The Buyer is Just not That into Your Home

There is a movie currently playing in the theatres entitled:“He’s Just Not That Into You” based on the book written by Greg Behrendt.It is a fabulous comedy that is so funny because there is so much that rings true.The basic premise is that if a guy doesn’t pursue a lady, it is because he isn’t really interested.There are all kinds of excuses and women tend to make rationalizations for the fact that at the end of the day he just didn’t care enough to do anything about trying to see her again.

It seems to me that many sellers could take some advice from the movie.In fact, purchasing a home has at times been compared to falling in love.A home is more than shelter, it is a place with many layers of meaning and so it is no wonder that often deep emotion goes into the selection.As a seller, you put your best foot forward, just like men and women in the dating phase of a relationship.A home seller emphasizes the best features of the property and goes out of their way to make sure it is most presentable at all times.And if buyers do not select your home to see, then it feels like rejection, because in many ways an owners home is his/her castle, an extension of self.There are unspoken rules in dating relationships, the guy does the calling and pursuing.If a guy doesn’t call and pursue, then bottom line, no decision is a decision.By deciding not to call and pursue by default he is saying that there isn’t even enough interest to come back a second time.And so it is with the home buying process, if a buyer doesn’t want to come back a second time, then in effect that home was not the home for them.There are many rules of thumb that Realtors have to know when a home has been “rejected” by the marketplace:15 showings or 15 days on market, whichever comes first;30 days and no buyer has come back a second time; 12 showings by qualified buyers with agents and no offer has been presented.All of these are indicators of the same bottom line:the buyer is just not that into your home.

So how does a woman get a man interested?By allowing him to pursue, by not appearing needy and desperate, and to move on when she realizes that he just isn’t that into her.

So how does a seller get a buyer interested?There are a few fundamental points of value in real estate:location, home condition, and price relative to the market.It is impossible to change the location of a property, that’s what makes it so unique.That leaves the only two things that a seller can change to increase interest by buyers:home condition and price relative to the market.Just as in the movie, as soon as the characters realized where they really stood in relation to the intended other, that is when the light bulb went on.And in the case of a home purchase, when a contracts is written by the buyer and presented to seller.