Murphy’s third law says: “Everything takes longer than you think it will,” and it couldn’t be more true when it comes to home sales. You list the house and think that somebody with a bag of money rings the bell before you can take your stuff out!
It just doesn’t work that way.
There are many reasons why your house is not selling. Spotting the source of trouble and dealing with it in the right manner sounds like a plan. Let’s see what’s keeping buyers away from your house and what you can do about it.
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How Long Should a House Sit on the Market?
If three months have passed since you listed the house, we can safely say that your house has been on the market for too long.
When your house doesn’t sell, you should find out the problem and how to fix it. Let’s first take a look at the most common reasons your house is not selling.
Main Reasons Your House Is Not Selling
It’s too expensive
One of the reasons your house is not selling is that potential buyers find it too expensive. This could be because of a wrong estimation of your house’s value or that too many cheap properties are currently on the market, and your house seems expensive among them.
To ensure you’ve considered the right price, you can ask an appraiser to look at the house and estimate its value. If he finds the house too expensive, you can:
- Drop the price so that potential buyers can show interest again.
- Make some changes to your house to justify the price.
- Wait for a better market condition.
You’re in a bad neighborhood
Sometimes, the property is fine, but it is in the wrong neighborhood. As a result, visitors find it dangerous, underdeveloped, or depressing. If your house is far from public transportation systems, health centers, or public schools, only a few will consider buying it.
Unfortunately, you can’t do too much in this case. You’d be lucky if someone from the same area, who didn’t care much about the neighborhood, is willing to buy your property.
Also, it could be a developer or an investor who, after all, is not going to live in that neighborhood.
You’re working with the wrong agent
Another reason why your house is not selling is that you’ve left it with the wrong agent.
Yes. Don’t ever assume that all agents are good sellers. Some of them are terribly inattentive and don’t care a hang about how long your house is gonna remain on the market.
Inattentive agents are never available and usually show up at the last moment, only to ruin the deal. They often lack marketing skills and fail to get good deals. With such agents, you’re not gonna accomplish much.
Find an experienced and honest agent who has his own principles and values that your trust. Change your agent and wait for a while. It’ll probably work.
Your home needs repairs
Nobody wishes to buy a wrecked house and then nag over the renewal expenses. You can’t expect many offers if your home is in bad condition.
From the crawl space and flooring to the walls and the roof, every part of the house must be in good health. You should fix shabby walls, rusty pipes, old wires, cracked windows, and damp floors if you intend to sell your house for a good price.
Don’t cheat yourself into thinking that someone will come by and purchase the house without inspecting it first. As long as you don’t upgrade the house, it’s not gonna sell, at least not for the price you want.
Your curb appeal needs improvement
The outside of the house is as important as its inside.
Many buyers will not even bother looking inside if your house does not look appealing.
If your curb appeal is the troublemaker, try some of the improvements below, and you’ll be good to go.
- Add front-door decor
- Go green
- Enhance the lighting
- Paint the mailbox, door, garage door, windows, and the fences
- Clear the front-door path of any trash, sand, clump, etc
- Tend to the lawn
- Repair/replace gutters
The market is dormant
Sometimes it’s not your fault, and there is nothing wrong with the house. It’s just that the housing market is dormant. You maybe just doing the right thing at the wrong time.
The best you can do here is to wait. Wait for the market to revive, and you’ll see how fast visitors come one after another.
Your listing is too old or too dry
It is also possible that your house is perfect but poorly presented. House listings are the first place where people learn about your property. Therefore, if your listing is not updated or inclusive enough, you’re gonna lose many potential buyers.
Check all the information you’ve provided about the house and see if anything should be added or removed. Make sure the address is correct, and your phone number is there.
Low-quality pictures are also a major problem here. If the pictures are low in quality or you have taken them from the wrong angle, they will misrepresent the house. Visitors will look at those pictures and decide your place is too cozy, dull, or depressing.
One smart thing you can do is to find affordable real estate photo editing services and get the pictures edited. You can ask for services such as item removal, real estate virtual staging, day-to-dusk, real estate image enhancement, etc.
The house doesn’t smell good
Doesn’t seem to be such a significant problem, but it is.
It’s one of the things that shape the visitors’ judgment of the place. Bad odor produces a feeling not unlike the fight or flight hormone in us. It’s an instant feeling in emergencies that simultaneously tells us to get away from something (usually an unwanted and stressful situation) or stay and deal with it. Well, in case of foul smell, it’s usually the “flight” suggestion that we take.
Let the visitors get a bad first impression, and you’ll never see them again.
The first step they take into your house must give them a sense of pleasure, freshness, and livelihood.
If you live in the house, you can:
- Clean the dishwasher and ensure nothing is under or around the sink that may rot soon.
- Wash the rugs, carpets, and curtains and dust them regularly.
- Bring in some plants and let there be light everywhere.
- Let in the fresh air and empty the ashtrays and trash bins regularly.
- Wash your pets (if you have any) and clean up after them.
- Use home fragrance products
- If your house is vacant, you have an easier job.
- Clean the floor and take out any let trash
- Make sure that no bird or animal lives in the house
- Make sure there is no damp wall.
- Visit your house once a week and leave the windows open for two or three hours.
- Bring in some plants and flowers so that they refresh the air inside.
The house is poorly staged
When it comes to selling a property, staging is of paramount importance.
Every image evokes certain feelings in the viewers. Photos of a poorly-staged home may evoke feelings such as dismay or monotony in the viewer, making them never want to visit the place.
You can try Revivoto’s visual staging services to ensure that your staging is perfect. Revivoto is super affordable, consistent in delivering high-quality virtual staging service, and has a responsive 24/7 support system in place.
With virtual home staging, you’ll have a chance to give a fancy look to your house. A look that seizes the viewers’ hearts and gives them an idea of how peaceful and enjoyable life in your place can be.
The good part about virtual staging is that it’s much cheaper than traditional staging and doesn’t take more than a day to complete.
Final Considerations
There could be other reasons your house is not selling, but the ones listed above are the most common reasons in this regard. After realizing why your house doesn’t sell, start addressing those issues and taking action immediately.
If you fail to find the cause, consider talking to an appraiser, home inspector, realtor, or others in the industry who can help you.
FAQ
Depends on many factors. We have addressed this question here.
You must drop the price if you can’t afford to renovate the house. But, if money is no issue for you, we recommend you renovate the property. This way, potential buyers can’t find many faults with the house, and as a result, they won’t have many bargaining options.
Why not? Just make sure that it doesn’t need any renovations and that you’re not overpaying. If you want to be too cautious, you can also ask a home inspector to assess it before finalizing the transaction.
