Stop Before You Reduce the Price

Stop Before You Reduce the Price
by Jennifer Allan

If your listing isn't selling and you're not sure that a price reduction is the best solution, what else can you look at? Well, it might be really simple. Have you checked access lately? Lockbox still there? Key still in it? Key still work in the lock (sticky locks kill showings)?

Is the seller declining or restricting showings? Have you previewed your listing lately? Does it still show well and smell good? How's your MLS description? Is it dull ("3 bedroom/2 bath ranch in Woodbridge") or jazzy ("Mid-Century tri-level with modern flair!")? Do you over-promise and under-deliver? Are the photos in season? Are there photos? Are the driving directions correct, if the property isn't a slam-dunk to find?
Here's a biggie; is there a buyer for this house? Are other similar homes selling? If so, there's something wrong with yours. If not, there may simply not be a buyer on the planet at this time and you can't manufacture one. Not all homes are sellable, contrary to popular opinion.

Take a really close look at what IS selling in the neighborhood or market area. Can you identify any common denominators among the selling listings versus the non-selling ones? Maybe all the sales are of four-bedroom homes and your listing has three. Maybe it's the two-story models that are selling and yours is a ranch. You can't fix that, of course, but it might help you understand (and explain to your seller).

But what if the problem isn't simple, but is fixable? For example, what if the home has structural damage … or a strong smoke or cat urine smell? What if the kitchen was poorly renovated… in the 70’s? What if it’s a one-bath home in a market that expects at least two? These are fixable problems, and the fact of the matter is that fixing them will almost always be far less expensive for your seller than an effective price reduction. It’s nearly impossible to price a structurally-challenged home low enough to interest a retail buyer, or even most investors. However, repairing a structural problem may not be nearly as costly as everything thinks it will be. Get a bid. Get two bids.

An objectionable smell is another item that is far better corrected than priced for. Buyers buy on emotion, and if a home smells bad, the only emotion inspired will be a negative one. You probably can’t price low enough to encourage a buyer to fall in love with a smelly house. An otherwise wonderful one-bath home will almost certainly be overlooked by buyers and agents if the price-range offers plentiful two-bath homes. Adding a second bath, if at all possible, can dramatically increase the likelihood of sale, far above the actual “value” of that bath. What if your seller doesn’t have the money, desire or time to make the needed corrections or repairs?

Well, then you must certainly price for the deficiency (or decline the listing) but at least you tried. It is ultimately your seller’s decision whether or not to maximize the marketability of his home… but it is ultimately your decision whether or not to take a listing.

Published: August 30, 2012

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.