So Your House Didn’t Sell... Now What?
The Ultimate Guide for Getting Your House SOLD....... the Next Time Around
Table of Contents
My House Didn’t Sell…Why did the Phone Start Ringing!
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Prudent Next Steps?
4
Should You Relist Your House Now Or Wait Some More?
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Before You Meet With Me or Any Other Agent
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Feedback Is Very Helpful
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Interpreting Feedback
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Was It Price? Market? Marketing? Why Didn’t My House Sell?
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Your First Two Weeks Back On The Market
10
Window Of Opportunity
11
Tips To Sell Your House Faster
12
I Hope This Helps!
13
Qualifications to Get Your House Sold!
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Successes
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The Only Choice To Call
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My House Didn’t Sell… Why did the phone start ringing? When you first listed your house for sale, you were probably excited to receive many calls from agents to schedule an appointment to show your house. You probably didn’t expect that you’d got more calls from agents after your listing expired than you did while it was on the market. Were they promising to get your house sold, or saying they “may have a buyer” for your house? No, we didn’t call, knock, or mail you anything back then for two reasons… 1.
Courtesy. We knew you were being pounded by more agents than you wanted. We didn’t want to add another person to your list of callers.
2.
We thought you might want to wait before relisting. Well, not just you. We often see that many people whose house has “expired” want to take a breather, regroup or give it a little time and thought before going back on the market.
Too many people rush to get their house back on the market and some get rushed into it, either way, it isn’t necessarily the best decision.
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Cheryl Scott-Daniels
Cheryl@csdgroup.com
203-341-0100
www.YourFairfieldCountyHomes.com
Prudent Next Steps! We created this guide to specifically help those who pause and think things through before going back on the market. The fact that you didn’t rush to relist is a good sign that you’re thoughtful about what you’re doing, and we hope this guide will help you think it through as thoroughly as possible. So give it a read, and feel free to call us with any questions you may have as you read it! And of course, if you’re leaning toward relisting your house soon or in the near future, I’d love the chance to meet with you and discuss what might have gone wrong and how I can help you to be successful. Hopefully, this guide will give you a good sense of who we are and how we conduct business.
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Cheryl Scott-Daniels
Cheryl@csdgroup.com
203-341-0100
www.YourFairfieldCountyHomes.com
Should You Re-list Now… Or Wait Some More? Take a few moments and actually jot down your reasons for selling and think about the associated costs of selling vs waiting. So now the question becomes: Should you relist your house right away or keep it off the market for a while before relisting? The answer to that question will vary from one person’s situation to another and one market to another. And it can even vary within a real estate market. For instance, it might make sense to relist a house right away in the $600,000s in your area but not in the $1,000,000s. It takes a thorough analysis to make that decision properly. It’s obviously human and natural for an agent to want you to re-list your house but it isn’t necessarily the best advice for every owner whose house has expired. So, if you’re leaning toward putting your house back on the market, we’d be glad to help you to review the market and decide if the timing and market are good for you and your situation right now or if it makes sense to hold off for a while. No pressure. We’ll make sure you get an objective perspective.
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Cheryl Scott-Daniels
Cheryl@csdgroup.com
203-341-0100
www.YourFairfieldCountyHomes.com
Before You Meet With Me… Or Any Other Agent Before you meet with us or any other agent to discuss whether you should relist your house or not, take some time to jot down some things about your last experience. Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø
What frustrated you? (About the process, the market, your agent, etc.) What do you want to avoid the next time? What did you wish your agent had done differently or better? What did you like about your agent or how they did things? Did you have offers? Ample showings? Repeats? Showing feedback? Did your agent help you to stage your home? Did you have professional pictures? Video?
This will help me to understand your goals and how best to attain them. Please don’t expect (or even want) an agent who simply agrees with you and says “yes” to you just to get you to relist your house with them. There may be certain things that you didn’t like or would change next time around. For example, you may say you want to see more showings. That’s hard to promise. That will depend on a lot of factors, like the overall number of buyers in the market, their motivation, and your home’s condition and price and yes my marketing. On the other hand, if you experienced very little communication from your last agent and say you’d like to know more about what is happening from your next agent we can and definitely will accommodate that.
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Cheryl Scott-Daniels
Cheryl@csdgroup.com
203-341-0100
www.YourFairfieldCountyHomes.com
Feedback is Very Helpful!
Did your agent attempt to gain feedback from the agents whose buyers visited your house? Did the agent interpret that feedback for you? Rarely, do buyers say the price is too high if the property is within their price range. They say what they didn’t like about the house as compared to the other houses that they are seeing. Often price is the problem but sometimes that is not the issue and there are some things that we can do to increase the perception of value. Timing could also be a problem. When your house goes on the market matters. Perhaps the market was slow during the first few weeks and your house became “stale”. When buyers came into the market, they may have grown concerned that your house was on the market longer than your competition causing them to think there was something wrong with your house. This is one of the reasons why it isn’t always good to rush back on the market without analysis.
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Cheryl Scott-Daniels
Cheryl@csdgroup.com
203-341-0100
www.YourFairfieldCountyHomes.com
Interpreting Feedback WHEN AN AGENT SAYS:
THE AGENT MEANS:
“The Buyer thought the house was too small.”
The Buyer found a larger home for the same price.
“They liked the house but bought another.”
They found other houses that were better valued.
“They liked the house but bought a new home.”
Buyers will pay 10-15% more for a new house.
“They didn’t like the carpet.”
The seller should replace the carpet due to age or color.
“They thought the yard was too small, the street was too busy…”
They found other homes with larger yards, quieter streets…. For the same price. The seller may need to make minor repairs or neutralize- as compared to other houses at the same price.
“The house needs some work.””
Price Objections are always clothed in different terms. SELLER’S GOAL: To be the Very Best House in the Price Range! 8
Cheryl Scott-Daniels
Cheryl@csdgroup.com
203-341-0100
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www.YourFairfieldCountyHomes.com
Was It Price? Market? Marketing? Why Didn’t My House Sell? So, we don’t know exactly why your house didn’t sell the last time. It happens more often than you’d probably expect. It is certainly in your best interest to do it right the next time around. How do you do that? What must be considered? Before relisting, make sure you choose a qualified professional who will give you an honest opinion of value. That requires a thorough analysis of all of the factors that determine value. This will give you the highest probability of success. Some of those factors are below:
Property Location Size Style Condition Bedrooms Baths Square Feet Layout Market Buyers’ vs Sellers’ Rising vs Declining Inventory Seasonal
Marketing Strategy Tactics Target Quality Timing Pricing Realistic Aggressive Value Accessibility Easy to Show Long Notice Required
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Cheryl Scott-Daniels
Cheryl@csdgroup.com
203-341-0100
www.YourFairfieldCountyHomes.com
Your First Two Weeks Back On The Market When your house was first listed, did you see the most buyer activity in the first two weeks? The first two weeks on the market are very important. Ø If you have several requests for showings in your first two weeks, that’s a good sign that the marketing is reaching the target and your house appears to be competing well within the current market. Ø If that’s the case, you should see some offers or at least receive requests for second showings. Ø If you see good activity but receive no offers, that probably means the price is a little high. You might want to reduce it slightly. Ø If you see few showings or no showings, it’s probably an indication that your price is too high for the current market. Ø However, as stated earlier, it could also just be that the current market has few active buyers and you should just be patient. A qualified agent will be able to make that determination. Those are all more or less “rules of thumb.”. It will take an educated and experienced eye to truly assess and advise you of the best course of action. We sometimes see owners who get good activity (and even solid offers) in the first two weeks but ignore the signs and decide to wait because it happened too quickly. They frequently regret it a few weeks or months later. So, just be aware of these typical signals as you re-enter the market...so you don’t find yourself wishing you could turn back time a little while later.
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Cheryl Scott-Daniels
Cheryl@csdgroup.com
203-341-0100
www.YourFairfieldCountyHomes.com
The Window Of Opportunity
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Cheryl Scott-Daniels
Cheryl@csdgroup.com
203-341-0100
www.YourFairfieldCountyHomes.com
Tips To Sell Your House Faster
When selling your house, there are a few key things you can prioritize to have the greatest impact for a faster sale: 1. Make Buyers Feel at Home Declutter your home! Pack away all personal items like pictures, awards, and sentimental belongings. Make buyers feel like they belong in the house. It is also a great idea to stage your home. Not only will your house spend less time on the market, but buyers’ agents said that staging a home increased the dollar value offered between 1 – 5%, compared to other similar homes on the market that were not staged.” 2. Keep It Organized Since you took the time to declutter, keep it organized. Before buyers arrive, pick up toys, make the bed, and put away clean dishes. The kitchen is one of the most important rooms to stage in order to attract more buyers. Put out a scented candle or some cookies fresh from the oven. Buyers will remember the smell of your home. 3. Price It Right More inventory coming into the market guarantees there will be some competition. You want to make sure your home is noticed. A key to selling your house is ensuring it is Priced to Sell Immediately (PTSI). This means you’ll be driving more traffic to your property, and ultimately creating more interest in your home. 4. Give Buyers Full Access If your home is available anytime, that opens up more opportunity to find a buyer right away. Some buyers, especially those relocating, don’t have much time available. If they cannot get into the house, they will move on to the next one. 12
Cheryl Scott-Daniels
Cheryl@csdgroup.com
203-341-0100
www.YourFairfieldCountyHomes.com
I Hope This Helps We hope this booklet was helpful to you as you move forward with the sale of your house, whether that’s soon or at some point in the distant future. Of course, whenever that time comes, we’d love the opportunity to work with you! Even if you’re not quite ready, or especially if you’re on the fence about listing right now, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’ll gladly help you analyze and assess whether it makes sense to go back on the market now or wait a while longer. The best way to reach us to set up an appointment (or even just pick our brains for a few minutes) is to call us or text us. You can find our info on the back page of this booklet. Looking forward to hearing from you!
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Cheryl Scott-Daniels
Cheryl@csdgroup.com
203-341-0100
www.YourFairfieldCountyHomes.com
Qualifications to Get Your House Sold!
Bachelor of Science - Chemistry MBA - Marketing
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Cheryl has lived in Fairfield County for over 30 years and continues to love the lifestyle this beautiful area offers, including its proximity to New York City. Her dedication to the community is beyond measure.
Graduate Realtors Institute Accredited Staging Professional Accredited Buyer Representative Certified Residential Broker Certified Residential Specialist Certified Relocation Professional Certified Distressed Property Expert Military Residential Specialist Professional Standards Certified Specialist Seniors Real Estate Specialist Past President, Westport Sunrise Rotary Past Dir. - Earthplace Nature Discovery Center Past Dir. - A Better Chance of Westport Westport 2002 Athena Award Winner
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Cheryl Scott-Daniels
Cheryl@csdgroup.com
203-341-0100
www.YourFairfieldCountyHomes.com
Successes
Properties sold by Cheryl Scott-Daniels Cheryl Scott-Daniels has been a leading REALTORÂŽ in Fairfield County for over 30 years, helping hundreds of families to buy & sell a wide range of properties ranging from $52,500 to $7,500,000
Cheryl’s experience will help you to anticipate hurdles, avoid problems and enjoy a smooth sale. Vice Chairman Smart MLS Serving CT 15
Cheryl Scott-Daniels
Cheryl@csdgroup.com
203-341-0100
www.YourFairfieldCountyHomes.com
The only choice to call when it’s time to move
CHERYL SCOTT-DANIELS ABR, ASP, CRB, CRP, CRS, GRI, MilRES, PSCS, SRES
Cheryl@csdgroup.com Ofc: 203-341-0100 Cel: 203-200-0065 991 Post Rd E. Westport CT 06880