Why isn't my house selling?

Recent email is common these days

This inquiry recently came through my website and I thought it'd be a good topic!

Selling our house. It has been on the market since April and we really need to sell. It is located in Washington Heights neighborhood. 4 bedroom 2 bath, great neighbors. Everyone tells us they cannot see why it has not sold. It is very frustrating. How can you help us?


In determining why your house hasn't sold, the first thing you have to look at is showings. Most new listings get the most showings when they first list and those are the most motivated buyers. It's very important to get feedback from those buyers as to why they rejected your property.

After that, you need to look at whether or not you are getting frequent showings. If you are, it is important to follow up with those buyers for feedback. Why did they reject your property? Is there anything you can do to prevent that result with the next buyer? If you are not getting showings, you have to determine if it is the market or your marketing.

To determine if it is the market, have your agent research market activity from the date of your listing. How much competition do you have currently active? What is the average days on the market? What has sold since you listed? How long did it take for them to sell? Have the sold properties been in your price range or are the sales in your area predominately in a lower price bracket? If properties have sold in your price range, what was it about those properties that made them more attractive to buyers? Can you do anything to change that and better compete?

If more properties sold in a lower price range and you cannot compete with those prices or if there are many properties in your price range as competition, you may just have to wait out the market. If properties have sold in your price range, you'll have to determine what you need to do to make your property stand out against the competition. There are many things that you can do to make your property stand out. It takes a combination of marketing, staging and pricing.

When marketing, there are two key places to focus: buyers on the internet and real estate brokers.

For buyers, make sure your property is easily found on the internet at all of the popular real estate portals. Ads should be updated weekly and written to reflect popular keyword searches. Photos should be numerous (15-20) and well executed. Virtual tours should be designed to give buyers an accurate idea of the traffic flow of the property. The home should be well staged, so it looks amazing in the photographs & virtual tours. Available software allows brokers to provide a floor plan, so the buyers may see the layout. Photos and the floorplan should be printed on the back of the information flyers. Open houses should be advertised in numerous places online.

It's also important to make your property stand out in the minds of real estate professionals in your area. This can be accomplished with broker open house tours (much more effective than general public open houses) and direct advertising to the agents through email and/or mail flyers. The MLS is a great resource for finding agents who are active in your area.

None of this is a guarantee that your home will sell, but it will increase your chances greatly. The market is the single greatest influence, so it is important to know what has been happening in your market and what steps to take, if any, to counter that adversity.

For example, I have a listing that has been on the market, off and on, for 18 months. They are well advertised and beautifully staged. They seem to be well priced. However, there are 59 properties for sale in their area. Only 11 properties have sold since they listed and many were $30,000-$100,000 less than their price. The area is depressed and much of the buyer pool was eliminated when financing became unavailable. There is nothing else they can do, other than reduce the price, which they keep doing. Eventually, they will hit the right price. Fortunately, they do not have to sell, so they are waiting out the market now.

Every situation is different. If you must sell now, then you need to review the above suggestions to see how you may position your property better in the current market. Your first step is to have your agent update you on what has been selling and what is your current competition. Only once you know that will you know what steps to take next.

If your home is well staged, properly marketed and in an area where homes are selling, then the only thing you can do is get it to the right price.

I hope this is some help to you and I wish you a successful sale!

Shorewood, WI Market Report

What's going on in your local real estate market?

This is a new feature for Milwaukee Real Estate News. I will be frequently updating you on what's going on in different, local markets!

Total Active Listings: 109

Active Single Family: 41
Average Days On Market: 109
Average List Price: $391,473
Average Price Reduction: 5.46%

2008 Sold Single Family: 74 (115/2007)
Average Days On Market: 77 (57/2007)
Average Sale Price: $463,764 ($374,904/2007)
Median Sale Price: $323,300 ($311,000/2007)
Average Price Reduction: 5.86%

Active Condo: 34
Average Days On Market: 333
Average List Price: $314,191
Average Price Reduction: 3.66%

2008 Sold Condo: 24 (33/2007)
Average Days On Market: 150 (124/2007)
Average Sale Price: $203,221 ($218,594/2007)
Median Sale Price: $160,000 ($187,200/2007)
Average Price Reduction: 10.31%

Active Duplex: 26
Average Days On Market: 146
Average List Price: 309,085
Average Price Reduction: 7.02%

2008 Sold Duplex: 12 (14/2007)
Average Days On Market: 91 (98/2007)
Average Sale Price: $268,375 ($288,536/2007)
Median Sale Price: $274,500 ($282,050/2007)
Average Price Reduction: 8.08%

Multifamily: 2
Average Days on Market: 144
Average List Price: $564,000
Average Price Reduction: N/A

2008 Sold Multifamily: N/A (0/2007)

If you would like other community information or information about a specific property, check out the "Recently Sold" page on my website at http://bestmilwaukeehomes.com. If you'd like an overview like this posted about YOUR area, just leave a comment or email me!

New Listing!

This is a great house in a popular neighborhood in the City of Milwaukee!

3407 S. 78th St, Milwaukee, WI 53219
Priced to sell - Seller will consider offers $174,900-$169,900! Don't miss this lovely, updated home in a highly sought City neighborhood! Sunny floor plan showcases a spacious kitchen with included island, formal dining room, formal living room & an awesome lower level with a family room, office & second 3/4 bath! Oversized yard offers garden beds & a private patio. Updates incl. newer mechanicals, light fixtures & flooring. A must see!!!

More Photos & Info >

Federal First-Time Home Buyers Tax Credit

Did you know that this tax credit was available for first-time home buyers in the Milwaukee area, too?

It's available for real estate purchases made between April 2008 and July 2009, so there is still time!

This is a $7,500 credit, so it could replace the downpayment & closing costs for a lot of homebuyers - think of it as a reimbursement. Or it could be used to make repairs and updates on that first home.

You don't even have to be a "true" first-time buyer. If you (and your spouse) haven't owned a home in the past three years, you still qualify!

This even counts with new construction - it just has to be your primary residence and the first home you have owned in the past three years.

For more information, check out this link:
http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com

Photolicious

A good eye and a good camera shows


So, I recently had the "opportunity" to compare how another agent's photos look on the same house. My listing expired and the sellers felt they were forced to go with an agent who would give them a "better" commission scale. Ultimately, the house sold to a buyer under my contract and after all was said and done, they pocketed more money with my "full" commission, when you figured in the other company's "extra" costs.

Anyhow, I thought these comparisions were pretty interesting. Some are more subtle than others, but note cut-off or missing features, strange angles, narrow views, missing ceilings, clutter in the shot, lack of staging and blurry photos. My photos are on the right:

Theirs...............................Mine