Yesterday I spoke to one of the regular vendor's at the Sunday 'Flea Market'. He has his home on the market, he's getting very little activity, but he has a good relationship with his Realtor. He wants to sell (motivated) but not desperate (doesn't want to reduce the price unnecessarily).
What can he (the seller) do to help?
My suggestion is for him to talk to his Realtor and arrange to view the competition. Not just properties that are similar or in the same price range - but THE COMPETITION - the properties that his agent considers to be the most significant competition.
If your property is not getting much activity... (usually measured in VIEWINGS) your agent should have a good sense of who you're competing with for the Buyer's attention. Realtors watch the new and sold listings, we talk to other agents, we're interested in the market.
Now I wouldn't expect your agent to know what had been listed or sold in the last 24 hours but in most cases they should be able to offer a good summary of the competition at any time and be able to accommodate a request to view the real competition within a couple of days.
What are you looking for?
At minimum, you want to know what you can, should or need to do to move your property into the top three on the list. You might still have to wait for the other two to sell... but you should be seeing as much activity as the competition.
If you think that the properties your agent shows are not really in competition with your property then it's time for a real heart to heart with your agent ...and don't expect to get the real results you want if you do all the talking. See: Mismatched Expectations
Coming soon, "OK, I've seen the Competition..."
© 2007
David L. Potter