Reasons Why Homes Don't Sell
If you have had your home on the
market for several months and haven't seen much activity or any offers, chances
are that one or more of the reasons below are to blame.
Your price is too high
No doubt about it, the most common
reason for a home not selling is that the asking price has been set too high.
The reasons for setting your price too high to begin with are many. Ranging from over enthusiastic listing agents to unrealistic seller
expectations. Regardless of the reason though, if you've priced your
home too high, you've set yourself up for a number of obstacles to selling your
home. Even if you do get an offer for the overly high
asking price, the deal may fall apart before closing because the buyer may have
problems financing at too high a price. Look at other homes for sale, ones as
similar and as close to yours as possible. If they are going for less than you
are asking, you may be priced too high. The fact is, your home is competing
against those other homes, and what buyers are willing to pay is what will
determine final sales prices.
The condition of your home
There is a lot of competition out
there to sell homes. Your home has to
compete against other similar homes for sale, as well as competing against
shiny brand new homes. The more you can
do to make your home look appealing to a buyer, the better your chances for a
quick sale. Look at your home with a
critical eye - put yourself in the buyers
position. A buyer doesn't want to have
to do anything except move in. Your best
"bang for the buck" in improving the condition of your home are
paint and flooring. Make sure that all
of the paint is in great condition, both inside and out. Repainting doesn't cost too much, and will
usually make the biggest impact on buyers.
Make sure all of the flooring looks good too. You may want to consider putting in new
carpet. Again, it's not that expensive
but it sure does make an impact on buyers coming to look at your home.
Location, location, location
It's the oldest cliché in the
world, but it's true. When it comes to
real estate, it's all about location!
When it comes to homes, things like how good the schools are, crime
rates, visual appeal of the neighborhood and noise or the smell of pollution
can all effect how desirable the location is.
If you're in a bad location, a good real estate agent may help to
minimize some of the impact by suggesting improvements to the house. But the only really reliable way to overcome
a bad location is with a lower price.
Simply put, an identical home in a bad location won't sell for as much
as the same home in a better location.
Your marketing campaign is out of steam
The best listing agents all use an
aggressive marketing plan to market their listings. If your listing agent isn't making sure your
home can be found easily on the internet, isn't actively touting his or her
listings to other agents in the area, isn't running ads in the local newspapers
and real estate publications, then it might be time to change agents. The best agents might even run radio or
television ads for their listings. If
all your agent has done is put a sign in your front yard and add your home to
the local MLS, then that agent isn't coming close to doing all that can be done
to effectively market your home.
The market is slow
You'll hear it described as a slow
market, or a buyers market, or maybe a cold market. But it all means the same thing. That home sales in the local area, or market,
are slow. That there
are too many homes for sale and not enough active buyers. There are several things you can do to combat
a slow market. The most effective
strategy is to sell at a lower price.
Buyers are expecting to find bargains during a slow market. You can also help yourself by offering to pay
some concessions to help a buyer that might not have a lot of cash. The ultimate way to beat a slow market is to
simply wait it out. But that's not
always an option for many sellers.
Your home isn't easily accessible
To get your home sold quickly,
it's important that other agents in the area show it to as many potential
buyers as possible. When a busy agent is
compiling a list of homes to show a buyer, the agent will naturally tend to
show those houses that are easiest to gain access to first. Many homes on the market have "lock boxes" on
them. The lock box is a device which
holds a key to the home, that only qualified local agents can access. Homes that are listed as being "lock box, no
appointment needed" will get shown more often than homes listed as "agent has
key, call for appointment". If at all
possible, you should let your agent put a lock box on your home for easier
showing. If not, you should do anything
else you can to make it as convenient as possible for agents to show your
home.
You have an agent nobody likes
Sounds almost silly, but it's very
true. If your listing agent isn't liked
or respected by other agents in your area, it could slow down the sale of your
home. When an agent prepares to show
properties to prospective buyers, the agent begins by talking to the buyer to
find out what kind of home they are looking for. Then the agent searches the local MLS and
other sources for homes that fit the buyer.
If there are a number of good matches to choose from, and one of them
has been listed by an agent that is hard to get along with, or arrogant, or has
otherwise made himself unpopular, well.
It's just human nature to tend to skip over someone you don't like.
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