Put a larger table under that wonderful lamp

Family room: A+++ This room makes me want to buy the house. TV looks puny though. Suggest either taking the twin bookshelves from the Living room to frame it up in there or remove it to somewhere else.

Recreation Room: While this seems like a great place for kids to kick back, it is right outside the master bedroom so be careful about playing up its recreational (read that: noise ) possibilities. Maybe divide the room's purpose. There is one large window with shears and nothing on the second smaller window so it seems it would lend itself to that.
Consider too that the way that you have placed the furniture in the rec room is conducive to people sitting there but not people walking through--they are walking through on their way to the bedrooms. Even putting some sort of bar with stools that is set--I don't know, give them something to look at on their way to the bedrooms so they arent' thinking "This is the bonus room."

As far as purpose, you could even envision it as an extension of the master as a sitting room with and office hidden behind a screen--just one idea.
The problem room in this house in the formal living room downstairs. Those recliners scream old and dowdy and the bookshelves framing a picture seems unfinished. This is THE FIRST room a buyer sees when they walk in and it is not as inviting as your family room and kitchen--it should be. Someone has suggested and office or dining room--both good ideas.
You could also use that staging trick and put something in there that is a conversation piece in and of itself so that people don't think too much about the room.

Put one of the recliners up in the master and maybe if one will fit, in the rec room.

All in all, I think the feedback that you are getting about floorplan is more about inconsistency. Two rooms (the rec room and more importantly, the entry room) pale in comparison to the warm inviting feel you have created in your other rooms.
Bring those up to the same level and I think you will have it made.

yeah I see what you all mean. Thanks for the feedback.

DH And I have been thinking about it and if our current tenant (my sister) gets her dream job down the road from our house then she'll be living in Indianapolis for at least another 2 years. Then we might just take the house off the market and continue to rent it to her since she's done a good job at maintaing and paying rent on time. If she decides to stay, then we don't HAVE to sell. So that's nice. Maybe we'll wait it out.

The deal breaker for me would be the powder room off the kitchen. Unfortunately you can't do anything about that.

The living room definitely could use some re-staging. It needs to be made more inviting or make it into a "real" library with wall to wall bookshelves and nice lighting.

I don't care for homes where the family room is seen from the front door. My family room has always been the casual part of the house. But that's just me.

The house looks very nice but the floorplan may be a bit too open for some. There doesn't seem to be any "quiet" spot to just get away from it all.

The yard has great possibilities.

I'd probably turn the FR into a DR. Then the front room could be a cozy study/den with a TV and comfy chairs. The upstairs room should be strictly a FR/Game/ Entertainment spot.

The thing that bothers me the most is the bathroom accessible only through the kitchen and that can't be fixed.