A Lingering For Sale Sign Has Negative Impact

Signs can be a benefit or a negative. If you re trying to find buyers, posting a "SOLD" sign too soon will kill buyer leads. Posting too late or too early will kill seller leads too.

I agree with Travis "the SOLD man" Parker; Associate Broker. I am not a realtor but from the perspective of a buyer, if I saw a sign on a home that was on the market longer than the norm,  I would think the seller is the one who is wanting too much for their home not the realtor. An idea would be to tell the seller what the average time a home is on the market in your area.  Than have the client agree that if the home doesn't sell by the average time than the seller agrees to lower the price.  Win Win. If the seller isn't willing than at that point you tell the client you are not interested in taking on the listing.

I have seen a few that lingered so long the grass grew up in around them I think the agent may have forgotten about them.

Debbie - I agree that a sign that is there for too long doesn't look good.

What if an agent who is well-known and respected throughout a market puts his name on a listing that is priced too high?  Does that make buyers think something positive about the home that they just don't see?  Is the seller right in thinking "This real estate agent is the one who can get me what I want for my house!" ?  Or did the agent take a bad listing from a seller who has unreal expectations and are on a slippery slope toward negative thoughts by buyers and their agents?

It really is true, you should be choosy on who to work with. Sometimes though, you're just baffled on why the house hasn't sold. I've got 2 such listings like that now.

I agree with your points Debbie.  Sometimes even if the home is priced right, there is something 'wrong' that makes it linger on the market--floor plan, location, structural issues.  The agent gets blamed but not their fault!

Debbie Reynolds Excellent post and points raised.  While sometimes a certain home simply takes more time to sell than others through no real fault of the listing agent, a good property will typically sell quickly.  One thing I'd like to mention is "back in the day" having a sign hanging was a great form of advertising, certainly better than it seems to be today.  I don't know about your part of the country, but I/we hardly ever get sign calls anymore.  I have closed sales with buyers who simply called my phone number on a listing sign, and I offered to assist them. The last time that happened was a year and a half ago.  Didn't mean to stray from the topic at hand but felt it was somewhat related.

Good points here Debbie.  When I meet with a prospective seller I always come prepared with comparables to prove the value. If the seller feels their price should be alot higher, I let them know we can try their price for two weeks. After that, we list at my price.  That works for me.  I don't like my signs up too long.

No No No Debbie Reynolds    If they want $50k more than market and it is obsolete....RUUUUNNNNNN!!!

I agree. Most often when a home is on the market for months, the property, the agent and agency lose their credibility to future opportunities. There's always a compelling reason why a property won't sell and it's usually the asking price that prevents buyers from even considering the opportunity.

Most agents who employ the strategy of taking an over priced listing with the intent to reduce the price to the market IMO are tarnishing their image and effectiveness as a professional. The market recognizes those types of salespeople and companies and won't do business with them, I wouldn't, would you?

If a Realtor can't persuade a seller to price his property to the existing market and sell him, how is the seller going to perceive the listing Realtor? If the agent can't convince the seller to list at market price how can he convince future buyers to buy at list price?

What a thoughtful blog post. You are so right to think about this. I have to start by saying that I'm impressed by your use of functional and physical obsolescence...haven't used those terms since my broker's test. LOL

I have a listing (no sign) which was over priced and it took a bit for the sellers to come down in price to a reasonable place. The sellers are great, but also have mentioned a few times that they have a "friend" who is a realtor that has told their circle of friends that "she could have sold it by now." Sure...so could I, at a marketable price. :) Fortunately, we close in a couple weeks. 

I say no....a lot.  I have high expectations for my sellers.  Especially if they want the highest price in the shortest amount of time.  If they start fighting me on the condition part of the listing, not wanting to clean, paint or declutter, they have lost my interest in putting my name on the sign.  I would rather be known for the best priced and sparkly houses that are clean inside and out.  I don't need my name on the sign for months on end.  

I love it when a sign is up forever and I ultimately sell the listing.  At closing, I switch out the other agency's sign for mine and post SOLD on it.  It shows people that I get results.

I have to agree with you Debbie, it's not like the market is lagging like it was a couple of years ago.

I just had this conversation at a listing presentation today. The market value of the home came in $70K less than the homeowners were thinking. They asked if I would list it at their price. I said that my goal is not to have a For Sale sign just sitting in front of their house. My goal is to be successful for them. I told them that I had just showed them 3 extremely good comps that sold recently withing $5K of one another. Those 3 homes were actually in better condition and more updated that the homeowners' house. Why would they choose to set their house up to linger on the market. They got it.

I think it looks worse to have a series of signs from different broker companies. I think people lose track of time and don't realize how long one company's sign has been there, but if they see a new sign every couple of months, they think 'that house is always on the market.' 

Hi, what a great post, I'm glad I came across it during my search.

I have one listing that has lingered and I've thought a lot about taking the sign down.  Most of my listings are in escrow within a short period of time and I'd hate to be judged on this single one. 

Couldn't agree more. I am always surprised when buyers call me to get the sign down from the listing agent.