Your home is priced too high. Drop the price 10% every month until it sells.

Sorry but there is simply no other way to do it.

I agree with Chad..He seems to know the market. I also respect that he added, "Price may not be your problem at all." That I find EXTREMELY INTERESTING...it's something we rarely see on Trulia.

90% of the agents offer PRICE REDUCTIONS as the TOP #1 option...Steph, Paul, Dave, Kim, Keith, Bill...
But a handful of Top Realtors understand, respect and appreciate that standard price reductions of tens of thousands of dollars are ineffective when it comes to expanding your pool of potential Buyers. ($10,000 price reduction lowers a potential Buyer's monthly payment by only $55/month...(WHOOPPPEEE!)

Sellers who are competing with Short sales and foreclosures need to become creative
and think outside the box! Jon says an "agent bonus"...we disagree...we suggest that you price your home aggressively Plus... offer incentives to potential Buyers which helps to improve affordability and increase your market potential.

The cost for the Seller is minimal in comparison to the savings for the Buyer! Win! Win!
Calculators/ charts: http://www.321advantage.com/sellers-calculate-your-rate

Please contact me with any questions.
Good Luck!

This is what I absolutely love about Trulia! (Can you feel my sarcasm?) What I love is that you ask a question and get answers from coast to coast. Don't get me wrong, sometimes it is helpful advice. Other times it is people just wanting to boost there answer rating.
In this day and current real estate market I would not begin to answer someone's real estate question in California, New York, or Hawaii. There reason is...I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON THERE! Georgia has the second highest rate of foreclosures behind Florida. Dekalb County has the high rate of mortgage fraud of any county in THE COUNTRY! I know GA real estate. What I find on Trulia is the good ole salesperson mentality. That mentality is born from the old door to door salesman. It revolves around the principal that "a sale is always made right there, you either sell them on why they need it or they sell you on why they don't." Sometimes the simplest answer is not always the best nor does it tend to be correct as "Occam's Razor" would have us beleive.
I find a serious deficiency in agents thinking that the problem always lies in what some other agent failed to do. The idea that you can sell anything to anyone at anytime belongs in the past with the door to door salesman. That mentality is part of the current real estate problem in the US. I may be all wet in my thinking but I believe that we are to be honest with our clients and ourselves. Don't try to be that slick tongue sales person that you will meet at a used car lot.

To be able to do a short sale you must supply proof that you are unable to continue making your regular payments. Short Sale is a means for you and the bank to mitigate some of your losses. A short sale will affect your credit from 80 to 100 points. Short sale will affect your home buying abilities for about two years as opposed to foreclosure which will hit you for about 200 points on your credit and affect you for about thrree years (home buying ability). What a lot of people do not understand or tell you is this: After you sale your home through short sale you think you are over and done with it.....NOT TRUE! The banks are selling the deficiency to collection agencies that will eventually come after that money...AND IT WILL BE MORE THEN. This is not information that I am pulling from my hat. When an agent gets properly educated on the short sale process they will find out straight from the loss mitigation specialist that, although they don't come out with it when they say yes to a short sale, someone will come looking for that money.

Dear Home Seller: you make a common ill-conceived assumption - you said "really it's not my house or the price, it's just that no one is looking." There are ALWAYS buyers in the market. I have NEVER worked with a buyer who didn't expect to be shown only the cream of the crop in his or her price range and preferred area. Think about it - if no one is looking (at your house), it's because your house is falling short somehow and that is causing it to fall outside the parameter of "cream of the crop" in the eyes of agents and prospective buyers. #1 reason is price. If your driveway is an issue for some reason you can only compensate with price. Same with the area, undesirable schools, declining neighborhood, etc. The fact of the matter is that there is a fair market value for every property and if your home were priced at or near that price, you would be receiving showings and/or offers. It has been proven time and time again.

Home Seller, is the home listed with a realtor or are you trying to sell it yourself? You're going to need current comps which is something your realtor should give you...that should also give you an idea if homes are selling in your area. Price yours a little below current comps, maybe even a bit further below if the driveway is really bad.

My feedbacks are postive. They say it shows really well, and the price is good. The only negative thing is my driveway , which I can't change. Really it is not my house or the price, it's that no one is looking at it. I guess the market is flooded in Acworth.

you need the 5 p's most agents manage the first 3 place the sign in the yard, put it in the listing services and pray some other agent sells it. There are 2 more price watch, making sure you are in the market not just on it and propsecting, how many leads and follow up with feedback do they have for you. If you do not have 10 showings or a contract within 30 days you have to reduce your price.

Make sure you get this feedback if you are lidsted with an agent so you can make an educated decision. You are accumulating running costs as the clock ticks and your property may become stigmatized.

Home
Ask your Realtor how many homes, like yours, have sold since your home hit the market?
That will tell the tale.
In most markets there is low inventory, so the ONLY reason a home will not get traffic is price. If the buyer that purchases the home is represented by a Realtor 90% of the time, Realtors know value.If they are not showing it, they don't think that it's worth being shown.

By the way, what has been the feedback from the 5 showings?

Home Seller, can you post a link to your listing or photos of the home? I might be able to give you some advice if I could actually see the home.

I was recently contacted by a seller in the same situation, no showings in the first two months. Seller had said they cleaned, decluttered, and staged the home. Then I received the photos. The home had BOLD, different wallpaper in every room. The interior furnishings (antique-like) conflicted greatly with the exterior of the home (modern) and there were way too many furniture pieces which also happened to be arranged in an awkward manner.

Long story short, post a link so that I can give you some staging advice.

I disagree with everyone :-). There is only one reason any home does not sell. Call me and I will tell you. But that wasn't the question. The question was why isn't anyone looking at it. If you are currently listed with a real estate agent, then it is completely inappropriate for any of us to comment or offer advise on a property listed by another agent. Please update all of us so we aren't guilty of compromising our code of ethics as realtors.

Sincerely,
David Brower, Assistant Manager/Realtor/Associate Broker
Crye-Leike Realtors
678-982-9600
david@davidwbrower.com

What is considered an agent bonus? I did raise the buyers agent commission to 4%, recently.

You may be in a higher price range than what is currently moving. Right now the area you are in is being driven by two things. The first is price. With the $8K tax credit plus the $1800 offered by the state the market is full of first time home buyers. This group is purchasing their first home which usually falls in the $100K to $170K price range. The second aspect of your market is foreclosures, Short Sales, and REOs. Right now there are so many deals out there that buyers are looking to capitalize on other people's misfortunes. Last Tuesday there were 1300 foreclosures to hit the court house steps in Cobb County. Hang in there. Renting your property out may be an alternative depending on your home and situation. I do a great deal of rentals and lately the inventory is getting a little light. I am not knocking the other agents answers but sometimes you find yourself in an uncontrollable spot. Price may not be your problem at all.

The answer below by David Joslin really hit the nail on the head! Great answer and exactly how I would have responded so there is no need to repeat. I do want to add that current market conditions play a huge roll in why some properties are not moving right now. There are so many incentatives out there. There's 1st time homebuyers incentatives, which are usually lower-priced homes, and there is the down-payment assistance program that requires the buyer to purchase a "foreclosed" property. Unfortunately for you....this is where the action is happening in home sales right now!

Buyers know they are in control of the market right now and they know they can find the great deals...so they are waiting and looking for those deals. I suppose they figure....why buy a regular priced home...when they can get one at or below current market value! Most sellers can't afford to market their home at or below the "current" market value so that leaves them out of the competition.

My suggestion for you is....if you must sell....then you need to look at all your options which means...you'll need to a) lower the price, b) bring $ to the table to get it sold NOW....or 3) you may have to consider a short sale. If you DON"T HAVE TO SELL....then my suggestion is to wait it out! The market will improve within a few years. You may want to consider offering it for lease purchase. There are a lot of folks out there that have lost their homes during this crisis that are looking to buy again..but need time to clean up their credit before they can qualify again.

Best of luck to you!

Have you ever considered an agent bonus? That might motivate the Realtors to add it to their showing stack.

David's answer is comprehensive and pretty much covers it.....simply stated, PRICE, VISIBILITY, & DESIRABILITY are the big three factors. Our recommendationis to review your listing relative to these important factions.

Good luck,
The Eckler Team

Are you using an agent, or are you selling it yourself?

Please keep in mind that I have not seen your property and don't know any details about it. Typically there are only a few reasons for a lack of activity on a home listed for sale.

1. Location - buyers may not be looking at your home for reasons such as the properties around yours are less desirable / in poor condition, the home is on a busy road, is situated awkwardly on the lot, sits below or above the road, etc...

2. Condition - the home may not show well whether it be from the curb, in person or from the interior photos or virtual tour

3. Market Condition - what is the average days on market in your area? Are you at a reasonable time below or above the average or are you well above the average days on market. If you are well above the average days on market for homes similar to yours please see # 4.

4. PRICE - yes I put this in caps because any property priced right should sell even if the other three items mentioned are factors in the buyers decision. Ultimately it boils down to the buyers. If they feel it is a good price they will come out and look.

No matter what the combination of these four items, list price will ultimately dictate your traffic through the home and your sale of the home.

If you feel your price, condition, location are all prime and you are getting no activity. It's gut check time. Go out and see other houses currently on the market comparable to your house and also review what has sold since you listed your house. After the tour and review might be a great time to truly see the value in your house.

I also lowered my house price by $15,000 in June and still have had only 1 showing.