Atlanta Real Estate | Atlanta Housing News for Real Estate

Now that buyers are coming to view your home, it is important that your listing agent stay on top of the momentum.  If there are no offers, and you have had quite a bit of traffic through your home, then something is wrong.   But just what is wrong, and if you could identify what is preventing the buyers from making an offer perhaps it can be fixed or remedied.   An easy way for your agent to find out isto request feedback from other real estate professionals.  They can go online and view showing activity from your lock box, and create an email follow up to those agents to thank them for showing your homes, identify your property, and request as a professional courtesy any feed back they can share about your home.  This is a very easy thing to do, if it is email based, they can foreword to you any emails, if they are using a feedback program it is done automatically.  http://www.homefeedback.com/ is one of the best programs that were designed for this specific task!  Once all the feedback comes in your agent will have to form some type of consensus of the issues and go over that list with you.  What is preventing offers? Odors or smells, paint needed interior or exterior, pressure washing, clutter, priced too high, competition new homes or other homes that have more to offer in your neighborhood or nearby, home is too personalized with your décor, location of the home (power lines, road noise, nearby construction...), or what other issues? 

If you are not getting any shows you need to act quickly.  Is it the location of the home? Can it be the external appearance of the home, exterior paint, roof, landscaping, grass height, or the condition of neighboring properties?  If agents are calling to show your home, but they drive on and do not come it, then there is something on the exterior. If it is none of the above items, then it's price!  The agent and buyer have just decided not to bother to see your home.  Their feelings is why waste their time, your price is unrealistic.

An important note is that feedback should be just that.  Your agent should listen and make a lot of notes.  A fatal mistake that inexperienced agent make is to argue with the other agent over price appearance of the property.  This is highly unprofessional.  They called another agent that has taken time out of their day to tell your agent the truth.  They should just listen, and not turn it into a sales pitch.  If your agent knows that the paint is going to start next week, or you have a new neutral carpet being installed throughout the home, that information should be passed on as an FYI.

Jim Crawford - http://www.atlantabesthomes.com/