San Diego Condos, Homes and Real Estate News

WHY DON'T SOME CONDOS SELL?

Many of San Diego's sellers often ask me why their homes don't sell. With over 27 years of experience and more than 5,000 closed sales in my career I have noted the following reasons homes don't sell.

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LOCATION

Unfortunately, one of the main reasons Downtown San Diego homes don't sell is often their location. Especially in a buyer's market a poorly located home will not sell. If it is too close to the freeway, impacted by railroad tracks or even located on a busy street it becomes more difficult to attract a buyer. The only thing that can be done to overcome a poor Downtown San Diego location is to attempt to compensate for the location by pricing it aggressively.

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FLOOR PLAN

Somehow in San Diego's Downtown Condominiums the developers seem to always have some challengingly designed floor plans in every building. These floor plans probably sold sight unseen when the San Diego real estate boom was in full swing, but now that the cycle has cooled these plans become more difficult to sell. The fault may be one of many reasons why floorplans are undesirable;

• poor view
• small secondary bedrooms
• too few assigned parking spaces

Again the only solution is to price the San Diego Condo low enough to overcome the design flaws.

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THE ASKING PRICE IS TOO HIGH

There is an old axiom in real estate about "location, location, location". Frankly as we discussed in the first section location is important, but the location and all other issues can be overcome by the real real estate axiom "price, price, price". There are many negative things that can occur from over-pricing.

• A property sits on the market too long gives buyers the impression that something is wrong with the property. 
• You lose buyers that should be looking at your home, but pass since they or their Realtor® don't find it because it is not located in the price range they are targeting.
• The longer a property languishes on the market the more apt the San Diego seller is to receive a "low-ball" offer, if any offer at all.  Also the more likely the seller is to sell it at a price lower than it is worth. Many sellers want to be able to "come down" when they get an offer, but you have to generate the offer before you can even come down.

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SAN DIEGO CONDO CONDITION

The majority of San Diego buyers want to purchase a condominium and not have to do any work at all. They want to turn the key and move in their belongings. Having a property listed that is in need of fixing greatly limits the number of buyers that are willing to purchase or look at the listing. Probably ten (10%) percent of buyers are looking for "fixer uppers" and those buyers anticipate buying your home at such a discount that they can fix it up and still make money themselves. Builders make model homes, car dealers wash and wax every car on the lot and so intelligent sellers also need to create a good first impression by staging the home, removing clutter and excess furniture, replacing soiled carpet and painting dingy walls.

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SELLING "AS-IS"

Most buyers regard "AS-IS" homes as too challenging to deal with. The seller may only mean that it needs carpet and paint and that the seller does not want to undertake those repairs, but to a buyer it screams out "cracked slab, damaged goods". These properties may often be a good deal for the right buyer, but advertising "AS-IS" is generally not a smart choice.

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THE LISTING AGENT SELECTED

Many Downtown San Diego real estate agents in the industry are known to other agents as "difficult agents". This often means that they do not return calls or they are slow to respond to offers or they keep a larger share of the commission and offer to the cooperating broker less than the customary three (3%) percent.

The best listing agents use numerous and aggressive marketing techniques. This is especially critical in a "down market". Websites such as www.realtor.com; www.zillow.com; and www.trulia.com are frequently visited by home buyers long before they ever contact an agent for assistance. Mailing to surrounding properties is often a great technique since many people have friends looking to move into the same condominium or neighborhood. Make sure your agent's company is connected to a relocation company with out-of-town buyers. Lastly do not  ever overlook that old standby the open house.

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THE REAL ESTATE MARKET

Knowing the market you are in is critical to the success of selling your home.

• If you are in a seller's market, like San Diego experienced from 1998 until late 2005 you can be more aggressive since there is low inventory and more buyers which, in turn drives up prices.
• A buyer's market, such as we are experiencing in the San Diego Downtown Condominium marketplace, is just the opposite with more homes than buyers and lots of downward pressure on prices.
• Lastly a stable market, the most rare of all markets, is where there are an equal number of buyers and sellers and prices are generally stable.

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When interviewing for an agent find out what the average market time is for homes that are selling and when you reach that point revisit with your agent what they are doing to overcome any of the challenges and if they turn out to be the challenge make a change.