What Is Relisting? 

Having to relist your property isn’t exactly the ideal situation for any property seller, but it isn’t all that uncommon either. In buyer’s markets or prime selling seasons, home sellers often struggle to grab the attention of potential buyers, getting lost among the noise of the many other properties that are listed together with their own. Discouraged by the days their house spends on the market, struggling to get a property sold can lead sellers to reconsider their plans and may even lead them to deciding against selling altogether. However, there is another option: relisting.

Relisting is the real estate practice whereby a house that is taking too long to sell is withdrawn from the market to be relisted again. Home sellers may be forced to relist if their house doesn’t sell within a preferred range of time – this is usually set out in the listing agreement you have with your real estate agent – and may be anything from three months to a year.

How long a property needs to be on the market depends on a range of factors, but is often based on the median days on market in the city or suburb it is listed in. The average days on market, or DOM, is calculated by adding together the amount of days properties in the area have spent on the market, and then dividing that amount by the number of listings. Should market conditions point to a buyer’s market, the average DOM for any property tend to be a little higher, while a seller’s market will lean towards fewer days on market.

If a property spends a considerable time on the market for whatever reason, the seller may decide to take their home off the market for the moment, to relist it again at a later stage.

How to Relist Your Home to Sell

Relisting your home to sell is not a complicated endeavour. Quite simply, your real estate agent will take your listing off the market once you decide to relist at a later stage, or as soon as the listing agreement with your real estate agent expires. Keep in mind that the relisting probably won’t happen immediately, and that your house will spend some time off the market and out of the sight of potential buyers until it is listed again.

Relisting your home will entail going through the same procedures as the first time you put your property up for sale. You will sign a listing agreement with a real estate agent, setting out the terms of sale and detailing the marketing strategy that will be followed to get your home from “for sale” to “sold”.

Assess What Went Wrong 

Taking a hard look at what prevented your home from selling the first time should be the first port of call before you relist the property. There may be a number of reasons why a property doesn’t sell the first time round. This can include:

• The asking price for the property is too high, or the house is simply overpriced for current market conditions.
• Market conditions make for a buyer’s market, with too many properties for sale to the available amount of homebuyers.
• Premium or more luxurious properties tend to spend longer on the market, due to the prices they sell for typically being higher.
• The marketing of the property was not up to scratch.
• The time of year – while property sales often slump in winter, spring and summer may sometimes be better times to sell.
• The home was not staged properly and didn’t impress interested buyers, or restricted buyer viewing times prevented enough potential buyers from coming to view the property.
• The real estate agent you used to help you sell your property is not the right agent for the job.
• Market conditions changed during the time the house spent on market.

Carefully consider what factors may have affected the sale of your home, and take care to not let these affect the sale the second time you list the property.

Consider Home Improvements 

Another reason why properties become stale is the condition they are in while they’re on the market. Real estate agents often advise owners about home repairs and improvements when doing their initial assessment and a comparative market analysis of the property. CMAs are done to note the similarities and differences between comparable properties in the city or suburb, and to price a property accordingly.

When your real estate agent recommends improvements to your property, heed their advice: experienced and qualified real estate agents are well acquainted with the way properties perform in the suburb or city they do business in, and if they recommend repairs and improvements, it’s because these can add real monetary value to your property, in addition to attracting the attention of a larger group of potential buyers.

While certain improvements, like a fresh paint job, a yard clean up or landscaping are merely cosmetic, they add to the kerb appeal a property has. Remember, potential buyers will see your home from the street first, and if it doesn’t make a good first impression, it’s doubtful whether they will spend their time looking at the rest of the property.

Other improvements, like roof or plumbing repairs, can be more costly, but will vastly improve your chances of selling at all. Homebuyers are wary of purchasing a property that they’ll have to spend money on after buying it – unless they are specifically looking for a fixer-upper – and avoiding doing the recommended repairs and improvements to your home will almost definitely affect the time it spends on the market.

Stage Your Home

The purpose of staging the home is to let potential buyers imagine themselves living in the space, and this is perhaps one of the most underestimated parts of the marketing process. When potential buyers walk into a house, sellers ideally want them to already feel like they own it, and to feel welcome and at home.

Staging the home for viewing by potential buyers is actually relatively simple, considering the difference it can make, both in terms of the impression it makes on buyers and on the amount of money they are willing to fork out.

When staging the home, getting rid of clutter is the first step. Aim to get rid of or put away anything that makes the home look untidy. Put away personal effects like family photographs and unusual but cherished décor pieces, and try to create a space that is as neutral as possible in order to cater for the taste of the largest pool of potential buyers.

Maintaining the tidiness of the home is as easy as making sure the beds are always made, the dishes are always done and clutter is kept at bay, but the financial benefits a properly staged home can reap make this necessary maintenance on the way to getting your home sold. Scour the internet for tips and tricks.

Change The Marketing For Your Home Sale

Efficient marketing is probably the best way to expose as many potential buyers as possible to your property, but some home sellers still unfortunately think three pictures on an internet listing is enough to attract attention. Discuss a comprehensive marketing strategy with your real estate agent, and let them set out exactly how they plan on marketing the property. Together with a price that is too high, uncertain market conditions and tardy home staging, inefficient marketing is one of the main reasons a house doesn’t sell.

A comprehensive marketing strategy may include listings on real estate website and in the print media, and should be the best possible showcase of your property. Consider enlisting the services of a professional real estate photographer to make sure your listing stands out from the rest this time. Also, don’t forget to tell people you come into contact with that the property is for sale – take advantage of the value of old school word-of-mouth.

Listen To Feedback

Interest around your property can be an indicator of how likely it is to sell. Ask your real estate agent to keep you up to date as to how many buyers have enquired about your property. If the interest isn’t what you’d like it to be, sit down with your real estate agent and consider adjusting your marketing strategy in order to avoid having to relist the property again.

Hire the Right Real Estate Agent

When relisting your property, you may decide to let another real estate agent have a shot at selling your home. Take into account that this will mean you will forfeit the marketing and other fees you may have already paid the first time you listed your property.

Still, having the right agent is one of the most important factors when selling a home, and finding the right agent is not always easy. To get the largest possible scope of potential real estate agents, use an online real estate finder like Perfect Agent to narrow down your search according to specific requirements and parameters. Rather than just choosing a real estate agent, take care to interview each potential candidate to find an agent that understands your specific needs.

If you do use a different real estate agent the second time round, make your expectations very clear and disclose everything from the time frame in which your would like to sell your property, to the marketing strategy you’d like to follow. Allow your agent to share their expertise with you, and take their advice to heart. Real estate agents are experts in their field, but they’re also a dime a dozen. Finding an agent that is a match for you can significantly affect almost everything surrounding the sale of a house, and having the right agent by your side will make the whole process a lot less nerve-wracking – especially when you’re doing it all again.

Conclusion

The decision to relist a property isn’t easy, and it can be disappointing when your home doesn’t sell within a certain period of time. However, changes to the overall marketing strategy and staging of the home can certainly benefit a home seller the second time a property is put on the market. More often than not, the price of a home is what hinders the sale in the first place, but market conditions can never be left out of the equation.

An experienced, qualified, and trustworthy real estate agent understands their local market and can advise home owners about what went wrong the first time their property was listed, and help to avoid these issues when it is relisted. Are you looking to relist your property, but need help choosing a new agent to help you sell? Let Perfect Agent recommend agents from an extensive database of professional real estate agents that aren’t afraid of trying their hand at a home that is being relisted.