What keeps listings from selling? In most cases, it’s the price, but it can also be due to a host of factors over which you as the listing agent have little control. What steps can you take to make sure that your listings end up “sold” rather than “expired”?

Part one of this series identified overpricing as the primary reason that a property may not sell. When a seller wants to overprice his listing, the agent has three viable options: (1) negotiate a lower price from the onset; (2) schedule regular price reductions as part of the actual listing agreement; or (3) walk away from the listing.

Even in the hottest markets where there is as a little as two months of inventory, this still means that only half of the listings sell each month and that the other half remain on the market. In order for the house to sell, even when the market is on fire, it must cross that threshold where it is in the top 50 percent of all listings in terms of price and value. If not, it can continue to sit on the market month after month with the listing ultimately expiring. So who is responsible for what in the transaction?

Factors that can’t be changed

The old adage that all that matters in real estate is location, location, location is still true. You can’t control where a property is located nor can you control the number of competing properties. Price is the one factor that takes both of these issues into account.

Buyers determine the price

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/07/25/5-reasons-your-listing-wont-sell-even-in-a-sellers-market/#sthash.hZ5xQMK6.dpuf

5 reasons your listing won’t sell even in a seller’s market | Inman News.