Case Study — One house sells, but another does not...
David Franklin Farkas
It happens all the time. Two similar houses, relatively close together, will be on the market at the same time.
One sells quickly. It may even have several interested parties and sell for more than the asking price. The other will generate little or no interest and will languish on the market for months.
There was a special Business Section in my local newspaper in Feburary that highlighted exactly this situation in a front page story.
The house shown on the right is old enough that it does not have the coveted master bedroom suite, but does have an studio/office over the garage. Stucco siding, casement windows, high ceilings, plus fireplaces and other amenities make it a lovely home and it is on several acres of private land.
The second house, shown on the left, is about 10 years newer and substantially larger. It has the master suite and all the latest features. It was very private and abutted a conservation area. It could be argued that this is a 'better' house because it's newer, bigger and has some now standard luxuries. And, because it's proximity to conservation land assures privacy without the cost and responsibility of owning the land.
Want to guess which one sold and which one didn't?
The first one sold. The other one may still be on the market. I did not check. Not only that, the first one sold in two weeks, had three interested parties and sold for more than the asking price. Go figure.
The article quoted local realtors theorizing that the second house was overpriced in a buyers market. That because of that it did not get attention quickly. Perhaps it was up to date, but not unique. That perhaps it is to isolated. La... la... la.
But, as you know by now if you are following this blog, my approach assesses and mitigates unseen factors that make a house 'feel' subtly or sometimes not so subtly, uncomfortable. So I did my usual preliminary scans of each property.
But, first some basic premises...
What?... You didn't expect a physics lesson on this blog?
In my work I look at three major areas...
- First the energy of the land itself. Underground water, geopathic stress and the energy meridians of the land called 'ley' lines (similar to the energy meridians Chinese medicine uses in the human body)
- Then I look at the energy of the building. It is widely accepted that emotional traumas and dramas are stored in and affect the health of the human body. In the same way, emotional trauma and drama are stored in the energy matrix of a building and affect the people that live and work there. Most people won't have words for it, but will just know that something does not 'feel right.'
- The third area is the proverbial 'things that go bump in the night.' Ghosts are lost and confused and can affect all kinds of things and they not the only unseen beings that may be found in houses. Your home should have charm and character, not charming characters. I specialize in helping them find their way to their home... which is not in your home. As one movie put it 'we bump back.'
The one that languished on the market had issues in all three areas. None of this would be obvious that anyone without my perspective and training. But, that's the point to this blog... to get you to look past the obvious and ask new questions. Could it be that...
All the factors I found in the scan can, of course, be mitigated. But without doing that, this property is behaving in the market like a stigmatized property. It is taking longer than expected to sell and will undoubtedly sell for a lower price.
Next time you find yourself thinking 'I dont' understand why this great house just won't sell' consider the energy side of Einstein's familiar equation.
