Why?

If you have had your home on the market for several months and haven’t seen much activity or any offers, chances are that one or more of the reasons below are to blame.

Your price is too high

No doubt about it, the most common reason for a home not selling is that the asking price has been set too high. The reasons for setting your price too high to begin with are many. Ranging from over enthusiastic listing agents to unrealistic seller expectations. Regardless of the reason though, if you’ve priced your home too high, you’ve set yourself up for a number of obstacles to selling your home. Even if you do get an offer for the overly high asking price, the deal may fall apart before closing because the buyer may have problems financing at too high a price. Look at other homes for sale, ones as similar and as close to yours as possible. If they are going for less than you are asking, you may be priced too high. The fact is, your home is competing against those other homes, and what buyers are willing to pay is what will determine final sales prices. I will fight for the best realistic price possible, and set you up for success by utilizing Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) to ensure you are getting the best value for your home.

The condition of your home

There is a lot of competition out there to sell homes. Your home has to compete against other similar homes for sale, as well as competing against shiny brand new homes. The more you can do to make your home look appealing to a buyer, the better your chances for a quick sale. Look at your home with a critical eye – put yourself in the buyers position. A buyer doesn’t want to have to do anything except move in. Your best “bang for the buck” in improving the condition of your home are paint and flooring. Make sure that all of the paint is in great condition, both inside and out. Repainting doesn’t cost too much, and will usually make the biggest impact on buyers. Make sure all of the flooring looks good too. You may want to consider putting in new carpet. Again, it’s not that expensive but it sure does make an impact on buyers coming to look at your home.

Your marketing campaign is out of steam

The best listing agents all use an aggressive marketing plan to market their listings. If your listing agent isn’t making sure your home can be found easily on the internet, isn’t actively touting his or her listings to other agents in the area, isn’t running ads in the local newspapers and real estate publications, then it might be time to change agents. If all your agent has done is put a sign in your front yard and add your home to the local MLS, then that agent isn’t coming close to doing all that can be done to effectively market your home.

Home Staging

Before you put your house on the market, consider a proven way to sell your house: expert home staging. Home staging benefits include less time on the market and more offers. If you want to sell your home quickly, think about a well-planned home staging strategy.

Think of staging your house as creating an “image” for your home like a publicist would do for a well-known celebrity. Just like creating a style garners the spotlight to a public figure, staging makes your real estate look better when it’s on the market.

Staging your property to sell shouldn’t be thought of as an annoying experience. It can turn into a fun and inventive task. Together, we’ll work to get a top dollar offer for your home. Use these home staging tips to get you started:

Curb Appeal

Start with the outside of your house, better known as your curb appeal. Take a fresh look at the exterior of your house from a quick glance from the street. What jumps out at you? What positive features seem waiting to be noticed? Acknowledging this helps us to choose what measures we can take to attract buyers from the street and into your home. If your home isn’t attractive on the outside with retouched paint and bright greenery it’s time for us to get those things done!

Make yourself at home

Does your house seem to say, “Hello From Your New Welcome Home” to a buyer? Touring your property with a critical eye, I’ll advise you of adjustments that build up Open House appeal. Together we will come up with a game plan on to reduce the effect of pieces that give the appearance of clutter.

We’ll review each room of your home. Improvements that directly affect your sale price include fixable like pieces of furniture that should be removed, rooms that need neutral paint, carpet that needs to be steamed, fixtures that need replacing, and windows that need cleaning.

Potential buyers expect a home that draws them in with charm. Items that could be too personal should get moved out so that your home will have likability to buyers.

Setting the Stage

In the short time that your house will be on the market, we’re doing well if we are engaging the buyer’s senses. To eliminate shadows  we will part the curtains, and add lighting where needed to show off your property. Together we’ll enhance the ambiance with enjoyable music to listen to while guests enjoy your home and assure a pleasant fragrance flows from every room. We’ll make use of cozy-looking blankets, and place pillows on your sofa and bedding. Buyers should feel like your current house is their future home and we will make sure that happens!

I have many techniques we can utilize to best represent your home. I have compiled checklists you can use to make sure you are on the right track. Feel free to use the contact form below to get started!

To get your home sold quickly, it’s important that other agents in the area show it to as many potential buyers as possible. When a busy agent is compiling a list of homes to show a buyer, the agent will naturally tend to show those houses that are easiest to gain access to first. Many homes on the market have “lock boxes” on them. The lock box is a device which holds a key to the home, that only qualified local agents can access. Homes that are listed as being “lock box, no appointment needed” will get shown more often than homes listed as “agent has key, call for appointment”. If at all possible, you should let your agent put a lock box on your home for easier showing. If not, you should do anything else you can to make it as convenient as possible for agents to show your home.

As your real estate advisor, it is my job to do everything in my power to ensure you sell your home for the best price possible. I will do everything necessary to effectively market your home!