Your Listing Agreement Has Expired, What Have you Learned?
Well for the obvious the house did not sell. But why? Was it priced too high so as to omit potential buyers who think "They'll never go down to my price range". Maybe you were not available or your agent was not available to let buyers in when they could come. So they bought something else. Did you show the house and not let the agent do his/her job? Were you "On top" of the potential buyers so they couldn't even think clearly? Did the house have an unpleasant odor? How are you to know if no one was honest with you? Some owners live with the odor for so long they are immune to it, cat odor, dog odor or even "stale" air can drive a good buyer away.
What about your agent, did he/she market your home to the fullest? How many websites was it on? How were the photographs? Blurry? Not enough of them so as to show your home to its best potential? Was your agent a good talker or did he/she show you their past record of sales? Were they available to you when you called them or did you have to go through their secretary and get your questions answered third hand? How long did that take? Did they give feedback as to what potential buyers were saying about the house? How was that given? Did you have access to that link or did they just email or telephone you with that information? Sometimes we don't like to hear about it, but if the complaint is valid, it can help with the sale. Think about what you don't like about the house, could a buyer have the same opinion?
Have you asked yourself any of these questions? Have you seen what other agents are doing? Check them out before going back on the market.
If your price is the problem, have you ordered an appraisal from an independent source? Remember, the buyers bank will order one before giving a mortgage. That will give you a good indication of value in today's market. I know it's not perfect but it can be helpful if the price difference between your price and the appraisers price is large. Remember it's all about TODAY'S value, not what your unit was worth 4 years ago.
When you interview for the next round, keep these questions in mind, don't let yourself be pressured into making any decisions "on the spot". Do a little research and keep your options open, like only listing with the next agent for 60 or 90 days, that way if they turn out to be not what you wanted, you are freed in short order. If you like what they do, you can always extend the listing agreement.
The university of life is a good school, it's just that the tuition can be prohibitive sometimes.
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