By VICKI STOUT
For Williamson A.M.

If your house has been on the market all summer and has not sold, it may be a good idea to take it off the market, let it rest for 30 days, and put it back on with a fresh face and a new price, according to veteran real estate agent Marty Warren.

”Generally, there are three reasons why a house does not sell: location, price and condition. If your house is in tip-top condition and you have not had an offer or significant nibbles, it’s time to reevaluate the price,” he said.

Warren suggests looking at the comparable prices in the neighborhood to see how much they’re selling for.

”This particular time we’re in now, late August, is very slow for sales. Schools have started; transferees are pretty much here. I don’t expect many of them again before the week after Christmas. It’s a slow time anyway, so if your home hasn’t sold, take it off the market and put it back on around Sept. 15,” he advised.

He says it’s critical that a home be in tip-top condition before it is listed, or placed back on the market if it wasn’t so before it was listed originally.

”At every price point, you’ll compete against new construction. You’ve got to have your home spotless. It’s vital that carpets are clean or better yet, new; paint is touched up; and the house is de-cluttered,” he said.

Warren and his wife, Nancy, routinely hire a professional stager to assess and get their listings ready for the market. A stager, he says, advises the homeowners on rearranging furniture, hanging art and de-cluttering.

”It’s so much better having a professional come to do that rather than have us attempting to impose our little bit of taste on a client,” he laughed.

If a home that has been on the market has not been professionally staged by the listing agent, Warren suggests having that done before the home is placed back on the market.

”It makes such a difference. Years ago, Nancy and I listed a little cottage in Nolensville. We went in there and worked, polished the place up, spiffed it up, staged it. We listed it and had an offer for full price the first day. The homeowners declined to sell,” he said.

They had fallen in love all over again with their own home and its new face.

”It makes a big difference when you let someone who is not emotionally attached to the belongings to come in and get the house looking its best,” he said.

He also reminds sellers that ”less is more.” Less clutter is better. Warren pays a stager to provide the service to his listing clients.

”Also, if your home has too much color, you’ll want to change that. Most everything needs to be neutral with a couple of punch color rooms. In our own home, we have a red bedroom and bath. When we put that home on the market, we’ll likely repaint those rooms to a neutral as we have other punch-colors in the home,” he said.

Warren says real estate agents were once prone to take a stagnant listing off the market, give it a new MLS number and price and put it back in the computer the next day.

”That just doesn’t work. Good agents will discover the house has been on the market and has not sold. If you’re going to take the home off, do let it rest 30 days, take a close look at the price and a close look at how the house is showing. When you list it again, have the price right and have the house in tip-top condition,” he said.