Home Not Selling?  Only 3 Possible Explanations

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

–Buddhist sayings

“When a home is priced right, Buyers will appear.”

–Ross Kaplan

I don’t know much about Buddhism, but I do know about selling residential real estate.

duckMany frustrated home Sellers don’t want to hear this, but here goes:  “when the price (range) is right  . . . Buyers appear.”

Always, without exception (sorry, Sellers).

Process of Elimination

The problem for listing agents (representing Sellers) is that owners often believe the problem lies with them, not their home’s asking price.

Are there “For Sale” homes out there that are poorly staged?

“You betcha!” (as Minnesotans like to say).

Poorly photographed?

Absolutely.

Ditto for marketing (poor to nonexistent), pre-sale prep (lackluster), and agent networking (indifferent).

“Check, Check, & Check”; Skeptical, Frustrated Sellers

But, now assume that all those things have been done, well.

What’s left?

Price.

When a home isn’t selling in an otherwise healthy, active market, there are only three possible explanations:  1) marketing; 2) condition; or 3) price.

By process of elimination, if it ain’t #1 or #2 . . . it’s #3. 

Evaluating Agents; Realtors . . . & Ducks

Unfortunately, home owners can’t necessarily tell whether their Realtor is doing a good job.

While some of what Realtors do is by definition (very) visible — for example, taking good photos, composing flattering marketing materials, hosting Sunday open houses — many tasks are invisible to clients.

“Beneath the surface,” if you will.

That includes such things as agent-to-agent marketing; pre-list networking; publicizing Broker Open’s; screening and qualifying Buyers (and their agents, and their lenders); and generally presenting the listing well on MLS.

Meanwhile, other Realtor functions — like analyzing Comp’s — are unfamiliar to clients.

Of course, it’s also the case that homeowners — especially ones who’ve lived in the same home for decades — are hardly objective about the condition or appeal of their home.

All of which is why good agents are especially attentive to the things clients can see (high-quality photography; fast response time to emails and phone calls, etc.), and are very communicative about what’s going on with the listing, and all the things they’re doing on the owner’s behalf.

“It Takes One to Know One”

If homeowners don’t necessarily know if their agent is doing a good job, who does?

Other agents.

That’s especially true of agents who’ve done a deal (or several) with the Realtor in question.

See also, “Rating Realtors:  How to Know Who’s REALLY Good”; “Reason #23 to Do Open Houses.

About the author

Ross Kaplan has 19+ years experience selling real estate all over the Twin Cities. He is also a 12-time consecutive "Super Real Estate Agent," as determined by Mpls. - St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business Magazine. Prior to becoming a Realtor, Ross was an attorney (corporate law), CPA, and entrepreneur. He holds an economics degree from Stanford.

Leave a Reply