Why Isn’t My House Selling in Sacramento
Originally posted on https://www.webuyhousessacramento.org/why-isnt-my-house-selling-in-sacramento/
Why do some sit on the market for months at a time? And why isn’t your house selling? In our latest post, we will help you to understand some reasons why your house isn’t selling, and what you can do about it!
Selling any home takes a lot of work. Whether it’s a Sellers Market, Buyers Market… it does Not Matter. If your house is not up to the task, it doesn’t matter what the team looks like your results are going to be poor if you are not targeting the right buyers.
Your house, its location, age, condition amenities and price determine It is only when a price, a property and a buyer all lineup that you are able to achieve a sale. To make this happen as the seller, you need to take a good look at your home and the price you are asking.
Why do some homes sell right away?
The perfect Storm.
Why Isn’t My House Selling in Sacramento
Is Your Price too High?
So many people are quick to list a property, without really considering the amount they will actually walk away with. You might take a guess at what it’s worth, and mark it up a bit for commissions and other listing costs. If only it were that easy. Many sellers don’t have a realistic value for their home. Before you list, run some comps for properties that have recently sold in your area. You might even consider having an appraisal done.
If you need to lower the price of your house, it will be visible to potential buyers viewing your property on the MLS and other marketing sites. If you lower the price over and over, you will make people think there is something wrong with the house.
Clean and then Deep Clean
No matter how cute you think your stuff is, it’s still YOUR stuff. How can someone imagine your extra bedroom as an office if there are teddy bears everywhere?
- Put away any personal items.
- Clear away paperwork from tables and desks.
- Take pictures down.
- Put away things like your robe, your razor, and your toothbrush.
And while you’re at it, give it a thorough cleaning. To be blunt, your typical cleaning habits may not be on par with some of the people viewing your home. Now is the time to channel your inner neat freak.
Your House is the Product… You Must Compete
Thinking about listing in Sacramento? Do you know what you’re up against? Take a good look at properties for sale in your area. Know what your neighbors are asking for their homes, and what comparable houses have recently sold for. Check out listing sites as well as with your local Title Company for cash sales…. Don’t look at what people are asking, look at what houses have actually SOLD for.
Fix It!
Big number here… 98% of all buyers want move in ready while nearly 20% would consider buying a house that needs work if there were substantial price reduction involved. Great… Point me to that lender that will finance that house because its called a conventional loan and requires 20% down and a higher interest rate or a hard money lender that cargees between 10% and 15% interest and wants to know how you are going to fix the house.
Honesty is key here. There are things you might have been overlooking for so long, that now they just seem normal. Get an outside opinion on what repairs should be made. Ask friends for candid opinions. Ask your agent. And consider ordering a professional home inspection on your own. Fixing the things in need of repair will improve your selling chances, and lower your potential buyer’s wanting concessions and holding out over repairs.
Professional Photography
People use the internet to buy homes. In our opinion, nothing can destroy a listing faster than bad photography. On the flip side, well done, professional photos can make your listing skyrocket. Don’t settle for an agent who takes a picture of your home from the car. And going back to the above, there should not be ANY clutter in your photos. Seriously. Nothing. Even if you put everything back after the picture is taken… putting some effort into great photos will make or break your listing.
Your Agent Has Dropped the Ball
That is a shocker… Some agents will do the bare minimum and cross their fingers for a sale. They might have gotten their license in hopes of making a quick buck. Then there is Westbrook REI. We are real estate professionals that genuinely want to help people! We believe everyone should love the real estate they own.
The Preliminary Title Has Issues
It is very difficult to sell a property with liens or other title problems. Maybe your great aunt gave you the property, but it was never properly put in your name. (AKA, transfer without conveyance.) To sell a property in Sacramento do whatever you can to clear this up before you list.
Sales and Marketing are Not the Same Thing
Sales as a profession is universally mischaracterized and oftentimes confused with marketing. In real estate, the confusion is common because in general there are just so many people that have never had any training in either to the extent that many real estate agents actually believe that they are sales people. From the extent that they are cold calling either by knocking on doors and making phone calls to get listings, it is true, but the vast majority of what real estate agents are supposed to do is marketing.
The marketing is what gets buyers to call and the Open Houses to be full. The selling is what is a closing and that happens at the Title Company. In an industry where approximately 87% of all real estate agents wash out in the first five years, it’s no wonder the misunderstanding is there. It also explains two other facts;
- 72% of all people that hire a real estate agent, hire the first real estate agent that they talk to regardless of their experience or expertise and
- Nearly 40% of all listings with real estate agents expire before there is an accepted offer
From a sales perspective that is a very poor performance and it says three things;
- the bottom 40% of the real estate market is NOT Served at all
- Sellers are part of the problem based on the way that they hire real estate agents
- Most real estate agents don’t understand Marketing or targeting buyers
The statistics bear that out. There are so many weaknesses at the grassroots level that make it difficult to sell houses. So much so that I can assure you that unless you are hiring the best real estate agent in your market, you are not getting what you pay for. Most sellers believe that they were paying for great salespeople with buyers in their pockets and a marketing machine backed up by a billion dollar logo, with a tried and true plan. In reality the real estate agent is what you get… there is no multifaceted plan that works for some houses and the majority sellers would be better if they understood the weaknesses.
Let me be clear… if 40% of all listings expire before receiving an offer then what the bottom 40% of the market got was a listing agreement. A listing agreement is not a contract to sell a house. It is a contract to pay a commission when a house finally sells. It is also explains the first stat that we gave you… 78% of all sellers sign with the first real estate agent that they talked to. My question is Why Isn’t My House Selling in Sacramento?
From my perspective, just because the real estate agent was able to get a listing agreement signed does not mean that they will get the sale closed and that is the challenge and the purpose of my post.
Lets just be honest, getting the job done and to closing requires a team of the right people. You do understand that your plan is only as good as your weakest link… right?
As the seller you need to know that you setup whatever success or failure there is and it’s up to you to select the best real estate agent if that is the channel that you decide to go. If you hire the best, you frontload the the outcome every bit as much as if you chose the worst real estate agent. That single effort to get the best representation guarantees that you’ll get buyers in the door and that really starts with the interview process.
Who said finding the best real estate agent was easy?
If you want this effort to be successful, you need to find the best qualified real estate agent that understands how to get the job done. That means you need to ask for their marketing plan, which is not a website or a brochure with words that that say marketing plan.
So the question that I have for you is, does your real estate agent have that kind of experience, influence and reach to accomplish that? Is their marketing expertise so fine tuned that they are able to reach out through social media, email or by phone and get the troops ready for the plan that they have in store for your house? Do they have a plan? Is it the same plan that everyone else has? What is their success record? That is a lot of questions and they need answers because before we can talk about offers, it is all about the effort to get the buyers in the front door.
Here is the takeaway… the very minute that the “Listing” goes live and you plant the For Sale sign in the front yard it’s all about your house and the marketing. Besides all of your renovations, it is arguably the most important and time consuming part of the process to sell your house because it requires a lot of bodies to make it work. Did you select the right real estate agent?
A cold hard fact in real estate is that it’s impossible to review any buyer offers on a house that does not receive any offers. When that happens, you know that even in a sellers market, the marketing, the pricing and the value were not targeted to the right group of buyers or the message just never hit the spot. Peter Westbrook
The Offer Has Been Accepted… Now let’s Close!
Not so Fast. What about the details?
The Alternative to a Real Estate Agent
My name is Peter Westbrook and I am a real estate Investor and a cash home buyer in Sacramento, Stockton, Manteca and Modesto. It should come as no surprise that not every house is going to get a fair shake on the market have the best representation or even going to get a top of market offer. The real estate industry has changed and it might be clear that there are many ways to cash out of your house.
We Buy Houses in Sacramento, Stockton and Modesto and if you are thinking about selling your house and it needs a lot of work, why not at least consider an all cash offer. We buy houses and we pay fair market value minus the cost of repairs and some holding cost. In a lot of cases the balance sheet is on our side especially if your goal is to spend the least amount of money while putting the most amount of your equity back in your pocket.
I admit that we may not be for everyone, but I would like to talk to you about how we do business and how we can help you. While no one can promise that they will buy your house sight unseen for whatever amount that you want, we will sit down and make a fair cash offer that will in most cases exceed what you can get if you chased the market conventionally. No Commissions, no frustrating meeting with real estate agents, no marketing, no cleaning, no fixes, inspections, no appraisals and no contingencies.
Give me a call at (209)481-7780. What have you got to lose, you may just find out that selling directly to us is your best alternative. In either case you will be get a better picture of your options, understand your houses worth and be able to make more informed decision. We’d love to earn your business.
IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO SELL YOUR HOUSE IN SACRAMENTO, CONTACT US TODAY AT (209)481-7780 OR FILL OUT OUR ONLINE CONTACT FORM.
