An interesting perspective on Toronto’s resale housing market comes from the online brokerage TheRedPin.com. According to the TheRedPin, about one in six of the 101.299 properties sold last year—that’s 17,254 homes—did not sell on first listing. We’re so used to hearing about the shortage of listings, fast-rising prices, multiple offers and short selling times that it comes as a bit of a surprise to hear that one-sixth of sellers had to take their homes off the market and try again later. When they did, sellers generally re-listed for a “shocking” average of nearly $24,000 less than the original asking price. In the GTA, that amounted to an average drop of 3.3%.

Why does this happen? The main reason, according to TheRedPin, is that sellers get carried away in estimating the value of their homes and list too high, often refusing to listen to their real estate agent. These sellers believe that someone will come along and pay the price they want, even despite professional advice and “evidence to the contrary.”

Another issue agents say sellers ignore at their peril is the small, relatively inexpensive fix-up. If a home needs a quick fix, like new fixtures in the kitchen or bathroom, or a paint job to freshen up the place, it’s counterproductive not to do it. Better to weigh the cost of the fix against that $24,000 average cost of re-listing.

Staging a home so that it shows to best advantage, clutter free and clean, is considered a good way to ensure a quicker sale. Making sure that agents have access to the home for showings is also key. Some sellers, the RedPin report says, refuse or “severely” limit the time available for showings, making it “extremely difficult” to close a deal.

The bottom line? Price according to what the market dictates, de-clutter, get your screwdriver out of for those minor fixes and if all else fails, re-list and try again.

Re-listing a home if it doesn’t sell is a way to present it afresh, though agents say it’s better to lower the price early if there is no buyer interest, rather than re-listing. On average, sellers waited twenty-five days from the time they took their home off the market until re-listing, which only drags out the whole process. In Toronto, the average time a property sits before being taken off the market and re-listed is just thirty days.

Buyers often ask how long a home has been for sale. If it has been sitting for a while, and that could mean closer to sixty days in Toronto, people may wonder what the problem is. Re-listing puts the home back at zero days on the multiple listing service, in effect making it look like a new listing, though the information about its first listing is available.

While the fresh start gives the seller another chance, the fact remains that re-lists do sell for less than the original asking price (which was likely unrealistic in any case). It would be better to list the property realistically the first time and sell it as quickly as possible. Surprisingly, TheRedPin found that 22% of homes that were re-listed did not sell at all.

According to TheRedPin, which says this is the first study to delve into the re-listing phenomenon in Toronto, condominiums are particularly vulnerable to re-lists. The research found that close to one in five (19%) of condos had to be put on the market a second time.

Research Shows Many Homes Don’t Sell on First Attempt Because Price is Wrong by Josephine Nolan | Condo.ca