Selling a home can be exciting.
It can also be frustrating.
You clean the house, get everything ready for showings, put it on the market and then...
Wait.
Why hasn't someone scheduled a showing today?
Why did those buyers love the house but not write an offer?
Why didn't the agent leave feedback?
These are completely reasonable questions.
But they also bring up an important distinction sellers should understand:
There are things your Realtor can influence, and there are things no Realtor can control.
Our job is to control everything we possibly can, pay attention to what we can't, and use the market's response to help determine what we do next.
1. We Cannot Make Buyers Schedule Showings
We can market your home.
We can use great photography, online exposure, social media, MLS syndication and targeted marketing to get it in front of potential buyers.
We can make showing instructions as easy as possible.
But we cannot make a buyer schedule an appointment.
Showing activity itself is actually valuable information.
If similar homes are receiving activity and yours isn't, we need to ask why.
Is it price? Presentation? Competition? Location? Something buyers see online?
No showings is still feedback.
2. We Cannot Make Buyers Write Offers
A buyer can spend an hour inside your home, compliment everything about it and leave without writing an offer.
Frustrating? Absolutely.
But interest doesn't always turn into an offer.
Maybe they liked another property more. Maybe they changed their budget. Maybe one spouse loved it and the other didn't. Maybe they decided they weren't ready to move.
What we can do is position your property to give buyers as many reasons as possible to choose it.
3. We Cannot Force Buyers or Agents to Give Feedback
We ask for feedback because it can be incredibly helpful.
But we cannot require another agent or their buyer to respond.
Sometimes we'll receive detailed comments.
Sometimes we'll get two words.
Sometimes we'll get nothing.
And sometimes the feedback we receive isn't particularly useful.
What matters most is looking for patterns.
If multiple buyers independently mention the same concern, that's something worth paying attention to.
4. We Cannot Control Buyer Financing
A buyer may love your house and write a strong offer, but financing involves lenders, underwriting, appraisals and financial qualifications.
Even a preapproved buyer can encounter unexpected issues.
We can't control their lender or financial circumstances.
What we can do is carefully review offers, evaluate financing terms and help you understand the potential strengths and risks before accepting one.
5. We Cannot Control a Buyer's Timeline
Not every buyer who loves your property is ready to purchase today.
Some need to sell another home.
Some are relocating.
Some are waiting for a lease to end.
Others simply aren't emotionally ready to make a decision yet.
Their timing belongs to them.
6. We Cannot Control the Market
Interest rates change.
Inventory changes.
Buyer demand changes.
Economic conditions change.
Real estate markets are constantly moving.
Our job isn't to control the market.
Our job is to recognize what the market is doing and adjust our strategy accordingly.
7. We Cannot Control Your Competition
You may list your home on Monday and have a very similar property hit the market on Tuesday.
We don't control what other sellers list, how they price their homes or how their properties show.
But buyers will compare them.
That's why we continuously pay attention to competing listings, new inventory, price reductions, pending sales and recent closings.
Your competition helps determine how buyers perceive your property's value.
8. We Definitely Cannot Control Buyer Emotions
Real estate isn't entirely logical.
A buyer might reject a beautiful house because they don't like the kitchen cabinets.
Someone else may walk through the front door and immediately picture Christmas morning in the living room.
A buyer may love everything except the neighbor's fence.
Another may fall in love with a garage that the seller barely considered important.
People buy homes emotionally and justify those decisions with numbers.
We can't control what a particular buyer connects with.
So What CAN Your Realtor Control?
Quite a bit.
We can help establish a strategic asking price.
We can professionally present the property.
We can create strong photography and marketing.
We can maximize exposure.
We can make it easy for agents to schedule showings.
We can communicate.
We can request feedback.
We can monitor competing properties.
We can watch showing activity and buyer response.
We can negotiate.
And most importantly, we can use all of that information to help you make informed decisions.
Sometimes the Things We Cannot Control Still Tell Us Something
This is where seller expectations and good communication become especially important.
We can't control whether buyers schedule showings.
But if there are very few showings, that tells us something.
We can't control whether buyers make offers.
But if we're getting plenty of showings and no offers, that tells us something too.
We can't control every comment buyers make.
But when the same feedback appears repeatedly, that's information.
The market communicates with us through activity, or sometimes through the lack of it.
Our job is to listen.
The Goal Is Not to Make Excuses
Saying "we can't control buyers" should never be an excuse to put a listing in the MLS and wait.
Quite the opposite.
It means we need to focus our energy on the things that are within our control.
Pricing.
Presentation.
Exposure.
Marketing.
Communication.
Negotiation.
Strategy.
Then we watch the results and adjust when necessary.
Because we may not control the buyer.
But we absolutely control how hard we work to give your property its best opportunity to reach one.
Lakes Region Team | Weichert, Realtors®
Spouses Who Sell Houses