The most obvious reason is “the market”.  Thanks to a media-driven frenzy in recent years sellers began to believe that all homes sell quickly.  Not only was that not completely true then, it’s not at all true now that the frenzy is over.

The next reason homes don’t sell (and your agent will be quick to point out) is price.  Gone are the days when you could price high and then negotiate.  Today’s buyers are not even looking at overpriced homes.  Well-priced homes attract buyers who make reasonable offers.

Unfortunately, in this market, price is a moving target.  A list price that seems reasonable today may put a seller on the high end in thirty or sixty days if the market shifts.  Then the seller is “chasing the market” as he tries to play catch-up with prices in the area.

There are a lot of creative variations on price.  Sellers may offer to pay the buyer’s closing costs, association fees, or buy down the mortgage rate.  In most cases a straight price reduction is a better strategy because the lower price may put the home in a range that has a broader appeal to prospective buyers.

No matter how the home is priced, sellers need to prepare to negotiate.  Buyers have read that they can get homes by making low offers.  Sellers shouldn’t be offended at a low contract but should counter the offer and continue to counter as long as it takes to reach an agreement.

Probably one of the most difficult problems to solve for a home not selling is the home itself.  Unfortunately, not all home problems can be fixed.  The family room that is too small by today’s standards and the backyard that overlooks the highway are negative features that can’t be fixed.  However, a buyer will be more inclined to live with the negative features when the benefit of the right price outweighs the negative. 

The next thing to do is make sure the home is available to be seen.  Whether or not you are using a Realtor to sell the home, make sure the home is available seven days a week.  Putting restrictions on showings that make it difficult to accommodate a buyer’s schedule means that some buyers will not see the home at all.

However, there are plenty of little things a seller can do that will not only make the home sell faster, but sell for a better price.  It’s called “staging”.

Think of a model home.  It’s open and uncluttered, light and airy, clean and neat.  But even the oldest home can duplicate that feeling.  Here is a checklist to follow:

1) Make any necessary repairs, even small ones.  Little things like a cracked wall outlet or big ones like an air handler than no longer works properly need to be addressed. 

2) Clean like Martha Stewart is expected for dinner.  Every nook and cranny needs to sparkle.  No dust bunnies, no stains, no dirty windows, no scuff marks on the walls.  If the paint if dingy, or even a very taste-specific color, you might consider fresh paint in a neutral lighter color.

3) There is no second chance to make a first impression.  So look outside and address how the home appears.  Enhance tired landscaping or cut back overgrown plants.  Add color if necessary with some seasonal annuals.  Make sure the lawn is treated for weeds and fertilized on a regular schedule.

4) Now the one everyone hates – pack it up or throw it out.  The longer you’ve lived in the home the more “stuff” needs to go.  If you can’t bear to part with it, store in at a friend’s home or rent a storage unit.  Clean out the closets, the pantry, the garage, cabinets, vanities, drawers, etc.  “Empty” looks bigger than “full”.

5) Now clean it off.  Remove most of the wall art you own and repair any holes.  Put away most of what is sitting on counters and tables and shelves throughout the home.  Be especially good about removing photos of family members.  Your buyer will be better able to project themselves in the home if they don’t see other faces looking back.

A true professional stager will do all this and more.  Their talents include rearranging furniture and using props and accessories to highlight features of the home the typical seller will overlook.  It may involve putting furniture into storage or making physical changes to the home but the end result is a home that will have the greatest appeal.

You may have read these things or your agent will have told you many of them and maybe added a few, like adding scented candles or potpourri to freshen rooms.  Turn on lights and open blinds when expecting a showing so that the home looks more inviting.

As a final thought, decide what your home’s best feature is and make sure you have staged the home in a way that will make that clear to your buyers.  Then they will fall in love with the home just as you did.

Mistake No. 6 - “The agent is what counts.” The agent can’t be any better than the company he or she represents. Look for company support. Find out office hours - if no one is there to answer the phone your home is going to be difficult to show.

Mistake No. 7 - “All realtors passed the same test so they must know the same things.” The real estate profession is constantly changing. The best real estate professionals stay abreast of those changes by continuing their education beyond the required demands. Look for additional designations and how recently they were acquired.

Mistake No. 8 – “This agent will hold an open house every week.” Open houses can and do sell homes. But only a small fraction of the homes held open are sold as a direct result of the open house. Good agents know better than to pin all their hopes on an open house. They use their time and the seller’s time in more effective marketing methods.

Mistake No. 9 – “I want an agent who lives in my neighborhood.” An agent should be hired because he or she is the most qualified for the job. Knowledge of the market isn’t only acquired by living nearby. Convenience shouldn’t be the primary reason for choosing an agent.

Mistake No. 10 – “This agent sold more homes last year than anyone else.” That should only be the beginning. How many of their listings did not sell? How many were reduced over and over before they sold? How smoothly was the process handled? How accessible was the agent when there were questions or problems? Quantity is important, but only if all of the quality questions have been answered satisfactorily.

Selling a home should be like any other business transaction, but all too often sellers make emotional or impulsive decisions that cost them money and time. Choosing the right realtor to market a property and negotiate the sale is the most important step in the process.

Mistake No. 1 - “My friend sells real estate so I’ll list with him.” Friendship alone isn’t enough to establish a professional’s credentials. Use the same standards as when selecting an attorney or doctor. A true friend will understand and appreciate that this is a business decision and will offer their credentials and expect to compete for the listing.

Mistake No. 2 - “Your presentation sounds good - I’ll list right now.” Look at more than one presentation and consider the advantages and disadvantages of each. Making an impulsive decision when caught up in the moment will be difficult to correct later.

Mistake No. 3 - “You’re the only agent who agrees I should price my home this much.” The market will ultimately dictate the value of your home. A home that is priced too high will only make the competition look better. Beware of the agent who only tells you what you want to hear.

Mistake No. 4 - “I don’t need references. I’m a good judge of character.” Character isn’t enough. Ask for and then check up on references of recent customers. Find out from them how they felt about their experience with the agent. If the agent is new in the business get references from people who have dealt with him or her on a professional basis.

Mistake No. 5 - “I’m going to list with the agent who has the lowest commission.” You get what you pay for. Effective marketing takes time and money. In addition, an agent who can’t effectively negotiate his or her own fee won’t be able to negotiate the best price for your home.

I was watching the news awhile ago and they had a feature story on saving money – money the “experts” don’t want you to know about. Of course, one of their targets was real estate commissions.

What the media folks don’t recognize is that real estate professionals work on a percentage. Every time the seller takes a price reduction, so does the agent, because their commission is based on the sales price. If the sales price continues to be lowered, then so is the commission.

That same media person would probably be reluctant to suggest that in these hard times you also shop for the cheapest doctor or that you try to negotiate the cost of a trial lawyer or go with the cheapest accountant.

At a time when selling a home is the toughest it’s been in years, most real estate professionals are working harder and spending more time and money on marketing than in the past and yet have not raised their commissions. Now is not the time to sacrifice quality.

Shop for a real estate professional based on the expertise and services provided, not on price.

That may sound rude but there is such a thing as “functional (or structural) obsolescence. That means that a home is dated in a way, compared to other homes, that cannot easily be changed.

Changing from carpet to tile floors, or repainting, can be easy changes to make and still compare favorably to other homes on the market. Updating kitchens or bathrooms can be much more expensive, but still doable. But changing the outside of the home or the roof line, is generally prohibitive in cost.

If yours is the only frame home and the other homes around you are brick, then that isn’t fixable. The only way to even the playing field is to lower the price of the frame home.

The “pitch” or angle on a roof is dictated as much by custom and style as building code. Older homes may have a different pitch than newer homes and again, the only way to compensate for a home that looks like it’s dated is by adjusting price.

The location of a home may become “obsolete” making the home less desirable if it fronts a road that is more heavily trafficked or under construction or now backs up to commercial property. Again, while it’s a difficult pill to swallow, the only answer is a price adjustment.

Then, at some point, a buyer will say, “who cares if the home has ______, it’s a great price.”

Today’s market is a Buyers’ Market because supply exceeds demand. That’s the law that has dictated price since time began. There are more homes on the market today than in the recent past, giving buyers more to choose from. And that choice allows buyers to be pickier than ever before.

Let’s assume you have done everything to your home to “spruce it up”. You’ve made repairs, enhanced the landscaping, cleaned every square inch – inside and out, etc. Your home now sparkles and shows as well as any other home on the market.

So what’s next? Exposure. There are two groups of people your home must be exposed to – potential buyers and real estate agents. Over 80% of buyers use an agent to buy a home, so it makes sense to have your home listed in the MLS so that it is exposed to all the agents in the area.

List with the right broker and that takes care of the second group – potential buyers. Full service brokers offer typically more exposure than limited service ones. They spend more on marketing and that increases the likelihood your home will be seen by more buyers.

Brokers have the ability to expose your home to more potential buyers than you as an owner can. They have more resources. Their marketing efforts will be heavily slanted toward the internet, but will also take advantage of print media, visual tours, professionally done marketing materials, etc.

Probably the most important thing left to do is price it right. That’s a challenge and you need accurate and up to date information to make a good pricing decision. Your agent should be able to show you the facts on recent sales, pending sales, and what is actively being marketed that represents your competition.

If the property isn’t priced right you’ll get no showings because other listings will look more appealing. If you get first showings, but no one is coming back for a second look, it may still be priced too high. If other homes around you are selling and you are getting no offers, price is still the issue.

Don’t fall into the trap of offering other price incentives if you are not getting showings. You may be tempted to pay closing costs, homeowners’ fees, a decorating allowance, etc. But in order for those to be appealing you have to have the showings first. Price is the answer to that. You can always sweeten the pot during negotiations by offering money for closing costs or other incentives.

Price the home below other homes in the area if you want to make sure that you get as many showings as possible. That sounds like hard to swallow advice, but allowing a property to linger on the market with no activity is just as bad. Agents and consumers begin to assume there is something wrong with the home. Meanwhile, your monthly expenses for mortgage, insurance, maintenance, taxes, etc. keep piling up. It may be better to bite the bullet by taking a price reduction than to carry all those costs indefinitely.

Buyers are in the driver’s seat right now. Sellers have to be realistic when it comes to getting a home sold and look at the market objectively. Contracts are being written every day on homes that demonstrate real value to the consumer. Make sure that you have taken all the necessary steps to insure that your home will be one of them.