I am sure you have heard the old saying that the three most important factors in real estate are “location, location, and location”. While location is a factor in the decision to purchase a property, there are many other determining factors. I believe that there is “a lid for every jar”. You purchased the property for some reason other than location- it’s important to determine the true motivation for a prospective buyer, and match them to the home that meets their needs.
Other than location, there are many reasons why a home that has been on the market may not sell. I would like to focus on what I think are the main reasons, price and marketing.
In my experience, many sellers today are pricing their homes too high. Whether it be from watching too much HGTV or reading too many Zillow or Trulia reviews, sellers assume that they need to price their properties higher so that there is “room to negotiate”. I can understand why a seller would feel this is a good tactic for getting the most amount of money for the house. Many of my past clients have tried this strategy, and what they have found is that a higher price actually turns off many potential buyers, and most of the time an offer is never even made.
A properly priced home will draw the attention of qualified, educated buyers. A buyer in today’s depreciating market needs to feel not only that they are getting the home for a good price, but that they are compelled to buy NOW because there is a good chance they will lose the opportunity to buy the property if they wait too long. If you look at the statistics on the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island, the homes that are priced in the lower 10% of all the homes available in a given area are the ones that sell- and they typically sell for at or ABOVE asking price! A good strategy for pricing is to position your property in a way that will attract many buyers and hopefully cause a “bidding war”.
All too often, when I am searching for a home for buyers that I am working with, I come across homes with very little information, or property details, and some with only 1 or 2 pictures. I am a professional Realtor®, and I search the MLS multiple times a day, every day. I know what to look for and where on the property data sections. But, imagine for a moment, your typical home buyer running a search. Today, other than the MLS, there are hundreds of sites dedicated to real estate search. These sites typically just import the data that an agent has put on the MLS, and give the same exact information, just in a different layout. If an agent is not utilizing a multitude of tools to properly market the property, it will easily get lost in the noise. Potential buyers are using the internet to help expedite their search and save valuable time. If the property is not appealing at first glance, they will skip over it.
This is why I feel I have a great advantage in the marketing of a property. I use many different platforms to advertise a property for sale. I include at least 20 pictures of the property, a virtual tour using panoramic software, a video tour, MLS, Coldwell Banker, My personal site, AOL Homes, Zillow, Trulia, You Tube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, and many more avenues for marketing. Not to mention, open houses, Newsday ads, and actually knocking on doors to promote the home! Actually, my most recent sale came from doing just that- I knocked on all the doors in the neighborhood to let everyone know that there is a home for sale and in the interest of maintaining the home values in the neighborhood, the quicker it sells the better, and if anyone knew of someone looking to buy, please have them call me… I GOT A CALL THE VERY NEXT DAY! A neighbor had a friend looking to buy, and was able to talk about the reasons to buy in the area from a personal perspective, and the home sold for MORE THAN ASKING PRICE!! Amazing how a pretty simple marketing tool can be so effective- and yet many agents are not doing it!
When the time comes that you decide to sell your home, it is important to choose a Realtor® who will not simply list your property with the “hope” that it will sell, but who will be pro-active in getting your home sold for the best price in the least amount of time. Consider this for a momet- there are over 18,000 licensed Realtors® on Long Island today. Less that 2,000 of them were involved in more than 7 transactions last year! That means there are over 16,000 Realtors® who simply look at this as a part time gig or hobby. Do you want a part time hobbyist helping you with one of the largest transactions in your life, or do you want the guidance of a true professional?
Have questions regarding selling your home? Want an honest and objective look answer for why YOUR home didn’t sell? Feel free to contact me anytime at 631-831-0912 or drop me a line at KKellyNY@gmail.com
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