This is a real-life tale from the trenches - I was at a house recently and the listing agent asked my opinion as to why the home hadn't sold. I didn't answer but give the answer here.

(1) They removed the furniture. As a result, the home looked different in real life than in the pictures. It looked like a wholesale product, rather than a high-end retail one (although they're looking for a high-end retail price. Lastly, it's incredibly hard to emotionally connect with an empty home. Go check out a new-home building model - they're staged perfectly and designed to make possible a maximum emotional connection with the home.

(2) They're offering too little compensation for buyer's agents. In order to successfully sell a home, it must be done twice: once to the buyer and again to their agent. Having a below-average compensation merely insures that any agent that brings a buyer will be accepting a pay cut compared to the other homes on the market. This is NEVER as good thing. In fact, what they should do is offer a bonus - I'd suggest a 4% buy-side commission - in order to attract even MORE agents.