Top 5 Reasons a House Won't Sell
(Adapted Arizona Republic Article by Robert Bruss)

The National Association of Realtors recently reported that the home-sales market continues to be very strong, yet many homes languish on the market during this peak buying-season. Why? Experienced residential sales agents will tell you there are three primary reasons why a home has not sold, but 100%-truthful agents will whisper two additional reasons. Here are the five primary reasons why some homes do not sell even in today's "perfect market" of ultra-low mortgage interest rates, abundant home supply, and many potential buyers:

The asking price is too high
If a home doesn't sell in today's low-interest-rate market within 60 days, it is probably overpriced. Market values are set based on recent sale prices of comparable nearby residences. Sellers and their listing agents need to keep current on this data.

The condition of the residence is poor
Smart home sellers paint and fix up their homes before putting them up for sale. Fresh paint inside and out, serious cleaning and repairing, new carpeting, and minor fix-ups such as new light fixtures and fresh landscaping are usually all that is required to upgrade a home from a fixer-upper to a model, move-in-condition home.

The home has incurable defects
An incurable defect in a home means that fixing the problem is either impossible or too costly to be reasonable. A better approach to selling an "incurable defect home" is to offer it for sale "as is" with a bargain asking price.

Listing agent discourages the home sale
Some listing agents are home-sale obstacles. Without intentionally doing so, some agents make it difficult for buyer's agents to show and sell a home, so much so that buyer's agents avoid them. For this reason, sellers should list their home or condo for sale for no longer than 90 days, just in case the listing agent is a dunce. A closely-related problem occurs when a home is listed with an out-of-area real estate agent who knows nothing of the local home-sale market.

The marketing methods used by the listing agent are ineffective
Listing agents who do not put all of their listings on the local Multiple Listing Service and on the Internet are missing a huge source of prospective buyers. In addition, the best agents use aggressive marketing plans such as their own Web sites, local mailings, re-location marketing services to attract out-of-town buyers, weekend open houses, broker open houses, and all-important newspaper ads, which attract most home buyers.

For more information about how you can sell your home in the shortest time for the most money, call me today at 602-628-3077, or e-mail me. You'll be glad you did!