I have been selling Real Estate for 25+ years and I have taken over and sold more than my fair share of “expired” listings – those homes other Realtors had that could not or would not be sold during their original listing term – and for all these years I had the duty to find out why the home did not sell and turn the marketing around to overcome the thoughts that this may now be a stale listing.
How I did this is somewhat proprietary, but I can tell you that it takes a lot of marketing. And therein (marketing and how to apply it to your home) lies the difference between the services of a great marketing Realtor and that of the average Realtor.
If your home was marketed by another Realtor / firm and is not selling or did not sell you may ask: How much marketing was done to ensure the sale of the home? MLS? Flyers? Real Estate Book? Open House?
Frankly, very few homeowners know how much (or how little) their Realtors really do in actual marketing. Do you think you received more marketing or more excuses?
Over my 23+ years, I have developed a list of why homeowners became dissatisfied with their Realtors. Simply e-mail me from this site and I’ll send you the list..
There is much more marketing that we do that gets your home out there to 97+ websites and in front of thousands or hundreds of thousands of potential buyers and their Realtors. One of the best is personal contact. Having sold for 23+ years, I have developed quite a list of buyers, sellers and other prospects. Whereas I use the trendy “social media” (10,000 twitter followers, for example – www.twitter.com/normanfrenk, www.twitter.com/sellthisplace) ), I still rely on the good old fashioned face-to-face and telephone marketing to qualify leads personally.
There are 3 reasons that YOUR home did not sell:
1) Price
2) Location
3) Marketing / Staging
Within these 3 categories are sub-categories. Such as: if you own a home that floods occasionally and flood insurance rates are high you have a combination of 1 and 2 above but as such, there is only one factor that is in your control: Price. The value of a home that floods or is in a flood zone that is not optimal is less than one that does not have this noted problem.
GIven, however, that your home is in a subdivision, for example, and does not back to a busy road or have other problems and that the location of the neighborhood is desirable we are left with items 1 and 3 to contend with. Poor marketing, staging, upkeep will certainly affect price. The staging and upkeep of the property are the Listing Agents’ responsibilities as it is incumbent upon them to ensure that the sellers are aware of what needs to be done to get the home sold.
Keep in mind: “Price cures all Objections”. This simply means that any home will sell at some price. A home – no matter what condition will sell at the right price – whether it backs to a busy highway or has flooded or has not been updated.
75%+ agents do NOT give homeowners the guidance with regards to how the property should look in comparison to the competition and 50% of those that do have little knowledge about design and how to make a home stand out in the crowd. That would leave approximately 12.5% of the agents that not only give the homeowners advice as to how to ensure their home stands out, but also give the correct advice.*
Was your agent one of the only 12.5%?
Norman Frenk, M.B.A., I.R.E.S. of the Frenk Team at Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate – Gary Greene Realtors has not only successfully re-marketed homes but personally has shown homeowners how to stage homes – in many cases with reasonable effort – to ensure a sale. Additionally, while working for many years with interior designers, stagers, painters and other trades people from within the remodeling industry, has recently applied to become certified himself by the American Society of Interior Designers (A.S.I.D.).
It takes more than a yard sign, lockbox, flyers and an open house to sell a home. It takes more than a weaker agent willing to give up their commission because that is all the know-how they have. It takes knowledge of the market, knowledge of design and ability to fight for your home and negotiate.
You don’t have to wait to call us to re-market your home – call us in the first place!
see other posts on this blog site to find out about Staging Mistakes, Why Discount Brokerage may NOT save you money at all, How to Sell a House & so much more!
* data compiled over last 23 years in the industry from homeowners whose home did not sell with their previous listing Realtor. Data from 1992-2016.