Why Isn't My Home Selling?
There are 7 potential reasons why your home isn’t selling. Most people will always hear from their real estate agent that PRICE is the reason why it’s not selling. This is true if the other 6 items are covered. But do you know what is happening every day that is affecting the sale of your home that your agent doesn’t tell you?
Services > Selling > Why Isn't My Home Selling?
This is what your agent won't tell you!
Your Everyday Scenario:
Melissa was your everyday buyer. She found a home online she wanted to see and called the agent's number on the website. She got a call back a day later. When the agent called her back she said she couldn't show the property anytime soon but would call her back and make an appointment. The buyer got a call back from the agent another day later. By that time....it was too late. Melissa had already bought something. This is a true story a buyer recited to me about her experience trying to call real estate agents. Many buyers tell me that they never get a phone call after submitting info to an agent’s website. The bottom line is that sellers are losing buyers when this happens and buyers aren't receiving fast expert help so they can evaluate all their options. The truth is in the stats: Only 27% of Leads get contacted. When they do get contacted, it TAKES 46 hours 53 minutes to respond to a lead. Harvard Business Review.
What ends up happening to the house?
It sells for less or doesn’t sell! We have seen a buyer buy a home that wasn’t as nice for more money because they couldn’t get into the house that was nicer and for a better price due to no response. The seller doesn’t even know this happened! Do you think the agent tells their client, “Hey Mr and Jrs Jones, I was showing homes and got an inquiry on your home while I was busy and by the time I called them back they had already bought something else.” Why do I know this happens? First, When I was a newbie in my career I learned this the hard way through personal experience. Second, I know it happens as we are showing buyers homes and we know which agent's listings are difficult to show or get into. It happens when you don’t have a strategy to resolve this issue.
Why can’t the average agent do this consistently?
The current business model for real estate professionals hasn't advanced to solve this issue. The average real estate agent sells approximately 6 homes a year. They get their clients from family/friends. Their marketing budget is approximately $550 a year. Their average income in 2010 was approximately $34,100 with over $5k in total expenses. In 2010 almost 50% of agents didn't sell a single home. In Salt Lake area there were over 5,000 agents and in one given month only 600 home sales. When looking at these numbers it’s easy to see what is going on. Many of these agents have other jobs and/or are part time and aren't able to facilitate the needs of buyers and sellers upon a moments notice. It takes systems, availability, and technology. We get many phone calls from buyers stating their agent is on vacation or working at their other job and they want our help. We also have had agents from 20 miles away trying to show their client our listings. Many of these agents tell us that they don't want to drive to our listing again since it's so far away from where they live or work. Agents aren’t able to do this because there aren’t systems or strategies in place to accomplish this because they are independent contractors. They are on their own to solve the problem that many of the agents don't even know exists.
Why is this ULTIMATELY ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS?
90% of Buyers look online to buy a home. 76% Drive by home after looking online. 62% Walk through the home viewed online. In order to sell you better be ready when they are driving by or when they submit an inquiry on the website otherwise they bought another house. Buyers typically will submit inquiries to 6 different websites. Is your agent fast enough to capture them before they buy another house?
The strategy:
We have sold homes literally in 15 minutes from getting an inquiry on one of our listings. Yes that is because our systems and staff operate to help people within 5 minutes of an inquiry. According to the Harvard Business Review the ODDS of contacting a lead are 100x higher in the first 5 minutes. That means a real estate agent has to have in place systems and personnel so that they can call leads in 5 minutes. And that they can show homes in as little as 15 minutes! I haven’t seen a real estate company nor an agent implement this strategy yet. Hence that is one of the many reasons why our Neighborhood Experts can sell 400% more than the average agent.
The questions to ask your agent if they aren’t a Neighborhood Expert:
- How does it work when other agents call to show my home? Who do they call and talk to? (What if that person is in an appointment then what?)
- How much time would it take for you to come show my home if a buyer with no agent is knocking on my door?
- What is your strategy for answering leads within 5 minutes? How does this work when you are in appointments?