Why Didn’t This Home Sell? Answering the Burning Question About Expired Listings.
This specific niche of properties, expired listings, is an interesting group to look at. If you’re a real estate agent working in Manhattan or Brooklyn, prospecting to this group may already be a part of your daily routine. If not, it’s not a bad idea to add that into your routine. This group makes up a prime area to try to cultivate new clients and grow your business. But once you’ve acquired an expired listing as a new client, this burning question remains: why didn’t this home sell the first time?
Reason #1: Too High a Price
No matter what marketing strategy you use or how much your client is paying for top-notch marketing, if the home is not priced competitively, it will not sell. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that if the house sits longer, it’s fine. It will eventually sell for the higher asking price. But actually, it’s quite the contrary. The more time the house sits on the market, the more buyers either think there’s a problem with the house or that they can lowball with their offer. If you overprice a home, it’s most likely going to languish on the market and then make buyers think there’s a problem. So price it competitively to comparable homes in the area with similar amenities/finishes.
Reason #2: Inexperienced Real Estate Agent
Another reason the property might not have sold is the real estate agent wasn’t on top of things. Perhaps they were disorganized, or not prioritizing this client’s home. Maybe they were new and didn’t have the experience to negotiate or didn’t have the knowledge of the market to know how to price or how to effectively sell. But that’s where you come in! You bring a fresh set of eyes to the property and you bring fresh insight into how to market and sell the home. Do your research, stay organized, develop a solid marketing plan and bring your knowledge and expertise to the table.
Reason #3: Poor Marketing Strategy
The last major reason why a home or property wouldn’t sell is an inefficient marketing strategy. Nowadays, most homebuyers will find properties they’re interested in online. If a real estate agent doesn’t know how to maximize home exposure using online platforms or doesn’t have a social media presence, this will lead to the listing expiring. You can make sure you develop a solid plan to market the property including: social media platform usage, stellar listing photos, standout descriptions of the home, use of the MLS and more.
Your goal is to make the expired listing now as appealing as possible to potential buyers! And three ways to do that are: setting a fair price, utilizing your negotiating (and people) skills, and implementing an awesome marketing plan.
*ExpLiMO provides high quality leads on a daily basis and offers a unique opportunity for Manhattan and Brooklyn real estate agents to prospect for expired listing leads and grow their business exponentially.