7 Reasons Why Your Home May Not Be Selling
As a home seller, the thing you dread most is being unable to sell your home. What if you put it up on the market, do all that hard work, and no one is interested? Dwelling on such thoughts can be upsetting, to say the least. But fortunately, your worries are probably somewhat unfounded. Most homes do sell. It just takes time in some cases. However, there may be some changes you can make to improve your odds of selling more quickly and for a better price!
Below you will find the most common reasons why your house isn’t selling. Take the advice and make some changes! By doing so, you’ll dramatically increase the odds of sitting at a closing table very shortly.
1. Your Photos Don’t Do Your Home Justice
Taking pictures of your home with your mobile device might have been good enough ten years ago, but it is certainly not good enough now. Today’s buyers expect high-quality pictures that show off the best features of your home. Anything less than great pictures will turn away a lot of buyers, which is exactly what you don’t want.
Beautiful photos will allow you to put your best foot forward in the first interaction buyers have with your home, which is online. Most buyers will pass on your home and not read a single word of the listing description if the photography is done poorly. Here are some of the more common home selling mistakes when it comes to photography:
- Not having enough photos – the more the better inmost cases!
- Not having quality photography – it goes without saying your photography should be clear and vivid.
- Not shooting specific rooms in the home – the whole point of showing off a home online is to make clear to a buyer exactly what you are selling.
- Not showing off the highlights enough – for example, the kitchen in many homes is the most important room, so make sure there are plenty of photos available!
- Taking pictures of furniture and not rooms.
- Taking pictures that make the home look better than it is. On the opposite end of the spectrum is taking pictures with a wide angle lens that makes the rooms look double their size. This sets the buyers looking in person up for disappointment!
Remember, photography is one of the most important aspects of real estate marketing!
2. Your Price is Too High
Pricing a house too high is the #1 reason why most homes don’t sell. So when sellers ask “why isn’t my house selling?” this is almost always at the root of the cause. A price that is too high is guaranteed to push away buyers!
Pricing a home is an art and a science, and the ability to price a home well from the start is a valued skill among realtors. One of the main reasons you hire a respected agent is because he or she can price your home right at the beginning, avoiding the stress and frustration that comes from pricing too high and having your home sit on the market for months.
Your home is only worth as much as someone will pay for it. It doesn’t matter how much you purchased it for, how much you spent on renovations, or how much you love it. If people are not offering to buy it, then you probably priced it too high. There are many myths about pricing a house that should be avoided at all costs. Many of these myths cause homes not to sell.
Luckily, getting new interest in your home usually only takes a noticeable price reduction! If you are brave enough to cut the price by 5% or more, you will probably draw in new buyers. And you may not have to sell for that reduced price, either. You can always negotiate, and maybe even be fortunate enough to attract a few buyers at the same time! Having multiple buyers at the same time could start a bidding war.
3. Your Home Doesn’t Put Its Best Foot Forward
All the professional pictures in the world can’t fix an ugly house. Whether you have a kitchen from the sixties or a lawn filled with old cars and appliances, if you haven't gone to any effort to pretty up your home you cannot expect to attract a lot of buyers.
Your competition are cleaning up their homes, renovating where necessary, and just generally trying to appeal to the potential buyers of today. If you want to be competitive you will need to do the same. There's no need to go crazy with renovations, either. The reality is that a lot of serious renovations do not pay out in the long run. What you need to do is talk to one of our agents about what needs to be polished.
You may need professional cleaners, a junk haul off, to move some stuff into storage, or just a fresh coat of paint. You should also have someone do a sniff test for you as well. Foul odors are a major home selling mistake. At times we all get used to the natural odor in our homes. You might not even be aware that your pets are a major distraction to buyers.
4. Your Home is Too Personalized
One of the great things about owning a home is that you can make it just how you like it. But when you are trying to sell, you want the buyers to be able to see themselves in your home – which may mean removing some of the personalized things that you feel makes your house a home.
One of the more common reasons a home is not selling is over personalization, which most buyers can’t see past.
It may be difficult to see what needs to go, so have a talk with your agent about how to best present the home to potential buyers. You may need to store your collectibles, take down the wall of family photos, or clear out all your stuff from the garage. Whatever you need to do, just know it will be worth it if you can sell the home!
It is worth noting that giving the buyer a clean slate to look at also means removing yourself and any pets in the home.
5. You Aren’t Being Flexible With Showings
Without a doubt there are things about selling a home that can be difficult. You are expected to keep a clean house and be ready for a showing at the drop of a hat. You then have to pick up the kids, the dog, and all of their belongings. And of course the agent is asking for a showing at 7 p.m right in the middle of dinner. All of these things can be a real pain in the neck.
But selling a home unfortunately is all about being ultra flexible. You need to think about the buyers schedule, NOT yours. Every showing you turn down is someone that might have purchased the home. A significant home selling mistake is not allowing showings!
6. Bad Market Timing
Homes sell at all times of the year, however, there is no question that some months are better than others.
If you want to maximize what your home sells for and how quickly, consult with one of our agents! Each one of us know the area and the market like the back of our hand. If you put your home up for sale at the worst time of the year, expect it to take longer to sell.
7. A Mixture of All of The Above
There may not be just one cause of why your home isn’t selling. In fact, it may be a combination of many of the reasons mentioned above. This is where you need to do a little bit of soul searching. Take your home selling mistakes to heart and do something about them! You still have a chance to make amends and get your sale on track.
If you follow all of the above home selling tips then you’ll more than likely find yourself with an accepted offer. Your home selling journey, however, has just begun. There are lots of home sales that fall apart because of not paying attention to your homes underlying condition. The buyer is going to have a home inspection in the near future so you need to make sure there are no significant problems!
By addressing any of these potential problems in advance you increase the odds of your sale staying together. These are the things that scare a large percentage of buyers away. Use the information to your advantage now!
The reason your house has not sold is probably easy to fix if you are willing to listen to all of these home selling tips. Take the advice to heart and you’ll likely find a big smile on your face and an offer on the table. Selling a home doesn’t have to be difficult when you follow some sensible advice!