I hear this statement all the time. “I’ll wait a couple of months and then put my home back on the market.. That way it will look like a brand new listing!”.
Let’s use a couple of examples for this:
1) A home just showed up on the market. It looks great! You haven’t gone to see it yet, but you are excited… You call your agent to get some info and schedule a showing… Your great Realtor informs you that the house was just listed, but 3 months ago it had expired from being on the market for a year at the same price and had not sold.. What thoughts run through your head about the house now?
2) Same scenario as above, except this time the home has been relisted after a year?
What are your thoughts about the two scenarios above? Don’t go reading my thoughts until you have thought about each one above… I’M SERIOUS, THINK ABOUT IT!!! hehe
Did you think about the 2 above, or are you looking for a spoiler?!?! /tease
There really is no right or wrong answer to these scenarios, but in the first scenario, the thoughts that run through my head are:
1) Gotcha! You just want me to think your home is new on the market, but it’s prolly still the same old house that is overpriced, has problems, or no one else wants…
2) What have you done in the past 3 months? Is there anything new in the listing description that would tell me you did some work on the house in the 3 months? Will the listing agent stutter and not have an answer to this question when asked?
3) Is there better homes in that area/price range?
In the second scenario, I am more likely to give them a little leniency, but I will be looking for changes that have been made to the property in the past year. I also will be very interested to see what their competition is like, and what price they are at now… I will harass the listing agent to see what the inside scoop is on the property/sellers as well..
Maybe I am different than most people… Maybe I am the only person(Realtor) who looks at these things, but in my mind they will become negotiation tactics for if we decide to make an offer.
I offer up these examples because a lot of people, who are looking to relist their homes, are asking me these questions. Maybe the home needs repairs, or maybe the previous realtor might have messed up some stuff in the listing, but most of the time it’s a price issue. Get a GOOD second opinion on if your home was listed correctly, all the i’s dotted, and t’s crossed, and if everything looks right, then you probably have a price issue.
If a home doesn’t sell in 6-12 months, no matter the market, chances are good that it is less of a value than other homes in the area. Overpriced homes sell their competition. Realtors take buyers through overpriced homes to show the value of lower priced homes… “Look, they want 375k for this house, and didn’t we just see one that was a bit nicer for 350k 1 street over? Hrmm, we better go buy that house 1 street over before someone else does!” An over priced home compels urgency on the part of buyers… It’s like a blue light special on aisle five, that you dont really want or need, but it’s a great deal, so we better take advantage of it… Does that make sense?
If you have been on the market, there is no point in staying off the market for any length of time.. Get a new contract signed, and when it gets put into the system you should make sure you get a new MLS/BLC number. I’ll just warn you in advance that any realtor, even the bad ones, are going to see that you were on the market previously.. There is even a link on every single listing that is labeled “History”… One simple click and a realtor knows you were listed previously with a different agent, or the same agent.. Heck, I can look back into the late 90’s on my BLC system to see what history a home has. Kind of fun to hit someone up with a “Hey, you paid 310k in 2001 for this home!” and see the look on their face.. hehe
Try the new mls/blc number trick if you want to, I do, but when push comes to shove, the jig will be up.. hehe
Side Note: I use the new mls number, not because i want to fool anyone, but because it gives my listing a second chance to be viewed by a potential buyer. Price reductions work the same way. In our BLC system, a lot of agents use Client Gateways, basically they setup a search for their buyer clients, and then the buyers can mark homes that are interesting, possibilities, or not-interesting. A new mls number will give your home that second chance to be spotted if it was marked not-interesting via a rash decision.
MLS = Multiple Listing Service.
BLC = Broker Listing Cooperative(Same as MLS).
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