Ten Ways You Can Make Sure Your Home Won't Sell!

1. Be casual, not serious, about selling.

A sage once quipped, "Money is only important when you don't want something enough." If half of the 26,000 sellers in the central Florida area removed their for-sale signs we'd be close to normal inventory levels. Actions speak louder than words in this market. Discretionary sellers should wait for a less competitive environment.

2. Price it wrong.

A home properly priced is half sold. No amount of full-color ads, glossy fliers, multiple photos, virtual tours, agent luncheons, Goodyear blimps or pom-pom girls will compensate for a wrong, timid retail price.

3. Ignore your agent.

It’s often been said that if you represent yourself in a lawsuit, you have a fool for a client. Doctors don't self-diagnose. Professionals use professionals. Even though many people believe they're experts on raising kids and real estate, full-time Realtors usually know what's best. Listen to them very carefully. If you think it’s expensive hiring a professional agent, you should know that it’s even more costly hiring an amateur.

4. Micromanage the marketing.

If you sold cookware in college, carts in California, or carpeting in Cranston, it does not qualify you to second-guess your agent. Even if you had a real estate license years ago, you should save your stories about the "good old days" for your children. You can share your concerns and timelines, but leave the details to the listing pro.

5. Reject staging suggestions.

Someday shag, multi-colored, sculptured carpeting will come back. Whitewashed cabinets, Navajo white walls, linoleum flooring, lots of personal photos, and Elvis paintings on black velvet need to go. Now. We know what is currently selling in this market. Please let us help you dress your home for success.

6. Let Fido loose.

I recently entered a house and had two frisky, friendly black Labs run up to sniff me. Unfortunately, I had light-gray dress slacks on that day. Both wet stains lasted for hours. Until that day I didn't realize dogs enjoyed chewing the tassels on expensive loafers.

7. Talk to the buyers.

Life gets lonely at times. Why not ask the buyers where they grew up? Or how much they qualify for. Tell them about the vacant rental next door. Maybe they could baby sit next weekend! Why not share war stories, horror movies or meatloaf recipes? Maybe you should tell them how much you hate the builder of your home?

8. Sell personal items.

Wow, maybe the buyers want to buy the patio furniture or rotary lawnmower. You have only four more boxes of Girl Scout cookies to sell. Why not ask for a donation for the March of Dimes, the Humane Society, the local PBS station? Remember the saying, "loose lips sink ships."

9. Discount that smell.

My house doesn't smell of pets, baby diapers, curry powder, garlic, fried fish, coconut incense, cigars, manure, mulch, dairy farms or low tide. The buyer must be confusing my castle with a tract home.

10. Dismiss feedback.

What do buyers know anyway? They can't possibly mind my barbed wire fence, heavy-duty rebar, backyard bomb shelter, airport runway views, lights from the power plant, hum from the high-voltage lines, railroad tremors, scorpion skeletons, termite mud tubes and pet snakes. What are they thinking?