Many homeowners still fret over their homes inability to attract a decent offer, even in a seller's market.
It's usually based on misunderstanding the process of selling your home, or just plain being sold the on ideas vs. the realities of it.
Homeowners who need to sell can feel a sense of powerlessness over the entire home selling process, which manifests itself aggravation and even disgust. Some have even abandon using an agent all together and decided to place their home as for sale by owner. There are things you can do to possibly prevent your home from laying stagnant on the market, if you decide re-list your home. To avoid this fate, one needs to diagnose the reason for failure, and work with an agent who knows how to resolve them. Here are some things to consider: Communication Breakdown. During your homes last listing period was there enough regular communication about the progress of your homes marketing by the listing real estate agent. I know here on Staten Island many homes can be listed with close friends or family, which is absolutely fine. However, there an old saying “familiarity breeds complacency”. Having a few members of my family in the contracting business, I can give you some examples of complacency. However, Trust is important and having a member of your family handling the sale of your home is not a bad thing, as long as you feel that the sale of your home is getting attention it needs. Most sellers who have experienced an expired listing with their agent will state the resounding source of their frustration is due to a lack of communications. I always set a weekly schedule with my clients, outlining communications so my clients know what to expect throughout the sales process.
Offers made on your home: Your home is listed sale for 650,000, and you had 6 offers during the listing period between $580,000 and $610,000, and you refuse them all. The reality needs to set in that your homes resale value is closer to the offers you received (Yes, even in a seller's market). In this case, the marketing or the agent usually isn't at fault. It's more likely you're not prepared to sell and re-listing at the same price will not net a better result. A homes value if marketed correctly is set by the marketplace solely, regardless of what is told or believed.
Home Improvements and Value: The price is not comparable to other similarly sold homes in your neighborhood. Many homeowners in today's real estate market overvalue their home value based on home improvements, while home improvements may help a home net some more money, and lead to a quicker sale, most home improvements are overvalued. Everything that you read is likely considered dated information. This recent real estate market has changed the concept of dollar value for home improvements. Having worked with many buyers, most feel having a modestly priced home with practical working features outweighs a home that is substantially improved.
Marketing of your listing: Is your real estate agent able to make your listing stand out with low home inventory available? There are many ways to accomplish this, and if the real estate agent cannot tell you how, strike one. It's a question that needs to be in your arsenal of questions for your next listing appointment. Good real estate agents are good marketers if they cannot distinguish the way the market your home, it's likely your home could get lost in small print or even overlooked altogether.Top performing real estate agents are changing their marketing strategy to coincide with changing times. Are all your real estate agents resources Invested in your success?
Is your real estate agent investing their resources in your success? It's often remiss in the series of pertinent questions which is asked of a real estate agent. However, it needs to be asked, especially in today's real estate market. If the answer to your question results in, “my company markets you're listing in this newspaper” from the listing agent, they really haven't answered the question. I have said this in an earlier post, most real estate agents are independent contractors, and much of your homes marketing success will be dependent on their ability and resources to market your home, aside from their associated company.
Posted by Anthony Licciardello on
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