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Why isn't my home selling?

A client recently asked me, "Why isn't my home selling?"

She is a very nice woman, a pleasure to work with, and she is intelligent. She knows this is a buyers' market. But she is dismayed because her townhouse has been on the market longer than some others that have sold, one of which is an end unit. I always say I wish I had a crystal ball and could tell you exactly what price your home will sell for and when.

Here's my advice for everyone in my seller's situation:

You have to ask yourself the hard questions. Is the property REALLY priced appropriately? Is the condition the absolute best it can be? Those are the only two things you have control over - you don't have control over location and you certainly don't have control over the market.

Ask yourself, if you were a buyer would you pay the price you are asking for that home? Another hard question, are you listening to your Realtor? My personal, experienced opinion is that you can never underprice a home. That is to say, if you underprice your home you will create a bidding war and the price will go up to where it should be. If you overprice your home just to test the waters and then have to lower it, buyers may take that as a sign that something is wrong with the home or that you are desperate to get rid of it at any cost.

Finally, for my Catholic friends, do you have a St. Joseph statue planted in the ground? Do you know which way he must be facing?

All kidding aside, in times like this it is crucial to listen to the advice of an experienced Realtor, while at the same time recognizing that they can only give you the best advice possible but, sadly, do not have a crystal ball.

Posted by Pamela Bless on 04/10/2008 11:45 AM

Comments (10)

selling, buyers market, underprice a home, overprice your home, underprice, overprice, st joseph statue, why isnt my home selling

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10 Comments on Why isn't my home selling?

Hi Pamela,

You are so right in all aspects of your post. In today's market being priced right today may not be right tomorrow or next week. To Test the waters, will only necessitate an even larger price reduction at a later time. It has always been my position, Realtor's most always remember the original price and seldom remember the reduced price!

04/10/2008 01:34 PM

by Harold (Hal) Place (A1 Connection Realty, Inc.)

Sigh..... if only our sellers would take our advice, homes would fly off the market!

04/10/2008 01:44 PM

by Christina Moock (Cutler Real Estate)

I take it one step further. If I cannot get everything I need to sell a home on the front end, paint, clean, updates and price, I do not list! This market is a very scary market that you may only get one time at bat!

04/10/2008 02:19 PM

by Jim Crawford ~ Atlanta Real Estate-ABR E-PRO (RE/MAX Greater Atlanta)

Your post is right on. I have a listing I took two months ago and come back with a CMA that was 35k less than the "recent appraisel" that the sellers got a week before they called me. I told them what it should be priced at, but since there were multiple parties involved, some wanted the 'appraisel price' to be where we started. I said ok, as long as we reduce it to "X" by this date. Low and behold, we reduced it to "x" and two days later got word of an offer coming in.................its ALWAYS about the price.

04/10/2008 05:25 PM

by Patrick Johnson (Windermere)

Great post. If a home isn't selling, then the market isn't accepting the price. Buyers can buy a larger home with more amenties at the same price. If the market is declining, then the seller has to get in front of the curve, not chase it down.

04/10/2008 05:47 PM

by Tanya Johnson (Tanya & Co./Keller Williams)

You are correct about under-priced homes correcting themselves. Of course the only sellers underpricing homes at the moment are REO banks that need to dump properties. I just wrote an offer on an under-priced REO and I needed to use an escalation clause because we were competing with two other offers. An escalation clause in this market! We got the deal but we paid above list price for the property which was under-priced by the bank to move it off their books.

All of my traditional sellers don't seem to get the pricing thing even after numerous discussions with them. They are all certain that the April showers will bring May buyers even with overpriced listings.

Tim

04/10/2008 08:09 PM

by Tim Rogers (Keller Williams Advantage Realty)

AARRGGHH, my house is for sale and I am facing those questions, much to my chagrin...hope spring brings better results

04/10/2008 08:35 PM

by PATRICE BRICE (PB APPRAISALS)

Yes you need to plant St. Joseph in the ground upside down. Good luck in all your endeavors

04/11/2008 05:21 AM

by Russ Ravary - Michigan Homes for sale - Michigan Real estate & Mortgage info (Remerica Hometown One)

You're right about the market forces determining pricing. My wife just ran into that same situation with pricing a home. This fixerupper... the owner's wanted over $600,000 to start. She told them it would never sell for that and priced it below $500,000. It still didn't sell. Priced it at $350,000 and the bidding war started. To make a long story short, She ended up getting $355,000 for it.

04/11/2008 05:44 AM

by Jon Miller (United Country-Marshland Realty)

I agree pricing and condition is critical in this market. I had a client not bury St. Joseph and set him in the window facing out out. My client felt funny putting a religious statue in the ground. The house sold 2 days after the statue was placed in the home. The house had been on the market for over a year!!!

04/11/2008 07:04 AM

by Shannon Whitley RE/MAX OAK CREST REALTY (RE/MAX OAK CREST REALTY)

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