It’s a tough market to be a seller in…let’s face it. There are many obstacles to overcome. Everyone knows that price is generally one of the main factors in why a listing sits on the market for weeks…sometimes months on end without getting an offer. However, price is not the only issue. Sometimes it is the solution to other issues that may be wrong with your home though.

A couple days ago I came across one of the best written articles that I have ever seen giving advice to sellers on why their home may not be selling. It does a great job of walking through the main problems. I couldn’t wait to have a couple of minutes to spare where I could sit down and share this article with you while adding my own comments. Read the actual article here.

Basically, here are the six reasons that this article says your home is likely not selling:

1) Price - I don’t care what your Realtor told you or what your home was worth a year ago…you must price it correctly. Time and time again I see listings over-priced then being forced to drop the price below market value in order to sell because it sat on the market far too long. Anytime I see a home that has been on the market for more than 60-90 days…I wonder what the problem is with it. Even if it is now priced correctly…I am skeptical because of the days on the market. It actually makes me hesitate to show a buyer that property. Pricing correctly at the start is a benefit to you as a seller…make sure you study the price very carefully going into your transaction.

2) Doesn’t “show” well - I’m still amazed that people don’t spend more time making sure there home is ready to show. Often…the actual dollars to spend is minimal if you are will to just spend some time to get your home ready. Put things away…minimize. Get rid of personal things and religious symbols. Rearrange the furniture to make your home more appealing visually. Clean up! Seriously, just yesterday I went into a home that had boxes and food all over the counters with junk on the floors. There was a bare mattress in the one bedroom and stacks of junk in the other. Dirty clothes were everywhere! 30 seconds into this home and my buyers were ready to move on. What a waste of everyone’s time!

3) Location - So there isn’t much you can do about this except admit it. Be honest with yourself, if your home isn’t in the prime location it is going to be more difficult to sell. Often the best way to compensate for this is price. I recently wrote about how with gas prices going up lead to communities far away are seeing large declines as buyers become more concerned about long commutes. Don’t let your emotional attachment to your home cloud you from a realistic view of its challenges.

4) Lousy Listing Agent - I see this far too often. If your agent is rude when I call him or her it gives me a bad taste for your home. I won’t be as inclined to talk about your place to my buyers. I always get excited when I find a listing that a buyer may like where I know the other agent personally or have had a positive experience with them on a different transaction in the past. Make sure your agent is reputable. Also, make sure your agent is looking after your best interests. Ask the tough questions going in and keep your agent responsible. Also, discount listings where you basically buy the MLS  listing and get no other service seem to be struggling in the current market. As a Realtor…I personally want to work with another experienced Realtor during a transaction. I don’t want to have to do the work of two agents during the closing while only getting paid for one side of it.

5) Difficult Market Conditions with Lots of Competition - This is very true today. Once again, the best way to combat this is to be aware of it…get past your emotional involvement…and match or even beat your competition. Just be realistic. With a small pool of buyers the ones who are out there are looking for a “deal.” If your home isn’t a deal they will move on without ever even viewing it.

6) Ineffective Marketing - This is similar to the problem with the listing agent problem noted in number 4. Realize that the market is changing and make sure your agent is on top of these changes. Just because an agent has been around and successful for 30 years doesn’t mean that he will be able to effectively market your home in today’s market. With the economy changing and new technologies emerging the methods that have worked for the past 20 years often do not work today. Make sure you list with an informed innovative Realtor who is on top of market changes.

I hope that helps pattern your thinking. It’s not doomsday…yet. But this is a major financial transaction and should be entered into with caution. Seek advice and take your time to understand where your power lies.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 2:08 pm and is filed under Market Conditions, Sellers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.