Homeowners Sell Homes
Despite Housing Slump

Despite slumping home sales, some home sellers are finding success in selling their homes:

Small fix garners sale

Dana and Robert Breckheimer's home, in the Lake Minnetonka, Minn., area, had been for sale for about eight months with no takers. They had placed it on the market in June 2006 for $370,000 and had already dropped their asking price to $300,000. "The market was changing, and the property we were looking to purchase had come down in price, too," Ms. Breckheimer says. "It seemed like everyone across the board was adjusting prices."

With their property "not getting much activity," the Breckheimers took their three-bedroom off the market and relisted it in January with a different agent, Paul Pudlitzke of Edina Realty in Minnetonka, Minn., at the same price, $300,000. The house was getting quite a number of showings with the new agent, but he suggested that they paint their unfinished basement white -- at a cost of less than $2,000 -- to stir up interest. The next person who viewed the home bought it for less than $300 below their asking price, Ms. Breckheimer says.

Staged to sell

Bobbie Kerr, 66, of Land O' Lakes, Fla., didn't expect her investment property to sell so quickly. Despite the glut of similar homes on the market, her two-bedroom, one-bath condo conversion sold in three weeks for $117,900, just below her asking price of $122,000. She dropped the price to allow for a painting allowance to the buyer, she says. She credits her agent, Jackie Youngblood of Peterman-Wall Inc., for getting the house sold. The agent staged the condo, adding mirrors and baskets and making her closet look like one from a model home, and even brought a mortgage expert to the open house to lend advice on buying property with no or little money down. "Everyone was happy," Ms. Kerr says.

Prime location

New Jersey may be caught in the housing slump, but Elise Kimmel, sales associate and marketing manager for Coldwell Banker, Rio Vista Realtors in Weehawken, N.J., was able to sell her 4,000-square-foot town house in Weehawken, N.J., for $2.4 million, about $200,000 less than her asking price. The four-floor unit was on the market for eight months, typical for homes in her price range, she says. She credits her home's views of the Hudson River as a factor behind the home sale. "Premium waterfront properties with direct views of the New York skyline have been selling at list price or a little below," she says. Other pluses in her favor were her home's location (within walking distance to the Manhattan ferry and close to Starbucks, the supermarket and other retail shops) and its high-end amenities -- which include a built-in wine cellar, a marble foyer and a one-car garage, she says.

Custom drapes and photos

Pam McCarthy-Kern, owner of a floral design business in Minneapolis, decided with her husband, David Kern, to move the family to another neighborhood to be closer to their son's elementary school. In March, they enlisted agent Kevinn Tam of Edina Realty in Minneapolis to sell their home. At no cost to the couple, Mr. Tam hired a designer who staged the home -- redecorating and helping them edit out clutter -- and made custom draperies for several rooms in the house.

Mr. Tam had photos taken of the spiffed up home for advertisements and brochures. The couple got an offer five days after the place went on the market and sealed the deal the next day. The couple received approximately $289,900 for the property -- $10,000 less than their asking price. "We were fine with the price, since we realize that in a tough housing market, there is negotiating that goes on," Ms. McCarthy-Kern says.

Priced to sell in model condition

Robert Jevin, 36, a medical device sales manager, sold his East Orlando, Fla., home in six weeks with the help of his real-estate agent, Yien Yao of Keller Williams Advantage II Realty of Orlando. The sale closed on August 3. Mr. Jevin expected his home to remain on the market for three to four months, he says. Facing a "flooded market," he priced his house to sell at $415,000 and after lowering his asking price to $400,000 two weeks later, sold his five-bedroom, three-bath home to sell at the reduced price -- the price at which the builder of his home, Engle Homes, is offering new homes in the same subdivision, Mr. Jevin says. The fact that his house, which he purchased for $237,000 in 2003,  is in "model condition" and has a pool were other positive selling factors, Mr. Jevin says. The homeowner has purchased a brand-new four-bedroom, three-bath home in the same subdivision for $280,000.

Value always sells

Oliver Colt, 57, an antiques store manager in San Francisco, recently sold his one-bedroom, one-bath condo conversion in the high $500,000s -- above his asking price -- in just five days. The unit is located in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood. "The market is strong if you have the right property," he says. He attributes the sale of his unit -- which is in a converted warehouse -- to its historic and unique qualities. Apartments like his -- which has a nine-foot arched window, an interior bricked wall and hardwood floors -- are likely to sell better than the "cookie cutter" units in newer buildings that are springing up in the area, he says. "A good property is a good value regardless of the temporary ups and downs in the market," he says.

Creative financing

Bryce K. Dalton, 25, a financial analyst with Jack Johnson Company of Park City, Utah, was in contract in June to sell his home in Spanish Fork, Utah, in July to a couple, but the deal fell through when the buyers asked him to lower his asking price of $135,000 to $130,000 because "they only had $12 to their name and had to exhaust their infant's college savings in order to supply the earnest money deposit," Mr. Dalton says. He refused to lower the price, and the sale fell through for the home, which has two bedrooms and one and one-half baths.

He had a back-up offer from another couple who said they were pre-approved for a loan above his asking price, but when their loan fell through, Mr. Dalton called his mortgage banker, who secured financing for the couple that same day. Mr. Dalton was able to close on the sale of his home on Aug. 6 for his full asking price of $135,000.

Mr. Bryce is now renting a home in Park City. "The real estate market here is a little more pricey than the rest of Utah," he says.

Off the market sale

Wendell Knight and wife Lynda of Hilo, Hawaii, were looking to remodel their kitchen and asked real-estate agent Howard Dinits of Re/Max Island Surf Realty in Pahoa, Hawaii, for the name of a quality home contractor. They got the referral -- and a home sale. Mr. Dinits called the couple in July and said that although their property wasn't on the market, he had an individual who was interested in seeing the house for possible purchase. The Knights agreed to show the home to the prospective buyer, as they were planning to put the home on the market in a year or two to relocate to the mainland. The buyer liked what he saw. "We named a price that we thought was fair, and he bought it for cash in a down market," says Mr. Knight. The couple sold the home for $268,500 -- they had purchased it for $77,000 in 1999. The buyer liked that the home is in tip-top shape and recently had its bathrooms remodeled, Mr. Knight says. That's not to mention the brand-new kitchen with custom-made cabinets and granite counters. They Knights closed on the sale last week. "We got to enjoy the new kitchen for two days," Mr. Knight says.

Ms. Kim is a senior editor at RealEstateJournal.com.

Email your comments to lauren.kim@wsj.com.