@Andrew Taylor
Saw the listing, and it looks great. I’m a real estate broker in NYC and mainly work with sellers who didn’t sell with their previous agent. And after viewing tons and tons of properties it boils down to a few things why they are not selling.
- Price
- Maintenance/taxes
- Layout of home
- Marketing (Pictures, videos, staging, etc)
Make these changes and you will get people through the door and hopefully an offer!
After viewing your place, here are a few things I would personally do if I were to put it back on the market.
First - Price
I would not only just look at what sold in the area, but also see what is currently in contract. Why? To see what people are currently looking at and buying. Where is the location? Price? How does it look? What are the taxes? Maintenance/HOA? What do the pictures look like? Etc.
I would then call those brokers and ask if they were getting a lot of traffic before getting into contract. If they don’t mind, I would also ask how many offers they received? And lastly,if they are nice - ask what do they currently have the unit in contract for. Mention that you are trying to sell your place as well, and if there are any buyers who didn’t win the bid to check your place out too! And of course you will pay the commission.
Also check the supply in the market. Only within the neighborhood, to get a better idea. This is your competition! I would look at each one of these too and see what they are doing. And where they are priced.
Pricing is a science and an art. Price to high, you scare buyers to see it. Price it to low, and people will wonder what is wrong with it. Price it just right, there will be a line out the door.
Now that you know what sold, in contract and on the market - you can then find your price. Make sure to be competitive with your pricing!
Second - Maintenance/HOA and Taxes
Not much you can do here, but other than see what it is compared to what has sold, in contract and currently on the market. If your in an area where taxes are high, or the maintenance/HOA fees are high - mention in the description that you can give a credit to the buyer for 3, 6 or 12 months of free maintenance or tax payments. These incentives help!
Third - Layout of the Home
I don’t think you have a weird layout, so no worries there.
Fourth - Marketing!
This is big, and this is where an experienced agent will be able to help in person. Just by viewing the place, it needs to be staged. I don’t mean try staging it yourself, (which I see a lot of investors do and get burned), I mean hire a professional pay them $5 to $7k and get it staged. Will make a huge difference in photos, and when potential buyers are inside the home. If you virtually stage the place, it may look nice online and bring some buyers, but once they see it in person, it’s less likely they will pull the trigger and make an offer.
Include appliances! Potential buyers are always looking at the kitchen, and having stainless steel nice appliances can make a huge difference in traffic.
Hire a professional photographer! Take photos of the place that will make potential buyers feel something, feel excitement! Buyers buy on emotion, so show it from the photos. No need for far away wide lens shots, straight on shots always work for me! If you can do video, that would be great too! Video is a powerful tool to get shared easily online.
Make sure it's not only just getting on the MLS, but on every real estate website as well.
Whenever your contract ends with your current agent, or if you have an out before it expires - I highly recommend using a Compass agent to take advantage of their services such as “Compass Concierge” where you can get money upfront to cover your staging fees, etc. You can then pay it back once the place sells. Best part, no hidden fees or interest - just have to list with a Compass agent.
If interested, I am happy to recommend someone in your market who will give a full analysis on what is going on and do everything I mentioned. Or if you have questions, feel free to reach out to me. Happy to help!
Good luck!