Nearly 15 to 25% of all listings do not sell. The market rejects them. The market did not accept the marketing effort, the price, the condition, the location or a mix of all. The good thing is that you control two of these: Price and Condition; and we, as your NC Realtor's, control one: The Marketing Efforts.
Marketing * Condition * Price * Location
Marketing:
Marketing is the process of exposing your home to prospects who are ready, willing and able to buy your home. You have to market what you have. You need to include the latest technological means of getting your home out there. Believe it or not, there are many Realtors in NC who only put a couple pictures of your home on the Multiple Listing Service, and sometimes none at all. I don't know the statistics on virtual tours, but I would guess that only around 35% of the homes have this. Internet marketing should be priority. To attempt to sell the home solely utilizing a NC MLS with a few photos and a yard sign out front is simply not taking care of you.
Condition:
First impressions are lasting impressions. Homes that are not prepped first won't show well as compared to other properties. Getting a home in good condition does not make it worth more, but being in poor condition makes it less desirable.
The 100 Dollar Bill Example: They all look good, but if we were given an option to choose between one that is nice, clean and crisp, or one that was worn and wrinkled - we would choose the one that is nice, clean and crisp. (This is demonstrating Showing Condition vs. Living Condition).
a) Remove all items and furniture that you can live without
b) Have all rooms painted a neutral color
c) The kitchen and bathrooms are reference points and must be in excellent condition. They show age, wear and tear more
than any other room in your house.
Price: Overpricing a home is responsible for most expired listings. If a home is overpriced to begin with, this could be for one of two reasons:
Every Realtor wants listings, as do we, but we want more than just to have our name in the yard - we want to make sure that our client's needs are met and that their real estate experience is a positive and lasting one.
If a home has been on the market too long, this is a red flag to Buyers and NC Realtors that something is wrong. We believe that a home should be priced within the market analysis to begin with. We believe that it is better for us to lose the listing than to have it expire or languish and lose valuable resources, money and time in a futile attempt to sell the property. If the property is priced right the first time - it will sell.
Location:
Neither you nor I can do a thing about the home's location, except accent the positive and minimize the negatives within the various marketing strategies we implement.
I am sure that there are other reasons that listings expire, but for the most part, if the above four items are attended to, the home will sell in a steady market.