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.

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.

Houses priced too high are not going to sell in any market. "People get caught up in the frenzy of the marketplace thinking that if everything else selling for a million dollars, there's should sell at a million too," said Heidi Cole, a real estate agent with the Corcoran Group in Palm Beach, Florida. "It's easy to overestimate what your house is worth in these hotter markets."

A good real estate agent should give you a realistic range for what you can expect. But, that does you no good if you insist on going higher. Before you set your heart on a price, take a look at where similar houses have actually been selling (not just what sellers are asking) and adjust for your own home's features or flaws.

"Price is always pivotal," said Ron Phipps, with Phipps Realty in Warwick R.I., adding that this is true if you price too high and sometimes even if you go too low. "If a house is under priced, people sometimes assume that there is something wrong with it," he said.

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.

You think the house will sell itself

In this market, you reason, selling your house should be as easy as posting a 'For Sale' sign and waiting for the phone to ring.

You could be waiting a long time.

Even in the best markets, you need to make sure your house gets exposed to the right buyers, said John Beutler of Beutler & Associates in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where more than half of all buyers are coming from out of state

These days, the online listing may be as important as the sign in the front yard. "Years ago people would show up you get in the car and start driving around," said Beutler, who was Century 21's top-selling agent in the world in 2003 and runner up last year. "Now they start their search looking at properties on the Web."

The more pictures you have of your house, both inside and out, the better. Other information, such as maps, neighborhood info and details about your home's best features also bring in buyers.

The place is too lived in

Buyers might be rational about price, location and layout, but the decision to make an offer or keep looking is often emotional.

"People want a house to feel like a haven," said Fazzini, who works with a decorator to "stage" houses before they go on the market. Doing so, she said, can fetch an additional $15,000 to $20,000 on a $300,000 to $400,000 house.

The reality might be that the flower gardens need weekly weeding and the dark wood floors require daily mopping, but there's no need to draw attention to these details.

Landscape the yard, clean the windows, touch up paint and take care of anything else that buyers might add to their mental "to do" list. Then put away garden hoses, cleaning products and other items that remind buyers that houses require maintenance.

Close your eyes, walk in your front door and think about how your house smells. Pet odor, cigarette smoke, mildew, cooking oil and other unpleasant smells make a lasting impression on buyers, say agents. Deal with the source of the stink, rather than try to cover it up with overpowering candles or air fresheners.

Clutter is a problem buyers have trouble looking past. "Everything should be crisp, clean and very minimal," said Fazzini, who recommends removing excess furniture, packing up knickknacks, clearing off kitchen and bathroom counters, and putting away family pictures. "Walk through a model home and use that as your model."

Fresh paint – in warm earth tones rather than stark white – and new linens on the beds and in the bathrooms can also make the difference between a house that sits and a house that sells -- assuming you still want to sell.

"There have been times when staging has backfired," said Fazzini. "People like it so much they don't want to move."