House for sale question…?
Our house has been for sale for 3 weeks. This is it’s 4th weekend for sale. NO ONE has come to see it. It is priced below value, yet it is still competitive with those in the neighborhood. It is in a very desirable, family friendly neighborhood with walking paths, parks, etc. Our house is nicely landscaped and would show great, if we could just get people to see it. It is listed with a realtor and she has taken out several ads in the local papers. We haven’t had an open house as we have a 16 month old and a baby due any day, so planning an open house is impossible because we don’t know if we’ll be at the hospital or have a newborn or what.
Plus, only about 4% of homes are sold through open houses anyway.
Our realtor hired a professional photographer to take pix of our house and they really make our home look great. There isn’t an excess of homes for sale in our neighborhood, so it’s not like there is a ton of competition.
So how to we get people to look at our house? Thanks.
With the baby thing it makes it kind of difficult for your realtor…When the timing is right she could do an agent caravan with lunch and give aways for agents.This helps the local agents to remember your home when dealing with their clients. OR have a yard sale, and open house all in the same day. Sounds crazy but it totally works. Good Luck.
Is your Realtor a member of the MLS? Do you have a sign in the yard? Usually people will see a sign in the yard and call and ask about the house if they are interested. If the Realtor has it listed in MLS and is advertising it and the price is competetive then there really isn’t any reason for people not to be looking at it. You mention having a 16 month old, have you made it difficult for Realtors to show the house? It’s not uncommon to say call first but if you are asking for 24 hours notice then you are making it more difficult to show. You are right, most houses don’t sell through open houses but if you go a few more weeks with no one looking at the house you might want to plan on spending a Sunday afternoon away from home so the Realtor can try an open house. Hang in there, you could just be a victim of a slow market.
I don’t know your market or what the realtor could be doing that she isn’t — but if you really get desperate: http://www.snopes.com/luck/stjoseph.asp (I know, silly superstition, but it worked for my mom’s house)
Be patient……Most markets have a lot more sellers than buyers out looking…..Lots of competition among sellers means homes tend to stay on the market longer.
If your agent is giving your home good exposure (i.e. MLS, advertising, signs, web presence) than the item most often causing lack of interest is price. Maybe you need to re-evaluate your price point…….If you’re priced right, your agent is exposing the home adequately, and your home is in great condition, it’s just a matter of time before you find good prospects.
There are only two reasons homes don’t sell. Price and marketing. Consider a price reduction and or a bonus to the “selling” agent, if you haven’t had a bite by end of week four. You want to gather action before you start to get negative market “burn”. Check your listing on-line as well, to make sure it is placed properly. Here’s to a big profit!
baby at home and baby on the way makes things a more difficult, even though 4% of homes sold are open houses doesnt mean you dont want to have one…they should be advertising your home in many places, like there web site, mls, sign in yard etc. You may want to ask your realtor what their marketing plan is.. also not sure where you live but i know in california the market isnt that great and there are tons of homes for sale with no one buying…found this web site with a bunch of sellers tips maybe this can help you
http://www.beachcitiesrealestateonline.com/RealEstateTips/HomeSelling/Default.aspx
good luck!
Open houses are a waste of time. The only people that go are your neighbors that want to see what their competition looks like, and other realtors that want your business after you fall out with the current realtor.
3 weeks isnt that much time…..be patient. If you dont sell in 90 days, i think you need to look at your strategy again, but BE PATIENT