4 Main Reasons Why Philadelphia Houses Do Not Sell
Below are the 4 main reasons why Philadelphia houses do not sell. I believe these 4 reasons are also the main reasons in any geographic market as well:
Each reason is also the subject of it's own individual blog entry so please click on each link for further explanation.
So without further wait, the secrets (and solutions) are below:
1. Price - Improper pricing from the beginning and failure to adjust the price when needed.
Solution: Research and analyze the current market and identify the best starting price from the very beginning.
2. Poor Advertising and Insufficent Marketing
Solution: Market Market Market - make sure your Realtor is an expert internet marketer !
3. Difficulty Showing the Property - You cannot sell properties that you cannot see. Does the "key in office" (the other side of town) ring a bell ? Or better yet "listing agent must accompany" for a vacant property sound appealing when you have 4 other properties to show ?
Solution: Use a professional showings desk to set up and monitor all showings.
4. Stigma - Once a property has a stigma, buyers may avoid it like the plague or will run out of the house faster than they walked in.
Solution: Identify stigmas and remove them either through repairs, disclosure and/or staging.
So how do I sell my property you ask ?
Simple, with the market as difficult as it is, it is imperative to hire the right listing agent from the beginning that has experience with the process, understands what the buyers are looking for, knows the market inside and out, and acts as a consultant and advisor every step of the way ! We sold close to 100 properties in 2008, maybe more once I look at the stats so who says the market is slow in Philadelphia ?
Our combination of intensive internet marketing, pricing and making sure that every showing request gets in the property along with eliminating any possible stigmas works !
What are you doing today to get your property sold ?
What other items can you add to this list ?
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What a great composite post... I'll be busy for a while checking out all the links.
Pricing is so extremely important... It's #1 with me too!
Debbie - Yes, pricing is critical ! As Bill Gassett says, you can have the best Realtor and marketer in the world listing the property, but if the price is out of whack, nothing will happen except the fact that a seller will lose valuable time and in a declining market, lose money too !
I believe the nice aspect about these 4 reasons is that they cover the full scope of why a property would not sell, with the exception of a seller changing their mind : )
I once told my broker I had a listing no one would buy.
He said, "Would you buy it for $100?"
I said, "of course!"
His point was, if you price it to sell, it will.
How 'bout bad smells? There was a house in my neighborhood that smelled like an all night poker game at the Lion House at the National Zoo!
Donna - LOL, so true ! One of my favourite quotes is "There is a buyer for every property... as long as the price is right"
Patricia - The smell ! The smell ! LOL, there are some nasty ones out there. I have picked up a headache or two from houses that smell awful either from showings or during listing appointments. That would fall under our stimga category.
Great post. Price has always been the most important for me. Anything will sell for the right price.
I think that ebay makes my case. Have you seen some of the "stuff" that sells there?
Joe
AbreuRealty.com
This post is right on. Price is so important, especially right now. I have seen listings get stale because the sellers started too high and didn't want to listen to anyone's expertise/advice about pricing to sell and they have ended up 'chasing' the market down...in many cases now they are as low as they are able to go financially and still sitting on their property instead of initially pricing it correctly and getting it sold. Thanks for sharing.
Well said, thanks for the post!
Great post! All area's you mentioned are so critical in this market! I just said "goodbye" to my sellers because they wouldn't be realistic about pricing. It was at 139,900 and the new agent talked them down to 139,500! It should be 129,900. I feel FREE! Best to you~
It certainly makes sense that #1 was price. Even if 2-4 were perfect, without #1 you might as well not try.
There's no stigma or adversity that can't be overcome by proper pricing. Every "challenge" has a dollar value associated with it. Unfortunately, too many agents try to whack the price instead of creating more interest and urgency through their marketing efforts. But when the marketing is done properly and it still isn't selling, it comes down to the big 3...price, price & price!
1 - The AGENT that you hire!
2 - The AGENT that you hire!
3 - The AGENT that you hire!
4 - The AGENT that you hire!
Excellent post and right on (as usual)!
Sometimes the seller doesn't have the wherewithal to fix the stigma OR to adjust the price to compensate for the stigma. That happened to me and ultimately I gave the listing back to the seller.
Great post.....well done. Some sellers have no idea what is happening in the real estate world. All they understand is they want more than they can have in this market.
Hey you two! As always, you are right on the mark. Showing is key. If it is too much trouble, no one will bother!
You hit the nail right on the head. I do believe pricing has to the most important. I it is not priced right nobody will come.
Chris & Stephanie... price matters? lol Seriously, I remember when realtors would tell the higher price to the seller, just to get the listing. That would irk the hell out of me. Overall, you point out some great things. And I think pointing out the stigma aspect of the house is very important. I bet that this is one of the things that is missed most, because the realtor wouldn't want to offend the seller. What would you say on that? thanks
Joe - Great point about Ebay ! If some of that stuff sells, selling a house should be easy !!!
Jenn - Definitely ! The risk for the sellers have been high in incorrectly pricing a property in the beginning. Now sometimes that can be the agent's mistake too for "buying the listing" or just not knowing better. Those sellers that missed out selling their property in a declining market really hurt themselves.
Tim - Thanks ! We try : )
Mary - You are right ! Sometimes a divorce per se is a good thing. Otherwise, it is easy to get drained and to make the same price reducton recommendation call week after week only to get yelled at : ) . It is important though to be able to adjust to what the market is doing or has done and make those price adjustments accordingly.
Steve - Agreed ! You could be the best Realtor in the world with the best internet marketing system but if the price is out of whack, you are doomed to start. It is better to walk away from those opportunities and come back as the number 2 or number 3 Realtor after the first 2 expire or have been withdrawn.
Thanks everyone for the great and insightful comments !
The 3 most important rules in real estate used to be location, location, location but now it's location, location, price.
Hi Chris and Stephi
Its is a tough market,My golden rule has always been: best to be honest with your sellers from the start with the basic info..
I think "priced for condition and location" is what you are talking about in #1. Clearly a home on a busy street will be priced less...
Have to agree with these.
Well, you hit the nail on the head with this one! I have been hammering these VERY topics into one of my sellers who is getting ready to be fired this week! They agreed to do everything and have done nothing and wonder why their home hasn't sold--I tell them, "No one is going to buy your home after looking at it from the STREET!" One down the street, did everything that I suggested and we're going under contract--you see, we DO know what we're doing, right?!!
GREAT post guys!
I would add, not taking a proactive approach to prepare a house to sell. If sellers wait until they receive negative feedback from showings to make the necessary changes, it is too late to get those buyers back. Smart sellers realize they need to invest some time, energy and even money in order to adequately prepare a house to sell.
Dear Christoher and Jennifer,
You nailed them all! I thought about condition and location, but that should be factored in with price.
Excellent and succinct post!
Great post! So many things have to fall into place in order for a house to sell and since buyer's perspectives have changed, sellers need to ensure their home is priced right and presents well to a wide array of buyers. As a professional home stager, we are candid with our realtor partners in that all the staging in the world won't help if a house is really overpriced.
Marland homes don't sell for the same reasons either! LOL Had an out of town buyer scheduled for today and the seller cancelled the showing and told us to come Sunday instead for the open house. I called the agent and explained why we couldn't do that and the sellers wouldn't budge - they are afraid we might let the cat out. Sigh. And they added more time restrictions and roadblocks this time they spoke with the agent. Sounds like their house may not sell for awhile. Might end up being a great deal for someone after they have to keep reducing the price since they are making access so difficult.
Yep - 1) Price 2) Exposure/Marketing 3) Access 4) Condition - the better the condition, it's more likely to sell faster. All points of education for our Sellers
All good points, but how about mismanaged negotiations? I here about deals falling apart that agents should know how to keep together. We are supposed to be professional negotiators - that means being able to negotiate with each other as well as with our clients. Instead, I see agents getting intimidated by their clients; agents getting nasty with each other; making personal rather than about getting their clients to the closing table; and just not knowing how to do it.
Most people can't negotiate on their own behalf, that's why it's better to have someone else do it for them -that someone else is us! That's the invisible thing we do that makes all the difference - yet, it's never talked about...all we advertise is "look at how many pictures we have on our websites..."
Bill Clinton said - "it's the economy, stupid" I say, It's the negotiations...!
Love this post! And it was really nice to see someone write about how important it is to make the property easy to sell--We have keyboxes for a reason! I don't know how many times I've been in the car with a buyer and we can't see the house, even a vacant one, because of ridiculous sellers/agents. I can't speak for other agents, but there's so much inventory here that if my buyer can't get in to a house, they'll just go to another one.
I am totally over picking up keys at the office... what is with that ? I did it for the last time last weekend... it is one thing picking up the key when you are with clients, and then moving along to other homes to show them and THEN stopping back at the office to DROP the key off,,,, I mean .... REALLY,,,, How inconvenient.... no more of that for me.... and this bit with the agent accompanying me to a house ..... I am a big girl, I have been selling for 10 years now, I know how to turn off an alarm and even turn it back on upon leaving... if I have to meet an agent at a house and there is another one that is available to show that I don't have to meet the agent, I move on to that one....what if I am running behind? what if my client lingers at a home longer than expected and that puts me 20-30 minutes behind schedule? I can't take them calling to see where I am? Let us do our thing when we are out showing... great post... Love it... good luck to everyone out there for a challenging 2009.....
Well written and structured post. Ready for use at listing presentation. And comments are wonderful! Thank you for a great post.
Michael (from a few posts up),
Too right. Sometimes sellers get so caught up in the minutia of it all, when really, all they have to do is hire the right agent, which better be someone they can trust.
If you can trust the agent, let them earn their commission by dealing with all the headaches and being able to backup everything they say with real data.
The seller's jobs are to 1: Sign the contracts, 2: Listen to the agent, 3: Be out of the home when it is being shown.
If sellers are unwilling to do these simple things, then they need to get a license and try to do it themselves. They will either sell or call youback with a newfound respect for your job and realize that the bag of money they are paying to have their home sold is worth it.
In the current market I would say the follow weighting is dead on...
Price 80%
Condition 10%
Exposure 10%
Don't forget that using a professional stager can make a huge difference as well. Homeowners will often listen to us more readily than their realtor about the changes that need to be made.
Professional staging can certainly make a difference in how the home appears to buyers including on line advertising to attract more showings.
Great and right on target. Those are the same major reasons homes here sit on the market. People are still buying, but they have to be able to find the home and it has to be priced right.
Right now I feel like a house needs to be in near-perfect condition. There is just too much inventory!Sellers need to DE-CLUTTER and un-personalize their homes, more than ever. Many buyers don't feel they have the time and energy to even fathom putting work into a home right now when the one up the street is selling for the same price and is in pristine condition. Sellers really need to be going through their home with a fine-tooth comb.
I agree, except "Staging" the property is vaguley mentioned. It is of the utmost importance to have the property "staged to sell". Especially if it is a vacant home, potential buyers will spend more time in a home that has furniture properly placed in it then if it is vacant. They will also be able to invision scale...Only 10% of buyers can invision scale per 2007 NAR. People buy on emotion...it is true with every product. You have one shot to make a great first impression and one shot to create a wonderful emotion....if the house does not look its very best you will miss opportunity. Many times I get the call after the house has been on the market for 3 to 6 months...."Help, our house isn't selling"...now we have missed that momentum that a house generates when first placed on the market. If you don't have at the very least 25 pictures on the internet (after it is staged), you will miss a huge market. 80% of home buyers go to the internet first...that is how they generate their "tour" list. Then it is the drive - by...if it doesn't look fabulous they will keep driving. You have two hurdles to overcome before they even enter the house. Price is very important...but emotion can win over price every single time if it is staged correctly and marketed effectively!! Not complaining about your post by any means...Just wanted to get my two cents in and I strongly believe that staging a home has a lot more value then home sellers and Realtors tend to give it. Thank you for the post and the opportunity to respond.
Hal - Right on ! I hear you : )
Micheal - The AGENT you hire !!! Absolutely !!!!! Could not agree more. I know who I would call if I needed to sell in Baltimore and I believe you would call us if you needed to sell in Philly. Am I right ?
JoAnna - I hear you. Tough stigmas are difficult to get around. If the seller is not willing to either adjust the price or eliminate the stigma somehow, well then, the chances of success are low. Giving the listing back to the seller probably saved you a lot of time and energy !
Kay - Exactly ! When I am on a listing appointment and a seller tells may that they "need to sell for X" I know it might be a tricky listing. Denial is a hard pill to swallow sometimes. In those cases I try to consult and look at a plan B for a seller if selling the house right now does not look realistic.
Cristal - Definitely ! If you cannot get into the propery, you cannot sell it ! We have take over listings sometimes after they have expired and sold them in less than a month. In many of those cases, I think it was making the properties easily accessible.
Awesome job as always guys!
I especially believe that difficulty showing business....think I need to write a post about that!
Hi there,
I tried to post this earlier, but couldn't see it live, so trying again. Thought perhaps this article I wrote might be of use in this discussion. I have posted a few of the articles that are on my web site, on AR, and this one generated quite a lot of interest from colleagues, even so they were written as consumer ed articles mostly.
( Selling a home in Burlington? - who "is" your competition?)
http://www.carolyne.com/upstage.html
Cordially,
Carolyne
Robert - Right on - pricing is paramount.
Jeff - Thanks for the comment ! You bring up a good point regarding communication with the seller regarding staging, cleaning and smells (cigarettes, pets, etc...). It is tricky as a seller can think that their furniture and the way they have it set up is the best way, when in reality a couch may block access to the next room and so forth. Cleaning and pets and other odors "I have smoked fo 50 years no one will tell me not to" is tricky but can still be done. Sometimes if there are 2 sellers that helps as one can help the other. If they do not believe us, we can always bring in a staging consultant for confirmation : ) Great question.
David - You got that right ! Maybe even location, price, price : )
Hannah - Honesty is the best policy ! Builds trust and helps the relationship prosper.
Melina - So true ! Thanks.
Debe - Great story ! Hopefully that seller will have that "AHA" moment ! And yes, I agree, it shows that we do know what we are doing : ) . It is hard to work with that stubborn seller who sometimes just does not get it.
Have you ever tried to get to REALTORS together at the same time at the same place? It is a nightmare and I have never understood WHY a Seller would insist that the LA be there.
GREAT POST!
Overcoming a stigma is very difficult at times. Being honest with the client will build trust and confidence. They hired us to give them the best of our knowledge and experience. However, the right price will always trump every other concern.
I believe you are on track. Adding the stager is critical, walking into a stark house, it's hard for buyer to see (their stuff) in it. I'd like to add one thing also that seems to help in Denver. I'm a lender and the Realtors I work with always want me to let them know what payment would like like to the prospective buyer. Maybe 1-2 or even 3 options. If they are the listing agent they leave them on the counter if the buyers agent I'll send them to the Realtor and when the buyer is walking through the house the Realtor reminds them of the cost and gives them an idea of what the monthly payment might be. They say it makes them (the Realtor)look good.
Chris Martin, Waterstone Mortgage, Denver CO
I was told that 90%of the reason a home does not sell is due to price, and the other 10% is also due to price
As a virtual assistant working with real estate agents, I often consolidate showing feedback information and then pass this information onto the agent. Your #4 reason reminded me of a home in Texas I was working on that not only had a chained-up dog barking at anyone who showed the home but the kitchen had a natural gas leak. When the listing agent went through the home initially, these problems were not apparent. So it is important to continue to elicit feedback from agents as long as the home is on the market. Anything about a home can change over time.
Janine Gregor
www.YourVirtualWizard.com
Christopher & Stephanie ~ As you would say, "You guys totally rock!"
I learn a lot from you two so thanks for the great and informative blogs. Now entering my 2nd year as a full-time newbie, I thought I'd ask about using the Internet to market a listing. First of all, this "internet-thing" you speak of...sounds so, I don't know,,, interesting! =) Okay, I'm not THAT out-to-lunch! But I get so many of these e-mail flyers on a daily basis, I wonder how effective they are? I'm here in Cali, btw. Thanks, you two.
I just had this same conversation tonight with a For Sale By Owner. You are right on, hopefully they will take to heart everything I said tonight and give me a call tomorrow. I just wish I could have left with the listing. Thanks Chris and Steph, Great post!
God points but the main thing is ALWAYS price. Anything can be overcome if the price is low enough...
I like your no nonsense approach and agree with your major 4 points. I always say every home "will sell". I just don't know when and for what price. It all will hindge around price or condition. Thanks for sharing.
Great post!
When I list a property I say to the sellers, "There are three reasons homes do not sell, Price, Location and Condition." You can fix two of them with the price!
I also have a listing where the sellers agreed to do a lot of things to the house and then changed their minds and are offering an allowance now but not enough to cover the things they were going to do. So maybe further down on a list of 10? reasons should be partnership and cooperation with and between sellers and their agents. Nice post.
Christopher and Stephanie, we are all having to work harder and smarter. That goes for sellers as well.
Jay
Hi Chris and Steph,
Good information! If you'd like an excellent example of #3, check out my latest post
#1 Price is definitely the most important, yet it is the hardest one to get sellers to understand.
Price is everything. Ultimately, it is the only real reason for not buying.
I actually saw a house in my neighborhood that had a sign that said "sold in 2 weeks". Haven't seen one of those in awhile. While I am sure that it may have been a nice home it was on a very busy main road and right near the train tracks. However, it was a steal! My non-expert opinion says #1 is probably the most important
Great post and good tips for sellers. Price is #1 . I ask them if they would buy it if it were priced lower and that gives me a clue if the like the house or not.
Stephanie and I thank everybody for their comments. We are glad that this post is getting attention as the topic is timely and are glad that it is informative and useful as well. We will come back over the weekend and comment more specifically. I have a feeling that spring is going to be pretty busy so it is great for all of us to stay on the front lines and for sellers to have their property positioned to sell before the competition !
All of these are important for sure. I really can't understand listings that are almost impossible to show, particularly short sale listings where time is of the essense. Do these folks want to sell their properties or not?!
I always thought there were 3 main reasons - stigma was a new one on me. But I'm glad you added it! Great post!
Great post, and I do agree with you 4 points...I have a listing that the owners do not want a lockbox...I am going to discuss this point with them again.
Staging is important, but not the "utmost" important. The utmost important thing is the price, and overal condition (rather than appearance!) of the home. A well staged home with shoddy carpets and rotten trim that is priced $50,000 above market is not going anywhere.
Many pieces of the puzzle work together...but nothing, I repeat, nothing, will sell an overpriced home.
Price is very,very important, location you can't change but you can tell the sellers about quick fixes like painting the home, fixing anything that's broken and also have a professional come in to stage the home. And if you want your colleague to help you sell a property, the commission is important too. A 4% listing will not pull too many agents but a 6-7% might. These days everything counts, i mean everything.
Great post.
There are some great comments here. I am glad to see that other people are mentioning the difficulty to gain access one... I think this is pretty straight-foward. If it is difficult for an agent to gain access, they might just pass as there are too many other properties to choose from. You cannot sell a property you cannot show !