Find a Real Estate Agent who can Solve Your Puzzle.
Selling your home can be hard work! The reality is that homes have to be “sold” 4 times before they close. In fact, if you consider cold feet or buyer’s remorse, the Buyers may have to re-buy it a couple of times throughout the process themselves. So, who has to be sold? Here are the usual ones:
- The Real Estate Agents
- The Buyers
- The Buyer’s Inspector
- The Buyer’s Lender’s Appraiser
You’re Not Alone
Atlanta Single Family Home Sellers in Q2 2016
If your home’s listing just expired, you will fall into one of the red columns below. It may surprise most people but even in great markets, 1 out of 5 listed homes still fails to sell. The higher the price point, the higher the failure rate. The higher price points command fewer buyers with higher expectations. We analyze a lot of Expired Listings and the issues usually fall into three main categories: Price, Condition and Marketing. So, let’s take those in reverse order.
Marketing
Most houses have strengths that can be used to edge out their competition. In a uniform subdivision where there are no significant advantages versus the neighboring homes, price and condition will be the driving forces. The goal of the Marketing is to tell a story that highlights the strengths. With Expired Listings, it should be fairly easy to evaluate the marketing – it is probably still on the online marketing channels like Zillow. Sometimes there are obvious things you can address.
You must stand out in the crowd in a classy way that compels someone to want to come visit your house in person! Staging. Lighting. Professional photos. Lifestyle angles. Story-telling. Social Media sharing. Videos. Events. Email campaigns. Upbeat energy. It ALL comes into play!
Here are some video examples of our marketing.
Condition
Initially, condition shows up through the decor and interior finish materials in the online photos. Even if you get an “A” for staging, poor lighting in the photos can be a show stopper with the online viewing experience! Once the buyer’s decide to view your house, curb appeal and home maintenance come into play the moment they arrive. Landscaping plays into the mix more than most people realize. Even the slightest sign of deferred maintenance, mildew or peeling paint sets off alarms in the mind of the buyer.
But there are two other senses at play as well: detecting sounds and smells. When your house is on the market, you don’t want either one of these to be a factor. Background music and fountains usually mean there is road noise. Plug in air fresheners usually mean there is stale or musty air that must be overcome.
Bottom line with Condition: You need a strong, objective agent to tell you the things others are afraid to say. Everyone has blindspots. You could even be “noseblind“.
Take a look at our “Staging for Sale” folder on Pinterest.
Pricing
Sometimes pricing is straight-forward. Many times it is not. Judgement calls have to be made as to the financial trade-off for a busy road, a steep driveway, no backyard, synthetic stucco, etc. In fact, we have a lengthy list of resale issues that come into play as Buyers compare properties. We do not treat this lightly. We do not swag it. We do not use averages and percentages. We start with the appraisal methodology and work backwards. We build pricing from the ground up with specific comparable properties. We gather multiple opinions from other top agents. We crunch numbers – exhaustively!
Holding it Together
This comes back to selling the house throughout the entire process. We prepare for that. We help our sellers get their house in show ready condition with our stagers. We help our sellers prepare for the inspection with our pre-listing walk through process. We do our homework on pricing so we are ready for the appraiser from the beginning. We know the contracts inside and out so we are prepared to defend your rights. We will not rest until you are closed.
Solving Puzzles is What We Do
If your listing expired recently, you owe it to yourself to find out why. We can help – solving home sale puzzles is what we do! You can reach us through our direct office number 404-939-3202 OR via email at michael@BunchRealEstateGroup.com
