• Hard to show.  Does the listing require an appointment?  Are there unreasonable limitations to showing times?  Do you have to be there for every showing?  Does the seller have to be there?
• Smoke em if you got em.  Does the listing smell like an ashtray?  Have the sellers smoked inside the home for some time, discoloring the curtains, walls, etc?
• Unable to move.  Has all the extra square feet in the home been filled to capacity leaving no room to move?  Are bedrooms, closets, the garage crammed filled with boxes and other valuables the seller just cannot seem to get rid of?
• You just have to hold the handle down is all.  Look around, how many minor to major repairs need to be made in the home?  Are cracks, chips, breaks, leaks or missing parts keeping the listing from showing at its very best?

As the professional real estate agent it is your job to talk straight with the seller on enhancements that will help them receive a fair offer.  Taking the initiative early on will increase the number of your listings that are selling.

We should continually update our sellers to the changes and conditions that impact the selling of their home. A listing agents job duty include consistently providing sound advice to the home owner based on current local real estate trends that will help the seller decide on adjusting to a more realistic price. These ongoing enhancements and reductions coupled with professional marketing should result in more sales!

Keeping a line of communication open between you and the seller is a much wiser course than the do nothing approach that results in an expired listing and an unhappy, frustrated seller.