When you’re selling your house, you usually want the assistance of an agent or a realtor so that you can get the best deal as quickly as possible. Most buyers and sellers assume that real estate agents will do anything to earn your business as a client. You’d be surprised to learn that this is actually not always the case. In fact, sometimes agents will actively turn down listings. There are several reasons for this. Here are a few of the most common ones.
Overpriced Houses
As a homeowner, you should take pride in your home. After all, you’ve probably lived in that house for several years. You’ve put time, effort, money, love, attention and care into it; and you have every right to feel this way. However, while you may believe the value of your house is sky-high, not everyone feels this way. If your house is overpriced, and an agent knows it, he or she may simply not be interested in even trying to sell it. In most cases, overpriced houses are more difficult to sell, and the longer the house sits on the market, the worse that agent’s reputation looks.
Lack of Showings
One of the most important parts of selling a house is being able to show the house off to potential buyers. If you are not allowing visitors to tour your property, there’s a very high chance that it will not sell. Again, agents need to consider their return on investment, and if they know that a particular listing will be challenging, they may not even waste their time. Try to be reasonable and flexible to allow for visitors to come by and see what you are selling.
Unkempt Property
Cleaning the house can be a bit of a chore, but if you want the house to even have a chance of selling, you’ll need to tidy up a bit. And this doesn’t apply to inside of the house; you’ll also need to mow the lawn, clean up any garbage out front and make things look as presentable as possible. If an agent stops by to see your house and they notice that it is incredibly dirty, they may not want to put in the additional work to sell it.
When selling a house, there are a variety of reasons to get an agent, but there are also a laundry list of reasons that can deter any potential agents. Keep your house tidy, be open to showings and be reasonable about your asking price. If you don’t follow these steps, you may have a very difficult time selling your property.