SOME HONEST REASONS WHY YOUR HOUSE ISN’T SELLING

In this day and age when it seems not much is moving in the Real Estate world maybe it’s time for an introspective look at why that is. Everybody starts out with the best of intentions. But, like Mike Tyson said “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”. Maybe a little harsh but you get the drift. A good number of realtors start out with a healthy and well-researched state of the market. That way when they discuss listing price with the prospective seller they are dealing from a position of knowledge. I always say you are either ON the market or IN the market. I’ll touch on that later. At any rate any number of reasons crop up that impede the sale of your home. The biggest one would be you are way overpriced. Many sellers look at what their neighbours got when they sold their home 2 maybe 3 or 4 years ago. Worst thing you can do. Especially when the market takes a tumble and flat-lines like it has in the last year. The bottom line is just that – the bottom line. Pretty much anything will sell if it is priced right. By that I mean up to date and current pricing. Not from years ago. You can’t compare an apple to an orange and expect the same results. Many sellers get sucked into listing their home with a given agent because they were promised the world. I heard of one recently that said they were told they could get 950K for their modest bungalow. That’s just crazy. Take a look around the Scugog area and for the most part you’ll see older bungalows listed in the 699-799 range with a few exceptions (super upgrades or stubborn sellers) So the property sits on the market for months and no action. Seller gets frustrated and fires the realtor. At THAT point they may (or may not) realize they have been over priced and drop their ask accordingly. Might help but by that time the property may be stigmatized. I can’t count the number of times I have been asked what’s wrong with a certain listing. It’s just over-priced. One of the other reasons sellers encounter difficulty is because they found an agent that will cut commission rate and promise the moon and they generally get what they pay for. Which is to say, not much. They take the pictures themselves, fail to de-clutter and the place shows awfully. That doesn’t help their cause. If you remove a lot of the stuff and have a sparser looking listing it helps the buyer envision what their furniture would look like there. That helps a lot. You may want to paint the home to give it a fresh look. Especially if you have some rooms with wild colours. Go plain and simple there. Replace any fixtures that may be outdated. That really helps. If you have pets you will need to ensure there aren’t pet smells around the place. Nothing worse than an old litter box to ruin the vibe. You need to depersonalize the place. For a number of reasons, including safety concerns, remove as many family pictures as possible. Make the place as neutral as you can. Clean up!! I showed a home many years ago and as we were walking through the dimly lit living room I stepped in a large pile of doggy doo. Needless to say my clients were not impressed. Most important thing you can do is exercise common sense. Anyone can be ON the market – simply having your home listed for sale. It’s much better to be IN the market where you stand a very good chance of selling. Being practical can go a long way in helping you achieve your goals.