Fries Real Estate

So, you're in agony because your home has languished on the market week after week. Here are some culprits that may be keeping buyers away in droves.
Here are the six most-common reasons why homes don't sell and what you can do about it.

                                                             6 reasons...

Your home is overpriced
Optimistic home sellers love to parrot the old adage, "There's a buyer for every home." But they often leave off the qualifier: "at the buyer's price."
The fact is that buyers, not sellers, ultimately determine the market value of a home. You can ask for the moon and set your listing price well above comparable properties in your neighborhood, but at some point it will be up to you, the seller, to accept what the buyer thinks your home is worth.
A good real estate agent should give you a realistic range for what you can expect. But, that does you no good if you insist on going higher. Before you set your heart on a price, take a look at where similar houses have actually been selling (not just what sellers are asking) and adjust for your own home's features or flaws.
"Price is always pivotal," said Ron Phipps, with Phipps Realty in Warwick R.I.,
Overpricing is the most common reason homes don't sell. When you ask an unrealistic price, it sets in motion a process that often works against you. Here's why:
Most real estate agents, and hence most qualified buyers, will see your new listing within 30 days. If it is overpriced by as little as 5%, it will be duly noted and interest in your property will wane, especially if you show no intention of coming off your asking price. You likely already priced out buyers who might have qualified for financing at a more reasonable price. Even if you manage to find a buyer at your inflated asking price, the property may not appraise at that figure and the financing will fall apart. Other agents often use overpriced properties like yours to help sell their own listings.
If you have a house that really should be priced at $200,000 and you've got it listed at $260,000, you are trying to compete against homes that really are worth close to $300,000 and all of a sudden your home really is not competing well," says Jeri Fisher of Jeri Fisher Real Estate in Missoula, Mont. "You want to compete with what is available out there among homes similar to yours."
If your home remains on the market for too long, agents and buyers may begin to wonder if there are other, perhaps more serious reasons why it isn't selling.
"It becomes shopworn, the same as a jacket hanging in the store week after week," says Fisher. "People are aware that it has been on the market a long time and agents stop showing it."

Your home doesn't 'show' well
Your home is competing against shiny new houses in those pristine subdivisions out in the suburbs with their attractive prices, incentives and community amenities.
Face it: Even the best old house needs a little makeover if it hopes to attract a qualified buyer.
The good news is most of the work will be cosmetic and relatively inexpensive: a new coat of paint, a few attractive window boxes, a thorough cleaning of floors and carpets. Voila! The place may look good enough to reconsider.
"Price and condition are two things that the seller can do something about," says Fisher. "I always give people my 'honey-do' list. Take care of anything that buyers might add to their mental "to do" list. 
Close your eyes, walk in your front door and think about how your house smells. Pet odor, cigarette smoke, mildew, cooking oil and other unpleasant smells make a lasting impression on buyers, say agents. Deal with the source of the stink, rather than try to cover it up with overpowering candles or air fresheners.
Clutter is a problem buyers have trouble looking past. "Everything should be crisp, clean and very minimal," said Fazzini, who recommends removing excess furniture, packing up knickknacks, clearing off kitchen and bathroom counters, and putting away family pictures. "Walk through a model home and use that as your model."
Landscape the yard, clean the windows, touch up paint and  Then put away garden hoses, cleaning products and other items that remind buyers that houses require maintenance.
I think paint is probably a seller's best friend because it makes things smell fresh and look fresh. If it's time to paint, it's time to paint. It's the best return on investment." Fresh paint – in warm earth tones rather than stark white – and new linens on the beds and in the bathrooms can also make the difference between a house that sits and a house that sells -- assuming you still want to sell.

You're in a bad location
Nothing has a greater effect on your home's value than its location. Your humble abode might be worth a king's ransom were it located in Palm Beach, Aspen or San Francisco. It might even jump thousands in value just two streets over in the next (and far superior) school district.
"If you're in one of the higher-ranked schools around here, you're going to add $50,000 to $100,000 to the price of the same house," says Lenn Harley, a broker with Homefinders.com Inc. in Maryland and Virginia.
The point is, location rules in real estate.
If your home's location is less than desirable, your options are somewhat limited. A good real estate agent will do his best to help you accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative of your circumstances, say by using foliage to screen off offensive adjoining properties or dampen traffic noise.
The best way to compensate for a poor location is to reduce your asking price or offer attractive incentives such as seller financing or a lease option with rent credit.

You are battling competition or market conditions
We've all heard the terms "buyer's market" and "seller's market." In real estate, market conditions are affected by any number of external forces, some of them predictable (the weather, sort of), some of them unpredictable (the local economy, interest rates, public optimism or pessimism).
In a "hot" or seller's market, homes go fast. Inventory (homes on the market) may be low, meaning less competition for you. Chances are better that you will get your asking price in a hot market; in fact, it is not uncommon to even be offered more than your listing price.
But in a "flat," "cold" or buyer's market, sales slow to a trickle, inventories grow and buyers can find bargains, especially when they know the seller is motivated (i.e., paying on two mortgages).
If you're trying to sell in a flat market, you're not only competing against all that vacant new construction, but against rentals as well. In this case, be prepared to settle for less than top dollar, or wait to sell until the pendulum swings once again in your favor.

You have ineffective marketing
Gone are the days when an agent could simply place your listing with the local multiple listing service, hold a halfhearted open house and wait for another agent to bring forth a buyer.
Today's top performers launch a multilevel marketing plan that includes listing tours for area agents, newspaper ads, weekend open houses, listing fliers and placements in local real estate publications.
Computers and the Internet also have changed the face of real estate. According to the National Association of Realtors, today more than one-third of all home buyers use the Internet for house hunting. The best real estate agents are computer-savvy. They have your listing in color on their laptops to show clients and communicate frequently via e-mail, a particular boon when working with out-of-town buyers.
Even in the best markets, you need to make sure your house gets exposed to the right buyers, said John Beutler of Beutler & Associates in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where more than half of all buyers are coming from out of state.  These days, the online listing may be as important as the sign in the front yard. "Years ago people would show up you get in the car and start driving around," said Beutler, who was Century 21's top-selling agent in the world.  "Now they start their search looking at properties on the Web." The more pictures you have of your house, both inside and out, the better. Other information, such as maps, neighborhood info and details about your home's best features also bring in buyers.
Suffice it to say that if your real estate agent isn't listing your home online through the company Web site as well as with the local MLS, you may not be getting the exposure necessary to find a buyer.

You have a lousy listing agent
Yep, they exist: Real estate agents who mislead, misfire and misbehave.
Their bad advice can cost you plenty in time, money and the sheer hassle of keeping the place show-ready 24/7.
The agent from hell will allow you to overprice your home ("Here's what I can get for you if you list with me!"), not market it properly, fail to screen for qualified buyers, be unresponsive to interest from other agents (if they sell their own listing, they don't have to split the commission) and keep you totally in the dark throughout the process.
What's more, if your agent is abrasive, arrogant or otherwise difficult to work with, other agents may not want the hassle of showing any of their listings to prospective buyers.

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So...what can you do?

1. Make basic cosmetic changes. If you didn't repaint, recarpet, or thoroughly clean your home before you listed it, consider doing so now. If your carpet is in good shape, have it professionally shampooed. If it's dark, or worn out, replace it with something nice in a new neutral color. Give the interior of your home a wash of white paint.
How much should you spend on cosmetic changes? As much as it takes, and not a penny more. Although some changes (like repainting) may allow you to raise your list price, every dollar you spend is one less dollar you'll have in your pocket at the closing. A good real estate agent can advise you on where your time and money are best spent.

2. Relist your home. Every home listed in the multiple listing service is assigned a number that corresponds to the date and year of listing. While listings on the Internet may someday standardize and do away with this kind of numbering system, right now the day your property was listed is available.
If your home has been on the market for more than six months, it may begin to look stale by comparison to newer listings. If your home has been on the market since last year, all of the listings in the new year will have a newer number.
Consider relisting your home to give it a fresh look and new listing number. To do this, you may need to officially take the property off the market and relist with the appropriate changes.

3. Raise your commission. Brokers say they wouldn't force a home on a buyer simply because it had a higher than average commission. But with buyers bidding quickly, feverishly in some cases, if your home is the first one they see, they might bite.
Brokers will often include a home with a higher commission in their list of showings for just that reason. Increasing the commission above the normal range of 5 to 7 percent may help garner more attention for your property. If you don't want to raise the commission, consider giving the buyer's agent a $500 or $1,000 bonus for bringing the buyer to the table.

4. Give the buyer a break. Instead of, or in addition to, rewarding the buyer's agent, consider doing something special for the person who is actually going to pony up the money to buy your home.
Promotions such as free lottery tickets, sporting event tickets, vacations and free Mercedes automobiles were the lures of the 1980s. Today, buyers want to feel comfortable financially. It may be more meaningful to a prospective buyer if you pay some or all of his or her closing costs, pay future condo or co-op assessments, pay some of the future real estate taxes, offer a home warranty, or buy down the buyer's mortgage interest rate.

5. Lower your price. If your home is already in the best condition possible, and you've already raised the commission and offered the buyer a premium, you may have to accept the fact that your home is overpriced. That doesn't mean someone, some where, wouldn't offer you your dream price. You may just grow old waiting for that day to come.
The good news is, while your home is overpriced, it may not be overpriced by a lot. What you need to do is determine what homes in your neighborhood are selling for, rather than what they are listed for, and then underprice your neighbors just enough to attract the right buyer's attention.