Is your house listing just collecting dust?
Did you try to sell your house in Hawaii the traditional way on the MLS without any success? Did your listing agreement actually expire?
Everyday — and I literally mean everyday — there are homes for sale on the Hawaii MLS that reach their expiration. Most have been listed for a full year — 365 whole days! — without resulting in a sale. While this is no doubt disappointing (and to your agent as well), it’s important to first analyze WHY your home did not sell before deciding how to move forward.
REASONS WHY HOMES DON’T SELL
PRICED OVER MARKET. The most common reason why you might have trouble selling your house is that you’re simply asking too much. I’m a firm believer in the best way to define the VALUE OF YOUR HOUSE: the amount that someone is willing to pay for it. If you can’t sell your house or get any real interest, then that’s really the buyers in the market saying they aren’t willing to pay your asking price. Understand it’s not personal — it’s just economics 101. It might be time to reevaluate your expectations given the current market conditions.
LESS THAN DESIRABLE CONDITION. It’s no secret that today’s home buyers want a home that needs few renovations, if any. While there are still homes listed on the Hawaii MLS in ‘Average’ or ‘Fair’ condition that sell, quite often these houses sell at such discounts as to really incentivize the homebuyer to take on the project. However, the buyer pool of those willing to take on the renovations themselves is much smaller than those homebuyers who are ready to move in today. Any time you reduce your potential buyer pool, you increase your risk of not selling your house.
LESS THAN DESIRABLE AREA. Sometimes your house could be in fine condition at what would seem a fair asking price, but it remains unsold or the listing expires. In these cases, you might want to look at homebuying activity in your area. On Oahu, areas between Haleiwa and Kaneohe, largely the windward stretch encompassing Hauula, Kahuku, Laie, Kaaawa and nearby areas, can be difficult as you’re largely eliminating people who need to commute into Honolulu. Once again, when you reduce your buyers pool, you risk not selling your house and watching the listing expire. Of course, there are people who specifically want to live in that area (it is a very pretty part of the Oahu!), but selling your house is very much a case of getting in front of as many interested home buyers as possible.
DIFFICULTY COMPLETING THE TRANSACTION. How easy are you making the transaction of selling your house? Are you putting too many contingencies on the purchase contract? If you’re seeking a 1031 exchange, do you have your new home purchase already lined up or do you need to make your buyer wait on the sidelines while you’re still house hunting? Is the sale part of a court proceeding (divorce, probate, etc.) that could scare away a buyer? Is it a short sale? All these are potential problems in keeping a buyer interested in seeing the sale through to the end. If they have easier sales elsewhere for similar properties, that’s where they’ll go.
Of course, there are other reasons that can come into play. Maybe it’s a coastal property in danger of getting overtaken by the sea in coming years. Or maybe the problem isn’t your house but your ‘untidy’ neighbors, to put it lightly.
A WAY FORWARD…
Whatever it is, if your house listing expired and you’re still interested in selling your house 1) without the hassle of another long MLS listing, and 2) without paying any commission fees at all, then VISIT OUR PAGE HERE.
We’ll give you our DIRECT CASH OFFER and work towards completing the sale of your house in 30 days.
Again, HERE’S THE LINK TO YOUR DIRECT CASH OFFER FOR YOUR HOUSE.
In the next post, we’ll discuss some other options you may have going forward….