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10 Ways to Make Sure Your Home Doesn’t Sell

OK, not getting your home sold after going to all the trouble of getting it on the market and having numbers of strangers strolling through your home is not the goal. But, there are some real mistakes that can be made that will definitely impede the sale of your pride and joy. Today’s market is quite unique in that interest rates are still at all time lows and houses are still selling at a good pace. The thing that we also have to consider is that there is also a record number of homes available for the prospective buyer to choose from. So what do you need to do to help assure that your home is the one selected? Here are some fatal flaws that I have observed that if not heeded will almost assure that your home will be passed up and another selected.

1) Not serious about selling - There was a time when it was ok to say “I think we’ll just put our house on the market, put a price on it that will net us a nice profit and then we can move in to that dream home. If it sells fine, if not we’ll just stay put.” Honestly in today’s market, the later would probably be the best option. For this type seller, a less saturated market would yield much better results.

2) Improper Pricing - It has been said that “a house properly priced is already half sold.” No amount of full color ads, glossy photos, open houses, magic potions or realtor bonuses will compensate for over pricing. When a home is over priced, you will miss your market. People looking at homes in your price range are going to also see other homes that are priced correctly and offer much more and the buyer will opt for the better deal almost every time. For the buyer that could afford your home and would be your target market, they be discouraged by the asking price and not even see it. So, you will be getting the wrong people looking at your home.

3) Not listening to your agent - If you hire an attorney to represent you and do not listen to what he tells you, you will most likely lose your case. You hire a real estate professional to take you through the selling process because of their expertise in this area. It takes the efforts of both the realtor and the seller to get the job done. If you do not have confidence in what your realtor is saying or doing, you may want to consider changing agents. They may be a truly nice person, but not have a real plan in place for completing the job successfully. You will both be happier if you are on the same page.

4) Micromanage the marketing - Again, you hired this person to do a job, but we all have ideas on how it should be done. Just because Aunt June sold real estate 10 years ago or your neighbors are telling you what they would do, does not make them qualified to sell your house today. A true real estate professional is up on what is going on in the local market and how to get the job done.

5) Don’t stage the property - You know at one time, blue carpet, floral wallpaper and vinyl floors were very popular. Today, it is the kiss of death! I have a friend that uses the analogy of going to the beach at spring break. There are a lot of girls out there for the guys to look at, but the one that gets noticed is the best looking of the bunch and not the one who has the most potential. There are a lot of homes to look at. I also find it very helpful to bring in a home staging consultant to help get it just right. The new home builders spend a lot money to get this right, so it must have some merit.

6) Give the pets the run of the house - You probably love your pets and consider them to be one of the family. I do, but not everyone sees it that way. It may be true that you would not want to be friends with this person, but that is not the objective here. The truth is, pets make some people uncomfortable or they may be allergic, not to mention that if these pets are present they are almost always going to notice pet odors whether they be real or imagined.

7) Talk to the buyers - Nobody knows your home like you do. But, it usually makes the prospective buyers uncomfortable looking at the things they need to see such as closets and cabinet space with the current owner present. It also makes them uneasy about making comments to their agent about concerns (which they may be able to address) with the seller around. What if a comment is made by the seller that accidental offends the buyer? Not likely this will be the house selected.

Selling personal items - This is not the time for that. It may seem this would be the perfect time to sell that lawn mower or ping pong table that has been taking up space for the last 5 years, but after the sell would be a much better time for that sale. It is better to keep the objective clear as to what you are trying to get sold and not distract from that.

9) What is that smell? - There is nothing like pet odors, smoke odors, baby diapers or the like to make a prospective buyer want to exit the home as quickly as possible! There are companies that specialize in removing odors and it would definitely be to your advantage to do something about it.

10) Avoid feedback - After a person has lived in a home for the last several years, they tend to learn to live with certain little things that don’t bother them anymore. I provide my clients with on-line feedback after a showing. If there is something that prevents a person from buying, it may not seem like a big deal to the seller but it is keeping the home from selling, but, it is keeping the prospective buyer from falling in love with the home. Most of the time these are easy fixes that will expedite the sale and help bring the price the seller is looking for.