The day you’ve been waiting for finally comes. You consulted the seller, requested painting and repairs, watched the staging and photos wrap up, and now the sign is in the yard and the status is active. Your new listing is ready to go! 

Friday comes and you see the random texts from the showing service about appointments. You see one, two, three, and by the end of the day there are ten showings setup for the weekend! You’re feeling good. 

You have instructed the sellers to leave for the weekend and come back on Sunday at 5:00 pm when you can review offers and talk strategy. 

Sunday night passes…no offers. Monday comes and goes…no offers. 

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday the stress builds, and you finally ask…“What did I do wrong?”

The answer isn’t always clear, but here are the initial questions you should ask yourself in this situation:

  • Were there any buyers this weekend?
  • What did buyers buy this weekend?
  • How was the feedback?
  • Why wasn’t my listing picked if contracts were written?
  • Did I set the right expectations?

How do you answer each of these questions? Even more importantly, how do you explain all this to a seller?

Our first job is consultation, prep, marketing and pricing. Our second job is reacting. Reacting to showings and offers as well as reacting to no showings or no offers. 

How do we do this? Answer the above questions using something we call Monday Metrics. On Monday (or Tuesday) dig into the market to find out what happened and report back to the seller. Repeat this each week until you get a contract. 

1. WERE THERE ANY BUYERS?

We check this by searching a wide area around your listing for ANY type of home within a reasonable price. Search based on contract date after your listing went active. If your search produces results, then you can determine how many buyers were actually buying this weekend. If there are zero results, no buyers were buying and maybe you didn’t actually do anything wrong. 

2. WHAT DID BUYERS BUY?

In the above search, what homes received a contract? Compare each and every one of these homes to your listing and try to explain why someone would buy that home vs your listing. Ask yourself “Why didn’t my listing get picked?” After digging into this, ask yourself whether it’s time to make adjustments. Should I drop the price, fix the thing, remove the dog, or just hold tight?

3. HOW WAS YOUR FEEDBACK?

Was there any trend in the feedback you received? Review every comment an agent gave you and take it seriously. Some feedback isn’t as genuine as others, but assume they are right. How should you react?

4. WHY WASN’T MY LISTING PICKED?

Each week on Friday search MLS for any new listings around your listing and see how it compares. With each of these new listings, compare to your listing and assess if a reasonable buyer would buy your listing or this new listing. If you think buyers would likely buy the other home, it’s time to drop the price or make a change so you are more competitive. 

5. DID I SET THE RIGHT EXPECTATIONS?

When getting a home ready for sale, you can’t predict the future so accept that. Let the sellers know what your job is and how you will react to any situation. They are hiring you for your advice and expertise, not a guarantee of instant success.

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