Reasons why Prescott homes don’t sell

If you have had your Prescott home on the market for several months and haven’t seen much activity or any offers, chances are that one or more of the reasons below are to blame.

Your price is too high

No doubt about it, the most common reason for a Prescott home not selling is that the asking price has been set too high. The reasons for setting your price too high to begin with are many. Ranging from over enthusiastic listing agents to unrealistic seller expectations. Regardless of the reason though, if you’ve priced your Prescott home too high, you’ve set yourself up for a number of obstacles to selling your Prescott home. Even if you do get an offer for the overly high asking price, the deal may fall apart before closing because the buyer may have problems financing at too high a price. Look at other Prescott homes for sale, ones as similar and as close to yours as possible. If they are going for less than you are asking, you may be priced too high.  The fact is, your Prescott home is competing against those other Prescott homes, and what buyers are willing to pay is what will determine final sales prices.

The condition of your Prescott home

There is a lot of competition out there to sell Prescott homes.  Your Prescott home has to compete against other similar Prescott homes for sale, as well as competing against shiny brand new Prescott homes.  The more you can do to make your Prescott home look appealing to a buyer, the better your chances for a quick sale.  Look at your Prescott home with a critical eye – put yourself in the buyers position.  A buyer doesn’t want to have to do anything except move in.  Your best “bang for the buck” in improving the condition of your Prescott home are paint and flooring.  Make sure that all of the paint is in great condition, both inside and out.  Repainting doesn’t cost too much, and will usually make the biggest impact on buyers.  Make sure all of the flooring looks good too.  You may want to consider putting in new carpet.  Again, it’s not that expensive but it sure does make an impact on buyers coming to look at your Prescott home.

Location, location, location

It’s the oldest cliché in the world, but it’s true.  When it comes to Prescott real estate, it’s all about location!  When it comes to Prescott homes, things like how good the schools are, crime rates, visual appeal of the neighborhood and noise or the smell of pollution can all effect how desirable the location is.  If you’re in a bad location, a good Prescott real estate agent may help to minimize some of the impact by suggesting improvements to the house.  But the only really reliable way to overcome a bad location is with a lower price.  Simply put, an identical Prescott home in a bad location won’t sell for as much as the same Prescott home in a better location.

Your marketing campaign is out of steam

The best listing agents all use an aggressive marketing plan to market their listings.  If your listing agent isn’t making sure your Prescott home can be found easily on the internet, isn’t actively touting his or her listings to other agents in the area, isn’t running ads in the local newspapers and Prescott real estate publications, then it might be time to change agents.  If all your agent has done is put a sign in your front yard and add your Prescott home to the local MLS, then that agent isn’t coming close to doing all that can be done to effectively market your Prescott home.

The market is slow

You’ll hear it described as a slow market, or a buyers market, or maybe a cold market.  But it all means the same thing.  That Prescott home sales in the local area, or market, are slow.  That there are too many Prescott homes for sale and not enough active buyers.  There are several things you can do to combat a slow market.  The most effective strategy is to sell at a lower price.  Buyers are expecting to find bargains during a slow market.  You can also help yourself by offering to pay some concessions to help a buyer that might not have a lot of cash.  The ultimate way to beat a slow market is to simply wait it out.  But that’s not always an option for many sellers.

Your Prescott home isn’t easily accessible

To get your Prescott home sold quickly, it’s important that other agents in the area show it to as many potential buyers as possible.  When a busy agent is compiling a list of Prescott homes to show a buyer, the agent will naturally tend to show those houses that are easiest to gain access to first.  Many Prescott homes on the market have “lock boxes” on them.  The lock box is a device which holds a key to the Prescott home, that only qualified local agents can access.  Homes that are listed as being “lock box, no appointment needed” will get shown more often than Prescott homes listed as “agent has key, call for appointment”.  If at all possible, you should let your agent put a lock box on your Prescott home for easier showing.  If not, you should do anything else you can to make it as convenient as possible for agents to show your Prescott home. 

You have an agent nobody likes

Sounds almost silly, but it’s very true.  If your listing agent isn’t liked or respected by other agents in your area, it could slow down the sale of your Prescott home.  When an agent prepares to show properties to prospective buyers, the agent begins by talking to the buyer to find out what kind of Prescott home they are looking for.  Then the agent searches the local MLS and other sources for Prescott homes that fit the buyer.  If there are a number of good matches to choose from, and one of them has been listed by an agent that is hard to get along with, or arrogant, or has otherwise made himself unpopular, well…  It’s just human nature to tend to skip over someone you don’t like.