10 reasons why people fail to sell their homes
Among the many reasons why individuals fail to sell their homes themselves, most are related to the amount of time needed to attend to the issues involved in the real estate process, but also to tasks that can only be performed by real estate professionals.
1. TOO MANY PEOPLE TO NEGOTIATE WITH
Buying and selling a property involves answering many questions from many people, talking to one and all, negotiating with one and all:
- The buyer, who wants to reduce the price as much as possible,
- The buyer’s agent, who represents the buyer and seeks the best deal for his side,
- The buyer’s lawyer,
- The certifying company, which has to prepare the certification label, which is necessary prior to putting the property on sale,
- The owner’s bank, which manages the mortgage on the property to be transferred,
- False buyers, who only want to know the price and gossip about the property.
It is not just a matter of spending time with each of these groups of people. It is a question of knowing how to defend one’s own interests in the face of the requirements of each of them.
2. LACK OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HOW TO PREPARE THE PROPERTY PRIOR TO SALE
There are a series of tasks that are necessary to have the property ready when you want to put it up for sale. Although they are matters of common sense, there are many that are not carried out by the owners, unless they are advised in this regard:
- Tidying up the rooms
- Applying a new coat of paint to the walls.
- Carry out necessary repairs
- Clean floors and carpets
- Replace lamps and light bulbs
- Depersonalize the property: Remove personal items, pictures, mementos, photographs, etc.
Homeowners only have one bullet per visit; if they are also living in the property, it is almost impossible to get rid of personal belongings, is an almost impossible task.
3. QUALIFICATION OF POTENTIAL BUYERS
Private individuals do not carry out research work on the potential buyer to check whether or not they have the financial capacity to buy the property, whether or not they can finance it. Not even if it is a person in an initial search phase or if they need to buy in a short period of time.
What’s more, they don’t know who the people are who call to view the property, who enter the house without identifying themselves.
Real estate agencies offer security in the potential buyers they represent, as they are pre-qualified.
4. DIFFICULTIES IN ANSWERING BUYERS’ QUESTIONS
There are all kinds of buyers and a wide range of questions. From basic questions to very specific doubts, which the owners are unaware of and do not know how to answer.
Buyers are not only interested in the condition of the property and its characteristics. They want to know more information and what will happen if they decide to start the process.
5. NOT REALISING THAT TIME IS MONEY
Operations that last only a few weeks usually give good results for the owner.
More than a month after the property is put on sale, it starts to lose value and if it is kept for a long time, it ends up “burning out”, because the finite number of buyers already know that this property has been on the market for a long time.
6. CONTRACTUAL ISSUES
If an agreement is reached, after acceptance of the offer, the formal aspect does not stop with the contract of sale between the parties.
There are many clauses to be taken into account, in addition to mortgage issues, possible inheritance, capital gains and other taxes, which affect each of the parties.
Many buyers do not go ahead because they do not trust the contract proposed by the owner.
7. USE OF TECHNOLOGIES AND PROFESSIONAL TOOLS
Today’s estate agents are marketing experts. Much of their training is geared towards mastering the tools they use on a day-to-day basis to improve the image of the properties they manage. And if they are not specialized in certain tasks, they hire professionals.
Photographic and video services, taken with professional cameras and by professional photographers, are of a much higher quality than those taken by amateurs with mobile phone cameras.
Decoration and interior design services are better with specialized professionals who are also used to home staging work.
8. ESTABLISHING THE MARKET PRICE
The private owner, hopefully, will know some prices of flats that have been sold in his area. At least the price he has been told by someone who has been told by a third party.
The usual practice is to put a price equal to or higher than the initial price. And to put a slightly inflated price, in case you have to negotiate downwards. What they don’t know is that this way they are putting an off-market price.
Real estate agents have complete data on what is for sale and what is not for sale in the area, of very similar properties in the same street, especially when they work with the MLS system and share data between real estate agents in the area.
9. POOR DISSEMINATION AND SCOPE OF THE ADVERTISEMENT
Placing the property advert on various portals is a common practice among private individuals, as most property portals allow this and do so free of charge.
But getting a good presence on these portals, with such a large volume of properties, is difficult and does have a cost. And there are more and more portals that only allow publication through agencies specialized in property management.
Going from estate agent to estate agent is another common tactic among private individuals, but in recent years, the only way for a property to be offered for sale in different estate agents in the area is with a shared exclusivity contract. Without such a commitment, the individual’s listing will not be seen in any estate agent’s shop window, nor will it be worked by estate agents or reach the database of qualified contacts.
10. CLOSING THE SALE AND PURCHASE
Before the closing of the transaction, there are questions to be taken into account, such as:
- the technical supervision of the property has been satisfactory,
- the contract is approved by the buyer,
- check that the buyer has secured financing,
- the calculations of taxes and notary costs are correct.
