The real estate news is pretty consistent lately – it’s a seller’s market and the prices just keep rising, with no sign of bottoming out. Even people who weren’t previously interested in relocating are considering putting their homes on the market just to maximize the profits of selling now while the market is heavily favoring sellers. So imagine the shock and horror of anyone who lists their home in this current market and doesn’t immediately get inundated with offers. Believe it or not, the problem of a property languishing on the market for weeks or even months can still happen, even in times like these. If this is happening to you, here are some possible reasons for what could be causing your home’s lack of interest.
Overpricing and Over Confidence
Just because this is a seller’s market doesn’t mean that buyers will be willing to overlook just any flaws in order to purchase your home. It also doesn’t mean that you can drastically inflate your home’s selling price until it far exceeds it’s worth. Yes, the law of supply and demand means that in a seller’s market, there is much more demand for housing than there is supply of available homes. So you can likely list at a selling price that is higher than you could get away with a few years ago. Be careful how far you and your agent push the envelope on this. Deciding on an appropriate asking price is one of the most important aspects of planning to hit the market. If you go too high, you won’t even show up in the searches of many prospective buyers, or if you do, they’ll toss your listing to the side immediately. To avoid this problem, make sure that your agent is performing in depth analysis of the local market. Your listing price should not be so high that it seems out of step with similar homes selling in your local area.
A similar problem comes into play when sellers erroneously believe that basic repairs and updates to an older home won’t be needed in a strong seller’s market. Of course no one enjoys sinking money into improvements they won’t get to enjoy for very long, but it’s also no fun to watch houses in your area get snapped up by eager buyers while yours sits on the market with little interest due to its outdated kitchen and stained carpets. With prices of homes skyrocketing, many buyers simply aren’t able to sink much money into repairs after they buy, so they can only consider homes that are modernized and in solid shape. Consult with your agent regarding what renovations are absolutely essential in order to make your home comparable to other recent home sales nearby.
Aging Appliances
You may think that if your appliances are in good condition and work correctly, that they don’t need to be updated just because you are putting your home on the market. However, outdated appliances are one of the number one turnoffs to potential buyers, even when everything else in the home is modern and inviting. People have a tendency to judge the kitchen and even the whole house by the age of the fridge and the stove. This is because if some or all of your appliances are showing their age, it can make buyers question when other, much larger ticket items will be in need of replacement. A buyer may see an ancient dishwasher and wonder if the furnace is also that old, or an aging refrigerator may make someone question if the roof will need to be replaced soon as well. Buyers likely won’t get up close and personal with your insulation or water heater, but seeing an old white stove when stainless steel is all the rage lets them know immediately that many things around your house could be on their last legs. Even if your old appliances are in perfect working condition, consider freshening the look of your kitchen with a new, and very importantly, matching package including a dishwasher, range, cooktop, microwave and refrigerator. This investment could mean the difference in tens of thousands of dollars when your home sells.
Amateur Listing Photos
First impressions take mere seconds to form, and when it comes to real estate listings, those impressions by and large come from the listing photos that accompany your home’s information. Over 90% of buyers begin their search for a new home online using their own resources prior to working with an agent, and a quick skim of your home’s photos usually tells them all they need to know for deciding whether or not to add your home to their list. If you have poor quality photos, or even worse, no photos at all, your home could be absolutely amazing and no one will ever know. Buyers tend to assume if your listing has no photos at all, the home must be in utter disrepair with nothing worth seeing.
If you have what you believe to be professional quality photos and your home is still sitting on the market with little interest, ask a few friends or colleagues to view the listing and give their honest opinion about what they see in the photos. Ask only people you know are apt to give an honest assessment. It could be that the pictures are high quality, but there is too much clutter in your home or furniture appears to be awkwardly laid out. Hiring a professional home staging service can help you make sure your house has been purged of clutter to the extent necessary and that furniture is smartly placed. After you’ve made any suggested changes, listing photos can be retaken so that a better version of your home appears.
Forgetting the Curb Appeal
Sometimes buyers and even agents are so caught up in presenting the perfect house interior that they don’t pay attention to what the house being sold looks like on the exterior. Curb appeal is a major force when it comes to home sales. If houses are barely lasting three days on the market in your area but yours has been hanging around with limited interest for much longer, look closely at the outside shots of those homes, then compare this image to what your own house looks like from the street.
Before having exterior photos taken or going live with your listing, make sure any chipped paint or damaged siding has been repaired, and clean your windows until they shine. Hire a professional to pressure wash your driveway if you don’t have the equipment on hand to do this yourself. And pay careful attention to your lawncare regimen while your house is on the market. Hedges should be trimmed and the grass should be cut weekly.
Be Smell Aware
As soon as someone walks in the door of your home, looks around and takes their first breath of air, the next reaction they give could make or break a sale. You want your home’s first aromatic impression to be a good one, or at the very least, not a disagreeable one. The problem here is, most of us have no idea what our home smells like since we have become so used to it we are for the most part immune. To make sure your home is giving prospective buyers a pleasing scent, experts suggest burning a scented candle just before or if possible, during a showing. If you have the time and expertise, you can also have a freshly baked loaf of bread cooling in the kitchen.
Using a room deodorizing or freshening spray is considered less effective, as the scents from these sprays tend to dissipate rather quickly, and they can also be a source of allergic reactions for some potential buyers. If your house truly has a bad smell, you may need to invest some time and effort to determine the cause. Smells can be difficult to identify and remedy, especially if your house is old or you’ve already moved and it has been sitting vacant for an extended period of time. Homes of smokers and cat owners tend to be the most difficult when it comes to getting rid of unpleasant odors. If you find yourself in this situation, keep in mind that carpeting and cloth surfaces can lock in smells you may not even realize are there, so if you have the means in your budget, consider replacing the carpet in your home prior to listing.
Lack of Availability for Showings
People can’t buy what they have a hard time seeing. Prior to the pandemic, most people worked outside their homes and while their house sat on the market, it also sat empty all day, allowing prospective buyers to visit whenever they wanted. But in this day and age of working remote and being tied to your home office for video calls and presentations, packing up to leave for a house showing isn’t always practical or easy. Experts say you are likely going to have to suck it up and do it anyway. When your listing goes live, make sure you already have a plan in place for where and how you are going to get your work done when you need to leave home to let shoppers do their walk through. Turning down too many showing because it is simply inconvenient to have buyers come through will leave your listing lingering.