One of the most frequent questions asked by my seller clients is:  “Why are some homes sold and some are not?”

There are more homes available for sell than the last few years, mainly due to the decrease in the number of successful buying and/or affordability.  This can be caused by the news media sending very negative information to cause the buyers in a fear of buying mood.  Another main reason is that the homes in general have appreciated much faster than the income raised for the past few years, therefore, the buyers’ affordability decrease.  Since the selling period is prolonged, there will be more homes for buyers to compare and choose from.  As a result, there is no room for making errors for the sellers in today’s market. 

We have approximately 5-10 minutes for any given buyer to see your home and have the desire to buy your home.  Therefore, it is crucial for the sellers to do the following:  Pricing your home attractively, presenting your home clean and clutter free, get free home staging from me and allow your home easy to show.  I will provide the knowledge, hard work and creative solutions to do the rest.  These are no longer options to choose from but are musts do’s to get your home sold.

I have been working actively as seller’s agent and buyer’s agent, which has given me the advantage to know the needs and encounters of both sides.  As a result, I have been able to give the sellers the first hand update on the market. 

Just in the last 5 months, I have written over 18 offers to sellers.  So, are the buyers still out there?  Definitely yes.  However, the key is how can you get a good buyer to buy your home.

All of the buyers I have represented have been pre-qualified and have great FICO scores, income and down payment.  However, many sellers choose buyers based on who is offering more money for their property, not on the quality of the buyers.  So we were turned down on a few offers, however, since there are many properties out there to choose from, I soon found other properties my buyers are interested in. 

When we are in escrow with property B, the sellers from property A called and said they will agree to take our price and term now because the buyer they have chosen fell through with loan.  Since we were in escrow already with another property with good accepted price, my buyers passed on the offer.  After a few days later, I received another phone call from the sellers on property A that they are willing to lower their price $10,000 than our first offered price. 

As a result, this seller actually lost a very good buyer with a higher price offer than at the end and would have sold their property much sooner. 

Another situation we have encountered is that the listing agents were not very updated with the market trend.  They believe countering back a low price offer is a waste of their time.  However, many buyers now days will try to submit a very low offer and if the listing agents are willing to spend time on counter offers, this will increase the chance on helping the sellers negotiate to an acceptable price from both sides.  Yes, it takes a lot more work, a lot more time, a lot more effort, a lot more patience, but if there is a chance on helping your sellers find that one buyer, it is all worth it!

The bottom line is...to increase your chance on getting your home sold at the best possible price and term, as short period of time as possible and as stress-free as possible, it is very important to work with your Realtor as a team.  Do as much as you can on your part so your Realtor can do the best on their part for you.

I believe in putting most of the efforts in marketing your home to increase your chance of selling, not advertising myself.  Please feel free to call me for all of your real estate needs.  I love to hear from you!