Alternatives to Dropping the Price When a Home Doesn’t Sell
Unfortunately for owners of “For Sale” homes that . . . aren’t (selling), the explanation is seldom just mediocre marketing.
If that were the case, the solution would be simple: great marketing (supplied by a new and presumably better Realtor).
Instead, at least in my experience, homes don’t sell for a combination of reasons.
Most common: price, prep, and marketing (“too high,” “too little,” and “ineffective,” respectively).
Three Choices
Which suggests three options when a home isn’t attracting offers or even showings: 1) change (reduce) the price; 2) change the Realtor (marketing); or 3) change the house (update or improve it somehow).
Or (preferably), all of the above.
In practice, the usual course of action is a combination of #1 and #2, with an emphasis on fresh staging and (more flattering) photography.
Updating Do’s — and Don’ts
My advice regarding improvements: only do it if it corrects a discrete, glaring defect that is holding the rest of the house back.
So, by all means replace the glaringly worn, 20 year-old roof.
However, simply putting in new granite counters in an otherwise old Kitchen (to pick just one example) usually only serves to highlight the dated cabinets, flooring, and appliances.
P.S.: What’s predictably the most common date each year for homeowners to ditch their agent?
December 31, when by far the most listing contracts expire.
See also, “The Rebound Realtor”; “Firing Your Realtor – Part 1″; “Firing Your Realtor – Part 2″; and “Nurse! I Need a Price Reduction, Stat!!”
