Why Homes Don’t Sell – Part II 

In my last article I went into the three most common reasons homes do not sell. They are Price, Product (Condition of the Home) and Promotion (Marketing of the Home). 

In this article I will go into some miscellaneous items that can prevent a home from selling. This is not a complete list, however these are some of the ones that I have seen that are worth mentioning.  

1. The Listing Agent does not answer the phone or does not call the buyer’s agents back in a timely fashion. 

Buyers often call their agent and want to go see homes today, or they see a home that looks interesting while they are out seeing other homes. Their agent calls the listing agent, and if no answer or a slow callback, results in the home not being seen. 

I personally have had agents call me back more than a week after I called them. They ask if I would still like to schedule a showing and I may say, unfortunately my buyer went back home to New Jersey last week, or they purchased another home. More than once, I never had my call returned. 

2. The MLS listing says to call the seller to schedule showings. 

When a listing says call seller to schedule showings, this often through experience means an inconvenient showing. There is usually no lock box, and the appointment must be set at the seller’s convenience, not the buyers. When there are a large number of homes available to show, these do not attract anyone’s attention.  

3. Listing states that a 48 or 72 hour notice is required for all showings. 

Again the homes most likely to be shown are the ones that are convenient for the buyer to see. 

4. Listing agent or seller too restrictive for scheduling. 

Buyer’s agents often show a buyer 6 – 10 homes in a day. The buyer’s agent tries to schedule the showings the best they can. However, it is impossible to always say we will be there at 1:00 PM or exact time. We often give a timeframe of 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. Some listing agents will say I’m sorry but you will have to give me an exact time or a 15 minute cushion in time, not an hour. 

The problem is let’s say there are six properties to be seen. You figure on travel time plus enough time to show each home. However let’s say you figure on 15 or 20 minutes per listing plus travel time. What happens if the buyer likes a certain home and spends 45 minutes or an hour? What if we drive up to another and the say they are not even interested in going in? Obviously, it can be impossible to stick to an accurate schedule. 

5. Seller alienates real estate agents. 

Example One: I was a listing agent, where I had a buyers agent call me and say they wanted to show my listing between the hours of 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM. My seller left the home before 2:00 PM and came back at 3:00 PM. At 3:10 PM the buyer’s agent came up and rang the doorbell and said sorry we are late, but unfortunately we got stuck in traffic. My seller yelled at the agent with the prospective buyer by their side.  

The buyer’s agent said he was sorry. The seller then said they could look at the home. When the seller called me and told me about this, I discussed how I had already explained that sometimes this will happen. The buyer’s agent should have called me to let me know they were running late, however the seller wants to sell the home, and this does happen. The seller told me the buyer did not appear to like the home as they spent only a couple of minutes there. I told the seller that they may have not liked the home, or it could be after you yelled at them they were too afraid to even really look at the home. I also told the seller it is unlikely the buyer would even come back even if they loved the home, and likewise it is unlikely their agent will ever consider their home for another buyer. I called the agent to apologize, but the agent was not thrilled with what had happened. I would not be surprised if that agent told at least some of the approximately 150 agents he worked with about what happened. How many of these agents would want to show this listing? 

Example Two: Recently a home in my neighborhood had been listed with another agent for six months. It did not sell and the listing expired. During the six months it was on the market I had showed the home to a couple of my buyers. They did not buy, but since I am an expert in the neighborhood I knew that the home was slightly overpriced but was not being marketed well. The owner lives in another state, so I sent them a letter saying if they decide to put their home back on the market, I would like to be considered for the job of their listing agent. I went through my successes in the neighborhood, and that I would like to discuss how I would market their home to sell.  

A few days later I received an email from the owner of the home. In it he told me that he is sick of the spam he is getting in the mail from several real estate agents. He then mentioned that he is going to report us all for spamming him with junk mail and will have us arrested. Of course there is no law about sending a letter through the postal service. He then stated that he would be happy if we all would drop dead. 

Now what do you think the chance of any of the real estate agents who received such hateful mail choosing this home to show to their buyers? Do you think that he may have hurt his chances of selling. 

6. A few last items that prevent a home from selling. These are all from personal experience 

• Terrible curb appeal – weeds, dead grass, messy looking, etc.
• Sloppy or dirty home
• Cluttered home
• Animal waste on carpets, beds or walls
• Animals running around loose – Many buyers are afraid of dogs or cats
• Dirty clothes all over floor
• Filthy carpet or worn carpet
• Offensive artwork or photos
• Sellers sleeping while showing is going on
• Empty wine and beer bottles all over floor
• Fist holes in wall and doors

Some of these seem absurd, but they are real and probably happen more often than we could imagine. There are of course many more that could be listed.

1. The asking price
2. Product or the condition of the home, land and anything included in the sale
3. Promotion or the marketing plan