How many showings. How many came back. What buyers actually said. What sold nearby, and for how much. Not “the market is slow.” A good agent is worth every dollar, and I work with a lot of them. But when a house sits, the seller is usually the last person to hear why. This page is the list of what to ask, so you’re never guessing about your own house.
Put them in a text or an email. A good agent will be glad you asked, because it makes the next decision easier for both of you.
Real feedback is specific. An agent in Phoenix told me once, about a listing of hers: “It’s the driveway, that’s the biggest feedback we’ve had.” A steep driveway. Now the seller knows exactly what buyers are reacting to, and can decide whether to fix it, price for it, or explain it in the listing.
Here’s how to read what you’re hearing:
Buyers like the location and the photos, then something inside or the price stops them. Ask what they said.
The price, the photos, or the first line of the listing is losing to the homes around it online.
That’s the market telling you its number. You don’t have to take it, but don’t ignore it.
Something in the house is scaring buyers or their insurance company. Roof age, the AC, old plumbing. Find out what, and whether fixing it costs less than losing another buyer.
This is where I see it most. The owner lives in another state, or the family inherited the house and has never sold one. The listing goes up, and then they hear almost nothing for months. A friend of mine who buys houses told me about two brothers who inherited one: the listing ran six months and simply expired. Only after it expired did anyone talk to them about other ways to sell it.
If you can’t drive by the house, you need the numbers even more. Ask for the list above every two weeks. Ask for photos of the house as it looks today. And ask someone local to walk your street and tell you what’s for sale and what’s being built around it. You shouldn’t have to wait six months to find out something could have been fixed in the first two weeks.
People ask me this, so I’ll say it plainly. If you’re listed with an agent and you call me, I’ll look at your house and give you my honest read, and then I’ll tell you to keep working with your agent if that’s the right answer. Most of the time it is.
And if I ever do buy a house that’s listed, the agent still gets paid. I work with agents all the time. They bring me houses, I bring them buyers, and nobody should lose their commission because a seller found a different way to sell.
Before you talk to your agent about a price change, run it yourself. My calculator shows what you’d actually walk away with at your current price and at a lower one, and what every month on the market costs you. Then the conversation is about real numbers, not feelings.
It takes two minutes, nobody has to walk through your house, and no one calls you.
I’m Robert. I’ve spent years doing this, buying, fixing, and figuring out the honest way through situations like yours. If something here didn’t quite fit your house, or you just want to talk it through with a real person before you decide anything, reach out. No pressure, no obligation, and it won’t cost you a thing to get a straight answer.
Some situations don't fit in little boxes. Press the button and talk to me like I'm sitting across your kitchen table. Say it however it comes out, take your time. I'll listen to every word before I ever call you back.
The more you tell me, the faster we get to your solution. Things like:
What's going on with the house?
What matters most to you right now?
If you had a magic wand, what would you wish for?
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