People often ask me what they can do when their house isn’t selling. The photos look great, people are seeing it online but the homeowner has not received any offers or the house is just not getting many showings. So how do we increase the traffic so that the homeowner can move on?
Look at Price
We look closely at price. Often, when pricing a home, a Realtor or a homeowner looks at what the active competition is and prices against it. However, I start with pending sales. Actives are homes that have not gone under contract yet; Pendings are homes that have gone under contract. Instead of looking at what is not selling, let's look at what is selling.
Look at Pending Sales
Pending sales are the best gauge of what is happening in the market right now. Pendings allow us to ask the following:
- What are homebuyers willing to spend their money on right now?
- What homes have gone under contract within the past 30 days or during the time that our home has been on the market?
Let's take a look at those pendings. Do we see any trends in pricing, location, architectural style, or decor? Are we priced and marketed properly compared to these homes? Perhaps, nothing has gone under contract that is similar to our home which is telling of a larger trend. Perhaps, the market for our home is just not there at this time and we need to figure out why. Maybe our home is out of date or out of style. There are lots of questions and we need to "connect the dots" to find some answers so that we can help our clients interpret the market and adjust our marketing if necessary.
Our goal is to help our clients move on with their lives. Sometimes that means admitting that we need to make some adjustments. The market around us changes constantly, buyers' habits change, interest rates change and we have to change as well. Sometimes, it is difficult to have these conversations with our clients because they have set their expectations on a certain strategy and have a tough time changing course. However, we believe that we owe our clients the truth, even if it is uncomfortable. The sooner we can get to the right price and the right strategy, the quicker our clients can move on with their lives.
So have you looked at pendings today? If not, take a look. Don't be afraid - you may find some good answers in there.
