So you’ve listed your house for sale, your agent has come and taken pictures, your listing is on the Multiple Listing Service, you have seen it in the newspaper and in the real estate magazines but you haven’t had a single showing. What’s wrong???
Well, if you’re selling in far Northern California I can tell you it’s probably one of three things:
1) You’re priced too high
2) Your house is not appealing to buyers
3) Your agent is not marketing your house in the right places.
So, how do I tell if I’m priced too high? I’ve learned from my own experiences as well as the feed back from buyers, sellers, and agents all over the northstate that houses sell faster when they are priced competitively. Before you decide “competitive pricing” is pricing below comparable properties, understand that competitive pricing is listing for a price near what comparable properties have SOLD for recently.
Look at comparable properties and consider what criteria truly make that property comparable to yours. Basics like squarefootage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and geographic proximity. If you have a two bedroom, one bath, 900 square foot home, it is not comparable to a four bedroom, two bath, 1500 squarefoot home just because it’s only two houses down. Also, just because you own a 5,000 squarefoot home 40 miles from the closest town does not make it more valuable than a 1200 squarefoot home in a suburban part of town 5 minutes from the commercial district. You need to ask your agent what features make your home comparable to others and only look at properties similar to yours.
Next, look at the SOLD price of those properties. It doesn’t matter what these people were asking for their houses, and it doesn’t matter what comparable properties that haven’t sold are listed for; all that matters is the bottom line – the sold price. If you price your home near that dollar amount you are saying to buyers, “I am fair and reasonable” and buyers will be fair and reasonable also.
Lastly, when looking at these comparables make sure they are homes that have sold recently. You should not consider homes that sold more than 6 months ago because an appraiser won’t and neither will your buyers when they decide what a fair and reasonable offer is. I don’t care that your house might have sold for $350,000 in 2005. You didn’t sell it in 2005, this is 2009. Let go of the past. If comparable properties are selling for $220,000 then your house needs to be priced close to that. Remember, the value of ANYTHING is only what an able buyer is willing to pay. If you are determined to list your home for more than 15% above what comparable properties are selling for, don’t waste your or your agent’s time. Wait it out, hang out for another 5-10 years when things are on a steady rise.
Alright, we’ve gone over the comparable sales, we’ve priced our home competitively, we are ready to be fair and reasonable, but we STILL don’t have any buyers touring our house! Why isn’t our house appealing to buyers?….
Take a look at your pictures first. Is there clutter? Are their bright distracting colors? Is there a dead lawn out front, broken or dirty windows, kids’ toys laying around? Those have got to go. Clean your house, I can’t stress that enough, in fact I’ve written about it before, check out my blog, “Tips for For Sale By Owners”. Clean your house so clean that those HGTV people couldn’t find anything left to criticize. If your version of clean is that everything is stacked neatly in the corner or that the pile of papers is under the desk instead of on top of it, HIRE A CLEANING SERVICE. They’ll come to you; they will clean EVERYTHING (even the nasty crud growing behind the toilet); they get it done in one day; they bring their own supplies. Where’s the down side? For $100 (or maybe more if your house is a special kind of yikes) it’s done and your home will now be more attractive to buyers.
But my house is clean! It’s spotless, the cleaning service said there was nothing to do here.
Okay, why else might your house not be appealing? Dated furniture? Questionable paint schemes? Is it just ugly? Maybe not to you, but you’ve been decorating this house and putting things in it that YOU like, not what a buyer is going to like. Use a critical eye, ask your agent, ask some friends and neighbors, and if no one can give you any helpful tips call a professional stager.
Go to www.RealEstateStagerAssociation.com and find a stager in your area. Stagers will come to your house, take the tour, prepare an estimate, work with you to see what you can afford, and get the most important things taken care of first. Check out the difference in this room before and after a stager was brought into the picture:
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..Finally, we’re priced right, our house looks so good we are considering keeping it and not selling after all, but we STILL don’t have any buyers looking at it!! What gives??….
I hate to say it, but maybe your agent isn’t using the right tools to market your home. Is your home on the agent’s website? The broker’s website? Realtor.com? Are all the pretty new pictures up there? (The more pictures the better!) Is the price correct? Is your listing being syndicated to other real estate websites for maximum exposure? Is your agent writing about your listing in his/her blog? Is your agent using online social media to share your listing with savvy buyers? YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Flikr, these are all places you should be able to find your listing. Pictures of it, links to it, descriptions of it, lots of info! Social media is not a trend that is going away. It is not a “phase” and it’s not a thing the kids are doing. It is the newest way to connect and communicate and share with the world. Newspapers around the globe are going broke because people are going online to get their information and news. Buyers want the newest, latest, greatest knowledge and they want it as fast as a click of a mouse. They don’t want to search through a dozen magazines and as many newspapers to find their home, they want that information as accessible as any one and online media is the place they look for it. So if your agent isn’t using social media to market your listing, he ought to be. If neither of you is familiar with it and you would like some help, email me. I’ll be glad to share my knowledge and give you both some tips that will help move your property from “For Sale” to “SOLD”.
Jessica Murr is a Realtor in Far Northern California specializing in luxury homes, ranch properties, real estate sales consulting, social media and networking, first time homebuyers, and real estate investment planning. For more information on this topic or any other, send her an email at JessicaMurr@RichterScaleRE.com.
I want to be your resource for real estate information and trends. I don’t follow real estate, I’m leading the way.
I also use social networking to maximize exposure for my listings and provide the best marketing possible. Find out how I can sell your home or ranch quickly and for the highest possible price using online social media by visiting my sites:
Jessica Murr Richter Scale Real Estate – Realtor™
Platinum Property Management – Owner, Manager
Mt Shasta Real Estate Consulting – Owner, Consultant
Blackberry: 530-941-6061
Email: JessicaMurr@RichterScaleRE.com
Website: www.RealtorJessicaMurr.com
