Selling Your House in Las Vegas: OUCH Your Listing Expired!
I am putting a postcard campaign together for reaching out to Las Vegas sellers who attempted to sell their home but their listing expired! I have found a lot of reasons why potential listings expired and am putting them right here in a nifty list for you:
Agent Related to Seller: I was actually shocked about this one. Almost 30% of our 1400 ish expired listings in the last three months were listings where the agent was related to the seller in some way. Maybe if your Las Vegas listing expired and you had a relative list it, you may want to find a Las Vegas real estate agent that has no emotional ties to you or your property.
Price: I was not shocked about this one. Without running full blown CMAs on the property but just using my trained eye on the area and PPSF, it appears that about 60% of expired listings are overpriced. Only about 20% of those listings were GROSSLY overpriced (by more than 10%.) That isn’t too shabby. Buyers are finicky in this market for bargains and even the slightest overpricing can turn your listing into an expired listing.
Photos in MLS: OK folks, it only rains here like five days out of the year and snows MAYBE one day of the year. People moving here from out of state are generally trying to escape some elements like snow and rain. When I see photos with snow (which is rare) or rain or clouds, it’s like fingernails on a chaulkboard. There are several other photo problems. Another is holiday decorations. There is no better way to age your listing by allowing your home to get photographed with holiday decorations. The last and probably the worst way to stigmatize your Las Vegas house listing is to have very few photos. Our MLS allows up to 25 photos. There is no excuse – even in a 2 bedroom condo to not have more than 10 photos. With that 2 bedroom condo there are probably community amenities available to add to the MLS. There were less than 10% of expired listings that made use of ALL 25 photo spots!
MLS Data Incomplete: Non-required (yet searchable) MLS data is empty and buyers may be missing out on the fact that you have granite countertops, walk-in closets, a balcony or a bedroom & bathroom downstairs – you get the picture. When you list your home you should ask for MLS sheets – both REALTOR® & public views so you can see how your home is portrayed to the public and compare it with your competition! I saw a LOT of white space with expired listings! I would say close to 80% of expired listings could have used better descriptions and made better use of the non-required MLS fields.
Showing Instructions: Homes that are difficult to show are difficult to sell. Uncooperative tenants & appointment with listing agent just to name a few. This was about 40% of expired listings. Placing your home on an electronic keybox and making showings easier will help get more traffic in the door and increase your chances of receiving a good & acceptable offer.
Please note – my above findings are for “standard” or “traditional” listings only. They DO NOT include short sale or REO listings that have expired in the last 3 months!
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