What to do when the home in Southern Maryland doesn't sell?

Sooner or later, you will have a listing in Southern Maryland that just doesn't sell. Why? It's priced fairly; it's in a good location, and the seller is offering reasonable terms or conditions. So, what's the problem! It happens and it happened to supermodel Christie Brinkley when trying to sell two of her $20 million plus home in the Hamptons.

Here's a sales video for one of her properties at 1 Fahys Rd, Sag Harbor:

And here is the video for her other property at 121 Brick Kiln Rd, Bridgehampton:

If it's not selling, then we need to do something different!! Do the same thing over and over will achieve the same results. Don't like the results, change what you're doing!!

New marketing:

Start with changing something small or inexpensive before investing larger sums. One option is to try new photos for the marketing campaign. Perhaps the potential buyers are just passing by the property and the images are not catching their interest.

A different angle to show off the connections betweens spaces or to show off a room from the other side.

A twilight picture is normally a good attention getter. If it wasn't in the previous set, this is a good choice.

A different approach is to include some drone or aerial shots to highlight the area, large block of land, or it's proximity to a river, forest, beach or even a major shopping district.

If the previous images were taken by an inexperience or low-cost photographer, or worst, the agent's iPhone, then it might be worth investing in some high-quality real estate photos in order to attract the right kind of buyer.

In other blogs and articles, we've mentioned what a real estate agent should do when choosing a photographer:

"It’s not the number of pictures that helps at all, but the quality of the images used, which is why it’s so important to hire a high quality photographer, and not just hire the cheapest real estate photographer in town."

Again, we're talking about a home that isn't attracting buyers and has been on the market longer than expected.

The difference that quality images will make with a home at the top and bottom range of the market is very important - don't discount that fact. An average home in an average neighborhood is going to STAND OUT when presented with impeccable images and that is what we want. Standing out will draw more traffic to the home and that will increase our chances of getting a purchase offer. Bingo!!

Don't know of a professional photographer in the area, go to BestRealEstatePhotographers.com.

There are a few other options we can try as well. Many homes these days use video tours together with high-quality photography.

As this agent in Australia said:

“If you’re not using a video in your marketing strategy you’re going to start falling behind. When we were at Inman (the large real estate convention) every top producer agent we actually heard from did mention video in some form or another.”

Floorplans is another option too. A NAR survey from last year found that 55% considered a floorplan to be a very useful feature in a marketing campaign, and was in the top 3 of the most requested features for buyers.

Drop the price:

Some homes take a while to sell, and they need a price drop. Basketball superstar Steph Curry purchased a home in California in 2015 for $3.2 million, and put it on the market 14 months later for $3.6 million.

However, after a couple of attempts at selling the home it eventually sold for $2.94 million in 2017.

Is the home priced right? Simple way to find out is to keep an inventory of similiar homes near your listing, and track which ones are selling. Compare where your listing ranks to the other properties. Is it in the middle price range, at the top of the range or the buttom. Track the results each week; add in new listings, and mark the ones that have sold. After a month or more, you have a some very informative data to share with the sellers.

If you started out with your listing near the top, and after a month the ones in the middle price range and lower are selling where the upper range are not - well that might be a clue!

If in the middle or further down and the others are selling, but your listing is not - perhaps the condition or terms need an adjustment.

Again, you have some very valuable information to share with your seller, and some great options for changing the game plan.

Real estate agent Damian Hall mentioned in this article:

"In my experience, the formula comes down to price + condition + exposure = a sale."

This is right on!!

The combination of the price of the home, the condition of it, how well it is presented, and the marketing and exposure that the listing receives will add up to a sale or sitting on the market. When the mix is right then a home sells quickly, but if one of those elements is out, such as the price, then it can take a lot longer to sell.

Change the presentation:

The final option is to make changes to the condition or presentation of the home.

For example, if a home has dated furniture, or walls that haven't been painted in 20 years, then bringing in a property stylist to refurnish the home, or a painter to update the wall colors, can help enormously.

I've seen many homes get a fresh look with new photos, and it sells within days after being on the market for months without a buyer.

Here's Geoff Lewis, a property stylist in Sydney:

"Our team recently worked on a new five-bedroom home, and created a high-end soft industrial scheme based on the property’s good natural light and premium finishes. The buyer was the first person who saw the property, when it was empty. After seeing it furnished, her offer increased from $4 million to the final sale price of $4.35 million."

In another example:

"Home Staging Brisbane owner Imogen Brown says a house she styled for $8000 on the Gold Coast had previously attracted offers of no more than $890,000. After styling it sold for $1.055 million."

So styling a home can definitely help attract buyers, and those buyers are often willing to pay more for that home, making property styling a smart investment.

Conclusion:

So if you have that home that just isn't moving, start with changing the exposure by taking new quality images and it could be that simple of a solution. If not, dig deeper into tracking the other property and see which ones are selling and which ones are not. Still not moving, look at changing the presentation with furniture, paint, etc.

Hopefully, these changes will attract the right buyer. It is does - wonderful. If not, then you have done your job by recommending changes and offering advise to your seller and that is why they hired you.

Southern Maryland, Charles County Md, St Mary's County Md, Calvert County Md, Prince George's County Md, Waldorf, LaPlata, Hughesville, Leonardtown, Lexington Park, Prince Frederick, Solomons, Dunkirk, Clinton, Upper Marlboro