Expired Listing

So your home listing has expired.  Maybe you got some offers, maybe you didn’t- but it didn’t sell.  Why? Maybe the market is slow or there is glutton of homes on the market.  But aside from these macro-level market conditions the answer is usually is one or more of these 3 reasons:

The Condition of your home can play an important role in selling your home, more than you might think.  How does your home look to others?  You are comfortable in your home but strangers are not.  Your home should be staged properly and be inviting to others.  A experienced agent in listing homes is a must to ensure the best curb appeal for  your home.

The Marketing of your home is also more important most sellers think.  Simply placing your home on the local MLS is often not enough.  Your home will need to stand out from the hundreds of other homes being advertised.  This requires not only professional photography (see below) but featuring your home on as many outlets as possible, especially online including web sites, listing portals and social media.  A real estate agent who spends their own money on marketing your home is personally invested in the sale of your home and wants to see it sold.  Over 90% of real estate business is done by 10% of the agents.  Not all Realtors are the same!

The Price is the final and probably most important reason your home didn’t sell.  Price your home too high and it is invisible to the people who can most afford it.  The higher price also attracts buyers with higher expectations which may not be what you want.  Even the best agent cannot sell a home that is priced too high and selecting an agent who suggests the highest price is often the wrong choice.  This is known in agent circles as “buying the listing” and an agent will tell a seller what they want to hear in the hopes of getting the listing and then reducing the price later.  Meanwhile, the property loses valuable time in the wrong price point.   Pay attention to feedback.  If every buyer thinks the property is priced to high then it probably is.  No showings or many showings without offers are indications of the property being priced too high for the market or too high for its condition.

All of these factors contribute to a longer “Time On Market”. Almost every buyer asks how long a home has been on the market because if it has been on the market for a long time, they feel like there will be more room to negotiate. They also may wonder if something is wrong with the home since it has been on the market for a longer-than-normal amount of time. The important thing to realize is a seller has the advantage when the home is just listed (assuming it is not a buyer’s market) but loses this advantage the longer the home is on the market.

As a seller you may be proud of your home and not want to just “give it away”.  However you must be willing to treat your home as a commodity and take emotion out of the equation.  When emotions are involved poor decisions are usually made.  Please check out the videos below to learn more about how to properly sell your home.

Many agents take their own photos to save on up-front costs but are really doing a disservice to their clients if the home doesn’t get any showings as a result. Even a real estate agent with an expensive camera and possibly a few photography courses is no substitute for a professional photographer with years of experience and formal training. For example, take the two bedroom images below.  The “BEFORE” image was taken by an agent of a listing that expired and the “AFTER” image of the same room was taken by a professional photographer working with the Monica Foster Team.  The professional photographer knew the best place to take the picture from,  took advantage of lighting and used a wide angle lens.

Which photo would you rather have to highlight your home?