Top Reasons Homes Expire Unsold

Prepare For Selling Your Home

Preparing your home for sale starts with actually getting your home ready to shine and stand out from the competition for all buyers to see. Declutter! Clutter shows a lack of cleanliness and lack of upkeep. Too much stuff strewn around a room can be confusing to the eye, leaving a room to be too busy. If a buyer’s eye gets too caught up on what is in the room, they lose sight of the room itself. Box it up, put it away, start packing early, but the clutter needs to go if you want show your home in its best fashion.

Marketing

You need to find a realtor who blends traditional marketing with modern marketing! The 3 p’s just aren’t enough anymore, neither are the 4th and 5th…a sign on your front yard, placing your home in the multiple listing system, saying a prayer, price watching and prospecting. All these are fine but not enough, you have to market through the internet and social media. The buyers of today find their next home online. You should be seeking an agent that knows how to make your home the center of attention online. Not only do you want to find your home in the top real estate websites that home buyer’s visit, but you should demand your home be marketed through social media, you want your home showing up on people’s news feed (Facebook) who are likely to buy in your area.

Poor Photography

It should not come as any surprise that home buyers start their home search online. That being said, why would one try to entice a potential buyer to be interested in your home with poor photography? The small, grainy, unclear, poorly lit photos of your home don’t exactly scream, “Let’s go see this home!” When was the last time you were excited to see a property where you had trouble discerning the details of what was in the photo? Photography is your online image, you first impression. The photos of your home need to be stunning, and nothing short of that if you intend to generate interest in your property.

You Are Offering A Commission That Is Not Competitive

If other Sellers are offering 3%, you would do well to follow suit. Don't offer 2%, Get competitive! It sounds self-serving for a realtor to say that, but it is an economic reality. Think about it: if a realtor stands to make less showing your home when that realtor could make more showing your neighbor's (this assumes the houses are equally comparable), which one do you think will get the appointment and have a chance at being the next to sell? When you incentivize realtors, they will show your home, assuming it's appropriate for their buyer. If commission is a sticking point, your realtor should take less and give out more to the buyer agent so not to put you at a competitive disadvantage.

Price Your Home To Sell From Day One

No matter how much you think your home is worth, it is the market that dictates how much you get. If you are priced above other homes in the local area, it will work against you. An overpriced home will be overlooked by a buyer, forcing them to buy your competition’s home that was priced right. How your home is priced and its price point can make all the difference in getting your home sold.

Realtor

One of the biggest cause of real estate failure is picking a poor realtor. Often times choosing the wrong realtor relates to where we are emotionally, a wise man once said “at weak times we hire a weak realtor”. Realtors will interview with a home seller for the opportunity to list their home. The problem is that for every top realtor there are four lousy ones! A lesser skilled realtor will resort to telling a seller what they want to hear in order to get the listing. We all want to believe our home is better than Mr. & Mrs. Smith’s home that just sold down the street even though it is nearly identical. A poor realtor knows this and uses it to their advantage. Shortly after listing your home the realtor starts to badger you for price reductions. Some agents take an overpriced listing just for the opportunity to get buyer prospects to work with. In other words, they use your home as a marketing opportunity to get business elsewhere. Avoid falling into this trap, you may be able to drop your price but you signed a contract and will be stuck with this agent until the contract expires. Look over the comparative market analysis through the eyes of a buyer. Think of your property as a house not a home. It is a commodity. When emotions are involved poor decisions are made. Bottom line! Hire a realtor who isn’t afraid to tell you the truth!!