Today I received a note from a seller, Victoria, asking a tough but great question that I wanted to answer here:
How do you overcome a consistent buyer objection that is impossible to change? Our house has been on the market for 13 days and people rave about it, but our kitchen is on the second floor and that seems to scare people off. Is there *anything* that we can do? I'll brag a bit - our house looks pretty freakin' great compared to others for sale in our neighborhood. This is us.
We're doing a price drop today .. unfortunately, our neighborhood has been blighted by foreclosures. That said, one potential buyer loved the house, didn't object to our price, but balked when she brought her hubby and he had a problem with the kitchen being upstairs. (They say that we're still on their list, though.)
Objection Versus Condition
It's critical to identify the difference between an objection and a condition. Objections are things you can do something about - paint color, wall paper, landscaping.
Conditions on the other hand are things you can't change - street noise, floorplan, yard size. Victoria's kitchen location in this case falls under the category of a condition. The only way to address a condition is to find ways to minimize the impact - a fountain to minimize the impact of street noise is an example.
What can Victoria do? Based on what I can see from the photos (kudos to the agent for lots of good photos), the home is nicely staged and the kitchen looks beautiful. What specifically seems to be the trouble with the kitchen upstairs? What is the core of the trouble for a buyer? Find ways to get to the core of the concern and try to address it but obviously nothing will change the fact that the kitchen is where it is.
When you have a condition such as this, having good buyer traffic is key. You must find the one buyer that does not mind the location of the kitchen. That buyer is out there.
Pricing Trick That Works
I noticed the price is $455,000. I'm not sure if this is the new price or not. I will admit that I'm entirely unfamiliar with pricing in Annandale, Virginia, but I do have one suggestion about pricing; reduce it to $450,000 - exactly. Why? Notice the search engines buyers use. Many of them are set up to search in $25,000 increments. With the price at $450,000, if they search $400 to $450 this home comes up. If a buyer or agent searches from $450 to $500, again, this home comes up. The small pricing strategy can make a big difference in buyer traffic.
The other benefit of this pricing strategy is that the more this home looks like a great deal, the more excitement you will have on the part of the buying community and in this economic climate - with the foreclosures setting the tone for a community - it has to be seen as a good deal. When a home is a seen as an opportunity, it also makes it a little easier to overlook conditions that might otherwise be an issue.
Victoria - keep us informed of your progress and all the best to you. Hang in there. I know 13 days feels like an eternity as a seller but it's early. Your home is lovely and I don't think it will be long.
Originally posted on Why Didn't My Home Sell?
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