FSBO sellers listen up! Here is a checklist to educate FSBO sellers as well as prospective home sellers on the most common reasons your first attempts to sell your home can fail and join the ranks of the “expired listings.”

18 MISTAKES SELLERS MAKE

WHEN PUTTING THEIR HOME ON THE MARKET

AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

OR

18 REASONS WHY A HOME MAY NOT SELL

AND JOIN THE RANKS OF THE EXPIRED

1. Pricing home too high: Have a professional determine comparable home sales and listing competition in your neighborhood.  You want top dollar, plus you want all the buyers to see your home.  The top agents know how to walk that fine line between attracting the highest offers and not scaring off qualified buyers.

2. Small repairs bring big profits and fast sales: Have a professional give you low-cost solutions to minor repairs that will yield big profits.  I have arranged a professional inspection for my sellers so we are actually selling “pre-inspected properties.”  This is simply another reason why I get more showings for my sellers.

3. Not considering alternate financing terms (besides cash): Have a professional give you options that may be better than cash for you, the homeowner, and financing options that excite a buyer.  All of my sellers have a flyer that we give them called the “Fifteen Ways a Buyer Can Finance” detailing how they can finance your home!

4. Market Timing: Have a professional determine if the market cycle is poised to net you the most money.  At least, ask to be shown how you can attract the best offers in a down market.  There are opportunities in good and bad markets.  At Premiers, we study market trends and know what is around the corner.

5. Providing easy access for showings: There are many ways to show a home.  “Appointment only” is the most restrictive; “lock boxes” are the least restrictive.  Have a professional help you determine which approach, or combination of approaches is best for your lifestyle and home selling goals.  I have full-time staff who will make sure your home is shown when that buyer is ready.  Another exclusive service of Premiers is that we train each of the agents in our office on how to best show your home!

6. Staging your property correctly: Can you put items in storage?  Create more light or music?  Tyler can help you with ideas, a handyman, or designer.  Once the marketing has started, we will try to make your property a better value every week.

7. Choosing the right REALTOR®: Your REALTOR® may be a little biased, but you can call me for a list of probing interview questions to ask each real estate agent you interview.  Get the right one this time.  Get someone who will customize the marketing plan to meet your needs.

8. Believing that selling property is seasonal: Do not base selling decisions purely on the seasons. Some seasons are a little tougher, some a little easier but the point is that property is always selling.  In fact, in the traditional “off times” there is less inventory, and, therefore, more activity on the properties that are listed.  One of our biggest months for home sales and seller success has been December. I know, right?

9. Pricing home too low: One reason to hire Tyler is to make sure that no money is left on the table when negotiating the terms of the sale comes to a close. We will make sure all of the features and benefits of your property are not only brought out in our world marketing campaign, but also that you get paid a good value for them.

10. Not using current marketing technology: Make sure your agent is hip to the latest digital marketing technologies with web sites, a social media presence, search engine technology, and the latest in buyer follow-up communications.  Google the words you think a buyer might use when looking for property in the area.  See whose name comes up!

11. Reevaluating the marketing plan every 10 days: Changing course because you aren’t making fast enough progress almost never works. That said, the market, you, and your real estate require intuitive changes to the marketing plan and how we are perceived by the buyers on a regular basis.  That is why we schedule a quick “Marketing Review” meeting with our seller clients every ten working days.

12. Believing the agent is not doing the job: When there are not any offers did you know that 80% of your buyer activity comes from signs and the MLS?  Even the most mediocre agent does that!  If you have lack of showing problems, look at the price, terms, and staging in relation to the asking price.  Remember, there are hundreds of things we can do to add value to your property rather than just dropping the price!

13. Ignoring first impressions from the buyer: Sales have been hampered by unkempt lawns, cluttered closets, unpainted front doors, hard-to-work locks, dead light bulbs, bad colors, stains, unlit areas, and unusual smells.  Spend time on the little things, double up on your landscaping, keep things cleaner than usual and "marshal" the pets.  Understanding you still have a life, I will give you a simple list of small things you can do that have an outsized effect on buyers’ impressions.

14. Not giving the sales effort enough time: You should never give too little time to something that is inherently a long process. Estimate the time you have to sell and then add some time so that you are never put in the position of having to do something based on deadlines.  Tyler can help you with the average time on market in your area and in your price range.  We do, however, pride ourselves on beating the average days on market, as published by our Multiple Listing Service.

15. Dealing with unqualified or unsavory characters: One of the best reasons to hire a real estate professional is that they have the ability to prequalify a prospect, financially, before valuable negotiation time is lost.  More importantly, they have the training to discern if a prospect's motivation to view your house may be something other than purchasing a home.  Understand that I use a team approach in achieving your goals as a seller.  One of my team members is a lender who I will involve in your sale early.  They will pre-approve every buyer that I show your home to, so you don’t waste your time on frivolous offers!

16. Believing you are powerless to make a difference: The top agents in the industry report that sellers themselves are responsible for one out of six sales!  You can network with your business and personal friends, hand out flyers to your personnel department, and keep the house "ready to move into."  Your professional real estate agent should be ready to hand out all sorts of easy assignments to make the "team effort" successful.  I have a list of thirty items you can help with, if you are so inclined.  Please click here.  (note: this is the team document in our listing presentation named “Beating the Competition Every Time.”

17. Testing the market: Never put your property on the market unless you really want to sell!  Even unsophisticated and unrepresented buyers can see those changes on Zillow and other online platforms and this is a sure signal that you don’t know what you’re doing or have a plan. However, if you list with a great agent, get ready for a professional sales effort.  If your plan includes indecision, be prepared for frustration because offers for top-dollar is Tyler's objective.

18. Not setting up expectations with your agent: A good agent will inquire about your expectations for the relationship from the get-go. Your agent needs to guarantee how fast the return phone calls are made, how many websites your home will be on, numbers of open houses, and a myriad of other micro-commitments – all in writing!  Our marketing plans have as many as 200 specific accountabilities built-in. 

Let us meet and meet your goals!

Sincerely,

Tyler E. West

Premiers.co

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