5 More Sure-Fire Ways to Fail To Sell Your Home

Published by peter | Filed under Buyer / Seller Tips, Miscellaneous

OK, as I started to think back, I realized I had much more than 10 great tips for people who wanted to fail in selling their home. So I had to do some thinking and choose my top 10, and here are the final five:

Demand “By Appointment Only” This is one of my favorites. It probably belongs up higher on the list because it is so effective at chasing away real estate agents who would like to show your home. With thousands of homes on the market, of which nearly every one is available at the whim of the one or two active buyers out there, the key is to make it really difficult to see your home. How about requiring the showing agent to call a few days in advance in order to earn the privilege to see the home!I know most people who ask for this do it out of ignorance. But if you want to fail to sell your home, you are going to have to demand that “No Lockbox” be put on your home, and that all showing agents must register with the listing agent well in advance to getting in to see the home. Even though common courtesy would hold agents to this standard, the fact is sometimes we get an excited buyer who just wants to “see it now.” Sometimes, the buyer sees the sign as we are driving them to another showing and says “ooh, how about that one!” In order to avoid selling it to excited buyers, make sure they cannot see your home through the combination of “no lockbox” and “appointment only.”

Talk With The Buyers Directly

This is another really good way to fail to sell your home. You see, buyers have all sorts of questions when they see your house for the first time, so it is important that you stay inside the home during a showing so that you can answer all of their questions. Also, they will never know all the interesting stories that you have about the home unless you share them with them during the showing. The showing agent will really appreciate you sticking around. Not!The fact is, most people are very polite. If you are in the home, they will not let the showing agent know of any areas of concern about your home, because they do not want to offend you. They will complement everything about the home and then want to get out of there as soon as possible, because they will feel like they are intruding upon you.If you leave your home when it is being shown, then buyers will be more open and honest with the showing agent, allowing a good salesperson to work through any objections and answer questions in a fashion that could lead to a sale. But since you do not want to sell your home, stand right in the middle of the kitchen and say “what do you think?”

Hire The Best, Then Ignore Their Advice

If you were unfortunate enough to heed the advice given in point #2, but you casually selected a great real estate company, then it will be important for you to ignore the advice of the agents and brokers of that company. Good companies just have one agenda, and that is to solve your real estate problem by getting your home sold.If you truly want to fail in selling your home, you might actually want to consider doing the opposite of what the real estate company tells you. Demand open houses and more advertising, but don’t do anything about pet odors and worn out carpeting.When the brokers tell you that a price reduction will bring some activity, you need to counter back with something strong (tell them to remove the lockbox and demand “appointment only”). Remember, you are king of the castle, and just because you accidentally hired an excellent real estate professional does not mean you need to consider their advice!

Make It Personal

The thing that most successful home sellers realize early on is that they want a “housectomy.” They are seeking to get rid of what was once their home, but now is just an unwanted house. But you cannot stoop to this level! If you want to fail to sell your home, you have to make this personal.Forget the fact that you are really now trying to get somebody else to take possession of your home and focus on the things that you personally love about the home. If somebody doesn’t like the way the home is decorated, then they obviously have something against you and your way of living. Make sure you defend every improvement you ever made to the home, because nobody is going to undervalue your efforts. After all, you need to make this personal. Try not to focus on the reasons why you chose to move, but rather on all of the things that will keep you in your house forever!This is actually the toughest one (note, sarcasm on hold for one paragraph). We spend so much time in our homes and we create such fond memories that it is often hard to turn the home back into a house. But it is a critical aspect of the home selling process. (ok, sarcasm reinstated).

Don’t Let The Buyer Beat You!

OK, let’s just say that you screwed up the previous points and you actually managed to get an offer on your home. Don’t throw in the towel now! There is still time left for you to fail to sell your home.When the buyer does the home inspection, the inspector will probably find quite a few things wrong with your home (can you believe the gall of this guy?). Well, here is where you want to show your negotiating prowess. If you want to fail to sell your home, tell the buyer how lucky he is to even have a shot at living in your home. Why should you agree to replace termite damage, they were probably there when you purchased the house, right?Some of the most successful home selling failures have allowed $500 to stand between them and a sold home. These are the great ones that won’t budge a bit, not wanting to be beaten by a buyer. Sure, they’ll live in the house a few extra months (years), but it sure beats giving up on a week’s worth of interest payments!