Reasons:

The Reasons Your Home Didn’t Sell The First Time:

The sale of your home is not just as simple as putting an ad in the paper or a sign on the lawn. Careful preparation is needed to assure that you can get top dollar for your home. You also need to analyse the situation and see what went wrong. There are 3 main factors in considering why your home didn’t sell and they are location, condition, and price

We have all heard the saying that the 3 factors most important in the sale of a property are location, location, location. That unfortunately is a fallacy. Location is an extremely important factor, yet it is the one that you as a seller have absolutely no control over. If you are next door to a factory, railroad tracks, or perhaps your neighbour is not the neatest individual, those are factors that you have NO control over unless you wish to lift your home off its foundation and move it to another spot. If your location is sub average it makes the next 2 factors of condition and pricing even more important.

The condition of your home is one of the factors that you have a great deal of control over. First impressions are extremely important from the minute a potential buyer drives by your home. If the location is not the best, but the home offers what is known as curb appeal, the buyer may be curious to see if the home is worth investigating on the inside. If the home is unappealing from the outside, the customer may just assume that it is a reflection of what the inside of the home will look like and they will keep on driving. If they are aware of the price (see below) they still may be interested in viewing the home but have already pictured in their minds offering a much lower price. People have a funny way of analysing a potential purchase. They see all the great features of it, but if there is just one negative aspect, that is the one that stands out in their minds.

We now come to the third and most important factor. The one that is most important whether you are the buyer or seller. PRICE. The price of your property will be reflected by the condition and location of your home. NO MATTER HOW MUCH WORK YOUR HOME NEEDS OR WHERE IT IS LOCATED, IF IT IS PRICED ACCORDINGLY, IT WILL SELL NO MATTER WHAT THE MARKET CONDITIONS ARE. This is why pricing your home correctly at the very beginning is so extremely important. Most sellers have the philosophy that they can ask higher but can always come down in price. The problem with that thinking is that if you are priced too high, you may not get anybody to even make you an offer. Conversely, if you price your home at very close to what it is realistically worth or even slightly lower, you may start a bidding war on your home and it may very well sell for more than what you are asking.

Now that we have dealt with the above, there is still one other aspect that needs to be addressed. The marketing or exposure of your home. If you have followed all the advice above, but nobody knows your home is for sale, you will not have any buyers. Your real estate representative should know how to effectively market your home as well as be readily available for providing information. We have all experienced the frustration of wanting information on a great trip or product, yet we cannot get a hold of the person that has all the answers to our questions, and ultimately lose interest. When somebody wants to get information about your home or wish to view it, you want to accommodate them as quickly as possible.

If you are trying to sell without the aid of a real estate firm, and have followed the advice offered and your home didn’t sell, chances are you were not able to generate the market exposure necessary. Most people also prefer the ease and comfort of using a real estate salesperson. Many people feel that if someone is selling privately, it may be that they are hiding a fact about the home or perhaps they wish to get more than what the home is realistically worth. Perhaps, you had many potential customers interested in your home but you were unable to accomodate their schedules in showing the home or just providing them the necessary information they required.

If your home was listed with a real estate firm and did not sell, than the salesperson probably didn’t do his job. As your representative, the salesperson may have to tell you things you don’t want to here. You should be informed of any repairs or upgrades that your home needs in order to fetch you the best price. If you are unwilling or unable to affect such repairs, than the price MUST be adjusted accordingly. This is where a conflict can occur. Most real estate people would rather accept an overpriced listing, than let a competitor have it. An experienced salesperson should have the opinion that I would rather turn you down today rather than let you down in 60 days when you have had no showings or offers. An overpriced listing does nothing but further erode the value of a property. The longer it is on the market, the more doubt there is in its value.

If you are serious about selling your home, call a qualified, full time professional and listen to them. Ask them to back up their advice to you . Also, feel free to offer your opinion and advice. You may have some inside information about homes they are referring to when coming up with a price for you. Finally, don’t simply make a decision to list with a particular sales person because they gave you the highest price. Some real estate people will “buy” listings. In other words, they may tell you that they can get you a price which may be higher than what you expected. They could tie up your listing for months and then eventually talk you down to a more reasonable price in order to affect a sale. Base your decision on what the sales person can do to effectively market your home and that you feel comfortable with them. Then sit down with them and TOGETHER come up with a price that both parties feel comfortable with. It will make your relationship both pleasant and profitable experience for both parties.