missed the market

You’ve put your house on the market, and it’s just not happening: not a single showing or not one purchase offer. It’s not just the price but the price is the big reason there are no offers or showings. Finding the answers is often disappointing because the Buyers in your local market don’t want your home for the asking price because the online marketing to justified the value presenting and detailing the quality and condition of your home has just plain missed the Buyers for your home. You have basically failed to have you home marketed properly and now it will take hard decisive action to change the interest for your home.

You Didn’t Price Your Home to Sell

Sellers say, “But I don’t want to give away my house” or “I can’t sell it for less than…” Of course not. But to make a sale, the price must be right. It’s true now you are overpriced. The simple test is 3-5 qualified showings of your home with no offer, your price isn’t justified. Dated listings because of the internet are less than 30 days—homes that have been on the market for over 30 days—don’t generally sell for list price. You need to show motivation which means a price reduction.

You need to look at the market activity since you have been on market and see what other houses went into contract. Carefully review the sales and compare prices, make that price reduction, and see what else can be improved to sell your home.

How Does My House Look Online?

Check out the major websites (realtor.com, zillow.com, and trulia.com) for how your home looks digitally online. Are the photos representative and show your house in the best way? Is the first photo a great photo of the curb appeal of the house? Are the next 10 photos representative of the best features of the home. A great backyard shouldn’t the 30th photo, you really think users are going to look at every picture? They don’t and the views fall off sharply after the 10th picture.

Get quality, professional-grade photos; neither you nor your agents qualify as professional home photographers.

Make sure the photos capture the beauty, quality, and condition of your home.

• Take the right pictures. Play to your home’s strengths. If a hallway is narrow, don’t take a picture of it. Kitchens, and master bedrooms/baths often sell the home. Get a close-up of your fireplace or other interesting feature instead.
• Declutter the home, stage the home to look better. Make the home look as spacious and as appealing as possible
• Make the Outside of the Home pop. Not only should your home look good online, but when they walk up to the house, it should look great.
• Image Order Matters. The first shot of your home online should be the best shot of the curb appeal of your home.
• Remember to include the backyard/gardens and garage. If they are upgraded or better than the homes in the area include those photos.

Not Marketing Enough

No single aspect of marketing sells a home. It’s a combination of efforts. Start with double checking the listing online to make sure important information like neighborhood/subdivision, schools are correct. Review the flyer and any marketing and make sure you approve of it. You are the current owner and I’ve learn the next buyer often resembles the current owner. If you don’t like the marketing why would any buyer like it?

• Consider a direct mail campaign. Postcards to local residents especially when you’ve updated the listing makes sense.
• Update your flyer and add riders promoting a new price, bedrooms, pool, and/or an upcoming open house.
• If you don’t have a virtual tour, make your agent add one to the listing. Some buyers always look at virtual tours. Your missing potential buyers without one.
• Massively advertise every weekend.
• Hold open houses on Sundays that coincide with other neighborhood showings. Sometimes Thursday evenings attract buyers for twilight tours.
• Get feedback from buyers who didn’t make an offer and have your agent notify any agent who showed the house about the new price improvement. 

Home Isn’t Up to Snuff

Take a sounding of the local real estate scene. If 90 percent of the homes in your market are not selling, then your home needs to outshine the top 10 percent. More specifically, look at the pending sales data, the homes that are under contract; that’s your best indicator. Information on already closed properties (the sort of comps your agent used to set the asking price) could be two to three months behind the current market movement. If you want to know what is happening right now, the pending sales data are best.

After arming yourself with this data, consider the condition of your property, from curb appeal to interior decor. Of course, your agent help you prepared your home for sale prior to listing, but maybe you should re-evaluate it in light of the competition and activity the listing. Ask your agent which efforts will give the most bang for the buck. Consider getting some pre sale inspections to address and counter any perceptions about your home not being move-in ready or being able to sell the home with the minor issues it has,

Last Resort – Hire a New Listing Agent

Your agent seems competent, experienced, and honest. Still, not all agents are right for all properties or all clients. Real Estate has changed if you haven’t sold a house in the last 5 years. The online marketing matters since its the first contact for active Buyers. If your agent doesn’t have great looking online listings you should find one who does. If the value for your home extends to lifestyle and community, you may want the top local agent who sells your market. However, the local agent should have online marketing you value.

You should make sure you are getting the service you think will sell your home. Dedicated agents who know your market are important but so is how your listing looks online and also is it syndicated to all the online real estate websites that matter and available to every buyer? For example is your home being displayed on the big three. realtor.com, zillow.com, and trulia.com. What is the social media reputation of your agent? Trust is key for online buyers.

What’s the communication level between you and your agent? Is the agent keeping you duly informed of all developments? Does the agent communicate the way you want andd how you want? we live in a connected world, however if you communicate best by phone or in person, is the agent communicating on the channel you want? If you need hand-holding, the agent they should provide it. If you don’t need it, the agent should leave you alone. But the relationship should always be within your comfort zone and what you want.

Finally, did you give your agent a chance? Did you minimize his suggestions, discount his advice. I believe there is always accountability but real estate is still about working closely, and trusting the experience of the agent to get it sold at a fair price that works for you and the buyer. Agents work hard and you no doubt you hire the agent to get the job done. You might be surprised by the results if you let your agent do what’s best and not second guess their decisions or cause them to alway be more concerned about your responses than doing the job they can do and believe will get your home sold.

One last suggestion. In a buyer’s market, price your home a minimum of a percentage less than the last comparable sale. If you can’t live with that price, then don’t put your home on the market and set yourself up for disappointment. Overpricing is the worst mistake a home seller can make. If there is a way to