Why Your House Did Not Sell-Reasons 1 & 2
As I begin to pick back up and work real estate full time, once again I am finding that there are some very interesting things going on with
both clients and agents. In many instances, sellers are feeling just as frustrated as the real estate market has not seen a good boost in the economy in a while now.
WAIT! Hold on….don’t blame it all on the economy. My next series of blog post are dedicated to all the frustrated sellers out there who just can’t figure out why their home has not sold. So here goes…
Why Your House Did Not Sell
REASON # 1: I can’t get in contact with your agent.
This, I would say, is in the top 5 reasons why most houses have not sold. As agents, when we come and win you over with our great listing presentations, you have no way of knowing that the agent doesn’t have a good track record with one simple task: availability.
Always ask the agent how showings for the property will be arranged. If that agent will handle the scheduling, then they will need to be reachable in more than 1 way. Your agent should be accessible via cell phone, and email at the very least. If they use text messaging that is even better. If not, that agent should have a service in place that arranges all showings.
When I call to schedule a showing, unless the house is really unique or grabbing the attention of my buyers, if I can’t reach the agent, I MOVE ON to the next house. Missed opportunity!
REASON # 2: YOU are never available for your house to be shown.
So here is the deal. Casual life in your home as you know it ENDS the day you put your home on the market. Not only should it be in showing condition at all times, but there should be more than one day, time or way for your house to be shown. Most homeowners who are still living in the home will ask for 24 hrs notice before scheduling a showing. We understand. Kids, jobs and LIFE sometimes take over and make accommodating agents and clients difficult. HOWEVER, you must make the adjustment. There are several ways to make your home available without YOU actually being available.
- Put the home on a secure Lockbox system – Agent must give ID’s before they can obtain the codes. In my 6 years as an agent, I have NEVER had an incident.
- Allow your agent to show the property – You hired the agent obviously because you trust them. Allow them to show when you aren’t available.
TRUE STORY
I recently had an agent tell me that her clients had such a busy schedule that they could only show on weekend mornings and even then it was a short time window. (Not to mention, they went out of town for a week and no one could enter the property.) After realizing that our clients schedules just were not going to work, I offered to conduct an agent preview. Basically, I would go, look at the home and knowing what my clients need, make the judgement call as to whether another showing should be scheduled. Would you believe the sellers REFUSED to allow me to preview? Their rationale: If I came and thought my clients should see the home, then they would need to accommodate 2 showings and they didn’t have time for that. That home will be in the market for a while, I am sure of it. My clients moved on and found another home that same day.
Now….be honest…do you think this may be the reason why your home didn’t sell?
Stay tuned for Reason # 3 …
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