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Will a new agent be able to sell your home

Rolaids relief man awardIn baseball, a relief pitcher is sometimes brought in to relieve an ineffective starting pitcher. Rolaids has awarded the top relief pitcher the Relief Man Award because it ties in with their slogan, Rolaids spells relief. If your house is sitting unsold, will hiring a new agent bring you relief.

Well, it depends. Do you remember Einstein's definition of insanity, "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".

The important question is what will both you and the new agent you hire do differently to get different results.

If you don't change some of the reasons that your home has not sold already, do you really expect that a new agent will be able to sell your home. There are basically 3 reasons that you control why a home has not sold and only one that a real estate agent controls - marketing.

  • Price
  • Condition
  • Availability

If the price you are asking is not realistic considering today's Charleston real estate market conditions, don't expect to sell. And there is nothing more important than price when a buyer decides to view a home and ultimately make an offer.

You should understand that market conditions have deteriorated since you first put your home on the market. There is more competition (inventory) competing for fewer buyers (declining unit sales). If you overpriced your home when you first listed it, you will have to chase the market down in order to sell. And that is the very reason that a well priced home from the start will almost always sell for more than a home that is overpriced.

Let's talk about condition and availability for a moment. Condition is a function of price. If you are looking to attract top dollar, then the condition must be pristine. Bank foreclosures are rarely in good condition but the asking price generally reflects that.

As to availability, if it is difficult to view your home, buyers will generally look at another home. That doesn't mean that your home should always be able to be seen without any notice (which is of course, always best) but if you make it difficult to view like appointment only requiring plenty of notice or very limited viewing times or rejecting an appointment because it just isn't convenient, as they say in New Jersey, fuhhhgeddddaboutitttttttt.

A good Charleston real estate agent will not only provide you with an excellent marketing plan but will address the issues of price, condition and availability when discussing the sale of your home. Most importantly, your agent should keep you continually appraised of quickly changing market conditions including:

  • New listings
  • Price reductions by competitive listings
  • Sales price and percentage ratio to list price of competitive listings that sold
  • Absorption rates

Choose wisely. (And price your home to sell.) 

Published Monday, November 24, 2008 10:23 AM by Howard Arnoff

Comments

# re: Will a new agent be able to sell your home

Will you?  How many homes have you sold this year in Charleston?

Thursday, December 11, 2008 2:45 PM by Jim

# re: Will a new agent be able to sell your home

Jim, actually, I've turned down more listings this year than I have listed and sold but I have been very selective on the listing side, my preference in this market is to work with buyers.

There isn't much reason to waste time and money with an unrealistic seller when competing with hundreds if not thousands of homes available for sale. I am not interested in getting listings just to attract buyers, when I take a listing, my job is to sell the property.

I've kept track of some homes when I declined the listing (or wasn't chosen because the price range I recommended was not as high as some other agent) and unfortunately, many of those sellers have gone through several agents and their homes are still for sale.

For the listings I took, my average time on market has been under 60 days and the sales price was pretty close to asking price. The bottom line, when you price right from the start, not only do you sell quicker but you will net more.  

Thursday, December 11, 2008 4:27 PM by Howard Arnoff

# re: Will a new agent be able to sell your home

You did not answer my question.

How many homes have you sold ytd?  This can include representing sellers and buyers.  

Thursday, December 11, 2008 6:37 PM by Jim

# re: Will a new agent be able to sell your home

Jim, I'd be happy to talk with you about your questions and concerns. Please send me an email with your name, address and telephone but use the email link at the top right of this page, not the comment area. Thanks.

Friday, December 12, 2008 6:21 AM by Howard Arnoff
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