3 Deadly Phrases that Can Keep Your Home from Selling

There are three deadly phrases that can guarantee less showings of your home, less offers and therefore, a lower offering price for when you do finally get an offer.

The object in marketing your home is to expose it for sale to as many people as is humanly possible and then make it as easy as possible for other agents other than the listing agent to show the home. In Nevada County, California, over 90% of all homes sold are sold by agents other than the listing agent. So why do listing agents put up road blocks to the other agents, especially in these times when we have a great number of listings and not that many buyers? A buyer's agent will show homes that are the easiest, most convenient to show. The buyer's agent may show only 5 homes out of the 10-15 that meet the buyer's criteria in any one day. Any more than that and the buyer can become confused. So make sure your home is one that is shown!

Avoid these deadly phrases in your listing:
Number One:"Call listing agent for appointment to show" Why?
Have you ever tried to contact a listing agent on the weekend? Or their assistant? Buyer's agents avoid these listings like the plague. There are too many easy accessible listings to show. If you have anything in your listing that resembles "Call Listing Agent" your house goes to the bottom of the list to be shown. You'll get less showings, less offers and lower offers. Remember good buyer's agents are pre-qualifying their clients before they show homes. Don't discourage the buyer agent from seeing your home and possibly selling it for you by having a "Call Listing Agent" in your listing.

The second deadly phrase is "By Appointment Only." Many buyers come from the Bay area and other areas unannounced. They may be here for only two days. We know of buyers who walked in on a Saturday and had a signed contract on a Sunday. "By Appointment Only" in most cases would have prevented the home from being shown. A seller should realize that at best a buyer's agent usually can give a seller 1-2 hours notice if the seller is home to answer the phone or the seller has an answering machine on which to leave a message. With today's buyers having wide choices, these homes with hurdles to showing will probably be next to last to be shown.

The last phrase that is also a killer is "No Lock Box, Seller Always Home." As a seller, unless you are restricted to a hospital bed you will not always be home. You know it and the buyer's agent knows it. The buyer's agent will probably skip this listing all together.

The Secret to selling your home is to have it readily available and accessible for the buyer and their agents. Don't put impediment hurdles for them to jump over in order to show and sell your home. Don't have the 3 deadly phrases KILL your listing!