Interpreting Agent-ese: "My Buyer liked it, but they’re going to keep looking"

ugly but honest sign in tucsonHere’s the scenario: your home is for sale, you’ve got a veritable parade of Buyers coming through your house, haven’t yet seen a single offer.  Your agent, being a savvy sort, has been calling those Buyer’s agents to get feedback, and all you hear over and over again is, “My Buyer liked the house a lot, it’s really cute, but they’re going to keep looking.”

What does that mean, exactly?

1. The Buyers hated it, or the house just physically didn’t meet their needs, but the agent is too nice to tell us, in fear it will hurt our feelings.  (Hey, it’s possible, right?  Just because I haven’t seen that happen yet, doesn’t mean it can’t!)

2. The Buyers aren’t really serious about buying yet.  Serious buyers make offers on houses that they like, especially ones that they like a lot.

3. The house isn’t tempting enough to the Buyer to make an offer, which brings up the ugly ‘P’ word: price.

We know the marketing is working if there’s a good stream of showings.

We know the condition is right if everyone says they love the house, and at the same time, are not making specific objections: They love it but it is too small, or doesn’t have enough bedrooms, or is too close to a major road, something like that.

All that’s left is price.  So you gotta adjust your price.  Downward.  Look at it this way:  you’re on the verge of selling your house.  The marketing is working, the condition is great - the only thing you need to change is the one thing that is entirely within your control.  I’m not saying it’s fun, but doesn’t it feel at least a little good to know you can actually DO something to help sell your house instead of just sitting around and waiting?

photo via Flickr, courtesy of cobalt123.

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