Why Hasn’t My House Sold?

This is a common question asked by many home sellers across the nation today. During this challenging real estate market it can be a quite frustrating situation. Selling your home in today’s buyers market is certainly not an easy task. Here are 5 reasons why your home may have not sold and what you can do about it.

1)Price

This is the most unforgiving one. If your asking price is not in the ball park you are pretty much just wasting your time. Buyers are very apprehensive today. They have seen their friends buy homes in 2004 & 2005 only to find their homes to be worth far less today. They don’t want to be in the same boat down the road. As a result, they are very scared and will only purchase if they feel like they are getting a deal.

If you don’t plan on having a realistic asking price don’t put your house up for sale. You are only wasting your time, your Realtor’s time as well as any buyer that walks through the door. You are also clogging up the system to some extent. One reason buyers are sitting on the fence is because of the high inventory of homes for sale. This high inventory puts downward pressure on price which makes buyers sit tight. If the majority of the overpriced listings were taken off the market our inventory levels would start to come back down to a more balanced market which would make buyers comfortable that prices were not going to drop anymore.

In a perfect world you could find several similar properties to yours that have recently sold. This would make valuing your home easy. If that is the case there is no excuse to having an overpriced home.

Prices have been dropping over the last few years. Find the most recent homes in your neighborhood and make price adjustments based on when the home sold. For example, if a similar home sold 6 months ago for $300,000 and you are certain prices have dropped in your market then make price adjustments. That $300,000 home may only be worth $270,000 today. Compare your home objectively to this adjusted price to help arrive at a good asking price.

The good thing about hiring a competent Realtor is that they will do this for you. Notice that I said competent Realtor and not just Realtor. Find an agent that is good at pricing. Some agents take any listing at any price because they need inventory to work on. Regardless, of whether the price is right or not. Find an agent that has a successful track record of making their listings sell.

Again, this is the biggest reason why your home has not sold. Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. Why should they pick your home over your competitors? Look at the homes that you are in competition with and simply make your house a better value. Buyers will pick the best deal in any type of market. This isn’t rocket science.

2)Bad photos

There are a lot of properties on the market. You have to outshine your competitors. It is hard to do this with lousy photos. While scouring the MLS for properties to show I always gravitate towards the ones with several good photos. I am sure other Realtors do the same thing.

Almost 9 out of 10 buyers start their home search on the internet. Your listing will attract more attention if you have great photos and a virtual tour. If your Realtor does not take good photos then make him hire a professional photographer.

3)Dirty home

Clean your house. No one wants to buy a mess and there are just too many other clean houses for sale out there. If you truly want to fetch top dollar for your home then you need to have it clean and showing well. Otherwise, the buyers will walk in and out quickly. A dirty home also makes the home buyer think they have neglected maintaining the expensive to replace parts of the home like air conditioner, furnace and appliances.

4)Bad Realtor

Selling a home today is not an easy task. Make sure you hire a good Realtor that has track record of selling homes. This is not the kind of market where you should hire your second cousin who got their real estate license so they could do it as a hobby. This will be one of your largest transactions ever. Leave it in the hands of a full time professional Realtor.

Also, be leery of discount brokers. I want to save money just as much as the next guy however many times in life you get what you pay for. I periodically look at sales statistics of discount brokers and they are not that impressive. If you want to pay peanuts many times you end up working with monkeys.

5)Deferred Maintenance

No one wants to buy your to do list. There are too many other homes for sale out there. If you have a lot of deferred maintenance or unfinished projects then you are hindering your chances of a successful sale. If you still want to sell and there is a lot of work needed on your home then your asking price better reflect that. To fetch top dollar make the necessary repairs and complete the unfinished projects around the house.

In conclusion, if you have bad photos then you better have a good asking price. If you have a dirty home then you better have a good asking price. If you have a bad Realtor then you better have a good asking price. If you have a lot of deferred maintenance then you better have a good asking price. See a common theme here? The right asking price is crucial to a successful sale. If you want top dollar for your home hire a good Realtor with a good marketing plan who supplies great photos, clean your home, repair your home and find a realistic asking price.