If you recently had your home listed on the Multiple Listing Service and it didn’t sell you might want to know why. Maybe you’re thinking you will sell it yourself now.
If it was on for more than 30 days in this sellers market here in Texas there is a reason and this guide should help you find it!
I’m going to highlight the biggest reasons homes don’t sell. If this doesn’t answer your questions you can find a more detailed version of how selling a house works here.
Your Realtor
Nobody ever thinks it’s them or their house so let’s start with the external culprit. These are items your Realtor should be doing.
Professional Photos
Have a serious talk with your Realtor immediately if there are not professional photos. This is everyone’s first impression of your home. The left house looks sad, the right looks bright. I’m way more likely to visit the house on the right.
Weekly Communication
Your Realtor should have a schedule time to speak with you weekly about the marketing, showings, feedback and adjustments. If they aren’t telling you what’s going on with the market how can you adjust to sell?
Marketing – The BIG ONE
Realtors (the good ones) are expert marketers and negotiators. That’s what you are paying them for. According to the National Association of Realtors, 15% of buyers come from your neighborhood. Ask what their plan is marketing your neighborhood. There are plenty of tools at a Realtors disposal including mail outs, door knocking, open houses and more. The other 85% come from online eyeballs. Your Realtor should have a facebook marketing plan. Facebook is one of the best places to advertise homes next to the Multiple Listing Service. If you’re not on facebook, especially if you have a luxury home you are shooting yourself in the foot. This is something 99% of Realtors don’t do. I’m not talking about boosting a post with some nice pictures. I’m talking about detailing your audience and targeting potential buyers.
For Example, if this is your backyard:
This is a marketing dream for a Realtor. There are so many things you can do with this. What golfer wouldn’t want to come how after a hot day of golf, take a dip and have the fellas or ladies over for drinks and a barbecue.
There are over 330,000 golfers who like Texas and can afford this home and facebook can let all of them know this can be their lifestyle. If your Realtor is marketing only here locally on the Multiple Listing Service they may miss out on a foreign executive looking for a golf retreat or a retired couple from Iowa looking to move south away from the cold.
If you’re thinking yeah right, this doesn’t work… I got you to this page didn’t I? It wasn’t an accident.
Hold Your Realtor Accountable
I spoke with a seller that told me their agent did a “Good Job”. I then asked if the Realtor sold the house, he said, “No, but she did a good job.” FOLKS! A good job is a sold house.
The Seller
Now it’s time to look inward. You might not like this. If your Realtor is doing all the things above there is a good chance you’re the problem.
Presentation
If your house is cluttered, it won’t bring top dollar. It’s not about how much money you put into the house and how much you like it. It’s about what outside buyers think. If your Realtor gives you the feedback and it’s negative, fix it.
Price
This is the biggest one. The number of showings, feedback and market data will tell you if you’re priced too high. If you’re waiting for the right sucker to come along you might as well be buying scratch off tickets every day. It does happen but not often. If your Realtor is communicating all the data and the data says you’re priced to high, lower the price. If it’s too painful to lower that price maybe it’s not time for you to sell the house.
