How I Sold a Home in 2 Weeks After It Sat for a Year

What would you do if your home sat on the market for almost a year and your Realtor, your best friend, could not get it sold?

In 2009, a seller came to me in that exact situation. She didn’t want to hurt her friend’s feelings by switching agents, but she was desperate. She looked at me and asked, “Can you really sell it?” I told her I could. And I meant it.

This was 2009. Prices were falling. There were more homes on the market than ever before. And the biggest danger was that the longer you waited, the less your home was worth. Speed was everything.

Her best friend was a good Realtor. Been in the business longer than I had. She had done everything right as far as listing the property. But after almost a year, the home still hadn’t sold. Something needed to change.

I took over the listing. In two weeks, we had one showing. One. The buyer’s agent called and said what every agent says: “Hey, we have more homes we are going to look at. Will you call me if you get any offers?”

Every agent in the world says yes. I said no.

He was caught off guard. “You won’t? That’s what everyone else does.”

And that’s exactly why I said it. I created urgency. I explained why they should stop looking at other homes and give us an offer right now. Creating urgency is an art and every situation is different. The conversation that took place took several minutes with one goal in mind: get the buyer to make an offer and stop looking at properties.

In a declining market with that many options, if you don’t create a reason to act, buyers will keep looking forever.

They stopped looking. They wrote the offer. We sold the home. In two weeks.

Why did that work? It comes down to three things.

1. Speed matters more than perfection in a tough market. When prices are falling and inventory is high, every week your home sits costs you money. The right strategy isn’t always the prettiest one. It’s the fastest one.

2. Creating urgency is a skill, not a trick. I didn’t pressure anyone. I gave the buyer’s agent a reason to act now instead of later. That same approach has helped us sell homes with zero showings in three weeks and get above-asking offers when we only had one offer on the table.

3. Sometimes the best Realtor for the job isn’t the one you know the longest. It’s the one who knows what to say and when to say it. This seller’s friend was a good agent. But selling in a tough market takes a specific kind of strategy, and that strategy is what I have spent 26 years and over 3,400 homes perfecting. That is the Utah Dave Way.

If your home has been sitting on the market, if a previous listing expired, or if you just want to make sure it’s done right the first time, call me at 801-966-4000, email me at dave@utahdave.com, or visit blog.utahdave.com. Let’s talk about what the Utah Dave Way can do for your home.