Buyers want to buy, do sellers really want to sell?

There are strange goings on in the market today.

It is a full moon, but that doesn't explain what's going on.   I'm wondering if Bill Compton is secretly battling the werewolves somewhere on our behalf.  It's been building for about three weeks. There are buyers out there but the inventory is stale. Really stale. There are a lot of homes that have been sitting on the market for a while for any one of a number of reasons.  Whenever a fresh nice looking home comes on, it's such a rare coinsurance that it disappears with about 10 days.

One of the mentors here at Keller Williams told me when I first started that there are three things matter when you sell a house.

1. Does it look good?
2. Does it smell good?
3. Is it priced good?

That's it.  Right now much of what's on the market does not pass that test on any level.  I was at one house yesterday that had such a smell about it that I still have that smell back in my sinuses.  The last thing you want is for a Realtor to remember that your house smells bad.

Right now there are a lot of properties out there that don't look good.  I've seen sunset yellow appliances, dark oak cabinets from the 70's and an avocado range.  Just in the last 10 days.  And not the same house.  Nor does it include the house with shag rug on the wall.  Or the one with the collapsed swimming pool.  Or the failed septic tank.  All this month, all different houses.

I've also seen two recently that I know for a fact have foundation problems.  Both of those homes were purchased by inexperienced flippers who think that they can do paint and carpet on a house with a crumbling foundation and throw it back out on the market for a profit.  Notsomuch.

This is how you sell a flip in this market.  This home came out beautifully.  New roof, new HVAC, new paint, flooring, kitchen, baths, new everything.  This house will not stay on the market.  It looks good, smells good and is priced good.  It's going to fly out of here because it's the best of the best in this market.  For every suspect situation in a house, buyer's are ticking that off in their heads and DQing properties.  

Currently buyers want to see a flip done properly or they want it priced properly so they can do the work themselves and benefit from the sweat equity.   Right now, I'm seeing a lot of neither.