What Was Your Missing Link When Selling Your Home?

There are three reasons why homes typically fail to sell. Here they are.

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If you’ve tried to sell your home in the past and the sale was unsuccessful, this message is for you. It’s not for homeowners who canceled their listing because of personal reasons.

If you follow my blog, you know that I’ve said that pricing plus preparation plus exposure equals a record-price sale. If you've tried to sell in the past and failed, here’s what I want you to do: I want you to audit your experience. First, think about the price that you set for your property. Was it fair? Was it based on your current competition and what they were selling for?

If your price was fine and you still didn’t sell, maybe you didn’t prepare your home well enough to sell. When we take a listing, our goal is to put out the highest quality product. In a perfect world, we’d stage every home to attract buyers and make them fall in love, but we can’t always do that. You have to do what you can within your resources to put out the highest quality product.

I want you to audit your experience.

When you previously listed your home, was it clean? Was it decluttered? That’s another missing link that can turn buyers off even if the price is right.

The final missing link is the exposure that your property had. Maybe you hired an inexperienced agent who didn’t have a strategy in place to sell your property.

If your home came off the market, but you still want to sell it, you have to ask yourself what was the missing link: pricing, condition, or your agent?

If the agent was your problem, it’s time to find a new agent who can help you achieve your goals of selling for a record price. Our team specializes in selling homes like these so if you or someone you know is thinking about relisting any time in the near future, don't hesitate to reach out and give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

If Your Listing Expires, Should You Use the Same Agent to Relist?

If your listing expires, do you need a new agent to relist it?

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Do you need a new agent?

If you worked with an agent in the past who was unable to sell your listing within a given amount of time, the agency relationship you had expires and the home is taken off the market.

There are a lot of options sellers have when it comes to relisting. However, relisting with the same agent won’t be effective if they plan to do things exactly the same as they did the first time.

I appreciate that people are loyal to their agents, but if your agent was unable to sell your home the first time, what are they going to do differently if you choose to list with them again?

If an agent failed to sell your home once, what would they change if you give them a second chance?

I appreciate that people are loyal to their agents, but if your agent was unable to sell your home the first time, what are they going to do differently if you choose to list with them again?

It’s entirely possible that you might need to work with a totally new agent. If you spend some time interviewing different agents, you’ll have the opportunity to learn more about all of the many ways they could market and sell your home.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

 

Is It Time for a Dramatic Change?

Sometimes, a home simply doesn’t sell. If you want to put a property that previously expired back on the market, you’re going to need to make a dramatic change.

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Today, I want to address anyone out there who has tried listing in the past but was unsuccessful in doing so. In the industry, we call these expired listings.

When a seller hires an agent for a certain amount of time and their property doesn’t sell for whatever reason, the home is taken off the multiple listing service and the agreement between the agent and seller is cancelled.

Now, these kinds of listings are something I follow closely in our market. Sometimes I see listings that have previously expired go back on the market with the same photos, the same staging, the same price, and maybe even the same agent.

Usually, the same strategy will reap the same results.

Usually, the same strategy will reap the same results. If you tried a strategy for your listing once, it probably isn’t going to work again. You might get lucky, but chances are that it just won’t work out.

So, if you’ve had an expired listing and you want to put the property back on the market, it may be time for a dramatic change.

There are two things you can do to change your outcome. If you don’t want to change anything about the property, you’re going to need to dramatically change the price.

If you don’t want to change the price, then you’re going to need to change the property. Maybe this means hiring a staging company, repainting, or even decluttering. All of these things can help make a visible change for buyers.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Feeling Defeated After a Failed Listing?

Many sellers who have had a listing fail feel defeated, and will want us to simply “bring them a buyer.” That is not the best way to sell a home.

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In the industry, we call a home that has been unsuccessful to sell an “expired listing,” a “cancelled listing,” or even a “withdrawn listing.”

What my team and I have found is that when a home is taken off the market, 60% of those homes still need to sell. So when these kind of homes fall through the cracks, I like to give a call to the seller and see if they would be interested in working with us to help them sell.

Sometimes the seller is simply too frustrated by the previous experience to want to dive right back in. They often tell me they aren’t willing to go through the listing process again, but would be open to the idea of selling if I already had a buyer in mind.

Now, I can understand how difficult it is to come back from a failed experience. The feeling of repeating that same process at the risk of failing again can be overwhelming. My team and I assist with 40 to 60 home sales per year, so we know all about how frustrating it can be.

You’re only doing yourself a disservice when you insist an agent just ‘bring you a buyer.’

Getting a home listed and off the market is a tough, stressful thing to do. But that being said, you’re only doing yourself a disservice when you insist an agent just “bring you a buyer.”

If you are truly interested in selling, and in getting top dollar, the most effective way is to list it on the open market. Putting yourself back out there with the help of the right agent can make a huge difference. After all, how many buyers can I realistically have in mind who will be looking for a home exactly like yours? Statistically speaking, that probably just isn’t your best option.

If you price your home just right or slightly below that point in the open market, you’ll almost definitely create a multiple offer situation. That can be two or 20 offers, but either way, multiple offers put you in a good position as a seller.

When there is competition, the mindset of the buyer will shift from “I want to get the best deal” to “how can I get this property?”

So, yes—we could bring just bring you a buyer. However, this won’t be the best way to get top dollar for your property. Listing with an agent who has a strong marketing and pricing strategy will truly be the best option.

If you want more information or have any other questions, feel free to give me call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Why Marketing Matters When Listing Your Home

If you’ve had an expired listing before, not all hope is lost. It was probably the marketing and the exposure your home didn’t get that prevented it from selling, but there are ways to fix that.

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If you’ve tried to sell your home in the past but were unsuccessful, today’s message is for you. How you market your home matters when you list it for sale. Let me share a quick story to show you what I mean.

In late 2016, I spoke with a homeowner who had listed his home on the market for four months at a price of $485,000. After his listing expired, I introduced myself, told him I’d done my research on his home, and said I thought $485,000 was a very fair price for the property. I offered to meet with him and strategize how we could still sell his home for a great price, but we went back and forth for about three or four months because he wasn’t quite ready to put his home back on the market.

Finally, in the beginning of 2017, we listed his home for the same exact price as it had been listed before. The only difference was that we actually put forth the time and effort into getting it ready for the market. We had it professionally cleaned, we enlisted a handyman to make some minor repairs to it, and had an interior designer stage it to give buyers that emotional connection they crave when they walk into a property. We also had professional photos taken and used heavy online and offline marketing.

After receiving multiple offers, we sold the property in two days for $498,000, which was $13,000 more than what he listed it at the first time with his first agent.

If you’ve had an expired listing before, it was probably the marketing that did you in.

If you’ve tried to sell your property in the past and failed, it’s not necessarily the price you were trying to achieve that prevented your home from getting sold. Many times, it’s the marketing and the exposure that your home didn’t get that caused it to become an expired listing.

If you experienced an expired listing before and are thinking you might want to give selling your home another shot, I’d love to sit down with you and put together a strategy to help you sell your property for a great price.

If you have any questions about this topic or have any topics you’d like to see me discuss in the future, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’m happy to help!

Why Your Home Didn’t Sell

In my experience, there are a lot of different reasons why homes don’t sell. However, it usually comes down to one of three things: price, exposure, and lack of emotional connection by the seller. If you’ve gone through a failed home sale, you’re in luck. I will explain each of these in detail and show you how to avoid them in the future.

Let’s start with price. It doesn’t matter how nicely your home shows or how many upgrades it has when coming up with a price. We are in a price-driven market where most buyers are looking for a great deal. When you’re in an area where homes are going for $800,000, you can’t price your home at $900,000. It won’t sell. You want to price it according to the market.

If your home just didn’t receive the right exposure, you’re not alone. Real estate is global and buyers are coming to this market from all over the world. If you don’t get the word out about your home, you’re not going to get the level of activity you want. You’ve got to use a combination of traditional marketing (direct mail, flyers) and digital marketing (pay-per-click ads, social media targeting) to get your listing out to the widest audience possible.

If buyers don’t have an emotional connection with a home, they’re unlikely to buy it. If they don’t feel like they’re at home, they won’t even submit an offer. When preparing your home for sale, don’t focus so much on price and exposure. You want to have it show well, too. Declutter your home, keep the color scheme nice, and highlight your outdoor spaces and curb appeal to create that emotional connection.

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A great Realtor will be able to assist
you in all three areas.

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By working with a great Realtor, they can help you reach these goals. If you’ve been struggling to sell your home or have failed to sell it in the past, we would love to speak with you. We can talk about what went wrong the first time, and how we can help you remedy that problem in order to get your home sold for top dollar.

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you.

How Your Agent’s Marketing Plan Impacts Your Home Sale

I had a conversation with somebody recently who had tried to sell their home in the past and was unsuccessful. As we were talking, I asked him why he thought his home didn’t sell. He said he attributed it to the market. I followed up by asking him what his agent did to maximize exposure on his home. He said, “I don’t know what he did; don’t all agents do the same thing?”

This couldn’t be further from the truth. The reality is, not all agents are created equal. Some agents have very strong marketing strategies, and some agents have no marketing strategy. As you’re preparing to sell your home, it’s very important to work with an agent who has a strategy based on your goals and your needs to make sure that you can get your home sold for top dollar.

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Not all agents are created equal.

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When a seller doesn’t know what their agent’s marketing plan was, it usually means one of two things. First, there’s a pretty good possibility that the agent didn’t have a marketing plan to begin with. Second, it’s possible that the agent either didn’t fill the seller in on their marketing plan or the seller didn’t ask about it. Either way, not having a strategy or not knowing your agent’s strategy is a recipe for failure. You can’t expect to sell your home for top dollar if your agent isn’t putting out maximum effort when it comes to marketing and exposure.

Whether you’re getting ready to list your home for sale on the market for the first time or you’ve tried and failed to sell in the past, it’s crucial that your work with somebody who has a clear-cut strategy. This strategy should incorporate traditional marketing efforts as well as modern, cutting-edge methods.

Real estate is no longer local; it’s global. This is especially true in Orange County, where people are coming from out of state and out of the country to find homes. How are they going to find out about your property and know that it’s for sale? Through marketing. So, if you don’t have the right agent targeting the right people, you’re not going to get the traffic that you need, and that will not result in the offers that you want to sell your home for top dollar.

If you have any questions about marketing your home at the highest level or questions about anything related to real estate, please reach out to us by giving a call or sending us an email. We’d be happy to help you!

Can I Have a Moment of Your Time Today?

Today, I want to ask for a quick moment of your time. What do I really mean by that?

Well, when your home was listed for sale, and it expired, it notified the real estate community your home was on the market recently, but no longer is. If you haven’t already, you’re going to receive a lot of phone calls from Realtors about your motivation and intention as a previous seller.

Naturally, you probably have your guard up. You’re getting all these phone calls from different people telling you all sorts of different things. Maybe they’re telling you about why you should or shouldn’t list right now. It’s confusing. However, to make the next decision, you need to ask yourself if you have intentions of selling your home again soon or not.

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Ask yourself if you have intentions 
of listing your home again soon.

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I suggest taking a moment to listen to these Realtors. Hear them out. For instance, if I call you to ask some questions, my intention isn’t to pressure you into a decision you’re not ready to make, but instead, to understand where you stand as a seller. I want to do what is best for you.

Although you’re getting bombarded with inquiries, take a step back and hear a few of these agents out. Understand how these people can help you if you’re thinking of listing your home again in the near future. If you’re thinking of buying or selling an Orange County home, give me a call or send me an email today!

What to Do After Your Listing Expires

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When you’re unsuccessful with a home sale and the listing expires, you really have three options. One third of people will re-list right away, one third will re-list in a few months, and the final third will just give up and decide not to sell.

Some of these people will hire the same agent they hired in the past, some will hire a new agent. Whatever your situation is, it’s important to know if your home expires you will fall into one of three categories.

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You want to choose an agent based 
on their strategy.

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We always recommend that sellers interview at least two or three agents before making a decision. Interviewing other agents will help you realize what went wrong previously. It you give an agent six months to sell your property and they can’t sell it in that time frame, you’ll probably get the same results if you hire them again. You want to choose an agent based on their strategy, marketing plan, and confidence level.

If you have any questions for me at any time, feel free to give me a call or send me an email.

Expert Advice for Orange County Home Sellers

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Why should you re-list your home in the Orange County market right after it has expired? I can think of a few different reasons:

• You’re already in the mindset of selling
• Your home is still show-ready
• Interest rates are below 4%
• Inventory is low, so you’ll have less competition from other sellers
• Increasing interest rates will make your next purchase more expensive

Now is a great time to sell your home and buy a new one. You can sell for top dollar and then use that extra cash to invest in a new home with ultra-low interest rates. It’s important for you to buy a home now if you’re on the fence because it will only cost you more money down the road.

If you need help selling your expired listing, please don’t hesitate to contact me!