Everyone knows that we do not have the same market that we had a few years ago.

Homes are taking longer to sell .  We have many homes that do not sell when listed with an agent and sellers may look for reasons why it did not sell. The top 5 reasons why a house does not sell are :

5. The condition of the house . This is the sellers responsibility. Well maintained homes sell faster than homes in disrepair. A staged house sells faster than other homes.

4. The agent did not market it properly. A good agent is aware that most buyers are looking for homes online. The agent should market on as many site as possible. There should be good pictures and good description. Marketing is what gets people to show interest in looking at the house. We should promote the listing in as many places as possible, email to our past clients, send postcards to people living in the area as well as people living in areas nearby who might be move -up buyers or renters  buying their first home , as the case may be. There are many ways we can market the home. It is one of the most important part of our job as listing agents.

3.The house should be available for showings on short notice. There should be a lock box. The seller should keep the house clean and immaculate at all times . I sold a house on black Friday. The seller wanted to take it off the market for the holidays and said they would relist in January. A buyer wanted to see it and I pleaded with the seller to let us show just that day. the buyers loved the house and bought it and it settled in the first week of January. You only need one buyer but you do not know when the buyer will be coming to look.

2. Location. Location is very important. I don't have to write more on this. Homes on busy streets take longer to sell. A good location helps sell homes faster.

# 1 REASON   PRICE. Homes priced right sell faster than homes priced too high. We do not know the right price but we should compare the home with what is on the market. In this market we can not go by what a house sold for 6 months ago. Real estate is local, and some markets are better than others, but many buyers are still waiting to buy,  thinking the prices may come down further. If the price is slightly lower than a similar home on the market , you may get more people interested.

If you get no showings, you may need to lower the price  a lot.

If you get showings but no one interested in buying you need to reduce the price moderately.

If you get showings and you get an offer, try to negotiate the offer . There have been many instances where the first offer was the best offer. A good agent can help negotiate the offer so it will be a win- win for both buyer and seller . Sometimes good terms might be more important than the price.

If your home is in the running and they buy another house, it means a slight price adjustment might be needed. Maybe they would have bought it if it was priced slightly lower.

The Listing agent is not going to buy your house. It is a buyer who will determine what he wants to pay. He will compare with other homes and want the best value for his money. Remember this when you choose a listing agent and remember when you set the listing price.