So you’ve had your home on the market for a while now and you’re asking yourself “Why didn’t my house sell?”
If there is one thing that pretty much all real estate experts agree on, they are the top reasons why a home doesn’t sell. What are they?
1. The Price Was Too High
I love this quote: “You know what your home is worth? Whatever someone is willing to pay for it – no more, no less.”
Overpricing a home is one of the worst mistakes one can make. Research shows that overpricing your home and then dropping the price several times while it stays on the market usually leads to selling it at a much lower price than what you originally should have asked for it. Even if you lower the price later, you will have lost the momentum of the initial listing period and buyers will assume there’s something wrong with the home.
The Real Estate Agent who provides the best Comparative Market Analysis and explanation of how your home should be priced will be more likely to sell your home quicker and for a higher price than someone who tells you only what you want to hear.
2. No Curb Appeal
Buyers have high expectations for your home, beginning with the exterior. Have you driven around and taken a really good look at the homes that are pending sales, because that’s your current indicator. Now think about it…how is the lawn? Is it green and weed-free? What about the hedges? Are they cut and neat? How’s the exterior paint looking? Does it need touching up? Is it weathered and cracked? Does the overall layout of the look of the house make sense? How is the exterior lighting?
A good landscaper may be able to suggest a few inexpensive touches that could make your house look much better. Meki Cross will make good referrals.
3. The Interior Condition of Your Home
Do you have a lot of clutter or knick-knacks on the wall? Do you have mismatch appliances or are they old? Do you have very unique tastes in furniture? Your home needs to be clean, neat, de-cluttered and depersonalized so that buyers can visualize themselves living there. You may even have to place a large amount of your items into storage while selling your home. Consider adding updates or doing repairs before selling. For example replace the carpet. It is the rule of thumb to paint the walls neutral – however, if the homes in your market are painted with color, use color not white.
Meki Cross works work with home repair companies and knowledgeable home stagers who will be able to suggest ways to prepare your home to look its best for a sale.
4. Not Enough Photographs or Badly Shot Photos
People just love looking at beautiful well-kept homes and imagining themselves and their families living there. Homes listed that have only one photo are simply passed by. Homes with dozens of photographs are going to get noticed. Homes that are well-staged with great professional photography are dreamed about and pursued!
Meki Cross only works with professional photographers who will shoot a variety of angles with plenty of light which showcases her client’s home’s best features.
5. People Just Can’t Find The Place
Some homes are in those little places that for whatever reason cannot be found on the GPS. It may be because it is difficult to get a signal or some other reason. Having well written, easy to follow directions are extremely important in these situations. Additionally, for an Open House and a Broker’s Open, multiple directional signs are key to helping prospective buyers find the home.
Meki Cross will work to ensure good directions and signs are properly used to help people find your home.
6. Insufficient Marketing and Advertising Strategy
It is not good service for an agent to take a few photos on their own camera, list your house on the Multiple Listing Service, put a sign in your yard and expect results. No single aspect of marketing sells a home. It’s a combination of marketing efforts – emphasis on – efforts. A web savvy home buyer will check with Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com or any number of real estate websites. Another buyer may check Craigslist for Open House listings. Still other buyers may see an Open House sign while on a weekend drive and stop in. Yet still, another agent may visit your home during a Broker’s Open and have the perfect buyer!
Meki Cross uses a combination of “Old and New School” marketing strategies to get the most exposure for your home and will discuss them with you in detail.
7. Your Home Is Not As Available As It Should Be
One of the more challenging aspects of listing your home for sale is that you must make it available to buyers as easily as possible. Some sellers want to be at the home while it is being shown. Maybe they want to give comments about different aspects of the house and answer questions that may arise. Following the buyer around is a bad idea and makes the buyer nervous. The buyer may feel as if they cannot speak freely about what they like or hate about the place. Buyers prefer to see a home without the owner there. When you follow a buyer around you might also be hurting yourself by appearing too eager.
Be sure to work with Meki Cross to coordinate the best showing hours for your home when you will not be there.
8. Challenging Market
Sometimes market conditions can make it tougher to sell as quickly as you would like. Meki Cross can help you evaluate the market and let you know if you need to offer particular incentives, such as closing-cost help. If your home has an awkward floor-plan or is located on a busy street, you and Meki can come up with ways to emphasize its positive aspects and deemphasize any negative aspects, such as by photography, staging the backyard or highlighting the renovated kitchen for example.
9. You’ve Hired the Wrong Listing Agent
Not all real estate agents are created equal. You want to work with an agent who is competent, experienced and honest; not someone who is going to “tickle” your ears and tell you what you want to hear. Nor do you want to work with someone who is so busy with other listings that they will not give focused attention to selling your property.
If you desire a full-service experience, interview several agents and hire a full-service brokerage. To find the best listing agent, don’t base your decision solely on the suggested sales price or how much commission the agent charges you because there are other serious considerations. One hundred percent of nothing is still nothing. Discuss home pricing and commission negotiations last. First, find out the agent’s strategic marketing plan for your home.
This was just an overview of some of the most common reasons homes don’t sell. Every buyer is looking for something different, and there is bound to be that at least one buyer who thinks your home is a perfect match for his or her needs. However, when that buyer does not surface after a few months and you need to sell your home, this article presented some things that you can do to get more buyers interested and to attract more Realtors who can show the home to their clients.
Let me know how I can help you!
Thinking about selling a house? Want a 15 minute presentation on how me and my team can help you? I would love to hear from you! Just fill in the form below and we’ll contact you on your terms.
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