3 Reasons Why Homes Fail to Sell
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Why do homes not sell? There are three main reasons why, and one of those will likely shock you.
Many listings are expiring. An expired listing is a listing that an agent put on the market but failed to sell. Many home sellers blame the agent and believe getting a new one will solve the problem, but that isn’t always true.
The number one reason why homes don’t sell is they aren’t priced properly. In 2016, the average sales price was only 91% of the listing price, which means that most homes sold at a discounted price. In fact, 50% of the time in 2016, homes went through two price reductions before they sold. That means that the home was priced incorrectly, forcing the seller to accept a reduced price. If it had been priced right from the beginning, the seller could have sold faster, gotten more money, and even drawn multiple offers.
Improper pricing also causes the home to be in a different price bracket than it should be. If you overprice your home, you will be at the bottom of a more expensive price bracket, and your home won’t look as impressive as the competition. Get the pricing right up front so your home doesn’t just sit on the market.
Poor marketing combined with incorrect pricing is a recipe for failure. Most expired listings fail to sell because the pricing was wrong and the agent didn’t do a solid job articulating the benefits of the property, using technology to accentuate those benefits, and sending your listing out into the marketplace in a way that would compel the buyer to take action.
Negative experiences can follow home sellers and impact the sale.
One of the most important factors when selling your home is placement. If you are in the wrong price range, then you are not priced for success. If your home is not marketed well in a competitive market, buyers will not notice your home. A real estate agent who can guide you through the pricing process and has the marketing to back it up will get you a successful home sale.
Finally, many sellers in the expired listing category tend to get in their own way. Why? They have hired an agent before and had a negative experience. They start to believe that all real estate agents are the same. Negative experiences can follow home sellers. Even if a new agent gets a lot of new showings and activity for the home, a seller might rebel against the new opportunities. They may even start to say negative things about the buyers or the home itself.
This is a real challenge. However, it is always important to remain positive. In Norman Vincent Peale’s book, The Power of Positive Thinking, he says, “If you expect the best, you are given some strange kind of power to create conditions that produce the desired results.”
In other words, if you expect the worst, your home will fail to sell. Expectations and intentions are important to the home selling process. Figure out what you want, keep the negative emotions at bay, and hire the right agent to sell your home. Don’t self-sabotage the deal, let your agent get you to the closing table.
If you have any other questions about expired listings or the home selling process, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!