Home Staging Tips and Home Selling Advice

Listed Home NOT Selling?

By Jeanette Joy Fisher

Reasons Your Home Isn't Selling - Besides Home Staging

If your home is sitting on the market unsold, here are a few things you may want to look at and reevaluate in addition to reading about home staging tips.

Sales Price

Your home may be overpriced. Listen carefully to the agent who is giving you a listing presentation. Agents are paid to know their markets, and they work with real estate every day, so they have informed opinions on the latest market conditions and home prices. They will know better than the folks at the office, your relatives, or friends at the club about the listing price of your home.

Then, if the home sits for awhile, drop the price in increments. Make your price reductions large enough to perk new buyer interest, as well as the interest of other agents, especially if the price drop moves your home into a lower price point bracket, thereby making it a possible candidate for a whole new group of potential home buyers.

On the other hand, if you are certain that your home is NOT overpriced, don't be persuaded to lower your price. Many homes sit on the market for other reasons. According to a report by the Christian Science Monitor, staged homes sell twice as fast as homes just cleaned up and listed. Staged homes sell for an average of 7.4 percent more, as well.

You might also need to put a fire under your listing agent. Check your sales flyers and see if the flyer lists the benefits to your buyer or just your home's features. Many agents work hard, but they don't understand today's marketing.

Internet Listing

There should be a strong Internet marketing presence nowadays if your home is going to compete against all the others in your area. A recent study by the National Association of Realtors showed that more than 70% of all home buyers now begin their home search by going on the Net and doing some preliminary investigation--before they ever contact a real estate agent. It's also important to insist that the agent offer at least eight indoor and outdoor photos of your home, so prospective buyers can get a genuine feel for it.

Buyer's Incentives

Since the market is changing, it may be well worth your while to offer prospective buyers some help with closing costs. It's been a seller's market for quite awhile, but more and more, sellers are being asked to help with closing costs and points on mortgages. If you can carry the paper on your home yourself, that’s an even bigger draw.

Remove anything you want to exclude from the sale before you list the home. That will prevent confusion in buyers' minds--and remember, the confused mind always says no. If a particular item is important to you, get it out of the home before it becomes a bargaining point--and a possible obstacle to selling your home, even to a qualified buyer who truly wants it.

Action Plan

If your home isn't moving, don't be afraid to ask for your real estate agents' advice and suggestions. You'll sometimes be surprised that they have quick responses to your questions, because they've heard similar comments about your home from a number of sources over the course of your listing. Listen to those comments, and then take action on them, because they'll often mean the difference between a home's sale and continuing to sit on the market.

You might also want to sign up for our home sellers' "Free 21 Proven Action Steps to Make More Money from the Sale of Your Home" on our sister website Prepare Home for Sale.


 

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Copyright 2005-2006 Jeanette J. Fisher All rights reserved.

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