BEST ANSWER
Where?
No - I'm totally kidding. Forgive me. I live 5 minutes from Oak Point in the Town of Prosper, and Oak Point is part of my selling region. But, 'where?' is the answer from most people when they see a home listed in the outer suburbs like Oak Point. I didn't know there was such a place until I went into real estate 8 years ago, and I've lived in DFW for over 30 years. Most people just don't know where you are to search you out directly.
Schedule open houses. Even if you don't get foot traffic during the open house, don't get discouraged. Just having the event is one more piece of marketing exposure that another home might not have, and that can lead to more hits on your home. If your home rises to the top of visibility online, more people will see it and more people may visit . A home listing is like Field of Dreams - "If you build it, they will come". But, you have to build it right.
It is getting harder to find a home in DFW under $150k. But, you need to keep in mind that people aren't going to be thrilled about paying $77 per square foot for a home in Oak Point when they aren't getting that in Frisco or McKinney for similar homes. Area comps are more than just the neighborhood in which you live. Price your home right and you will get showings. The agents may feel your home is a decent value at $150,000 - but if it doesn't ring our phones or bring in internet leads, the buying public is the one saying they just don't see the overall value in comparison to the other homes they are viewing online. A home in demand stays in demand. A home without demand hasn't won over the buying public yet.
Get online yourself. Look at the homes around yours online. Really study them. Does yours measure up? Do you have flyers out front? Are you still on your first order of 50 flyers after weeks on the market? If so, that's a sign that you don't have much drive-by traffic. Drive-by traffic and flyers leaving that box at a certain speed tell us if we're getting people motivated to get in their cars and go check out the home in person. That's only an indication of local buyer interest. So many of our homes in DFW sell to people who aren't from here. Our inward migration comes from our strong corporate presence. You buyer isn't likely to work in downtown Dallas, unless someone enjoys an hour-plus commute. It is likely they work somewhere in the Legacy Business Corridor - JCPenney, Frito Lay, EDS, Ericsson, etc... Most buyers in DFW try to keep their commute under 30 minutes. You know even that gets stressed at times if there is a wreck on Hwy 720 going from Oak Point through Little Elm. It can be faster heading out to Hwy 380 and up the North Dallas Tollway to get back toward Plano and Frisco.
Truth be told, you are a 3-bedroom home, where the highest demand in DFW is for 4 bedroom homes. You have less than 2,000 square feet of living space. (although you aren't off by much). 2,000 is a minimum square footage for many of our buyers. Huge backyard is a plus. And, your neighborhood is a good value. Little Elm schools really need to step up efforts to get test scores and ratings up. That is a big hindrance to selling homes. People with families prefer the best of schools for their kids, and Frisco, McKinney, and Prosper are kicking Little Elm's tail in regard to schools (not just personal opinion, but I had a child in Little Elm schools for 7 years, and we moved to Prosper for better schools). If the criteria from the buyer is a 4-bedroom home with over 2,000 square feet, you home isn't going to come back in the search results. You are invisible to that buyer.
Hang in there. You aren't an easy sale. But, you can be sold. KW has good tools to keep you posted on the status of your listing and how the market is responding (or not). Lack of traffic is feedback. Silence should not be ignored. You want to be getting at least 3 showings a week in our area. 5 a week would be better. Until you get there, you are a hopeful seller and not a home in demand. Be loyal to your agent, too. Agents are the easiest target in these market conditions. If your agent survived 2008, they've got some grit to them. Anybody who hung on to this industry last Summer and Fall deserves your respect. They have mine. It was not easy for any of us to do.
Have a blessed day!
Ronda
Ronda Allen - Realtor, Life Coach, and Certified Purchasing Manager
CEO of comingsoonhomes.com
RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs
Keith Dobbs Team
http://www.keithdobbs.com
Wed Aug 5 2009, 10:43
Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity