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Our house has been on the market for about 5 months. We have had 22 showings and 3 second showings. No offers. The feedback on the house itself has been very positive. The main drawback is that we back to a fairly busy road. Many have commented that they love the house but are concerned about the road. We dropped the price about 4 weeks ago and showings picked up some. There are three other homes for sale in our neighborhood with the same floor plan. We are substantially lower than 2 of them and slightly higher than one but that one is a short sale.
Our realtor has done a ton of marketing. Heavy internet presence, virtual tour, and print advertising. She also paid for a stager. We get feedback on every showing if she can get the agent to respond. The feedback is usually requested through email by her assistant. My questions is about how the sales aspect vs. marketing. Should the selling agent be at the home for showings? What about second showings? (My realtor says this is just not done here in Reno, NV). Should they personally call the buyers agent and encourage them to make offers? In other words, how pushy should they be and does this do any good?
The house i recently sold had the same problem: it had a busy road along one side. A lovely house in a estate-type neighborhood, but was located at the entrance to the community, just off the busy road. Knowing that the road would be a possible problem, I installed a six-foot high wooden stockade fence along the entire 300 foot side boundary. It created visual privacy, and reduced -- but didn't eliminate -- the traffic noise.
I had several potential buyers say that they would have put in an offer but for the road. I reduced the price so that it was well below others in the neighborhood, but came to the conclusion that selling a house along side a busy road just takes longer. In other words, there are some people who simply don't mind a busy road, at least not very much. If the house is priced right, sooner or later one of those people will come along. We had our buyer within three months.
I think it's a little like selling a modern-style house: there IS a viable market for them, it's just smaller than that for traditional-style houses, thus it takes a little longer to sell.
However, i decided that i will never again buy a house alongside a busy road.
Thanks for your reply. When we purchased the house, it was a seller's market. Very little inventory. We knew what we were getting into. Unfortunately, we need to sell in this horrible market. We know we will take a loss on the house. We are fortunate in that we can afford to take a loss. We have a privacy wall that helps some and a beautiful yard. We won't ever buy near a busy street again either. We have had several potential buyers say the street did not bother them and they loved the house. Unfortunately, these were buyers that were not yet ready to move. They were just on an early get-to-know the area tour or whatever. I know somebody will come along.
Still wondering what type of behavior to expect from realtors...
Realtors cannot push a client to buy a home. When the buyer comes into a home they will know if it's a fit for them. If it isn't, then there is nothing that any realtor can say that will make them buy.
The job of the buyers agent is to understand what the buyer wants and to locate that home for them; then to negotiate for a good price. S/he would be offended if a listing agent called and tried to talk her into getting a client to make an offer.
If, for a moment, you place yourself in the buyers position, you'll understand what I mean.
Today, buyers have many choices, and they are looking at Location, Condition and Price.
Unfortunately, you have a location that is not the most popular, so the buyers who like the rest of the home and the price will not buy it, because they know that they'll be able to find the perfect house.
Just know that one day someone will come in who loves your home, and the price, and the road behind will not be an issue for them.
As far as the listing agent being present for showings it isn't done where I am either. As a buyer I would be put off by having an extra agent hovering.
If the listing agent is at the home if I came through with my own agent, I would be very put off by that. Our neighbor's agent is this way, our's is not. She actually follows them throughout the house. People need to feel free to look around the house and make honest comments, not feel as if they need to put on a show for the listing agent. It sounds as if your agent has done a great job of marketing your home. Good luck with your sale, I think we all need a little bit of luck at the moment!
When I get an email about a showing that is soon, I call the showing agent and thank him/her for showing the property, oh... and I wanted them to know that the HOA meeting was last Friday, and they voted to open the pool the 2nd week in May. Or the 2007 property taxes went down $83 from last year, or the sellers refinished the hardwoods a week ago, gosh they are georgeous...you get the point. I tell then something they wouldn't know, making them look very professional in the eyes of the buyers.
I try to appear "warm, friendly and approachable" often I am leaving a message.
If the showing agent calls me, they are fishing for info that could get put into an offer, or totally eliminate my property from the picture.
So it's a fine line between professional and pissed off.
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