Has your home been on the market for a while and hasn’t attracted a serious buyer? There could be any number of reasons for that. In the meantime, you’re wasting time and money carrying the home while the listing continues to become increasingly stale by the day.
There’s not a whole lot you can do if the location is subpar or the architectural layout isn’t very functional. However, there are plenty of other issues you can overcome to help get your home off the market once and for all.
Here are 6 possible reasons why your home hasn’t sold yet.
1. You Overpriced the Home
Establishing a competitive price is the first step in coming up with an effective marketing strategy. Your home is essentially only worth what buyers are willing to pay for it. A good way to find out what that magic number may be is to have a look at previous homes that recently sold in your area which are very similar to yours. If a near-identical home down the street just sold for $300,000, you don’t have much to go on if you choose to list at $375,000.
Homeowners may feel overconfident in listing their homes a bit high, especially in a seller’s market, but this can be a big mistake. An overpriced home will only scare off potential buyers and send them to your competition. After all, if they can get a home similar to yours for $50,000 less, for instance, they’ll likely take that route.
Be sure to make certain of the true value of your home before coming up with a listing price. Get it right the first time so you don’t have to drop the price down the line in order to find an interested buyer.
2. The Online Images Are Poor Quality
Online advertising is key in the world of real estate. About 90% of prospective buyers are taking to the internet when they start their search for a new home these days, and they expect to see high-resolution images of properties they come across.
Within a few short seconds of seeing a listing and its associated photos, buyers will make a quick decision about whether or not the property is worth a further look. If the images you’ve got online are poor quality, you’re probably losing out on a lot of potential action.
Not only that, your listing should include a variety of different pictures of the property, both inside and out. Buyers have a knack of assuming something’s off with a home if there are many parts of the home missing in the listing’s online photo gallery.
Hire a professional photographer to take photos of your home, and include plenty of detailed images on your listing.
3. Your Home Doesn’t Show Well
Is your home cluttered and dirty? Are the furniture and decor outdated or run down? Are there still plenty of family photos and other personal knick-knacks that clearly show that you still live there?
Staging is an important step in the marketing and selling process. If your home doesn’t show well, you’ll have a harder time attracting buyers. If you want a certain price for your home, you’re going to have to make sure it’s properly staged to warrant that expectation. Buyers want to get as much as they can for the money they spend. After all, buying a home is a huge expenditure, so they want to make sure their purchasing decision is the right one.
Buyers generally tend to fall in love with a home before they decide to plop down a good chunk of change for it. De-clutter and clean your house from top to bottom. Get rid of furniture and accessories that don’t work in the space. Take out all of your family photos and your kids’ drawings from the fridge. Arrange pieces to maximize function and flow. If you have a hard time figuring this out, a professional home stager can tackle it for you.
The money spent on a home stager will come back to you – and more – come sale time.
4. There’s a Foul Odor in the Home
Your home can be immaculate, but if there’s a strange, off-putting smell wafting throughout the house, you’ll no doubt turn buyers off. Many homeowners may become so used to the smell that they can no longer detect it, and effectively become “nose blind.” Your agent will be able to let you know if there are any odors in the home that need to be dealt with. Whether the smell is from your pets, cigarette smoke, mold buildup, or even last night’s dinner, it needs to be addressed and rectified right away.
5. You Slacked on Repairs
Staging your home is important, but you shouldn’t do it just to mask certain issues with the home. If there are a few repairs that need to be done, make sure to tackle them before the first buyer walks into your home. Not only do these little issues take away from the esthetics of your home, they’ll also likely become an issue at the negotiating table.
If a prospective buyer puts in an offer but they come across problems during the home inspection, you stand a chance of losing the sale. Do yourself a favor and get these repairs completed before you even list the home so you can avoid any headaches afterward.
6. You’re Not Flexible
Are you limiting the days and times that prospective buyers can visit your home for scheduled showings? If your listing limits showings to only weekdays from 10am to 4pm, you’re cutting out a lot of people who can’t necessarily adhere to these tight time frames. Don’t ask for an exorbitant amount of advance notice to show your home, either. Asking for 48 hours is going overboard, for instance.
By maximizing the amount of visits your home gets – and therefore the number of eyes on the property – you’ll increase the chances of getting an offer soon. Be flexible with the days and times that the home can be shown, as well as the amount of notice you request. Try to make your home as accessible and available as you can for potential buyers and their agents to come by for a showing.
There are plenty of mistakes that sellers make with their listings that could become a huge obstacle to selling. Make sure you’ve addressed any possible issue with your home and its listing to make sure it’s primed for the picking.
