Why your Nashville Home is not selling,  April 2011

1. Your home is not being marketed “strategically” on the web. If you’re relying on bland, information gathering websites like Realtracs .com, Realtor.com or Homes.com to attract buyers you may have a long wait.

Although 90% of buyers do their home search via the web., research has shown that buyers have three distinct phases.

Information gathering- Future buyers use websites like Realtor.com to view pictures of homes. These consumers are usually months away from becoming buyers.

Comparing Homes and Neighborhoods- The information gatherer is now cruising websites that provide information about neighborhoods, schools and sub-divisions.  Web sites like NashvilleHomeSearcher.com and MtJulietLiving.com are used to view and compare neighborhoods.

Buying- Information gatherers are now buyers. They have selected a Real Estate expert on the neighborhoods they have identified such as www.CathyWood.com and they are working with that professional to evaluate homes for possible viewing

If your home marketing strategy does not position your home to be seen by these buyers your home is probably not being shown.

2. Your home does not dominate your price point and neighborhood.

Look at your home on the web. Look at the other homes in your price range and school district.  How many have Sold or gone Pending in the last 90 days?  If there are three homes selling per month in your neighborhood then your home better be in the top three homes in your range. In the 2011 Market any home that does not dominate it’s price point is a “Me too” and will struggle to get showings

3. Your home has mediocre photography and bland photos.

Properly photographing a home for listing takes a minimum of two visits and several hours. Why? Because the best time to shoot the front of the home and the rear of the home are never the same.  Exterior photos with the home in shade never provide the detail that buyers are looking for.  Likewise, interior photos that are dark and taken without wide angle lenses do not excite buyers.

If your photography is sub-standard your home will not sell.

4.  Your home has too much furniture and “stuff”.

I know these things have meaning to you and you are proud of them.  But they can clutter the home and make it it look small and cramped. Worse, if the buyer visits they can interfere with visualizing the home for themselves.  This is the cardinal sin among sellers.

5. You have priced the home according to your wants and not the market.

Whenever a Nashville home seller tells us, “we need to get”, or “I don’t have to sell”, we know the listing may be in trouble.  What you “need “from the sale, what you “would like to get”, has nothing to do with the market price of your home in Nashville market.  Savvy consumers will not come to see your home unless it is priced as a good deal in todays market.

The market for Homes for sale in Nashville is constantly changing.  Likewise the supply of Home buyers in Nashville is constantly changing.  Today we have a smaller pool of well educated, financially savvy buyers who are looking for bargains.  Regardless of that, if you have a well maintained home, priced according to the market, with good marketing your Nashville home will sell.