So Your House Didn’t Sell.. Now What?
You listed your house with a Realtor and for one reason or another it didn’t sell and the listing expired. Well the upside is that you’re not alone. Houses are listed on the MLS in Detroit Michigan every single day and many of them simply sit and literally nothing happens. In some cases it’s the listing agent’s fault and sometimes it’s the homeowner’s fault or a combination of both. Every situation is different and in this article we’ll discuss some of the details on why many houses in Detroit don’t sell and then we’ll explore a few possible solutions to get your house sold. Don’t give up just because your listing expired!
Some Agents Simply Don’t Do Their Job
There are actually some great real estate agents in Detroit however the majority aren’t so great. If you’ve hired one in the past then you’ve already experienced one or the other. The number one complaint about real estate agents across the country is that they don’t communicate. Many agents rarely answer their phones or take forever to reply to text messages or emails. This is a major problem, especially when you hired them to perform a service for you! Another common flaw is that when an agent lists your house they do a lackluster job with the actual listing itself. For example, a listing with only a few photos isn’t going to attract a whole lot of attention. The same goes for a listing with terrible quality photos. A quality listing should have lots of high quality photos and shouldn’t have the cars in the driveway in a picture of the front of the home! A good quality listing should also contain lots of written details in the listing description and many agents tend to be lazy about this. It’s unfortunate but some agents like to obtain listings from sellers by “selling a dream” to a homeowner by telling them that they can get top dollar for their property. A lot of times this sets up an unrealistic expectation and frustrating results. If the agent did a thorough job then they should have provided you with a detailed comparative market analysis or (CMA) before discussing an asking price with you. This CMA would have showed you all of the recent sold comps from the last 6 months as well as similar active listings and pending sales.
Property Values in Detroit Can Vary From Block To Block
In Detroit a similar house around the corner can have a totally different value than your house depending on the neighborhood. Some of the more obvious variables to consider are brick vs frame, beds, baths and similar square footage. Other considerations are to understand the differences in value between a recently fully remodeled and updated home vs a property that needs some TLC. Most of the time, the houses that sold for higher values were fully updated. If your house hasn’t been fully updated recently then you cannot realistically expect to get top dollar! These are all factors to consider if your listing expired.
There are some areas in Detroit that command much higher purchase prices than others. For example, a fully remodeled home in the historical Boston-Edison neighborhood will typically sell for much more money than a home in the nearby North End neighborhood (as of this writing). Markets do change over time but it’s important to recognize the facts.
A home on a block where there are lots of vacant properties, teardowns and burn outs will most definitely have a negative affect on property value. In neighborhoods like these it’s very normal to see a listing expired or withdrawn. Even if your home has been updated 100% but is surrounded by abandoned and dilapidated houses then the truth is your house is only worth what someone would be willing to pay for it.
Do Your Part As A Seller
Even as a seller you have certain obligations to uphold in order for your house to get sold and to get to the closing table as quickly as possible. If your listing expired, ask yourself the following questions… Did you keep the house clean? Did you make sure that the property was readily accessible for showing? Was your asking price realistic and based on current market data or was it strictly based on your personal opinion?
So What Are My Options?
You tried selling your house and your listing expired and you’re ready for the next step. Well you could attempt to list with another agent or perhaps try to sell it yourself. Selling it yourself requires having the right paperwork and a lot of work marketing the home for sale. Another option would be to go directly to a we buy houses Detroit Michigan company and sell it directly to a local investor.