10 Things To Do or Not to do if Your House has been on the Market a while.

Has your house been on the market a while? Be sure to avoid these common mistakes.
If you’ve got a house that’s been on the market for an extended period of time, regardless of the reason, there may be a few things you should double check to avoid any issues when you do get a contract.

1. Make sure the tax data is for the current year. You want to be sure the tax rate, assessed value or taxes due are all listed accurately.
2. Update the remarks section. If you made improvements a year ago, it’s not really accurate to say “brand new” anymore. Be sure to keep your description fresh or potential buyers may think the listing has been abandoned!
3. Get fresh pictures. If you listed in the winter, get some spring time photos with greenery. It may be just want you need to get a few inquiries on the home.
4. Make sure the Association Fees are accurate. On occasion these dues will go up or down and there could even be some confirmed or pending special assessments that need to be disclosed.
5. Be sure the advertised appliances are still working and still conveying. If there was a freezer in the basement that has since died, be sure to take it out of the listing or you may be buying one at closing.
6. Home Inspections reveal material facts. If the home was under contract at one time, a home inspection was done, defects were uncovered, yet the deal fell apart…the listing now needs to reflect any material facts that are now known. Be sure those get disclosed.
7. Open House or Price Reduction dates. My personal pet peeve is to see an MLS description with severely outdated Open House dates or news of a price reduction that’s 3 months old. This practice just makes the listing look neglected.
8. “THIS HOME WON’T LAST!” 295 days later, it’s apparently lasting. If the home is still at the original listing price and it’s STILL on the market, it’s time to remove those words from the remarks!
9. Showing instructions need to be monitored as well. If when you listed the home the owners or tenants were there and now it’s vacant, it could be easier to show now. Let the world know about it!
10. Appraisals are technically only good for 1 day! Why? Because anything and everything could change tomorrow causing the value to change. If you had an appraisal done before you listed the home ONE YEAR ago, it’s so out of date it’s not even worth mentioning. There’s no value to a potential buyer to claim a value of the home in a declining market from a year ago or longer. It only amplifies once again how long you’ve been trying to sell the home.

It’s vitally important to keep updating and refreshing your listing information. Remember, what’s advertised is what the buyer is expecting. There’s no reason to end up in a dispute over something so easy to monitor and correct!