Nov. 9, 2006 - Why Didn't My House Sell? |
When it comes to selling a home, the big three factors - location, condition and price - go a long way toward determining how successful the sales effort will be. It further can be argued that price is the dominant of the three factors, as homeowners can adjust (or at least ought to adjust) their sales price for location and condition. For example, a home backing to a major street likely will sell for less than an identical home a few blocks into a subdivision. Similarly, a home with worn carpet and dated cabinets likely will sell less for a home with new flooring and an updated kitchen.
Accepting price as the top consideration in determining whether a home will sell, what other areas should an owner focus upon to aid the sale? And what should a real-estate professional do to facilitate a quicker sale?
Let's start with the agent's side of the equation. Many agents subscribe to the theory of an all-powerful MLS ... enter the listing in the MLS, wait for other agents to sort through the other 33,000-plus listings to find yours, and wait for the offer. But in an inventory-laden market such as this, what an agent does outside the MLS is as important if not more important than what takes place in the MLS.
Sellers should settle for nothing less than a comprehensive marketing plan that includes direct mail, e-mail flyers, Internet advertising (on sites that actually have traffic) and the intangible, networking with other agents - those known personally, those with whom we've completed deals in the past, etc. While no agent will intentionally not show a home listed by a given agent, no matter how tortuous the experience, there's nothing that says an agent won't be more amenable to showing a property listed by an agent with whom easy, stress-free transactions were completed.
What's missing from my marketing checklist? Open houses, first and foremost - excellent tool for an agent finding additional buyers (assuming anyone comes to the open house) but not particularly useful for selling homes. The latest numbers from NAR indicate roughly 7% of all homes sell due to property fliers and/or open houses combined. Also missing? Print advertising. Eight percent of buyers begin their home search on the Internet, and the web allows an agent far more space and a far greater visual impact than a four-line newspaper ad.
Now let's turn to the owner's side. In many cases, the simple answer for most sellers is to stay out of the way for their own sake. I actively farm expired listings, contacting the owners via mail and offering a 45-day full-service listing. This listing assumes the owners will price the home aggressively to match my aggressive marketing.
But such a strategy also requires the owners to stay out of the way and make the home available. In this morning's batch of expireds, listing after listing contained notations such as "show by appointment" or "call lister to show" or "show only after xx p.m." Clearly, life cannot be put on hold simply because a home is for sale. At the same time, such restrictions greatly limit the opportunity to sell a home. If there is a buyer who wants to see the home NOW (meaning within an hour or so) then the home needs to be ready to show NOW. The biggest mistake a seller can make is to assume the buyer will wait to view this one home when there are a dozen others that may be more accessible.
Some agents demand that sellers kennel their pets during the listing period. Tobey wouldn't allow me to do so. But a seller has pets, it is imperative that they have some way of removing the animals for a short period of time during showings. Crate them, put them in the yard, turn them loose on a neighbor - whatever. But you don't want Fluffy or Rover to be the cause of a missed sale.
Selling a home requires a partnership between agent and seller. The best marketing plan in the world is destined to fail if the agent isn't able to perform their job to the utmost because of decisions the seller makes along the way.
(c) Jonathan Dalton, 2006 / Jonathan Dalton's Arizona Homes |
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