Did you have to make the beds, put away dirty laundry, collect kids toys, clear the kitchen mess from last night’s dinner, and all of this before you rushed out to work? Of course you did it, because you were told that a buyer might walk in any moment, right? What about weekends –did you leave for the day, while the Open House was going on, did you have a mad cleaning rush, leave the house (some with kids in tow) on a minute’s notice, because the buyer wanted to see your house in half an hour? Did you get a call the buyers couldn’t make it after all? What about the times when no one called, they just did not show up?

So why after all these sacrifices, your house is still not selling or has already expired?
You are probably exasperated and are asking: Why? What had gone wrong? Who is at fault? Are you saying: “This is my agent’s fault” and is your agent saying: “ It’s a bad market”. If this sounds like something that is happening to you, I can assure you- you are not alone. I can also suggest that there are things that can be done.


So let’s take a look at the issues that are preventing your house from being sold?

Timing – first 30 days

There is statistical evidence that the best chance of selling the house and for the best price is in the first 30 days. I would be happy to provide the details of this phenomenon. If you have not reached 30 days, read on. If you are past the first critical 30-day continue reading.

Price

The only way to succeed early on is with the Correct Price. Let me tell you what the correct price is NOT:

• It’s not what you paid for the house
• It’s not what your neighbor sold for 3 months ago
• It’s not what you owe to the bank
• It’s not what you need to make to buy another house
• It’s not what you think is good as a “starting” price

So, what is this magical correct price, you may ask. The answer is: something that the buyer is willing to pay you TODAY. Most likely it’s the number that is a bit less than what is offered by your competition. The only way to correctly arrive at this price is being an expert in local real estate. Even for the experts pricing is both a science and art and is not easy. You may ask why? One reason is that what the buyer is willing to pay today is a moving target and the price today may not be the same price tomorrow.

If you are thinking you can reduce the price later, read the next step.

Price-reductions

You are reading this step because you are past the first critical 30 days or because you think that you will start higher and reduce the price later, hoping that the market will improve. Consider the following:
When pricing, reducing the price down the line, will not allow you to catch-up. Buyers, who could’ve been interested, moved on to other properties. It’s hard to sustain an emotional connection to the property, which is needed to generate offers, once the property was scratched off the list because because of the price.
Reducing the price later in a declining market creates a bigger gap between the sellers and the buyers, to the disadvantage of the seller. In other words, it’s much harder to catch-up on the correct price, than to do the right price from the beginning.

Appearance

The simple way to put it –your house has to shine. No matter what price range you are selling in, the house has to be the absolute best it can be. I am not suggesting moving walls, or embarking on major renovations. Your house just has to be better then the competition. There are many tips everywhere on the Internet, as to what needs to be done before the sale, they are all useful and you should definitely implement them. But let me suggest something else: first -no matter how much you clean and scrub, it’s hard for anyone to see his or her home through the yes of a stranger. Second – almost every house needs to be “packaged” to sell. Use your real estate agent’s resources to make it happen. The investment in “packaging” your product is small compared to the return. New home builders have figured it out long time ago, the re-sale owners need to follow to stay ahead of the competition.

Getting the buyers to see your house

If you don’t get buyers to your house, you will not receive offers. So, this step is critical.
We know that buyers search on the Internet. It just follows that what they see, should compel them to make an appointment. What they see are usually pictures. The pictures have to be professional to make your house stand out from the rest. Not everyone can take pictures that will make your home look not worth, but better.

The other audience your house has to be pitched to – are other real estate agents. Make sure that they know about your property and that it’s presented to them in the best possible way. Talk to your agent, about their way of accomplishing this.

Marketing that is not useful

It’s important to understand how will the buyers find your home. Many agents will tell you about their or their agency web sites. Make it your business to understand how would anyone find your home among thousands that are on these web sites. If you are offered a single property web site, understand how would the buyers find 123Mainstreet.com?

Understand the usefulness of brochures, open houses, print advertising and other marketing that your property is getting. Deal with the agent that understand that themselves.

Evaluation
If you are confident that you have done all of the above, and your house is still not selling read Part II of this post.






*If your house is currently listed with a broker, please disregard the following. Otherwise, if you have questions or need assistance in selling your home in Princeton, Montgomery Township,Hopewell, W. Windsor, Lawrenceville please call Faina at 609-53-4175.