I KNOW - I KNOW!!  I've spent the past several months bragging about how strong the Triangle Market is and how business is going gangbusters.  I planned to ride that wave through the end of year and then a funny thing happened.  The kids went back to school, the mortgage market went haywire, and just like that the buyers dissappeared!!!  Where have all of my buyers gone? Where did all of the investors go? 

Now I have another challenge that I need your input on.  I have another listing that has now been on the market for a little over 30 days and it hasn't sold. (Yes, 30 days is a long time in my market and a critical window of opportunity in which to sell a home. )My sellers are "stuck" in the mindset of the summer market and can't seem to come to the realization that the market is changed. 

I believe that communication with your sellers during the listing period is essential.  I have relayed to my sellers that we need to get our arms around what is happening in the market.  I've called them on the phone and had a couple of phone conversations with them but I think it is now time to scribe a hand written letter outling an action plan. 

Here's the letter I have drafted to my sellers.  Let me know what I've missed, how I can improve.  Go ahead and make swiss cheese out of this letter so that I can really carry the right message to my clients.  It's better to put pen to paper here than to blunder in front of my clients. 

Open Letter to my Sellers,

Thanks again for the opportunity to list and sell your home.  The first 30 days is the most critical stage in marketing a listing and selling a listing.  We've done quite a bit to sell your home but the bottom line - we just haven't sold.  Let's take a look at what we've done right and discuss things we can do to get your home to sell.      

Here are the things we've done to improve the marketability of your property:

• Appropriate pricing for the neighborhood and size
• Enhanced the landscaping
• Signage
• Brochure on the property
• Presented listing to Fonville Morisey offices that show in your area by giving exposure to over 800 agents in other offices
• Enhanced Realtor.com listing
• Virtual Tour
• Contacted all agents showing in your area and price range to let them know about this property
• Posted on Craig's List
• Posted on Activerain
• Posted on Trulia, Zillow, and all other online marketing sites for maximum exposure
• Featured Home in the News & Observer 

Selling your home in a tight market is tough.  Even tougher is a whopping 45% increase in inventory from this time last year.  At this stage of the game it's not about what transpired during the summer months.   That window of opportunity is gone.  We need to think about what is going on in today's market.  Today's market is slow so we need to generate some creative ideas that will sell your home.  The reality is that prices have even dropped over the last 30 days in some areas, including your subdivision. 

Here are some ideas that I'd like to throw out to incent the current "pool of buyers" out there to take a hard look at your home.  Things like:

• Buyer Agent Incentive
• Staging
• The dreaded price reduction
• Open House
• Generate market demand by indicating that a decision will be made on the "Best Offer" by the end of the month

In the fall the market really slows down.  This year the transition into the fall real estate market has been even more dramatic.  I'd like to meet with you this Friday or over the weekend to discuss our next steps in the Marketing of you home. 

Regards,

Your dedicated agent-

Tracy Santrock