Your Home Has Not Sold...AND It Is Not Price

Yes, I wrote that as my headline. The truth is that everytime I get a call from an expired listing; the first thing that comes into my head is your home did not sell becuase it was overpriced...But is that always the case?

I am actually finding out that more and more of the listings are not overpriced but under marketed or badly marketed. Every Realtor has access to their local Listing service where we input the home and all the vital information and pictures. But, what if they are not putting in the right information? Are they taking photos that showcase the best light of the house? Are they accurately describing the house?

I had 2 listing presentations this weekend. Both had been on the market for over 6 months and not sold. In doing my market anaylsis I found comparables to those homes that sold within $5000 to $8000 of their asking price all within the last 60 days. Some in not as good condition. So, why did they not get an offer on their homes?

Marketing and photos. Both homes were poorly shot with pictures. In fact, one of the houses I did not even know about some of the features of the house becuase the listing agent prior never took a picture or made mention of it. The seller did not even know that she did not have that marketed as part of the house. The other house he never took any pictures of the upstairs where all the bedrooms were located and the two full baths....It brought red flags to me (what is wrong with the upstairs) and I asked what was wrong with that part of the house...they said nothing. And they were right.

After explaining to both of them that this was missing from their prior listing and affected the showings on the house; thus the lack of offers, they understood. in fact I told them I thouht they were both priced right...just not marketed right.

As a Realtor I beleive I am in a partnership with the seller to help them get their home sold for the most amount of money in the quickest time frame. To make that partnership work I have a very open line of communication. And one of the things I do is when I put a house on the market and send it across the world wide web I send them the links and ask for feedback. Who knows the house better? Me (who has been there maybe a few hours) or the sellers (who have lived there for years)? Their input helps me market the house better and get it sold for them....and in this economy we all need all the help we can get in selling a house.

If your home has not sold; and you do not think it is the price check your listing across the internet and see what consumers are seeing. 98% of all homebuyers start online. If they cannot get past what they are looking at there; you will never get them inside your home.

Dave diCecco
Realtor/Broker
www.davedicecco.com