I'm not a realtor, just a former house hunter. Snow is normal where I live, I love going to open houses. However bad weather kept me home, so I wouldn't be surprised if people aren't willing to venture out down there. Isn't Jan/Feb a slow time to sell anyway? I probably would have waited until Spring so as not to have "xx days on market" on the listing.

If you really really need to buy a home, bad weather won't slow you down. We had to relocate in December once and spent the weekend of a huge snow storm looking at houses. However, snow will certainly deter looky loos and buyers that may not be very motivated. In this market there is a shortage of serious buyers that would have ventured out in bad weather.

If your realtor can't provide comps to back up the price, you should find a new realtor. You should not be guessing at a price that will sell. Your realtor should be providing you a list of comparable homes and what they sold for recently.

Comparable doesn't mean identical. It doesn't have to be the same "model" in the same subdivision. Comps should be close in location, form and fuction and then you can make adjustments for differences.

BTW - basing your price on a home that hasn't sold doesn't make any sense. If you want to sell, you need to look at what is selling and take your cue from those.

My agent told me that she prefers not to show houses when the snow is actually coming down because the light isn't as good and houses don't show as well under those circumstances. But seeing houses when it isn't actually snowing is another story, and it probably hasn't been snowing every day that you were listed.

Based on your description of the house and the marketplace, I wonder if you're really priced right at this point. Since there are so many other houses on the market, have you looked at listings for other houses in the area that are listed at around your price range? That's what buyers will be seeing when they look at your mother's house, so it would give you a better idea of comparators based solely on price. You might also take a look at the houses that pop up if you search for ones that are priced $10,000 less than your current price to see how your house fits in with that cluster-- does a $10,000 reduction make enough of a difference in what they see?

If no one looked when there was snow on the ground, anywhere, nothing would get sold. That should not be a negative thing. Like some of the posters said, your realtor should give you some sort of comps. What are you or your realtor basing the price on. Is she/he only showing on weekends? How much experience does your RA have selling older home etc. This could be a good home for a beginning couple with small children, if the price is right. Schools, shopping areas? and even crime plays into prices. Look at other places for sale. Or wait until it warms up a bit. If you don't want to reduce the price, don't. I would not think about renting, because if as you say, there are a number of foreclosures you may not get good renters, but you might contact churches and many of them need places for pastors and associate pastors.

"snow the 3 weekends. (Not normal for NJ)."

Well, there ya go;
in my area, too, snow is not normal.

Nobody knows how to drive in it, most of us don't even have clothes for it, schools shut down, people stay home from work, etc.

If they can, people will wait for a nice week-end to look for a home.

I'm confused about the comps, too:

If the house is 44 years old, the "model" doesn't matter as much as the square footage & amenities (basement? garage?) & updating.

& I wouldn't reduce my price, or ask a seller to reduce the price, on a house that had been on the market for 3 weeks during a winter in which all 3 week-ends had been snowy...
unless the sellers had previously agreed that the initial price was not supported by the market.

I'm happy with the realtor - he showed us plenty of comps - 3br 2ba rancherss & 4br colonials. Prob is no capes have sold in the past yr. & the capes on the market now are a totally different house plan are older & in a less desirable section. No one has basements (slab). We have 2 car garage - some of the comps have 1 some have 2. Some have renovated a little, some have none. They're all cookie cutter development houses. So I did list "higher" to test the waters so to speak. There is 1 of our type on the market at $325k (but with more br's they added on a hatchet job the downstairs - will NEVER sell at that price, then the one at $197 that started at $249 they just took it off the market - didn't sell. We are at $174,900. I really think it will sell around $150 in the end but was hoping since ours with the larger 13x24 master suite downstairs (not chopped into 2 brs like the others) & better location would get some interest.
So, it's not like I'm against the price reduction but my original question was about the weather wondering to hold off a couple more weekends. Looks like it does - so I might.
Thanks

Annie, snow does not stop buyers in New Jersey (I live here). Day of the storm, yes. Day after, they're out looking. The problem is there are no buyers who are actually going to buy (lots of lookers). Certainly not enough to absorb all of the listings. There are only two things driving this market: the first time homebuyers tax credit and a few extremely well priced homes. You are definitely in the first range (tax credit) but we don't know if you are in the second. I think you can wait a couple of weeks on dropping the price to see if more people show up once the snow melts but about mid March you need to be very aggressive on price until you illicit a steady stream of lookers. The credit expires on April 30th and late March and April is when anyone who wants to buy will scramble (as they did in November when it was expiring before).

Here is a link that might be useful: The Country Dogs