Why didn’t my home sell?

You are asking yourself “Why didn’t my home sell?”

Assuming that the real estate agent you hired had professional photos taken of your home and properly exposed your home to the buyers on the internet and networked with other active brokers, then why is it that your home did not sell?

Did you ask your agent to sit Endless Open houses during the listing period?
Did you make your home available to show when buyers requested to see it?
Did you get feedback from those agents that did show your home?
Do you know that Price, Location and Condition are the three things that can make or break the sale of any property?

You did all these things and still you ask, why didn’t my home sell?

Open houses seem like a great idea, but if done wrong or done for the wrong reasons, they can be a huge waste of time.  Consumers don’t know that every brokerage for decades has trained their agent forces to hold open houses if they are trying to find new clients.  For the most part, people who view open houses typically are not well qualified buyers,  they can even be buyers that are looking for something completely different from your home.  People just driving around neighborhoods following open house signs have no idea what they are walking into; chances that your home is a match to that buyer are very low.  Real Estate brokerages know this and train agents to hold open houses, so agents can meet these mismatched buyers and sell them another home.  Let’s face it, they are interested in purchasing a home, just not your home.

Is there any benefit to open houses?  Yes, but advertising that open house to a more qualified buyer pool is tricky.  That is where I come in to help, this is something we can discuss more in depth in person or by phone.

Did you make your home available to show when buyer’s requested to see it?  This is probably the most frustrating thing to home buyers.  Many times home buyers have schedule constraints just like you.  If you turn away a buyer from a showing request, they can end up seeing another competing property and never come back to see your property again.  The use of a lock box and being as flexible as possible with showing times will chase away fewer buyers.

Did you get feedback from those agents that did show your home? Anyone that comes to see your home should be polled for feedback.  What did they like; what did they dislike?  The million dollar question that most agents never ask their buyers is “What would it take for you to write an offer on this home?”  Or did the Listing agent ask the Buyer’s agent “What would it take for your client to write an offer on this home?” Communication and lots of it will help guide you as the listing period moves forward. Are you talking with your agent at least 3 times a week during the listing period?  You will be with me.  We need to be talking all the time.

• PRICE, LOCATION & CONDITION  These three criteria never change, never ever.  They will always determine the success rate at which any property sells.  They live in harmony, they are the three legged stool, pull one leg away and the stool falls over.  Every seller who tries to cheat any of these three criteria will suffer.  Location and condition will always affect the price, but also consider that well located homes, that are in perfect condition can be priced above the market too.
  

  After many many years of selling properties we know the following:

• No one comes to see your house (No Activity)  = you are approximately 11% off on the price
• Drive-bys, some interest maybe a few showings = you are approximately  6% – 10% off on price
• Showings, plenty of activity and No Offers = you are approximately  4% – 5% off on price

If the feedback is that the home is priced well and no buyers are voting with their pen, then the feedback is wrong. Homes that are priced right will receive offers.