As a seller there are 3 main reasons why homes do not sell quickly. Therefore, it is important that the seller be familiar with these reasons and make adjustments in their presentation, marketing and listing price to compensate for these factors. The first reason why some homes stay on the market is over pricing of the property. It is extremely important that a good comparative market analysis (CMA) is done on the property. Be sure the CMA only includes homes within the same neighborhood, similar in square footage and number of stories. If these minimum requirements are not included in the CMA, there is a strong likelihood the recommended listing price will be incorrect. If the above factors are not included, your starting listing price may be either high or low depending on the situation. The second reason, many buyers want to buy a home in top condition. As a seller, you need to play the role of a buyer, being very critical and asking yourself if you would buy this home and why. If the answer is no, you probably need to make some improvements, such as, painting, updating lights, plumbing features, removing clutter, and/or improving curb appeal, etc. Finally, the third reason is location; this could be due to undesirable schools, crime rate, busy roads and/or noise in the area. The best way to compensate for this situation is to lower listing price and/or offering more favorable financing terms. Financing terms could include some sort of interest rate buy down or seller financing.
Looks like you've got the bases covered here John! Unfortunately the other addition today might be the difficulty of acquiring financing.
Yes, i learned early in my career that they three things that sell a house are price, condition and location and we can only change the first two! Check out my recent blogs on staging. I feel that we are perhaps becoming too caught up in appearances as a society and a profession. I know that it is hard to keep a house in showing condition as I have had to do this myself. I do not think it is fair of us to ask our sellers to give up their lives and live in a "model home" while their house is on the market. in fact, I had lunch with a client yesterday and she told me that a house I had shown her was so staged that she could not imagine living in it. She agreed with my philosophy about staging!
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