Most homes that are on the market longer than the seller would desire suffer from one of three main ailments. In some cases a home will suffer from all 3 issues and in that case the likelihood of a fast sale is pretty much zero.
So what are the three main reasons a home isn’t selling fast?
Price
Well you guessed it. Price is always important. In a sale of anything. Car. Boat. Sandwich. You name it all consumers are price sensitive. Even as Spelling Manor was sold the original asking price was $150,000,000 and the sales was reportedly a mere $88,000,000.
Look at this chart below.
If you bought your home in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 or 2009 it is worth less than you paid for it, unless you bought a distressed sale at an amazing price.
So if your home is not selling and you are committed to getting it sold consider price.
But price is not the entire story. So if you feel your price is right consider the other two reasons below.
Your Home Doesn’t Look As Valuable As It Is
Home buyers notice everything. As unbelievable as it may seem to a home seller dirty windows can affect how your home is viewed and perceived.
Think the 3 C’s.
Curb appeal. Cleanliness. Clutter.
You absolutely don’t want any issues with with the 3 C’s.
Get rid of collections. Animal head on wall collections. Lifelike doll collections.
If you don’t have a good feel for decorating and how to present a home, ask your agent. If they don’t seem to have good input go to the nearest new build development. Look at the model unit. Look how it is staged. It will show of the space and how it can be lived in, but won’t actually feel lived in.
If you can recreate this feeling in home buyers your house will sell fast, and for more money.
And the last reason your home is not selling fast.
Your Real Estate Agent is Not Doing a Good Job
When you first listed your home no doubt you went over with your agent some of their ideas of how to market it for sale. If your home isn’t selling after a period of time it’s important that you review how the property has been marketed so far.
To review your agents work to date I would go over the following key issues, because they crop up very frequently. The way to do this is ask for a sit down meeting with your agent and have them bring their laptop with them, because you will want to review how your home looks in the multiple listing service (MLS) to other agents.
Ask them to load up the MLS listing and check over the following.
Photo’s
Look closely at all of the photographs on your listing. There needs to be at least 10. Minimum. Any less is a crime. Remember even if a house is a wreck only suitable for a developer to renovate they want pictures to see how much work is involved, concealing information is never good marketing.
Other things to look out for. Blurry pictures. Pictures with a REALTOR visible in the mirror. Hose in the pool. Bad angles. Bad lighting. Are the pictures ordered in a way that makes sense to a buyer, entrance, kitchen, living spaces, bedrooms, bathrooms, garden.
Approximately 90% of home searches start online. The pictures of your home are the most important part of it’s marketing. If they look bad, fix it.
Text and Description
Go over every single text field in the MLS listing. Make sure it captures the essence of your home. As with all writing substance beats waffle. Buyers are looking for information on appliances, brands. Flooring materials. Specifics. Not REALTOR speak.
Things to look out for. ALL CAPITALS. Crazy abbreviations like h/bath wt grn cntr tops and w/i shower.
Private Remarks
This is the section where agents communicate with other agents. Just read this section and make sure there is nothing here that would make it difficult for buyers to view or make an offer on your home.
Other Marketing
OK so hopefully you are satisfied with how your home looks in the MLS. All that is left to do is go over other marketing ideas that have been implemented by your agent.
Is there a virtual tour? Has your agent used video to market your home? You may not know this but Youtube is effectively the second search engine online by search volume.
Networking, have you seen lots of other agents and brokers visiting your home to preview it? They should be.
Conclusion
Selling a home is not rocket science. If your home is on the market for longer than you thought it would or should be it is almost certainly for one of the reasons above or a combination of the above. Sure there are some really unusual properties that are super expensive or in a remote location that can just take time to find the right buyers but otherwise it’s the above.
Address the issues. Your home will sell. Here’s how I go about marketing your luxury home for sale.