IT'S MAGIC! THE INCREDIBLE INVISIBLE HOME!
"MY HOME IS NOT GETTING ANY SHOWINGS!"
Your home has been on the market for three months. Not a single visitor has come to view it. You really want to sell your home but don't really "need" to. You have given the home curb appeal. You have updated the kitchen completely with the best cabinets and granite countertops. The bathrooms have been completely modernized. The roof and a/c were just replaced the month before you placed the home the market. You put the best Brazilian Cherrywood floors throughout the home. The home is immaculate. It's better than brand new! You are convinced that the first home buyer that comes to your beautiful home will surely fall in love and make a full price offer even if your agent did suggest strongly that your home would most like bring a lower price than what you are insisting it should sell for.
The other homes in your neighborhood have not had near the updates or upgrades recently and yet you know they are getting showings - in fact, John and Jane Smith, across the street just went under contract! So you are asking yourself, "Why isn't my home getting any visitors? Is my home really invisible? Unfortunately for you, that might just be the case. So how did this happen and what are the dangers?
"BUT MY NEIGHBORS ARE GETTING SHOWINGS - AND CONTRACTS!"
With the advent of the age of technology and recent surveys done by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) showing that 80% of the homes buyers are starting their search for their next home on the internet it must be understood how important it is, now more than ever, to start your home's pricing exactly where it should be when you begin marketing the home.
When a home buyer visits a web site, gets daily notifiers directly from an agent and the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) the basic criteria they are searching for are the only homes that they will see during that search. For instance, if a buyer is searching for a 4 Bed, 3 Bath, 3 Car Garage home and is not willing or able to go above $350,000 on the purchase price then that is the minimum number they will search for in the home features and the maximum number on price they will search for on the price. An example is shown below as a buyer would use at Realtor.com:
Notice that in this case it is already showing how many properties are going to be available using the criteria described above. If the homes in your area, as nice, or not as nice and upgraded as your own are selling for a much lower price when they click that search button your home will not show up in the results of the 58 homes that will show up in the search example above.
Your buyers are fishing in the right pond but are only going to be looking for the fish that they can afford to catch - therefore making your home completely invisible to the home buyers and you will most likely see all your neighbor's homes sell long before yours does.
"WHAT DANGERS HAVE I CREATED BY NOT STARTING AT THE RIGHT PRICE?"
Now, your home has been on the market several months. You've seen several homes in the neighborhood sell. There is seemingly no interest in your home and you still have yet to get your first showing. Your agent has shown you the marketing that is being done and there is no doubt that your home has become invisible to any buyers that might be looking for a home in your area with the style and features that your home provides.
What buyers might have been presented the home through their buyer's agent have lost all interest in the home because it has been on the market for a long period of time and to gain their interest now a drastic move may be necessary. In order to gain their interest back the price will need to be reduced. But to peak that interest and to get them to come to your home at this point you must lower the price below what the market would have bared for the home months ago and now you are forced to ask for less for the home.
Below you will see in a graph the Interest Vs. Weeks on the market results scenario:
As you can see from the graph above that if you start the marketing of your home at the right price to start with you will yield the most profit in a short amount of time. Remember: Market Value is the most amount of money that a buyer is willing to give for your home at any given time.
DON'T CHEAT YOURSELF LATER BY MAKING YOUR HOME INVISIBLE NOW
When you begin the marketing of your home it is important to start with an informed decision. Get advice from professionals who work in the real estate industry full-time and can help you make sure you are not only not giving your home away but that you are also not going to cause yourself, in the long run, to lose potential profits.
Some of the things you should consider strongly doing to determine the correct starting price that you are going to ask for your home are:
- Have a REALTOR® do a Comparative Market Analysis on your home
- Investigate tax records and property appraiser information for recent sales
- Investigate what the prices are at for the current homes that are on the market and how long have they been on the market
- Get an appraisal for your home prepared by a licensed appraiser
The value that this can bring can not only net you thousands of dollars but can also save you months of headaches. Don't make your home invisible. MAKE YOUR HOME INVINCIBLE - HIRE A REALTOR TO ASSIST YOU WITH MARKETING YOUR HOME PROPERLY TO GUIDE YOU THROUGH THE MAZE OF MARKETING TO GAIN YOU THE MOST $$$!
Copyright© Realty Agent Professionals Team - Scott McClain
2006 - 2007