It can be frustrating when your home isn’t selling, and people don’t seem interested in looking at it, but there are a few things you can do to boost your home’s appeal without breaking the bank. Here are five reasons why your home might not be selling and what to do about it.
Wrong List Price
Your home is a source of pride and joy, but the reality is that you have to detach yourself emotionally from it and price your house based on what buyers will pay for it.
Several factors will determine the market value of your home, such as the market conditions, the home’s condition and the seller’s situation. Home Value Estimators are easily accessible online and will give you a ballpark of what your home is worth. If working with a real estate agent, they can provide you with a list of comparable homes in your area. Then, based on a combination of the condition of your home and how quickly you want to sell it, the agent can recommend a listing price.
The listing price is the first thing people see when looking for a home. When buyers begin shopping for a new home, they must set a budget. With this number in mind, step two is to view listings online. A successful home sale can come down to dollars or slightly below a specific threshold. When pricing your home, be realistic if you ever want to sell it.
While overpricing is a concern, underpricing a home is equally unhelpful. Buyers might assume that the house has hidden problems or that the seller is hoping for a bidding war–both can have negative results.
Bad Listing Photos
Lousy listing photos can make or break a person’s decision to keep looking through them or, worse yet, to purchase the home. More than ever, home buyers look at houses online before seeing the home in person or going to an open house.
Your real estate agent can book a photographer to take high-quality photos of your home. A picture is worth a thousand words, after all.
Good quality and honest listing photos are the second most crucial strategy to sell your home.
Didn’t Stage the Property
Staging your home is a great way to showcase its features and how spacious it is. Some buyers need help seeing past your stuff and how they can make it their home—de-clutter and de-personalize your home as the first step to staging it. Worry about the furniture placement and ornate objects last. Inspire homebuyers to want to move there.
Remember you are the seller, selling the property to someone else who will use the home differently than you did. You may think an empty house is the best for selling, but this could be a big mistake because buyers won’t know how to use the space, and it may make it look smaller.
Unfavourable Market Conditions
Market conditions play a significant role in why your house isn’t selling. While there are many things within your control when selling your home, the market is not one of them. Many factors within that market include growing or declining population, interest rates, economic conditions, supply and demand, and even seasonal weather conditions.
You can control when to sell your home, though. An experienced real estate agent can help you pick a good time to list. An agent will know about the market, speak in detail about what is happening in the real estate landscape, and predict what could happen.
While you can’t control things like the economy and housing markets, they still need to be considered when trying to sell your home. Decide when your house might be most appealing to homebuyers. Seasonally, like at the start of spring or early summer, is the most advantageous to list your home—however, many sellers have a similar plan. Similarly, be aware of other circumstances that might affect home buying trends, such as an economic boom or downturn.
Didn’t Work With a Professional
Selling a home can be overwhelming, but having a trusted real estate agent can help you immensely. Market conditions can change at the drop of a hat and are affected by international and national economies, local economies, population numbers and even weather. Buying and selling during a pandemic have also made real estate increasingly tricky. In these uncertain times, having a knowledgeable professional supporting you can go a long way.
If your house isn’t selling, make sure to follow these five tips to try to help pinpoint the exact problem.
Consult your local trusted REALTOR® to dig deeper into the problem.