Suggestions on how I can sell my second home, which is a newer lakefront cottage in Northern Michigan?

Question

We really must sell our cottage. We've had it on the market for 3 years with various realtors, and have reduced the price again and again. Part of the problem is that we expected to retire there and customized it with a huge watercolorist studio for my wife, and a huge workshop for me. We've done Craigslist. Our realtors have tried print and internet ads without success. We recently developed our own site, http://www.mustsellourcottage.com. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thank you.

Answer 1

In this market, you bought it so just enjoy it, I would stick to the idea of retiring there, at least you will be able to say serrinity now. You could try renting it out in the meantime to pay expenses. I have several properties and I hope to just keep them rented until the market turns around. this however is going to take a long time. at least i bought them for alot less than they are worth. Just sit tight.

Answer 2

Don,

My personal opinion,  if I'm a home buyer, I don't want to see people, dogs butts, dead trees, unmown grass, etc in photos.  I suggest taking new photos of your property with a wide angle lens on a SUNNY DAY.

Remember, marketing your home is not the same as living in your home. If people are looking for a lakefront property, thats what they want to see. The Lake.  I would also reconsider the offer of money. Some lenders will not allow this, and there can be no side deals, everything must appear on the HUD-1 statement to be legal in Michigan. If you have questions, speak with your agent.

Floor Plans are a good idea.  I suggest adding your cottage address and MLS number to your website along with additional geographic terms. That will help with search engine placement.  Naming your photos will also help. Search engines know there's a photo, but they don't know what it is. You need to label each photo and link with a name.

Most likely the problem is the economy in southeastern Michigan. Because everyone is uncertain about their jobs, they are being very cautious about purchases.

I would also ask your agent where else you can market your home. There are over 20 free websites available beside Realtor.com and TAAR.

Added:  

After looking at your website HTML I suggest including more geographic terms to the title (is the address in Empire or TC?) There will be too many competing sites in the keywords you are currently using.

<title>Must Sell Our Cottage</title>

<meta name="Language" content="English">

<META name="description" content="Must Sell Our Cottage, lakefront cottage in the Traverse City area of Northern Michigan.">

<META name="keywords" content="must sell our cottage, cottage, traverse city, lake ann, michigan, northern michigan, north woods, vacation home, pearl lake">