200 Viewings & No Offers!

I’m totally swiping (I mean re-posting) this article. Sometimes clients don’t like what we have to say but we still have to say it!

• Posted by Paul Pastore September 6 – Filed in Sales Stretegies and Tactics – 487 views

  200 Viewings & No Offers!

  Recently, I listed a house that had been on the market with another agent for sixty days. The seller said there were over 200 viewings, including a few open houses. When I asked the seller why they felt the home did not attract an offer they were unsure and bewildered. Now, stop reading and tell me why you feel the property didn’t sell, even though you never saw this home.

  Would it help if I mentioned this property was in great condition, in a gated, golf, active adult community? What about if I told you the property was free and clear, on the golf course, and the reason the seller was selling was because they downsized to a smaller home in the same area.

  If you said, “Duh, the primary reason a home remains unsold is improper pricing”; you’d be right. Proper pricing makes salesmanship superfluous.

   The seller fired their first agent due to ‘personality issues’. Some times this means the agent had the courage to tell the seller something they didn’t want to hear. Other times the agent chose to take an overpriced listing and confront reality at a later date. Honesty is always the best policy.

  After taking the listing at a lower price, I called the former agent and asked why she felt the property did not sell. She said it was priced too high and the seller was difficult to work with. She said it was worth 50k below their initial price. I thanked the agent for info, and then shared this number with the seller.

  If a house fails to attract showings, or receives many showings but no offers, the price is too high. The art of listing is knowing how to communicate data to a seller who, at times, is reluctant to digest the facts. Digestion can be a slow process. But, honesty is not negotiable.