WOULD YOU BUY A HOUSE WITHOUT EVER PHYSICALLY WALKING THROUGH IT?

Virtual tours and scheduled video showings may not be the ideal way to market and purchase a home, but it certainly can be done professionally and thoroughly.  Don’t let the current circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 virus, virtual tours, and preventative precautions hold you back from realizing your dream of homeownership. 

One of my favorite transactions involved a military buyer stationed overseas.  Sal’s military retirement date was all set but his housing situation was not.  Our team spent hours with Sal, streaming live video and audio with him virtually.  Sal was able to comfortably review the details of the property, attend the physical inspection, take measurements and plan for new improvements.  Sal enthusiastically moved forward with the purchase of his new home.  Some might even say that he was much more “hands on” than other buyers. 

I am confident today’s buyer can purchase their new home virtually with the support of their trained REALTOR to assist them.  I experienced the virtual homebuying experience firsthand with Sal and he has been a very, happy homeowner ever since.  If this is the right time for your family to purchase a home, get in there with your agent to “see” the property – in person or virtually. 

WHY PROPERTIES DON’T SELL

Have you ever wondered why a house isn’t selling?  There are a lot of reasons people give, and most of them are wrong.  In fact, there are only two reasons houses don’t sell, and only one of them is true in virtually every situation.

Before we get to the real reasons, here are the ones I get often that are wrong:

1. Location – people assume a house isn’t selling because of where it’s located.  Homes too close to a busy street, near an airport, or right next to the freeway are often reasons given…that aren’t the real reason.
2. Condition – a house that needs painting, updating, or landscaping can be seen as detriments to selling.  Not so…
3. Needs Updating  – a house that’s in good condition but is dated inside and out can seemingly take longer to sell, but it’s not because it needs to be on “Fixer Upper”.

There are more, but these are most often given.  They sound good.  But…they’re wrong.

There are only two reasons why a house doesn’t sell.  In a few cases, it’s marketing.  Specifically, people don’t know it’s for sale.  In today’s marketplace, it’s very uncommon that a house for sale isn’t seen by hundreds, even thousands, of people.  The MLS shares information with so many websites, virtually every potential buyer knows when a property goes on the market. 

In every other case, the reason a house doesn’t sell is because of PRICE. 

If you live in the United States, then you have experience with our capital markets, supply and demand, and pricing.  You’ve been to Costco and bought in bulk because it was cheaper, purchased more clothes than you intended because they were on sale, and even justified a luxury purchase like a nice watch or pair of shoes because you couldn’t pass up the price. 

You’ve also seen some beautifully renovated homes come on the market that you never saw up for sale before they were updated.  That’s because an investor swooped in and bought them for cheap and made lots of money.  Why did they buy them?  Not because they were in the wrong location or in bad condition…but because the price was right.

So, when you see a property on the market for a long time and it hasn’t sold, don’t judge anything else about it except the price.  If it hasn’t sold, it’s because it’s overpriced.  That’s all.