Help! I Have Been Shot!
Seriously, how many times do we as REALTORS, wave the white surrender flag with our hands to the sky and say "don't shoot the messenger"!
Today was one of those days....giving a seller objective feedback can be difficult at times to say the least. Many buyers' agents simply don't give feedback....unless it is an offer! Which is of course the best kind! More times than not, we are simply calling and chasing our tails only to hear that the buyer had no specific reason, they just liked another listing better.
I received direct feedback from a buyer the other day. The buyer called me through Realtor.com Leads, she was very excited to see a property that I had listed. She told me that it looked like it was exactly what they had been looking for and she wanted to schedule a showing for the property that evening. I called and confirmed the showing with the seller by lunch time and I went about my day. A couple of hours went by and I received another call from the buyer. Odd.. but I thought maybe she needed to change the time or reschedule for another day. No such luck. She was calling to cancel the showing all together. They were no longer interested in seeing the inside of the home at all. When I asked why, she told me that they had driven by the property over the lunch hour and they did not like the yard.
Let me explain....this house is situated on a corner. House facing the street, then patio, then garage and THEN the fenced yard on the other side of the garage. Not exactly kid or pet friendly since you would need to walk the dog across the patio and the driveway to let them into the yard. And not ideal if you have children because you cannot see the kids on the other side of the garage if you are in the house. I get it and it made perfect sense to me.
I thought that this was an insightful observation that I would pass along to the seller. The seller has already moved out and is out of state. When I relayed the information regarding the lack of activity, I explained the functional obscelence of the yard for many of our targeted market. The seller replied in an unexpected way to this insight. He stated the buyers are too picky. He didn't have kids and had never thought about it and he had a dog that he just let out into the front yard on a chain at the front door. He failed to see the point. Again, he didn't see how the placement of the yard affected why his home wasn't selling. Don't shoot the messenger but I think that this is happening a lot and affecting the lack of showings. All the great staging and photos get the buyers to drive by and then they dismiss it based something that cannot be changed. Bummer.
Sellers, when we relay feedback, especially when a buyer is excited to see the house and then changes their mind without stepping inside, it is worth considering. Not anything you can do about it but adjust the price. But to dismiss it entirely and shoot the messenger....that is the equivalent of sticking your head in the sand and believing that your house is the best house on the market.
Call me today for a free and honest approach to how your home can be marketed to the most buyers! 319-521-0701
Keep smiling!
Karen
Comments(10)