Stale and Expired Listings—What should you do?

Is there really buyers’ markets in many areas or do some real estate agents simply do a better job than others to get homes sold? It’s probably a combination of the two. When marketing a house it’s important that real estate professionals list homes that are properly priced, which when offered by a motivated seller…will sell. This is how the real estate market works. There are four reasons why a listing isn’t selling and they are market reasons, price, condition and motivation. If those four things weren’t in line at the beginning, no buyer would be interested in doing business with the seller.

According to a top real estate agent with MLS over 50% of referrals expired last year, yet 81% of all leads went on to sell. The real estate agent concluded that a large number of agents are offering their services to sellers who want their homes sold at too high a price, or the sellers are unmotivated. The market in the Dallas-Forth Worth area is a good example of housing transactions gone awry. Since the beginning of 2003, there have been 314 expireds, while 371 homes have sold. Real estate agents in the area have to be very insightful about marketing the business that’s brought to them. They also have to be careful of the condition of the property and the degree of updating when pricing a home for marketing, or they will be chasing the market down hill. Everything has to be coordinated by professionals, who are specialists in their field. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area prospects are largely local buyers making lifestyle changes or commuting changes, as money is so cheap and readily available today. But they don’t have the time to contend with a fixer-upper. In Atlanta the total number of homes realtors were marketing was 44,000, but there were also 40,000 homes that expired. In every MLS, there are statistics that will tell you what transactions are pending and a person should look at the percentage of active vs. pending sales. There’s usually a ratio of actives to solds, and buyers can learn what percentage were previously listed. A house can be painted, but you can’t change its physical location, but pricing and appearance can overcome all objections. Are buyers simply reacting to the age of the houses on the market? Most real estate agents say not that they are reacting to price and appearance. When a real estate agent goes into a database and finds a house that has been on the market five times before, he knows there is some issue. Perhaps an unreasonable seller, structural defects or the facts about the home are not being told. A real estate agent can’t guarantee to sell a home for anyone, but if the sellers participate in a team effort with the agent and tackle known and obvious objections to the home, then there’s a much greater chance of finding a buyer. The number one thing you can do to help your listings sell is do your homework! Know everything there is to know about the current real estate market, pricing, etc. and educate your sellers. Also, don’t be afraid to ask other agents for advice as well.

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