Selling your house can be an intensely emotional experience in any market, but it's particularly nerve-wracking when it seems like other homes are going under contract in a matter of days while your listing lingers. In that situation, sellers can't help but wonder if there might be something wrong with their place.
The unfortunate truth is that there may be something wrong. Usually it's the listing price, but there are a ton of other things that are keeping your house on the market - maybe it's the marketing strategy, or even the house itself. If your house just won't move in a market that's otherwise red-hot, consider whether one of these factors could be stalling a sale.
The pictures are amateur
It's hard to under-emphasize the importance of listing photos. Most buyers start their home search online, so your photos are their first impression. When the other homes for sale in your neighborhood have crisp, clean images that show the home to its best advantage, and your photos scream "I took these pictures in 10 minutes with my cell phone," don't be surprised when buyers aren't all that interested in your place.
The pictures don't make the house look amazing
Sometimes even if you use a professional camera (or a professional photographer), the house still doesn't look its very best in the listing photos. Make sure to select only the photos that make your house shine, and if there aren't any then you might need to re-shoot. Talk to your agent and photographer about shooting at a time of day when there's a lot of natural light and when the home is in pristine condition.
You have too much stuff
Minimalism might not be your thing, and that's fine - while you're living there. Clutter is going to draw buyers' eyes away from the space of the room and their ability to fill it with their stuff, distracting them when you want them to be fully focused on their dream of homeownership. Garage sales, donations and storage units can all be solutions for too much stuff, but ultimately you need to get it where buyers can't see it. (Closets, too - buyers will open closets and drawers, and if the clutter is hiding there, it's not a great impression.)
It's not in great condition
Some buyers are fine with a fixer-upper, but it's not everybody's idea of fun. No seller wants to spend money on something like a new roof or a sewer main, but if you think a buyer is going to feel good about moving into a house that needs a major repair, then that could be why none have made a viable offer on your place. Sometimes the condition can be fine, but the house hasn't kept up with the neighbors. If most of the homes for sale in your area have updated kitchens and bathrooms and yours are old enough to vote, then the price needs to reflect that - or buyers will just move on.
Upgrades and fixes weren't done professionally
If your profession is "home builder," then perhaps you might get a pass here, but most people who are trying to save money on home repairs will likely end up paying for it when the time comes to sell. Even if your fixes look as cosmetically solid as they would if you'd hired a pro (and that's a big if!), there's no telling what an inspector might uncover - and the very last thing you want is for your home to go back on the market after being under contract because the inspection revealed a sub-par repair.
The price is just outside a significant price band
What's a price band? Consider how a buyer searches for a house: Usually they're looking in a price range that fits their budget. Search functions allow the buyer to search for homes between $100,000 and $150,000, for example. The price band is simply the price range included in a search. Some sellers try to price a home $1 less than the price band to entice buyers. For example, a seller might price a home that could sell at $300,000 at $299,999. That home would show up in a search for buyers qualified for between $250,000 and $300,000, but buyers qualified for $300,000 to $350,000 won't see it because it's outside their price band. Pick a sales price that straddles two price bands if you can, exposing it to more buyers.
The price was based on an online calculator
It's hard to find a homeowner who hasn't looked up their own house on a real estate portal like Zillow - we're all curious, right? Well, even though that Zestimate may have given you a warm fuzzy feeling, the truth is that it might not be accurate. Online calculators use public records data and sometimes MLS data to create their estimates, but if the data is patchy or there aren't a lot of comparable homes that have sold nearby, then the algorithm might end up pulling some numbers that just don't make any sense.
Social media ads gave too much away
Marketers know that advertising is in some ways an art of enticement. You want to give just enough away to interest buyers viewing your listing and invite them to learn more. If you give too much away in marketing, it can have the opposite effect: there's no mystery, and buyers will make a quick (potentially inaccurate) decision about whether or not they like the house. So remember, more is less - don't put all your listing photos in a social media ad, for example, and try to leave a bit of mystery in any advertising.
You weren't careful about social media in other ways
In an era when we're all super-connected, it's possible that a buyer might have access to what you're posting on social media. Maybe you're excited about a possible bidding war, but posting "three buyers bidding against each other, can't wait to see how high these suckers go" on Facebook could cause buyers to decide they'd rather not transact with you. Even information about your neighborhood or the sights, sounds and scents around your place can turn buyers off, so think carefully before hitting "post" when getting ready to sell.
The wrong agent is listing the home
Like all of us, real estate agents have strengths and weaknesses. It's understandable to go with the agent who helped you in your last sale, or a friend of a friend, but ask any agents you interview about their experience in working with clients like you to sell houses like yours. If they don't have any, then you might be in for a long wait and several price cuts before your house moves.
Showings aren't convenient for buyers
One of the worst parts of selling a home is dealing with the showing process. It's a pain to keep your house spotless in case a showing gets booked. Showings aren't exactly a picnic for buyers either - they're usually trying to visit several houses in the few-hours they've managed to clear out, typically on evenings and weekends. If you're dictating showing times that only fit your schedule, don't expect buyers to fit your home into theirs.
There's no marketing budget
Listing the home on the MLS might be all you need to do in some markets, but in others, there's so much "noise" that qualified buyers might miss your place entirely. There are times when a little marketing goes a long way. Ask agents if they have a marketing budget and what it covers. If they don't have a plan, that's a sign you might want to try a different agent.
There's an issue with the title
If you're like most sellers, then the last time you did any research on your home's title was when you bought it. If something has changed over the years, you might not know about it until you've worked out an offer and the title company discovers it, which is never the best time to try to sort out a potentially complicated legal issue. It's always a good idea to conduct a title search and make sure everything is squeaky clean. You'll breathe easier during closing, anyway!
The appliances are outdated
You need to upgrade everything before you sell your house, but if most homes in your neighborhood sport the latest kitchen appliances and yours are avocado green, then this might be an investment you have to make. Make sure you understand how your home is measuring up against its competition in the neighborhood.
It smells, or it's noisy
A lot of things can turn buyers off once they step inside a house, but two that there's almost no chance of mitigating are noise and odors. Sometimes there's nothing you can do about either - the jets overhead or the water plant up the road are just going to do their thing sometimes. Get an objective opinion about how your house smells, and address it if the answer is "not the best."
There's no curb appeal
Ideally, buyers are going to start picturing your house as "theirs" as soon as they see it. One thing that will kill that fantasy is a house with little to no curb appeal. You don't need to landscape your entire outdoors, but make sure you're addressing the basics. Is the grass alive? If so, is it mowed? Is the porch clean of clutter and swept? Could a couple of planters with flowers make it look more inviting?
The listing description is flat or unrealistic
Most buyers are going to look at the photos first, but many also pay attention to the listing description. This is a chance to tell interested buyers what you love about the house. Maybe the view from the master bathtub is your favorite in the house, or perhaps there's a greenhouse in the yard. Include details in the listing description that help the buyer round out what they know about the house from photos.
You insist on staying during showings
The impulse to do this comes from a good place nine times out of ten: you want to share all of the best features of your house with buyers, and how will they know what those are if you aren't there to help? Trust that buyers know what they're looking for. Make the place look as amazing as you can, then vacate and let buyers walk through themselves.
You're too attached
Sometimes you're just not ready to let go yet. That's a normal feeling to have, but it can also sabotage your home sale for obvious reasons. Consider whether your attachment to the home could be undermining you in other ways, like insisting that it's worth a certain price or demanding specific concessions from your buyers. If you think it might be, then you have to decide whether your need to sell the house outweighs your desire to stay there, and act accordingly.
