Most real estate agents have probably been asked the question, “Why isn’t my home selling?” The answer in some circumstances may not be abundantly clear. In other cases, there is NO DOUBT why the house isn’t selling.
As a home seller, the one thing you dread most is being unable to sell your home. You do all that hard work, put it on the market, and no one is interested. Dwelling on such thoughts can be upsetting, to say the least.
Fortunately, the good news is, most homes do sell; it can just take time in some cases. There may also be 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. Heed the advice, ask important questions, and make changes. By doing so, you’ll dramatically increase the odds of sitting at a closing table shortly.
1. Your Photos Don’t Properly Represent Your Home's Attributes
Today’s buyers expect professional, high-quality pictures that show off the best features of your home. Anything less than phenomenal photos will turn away buyers, which is exactly what you don’t want.
Talk to your real estate agent about getting the best pictures taken before you agree to list with him or her. There are many key photos besides the interior and exterior shots. For example, I love drone shots to capture lush landscapes, proximity to water, and give a lovely overview of the property.
If rooms are empty and staging is not feasible I add virtual staging photos. I also use digitally enhanced images for twilight shots and better color saturation, such as when lawns are photographed in the dead of winter with no green grass.
Your listing should also highlight the town's amenities such as beaches, shops/restaurants or nature trails. This is key for out-of-town buyers especially.
If your photography is mediocre at best, buyers will click past and never read a single word of your home's description. If your agent missed the boat here, you are likely suffering from it.
2. Your Price is Too High
Pricing a house too high is often the #1 reason why homes don’t sell. So when sellers ask, “Why isn’t my house selling?”, this frequently can be the root cause. You should be open to having a very candid discussion with your agent upfront about pricing. Also, agree to meet together, if after 3 weeks on the market, you are experiencing disappointing showing results.
Pricing a home is part art and part science, and the ability to price a home well from the start is a valued skill among Realtors. We have lots of data from the NAR (the National Association of Realtors) that suggest pricing you home above 'fair market value' will deter many buyers. If you get feedback such as, 'My client felt the house was too dated', that's code for 'Your price is too high for the amount of work needed and my buyer has found others that are move-in ready in the same price range.'
As a home owner myself, we MUST accept that our home is only worth as much as someone will pay for it. It doesn’t matter how much we purchased it for, how much we spent on renovations or how much we love it. If people are not offering to buy it, then we may have priced it too high.
Luckily, getting new interest in your home can be generated by a meaningful price reduction. Again, your agent knows best but typically 1% will not do the trick to draw in new buyers. If it is meaningful, the plan will likely attract a few buyers at the same time. Having multiple buyers is a nice position to be in.
Finally, you may ask, "What if the price of my home was set by my agent"? This is an excellent question. As I mentioned, pricing is part art and science. We do our very best when suggesting your list price but sometimes the market responds differently than even we expected. Be cautious if you think an agent suggests a list price not backed by comparable homes. This may be what YOU want to hear, but I always believe, 'the data doesn't lie'. No matter what the suggested list price is, ask specifically what comps are used to substantiate that figure. Remember, the buyer's agent will be pulling the same comps to advise their client on the best offer price. If there is no hard evidence to substantiate your pricing, how can others justify it? Also, a over priced home might not appraise at the needed value by the buyer's lender, which puts you back to square one.
3. You Hired a Weak Real Estate Agent
Just like every other industry, there are those who excel at their craft and others that do not. Hiring the wrong real estate agent might be the reason your home has failed to sell.
Unfortunately, it is very easy to break into the real estate industry and agents flood many markets. Some work as full time agents, but some are part time with other careers requiring their attention too.
Most people know multiple agents. How many doctors do you know? (Probably not nearly as many unless you are riddled with health problems.) The point is it takes A LOT of hard work, strategic marketing, training and experience to be at the top of my game. If you hire just anybody or a non-local family/friend to sell your home, you might get mediocre results.
4. Don't Focus Too Strongly on The Open House
You may get nosy neighbors, window shoppers, or fantasy shoppers that come to open houses, but that's OK. These same people can talk to others who ARE interested in moving.
Also, serious qualified buyers schedule showings with real estate agents, but sometimes these same buyers stop by open houses in their free time, too. I had a buyer visit to three of my listing's open houses and initially, I characterized her as one of those "dream shoppers". Lo and behold, a few months later, she called her longtime agent, made an appointment with her husband, and presented an offer! She is happily living in her "dream home" today.
The key is, open houses serve many purposes and the most important thing they do is cast a wide marketing net. If your agent is savvy, he or she will post the open house aggressively throughout their social media platforms, local advertising and possibly even get a publicity article tossed in from a news editor. Your agent should also be networking your upcoming open house with other agents through direct email campaigns and social media. This is all attention-grabbing activities that benefits your home sale.
You must view your open houses as a strategic marketing device and not a direct, immediate sale activity. Be patient and let your agent do their job. Always ask how they are marketing the open house that you are taking the trouble to prepare.
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5. Your Home Doesn’t Put Its Best Foot Forward
All the professional pictures in the world can’t fix a dated house. Whether you have a kitchen from the sixties or a front lawn filled with overgrown shrubs and dead trees, if you have not gone to the effort to spruce up your home properly, you cannot expect to attract a lot of buyers.
Trust me, your competition is updating, painting, and in some cases staging where necessary, just to appeal to the 'move in ready' demands from buyers today. If you want to help sell other homes in your price range faster, keep your home as is. If you want to be competitive, heed to your agent's advice. My home preparation recommendations focus only on activities that will give you the biggest bang for your dollar.
There are so many 'easy' updates such as painting walls, cabinets and dated tiles, decluttering, removing furniture, and adding styling touches that make a huge difference. Fixing obvious eye sores too like mildew on stone work and broken fences really must be addressed. Again, your real estate agent likely mentioned these things to you initially. If your home is not selling, now is the time to heed their advice.
6. Your Home is Too Personalized
One of the great things about owning a home is that you can style it just for you. But when you are trying to sell, you want the buyers to be able to see themselves in your home – which may mean removing many of the personalized items that you feel make your house a home. One of the more common reasons a home is not selling is over personalization, which buyers can’t see past.
It may be difficult to see what needs to go, so let your agent help you. You may need to store many of your collectibles, including furniture, artwork and walls of family photos. Since you will be moving, you might as well start packing it up now. It is well worth the effort and possibly storage costs if it will help sell your home faster and with a stronger offer.
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7. You Aren’t Being Flexible With Showings
Without a doubt there are things about selling your 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 their belongings. Of course the buyer's 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.
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.
8. You Make Your Listing Agent Accompany The Showings
It may take a little trust on your part, but the best environment for a buyer to get to know your home is without you and your listing agent there. Making the listing agent attend every showing is challenging and could be making your home harder to sell. Here's why...
The buyer’s agent and the buyer come to view your home and look it over, inside and out. They need their privacy to discuss what they like, dislike and the goals of the buyer. None of that can happen naturally if other people are around with opposing interests.
Buying a home is an enormous financial decision. In all my years of selling, I have never once heard of a buyer be talked into purchasing a house. Don’t expect your listing agent to have these magical powers.
Pointing out your brick walk, granite counters and central vacuum is not going to sell your place. If your agent is proactive, like myself, he or she will use "Don't Miss" showing cards inside the home on walls, counters, doors, etc. highlighting features your buyers should notice. I also contact showing agents often before the appointment to go over some of these very same features.
I recently represented the buyer on a showing where the listing agent was required to attend. My client felt put off and had a hard time concentrating on the home because the agent was over-selling and talking too much. They actually wanted to come back WITHOUT the listing agent but a week later found another property instead and made an offer.
Unless there are HIGHLY unusual or challenging showing aspects of your home, please let your agent spend their time more productively marketing it in other ways.
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 I mentioned. Take these home selling mistakes to heart and do something about them! You still have a chance to make amends and get your sale on track.
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