What You Can Do If Your Home Isn’t Selling
As the saying goes, the only thing harder than buying a home is selling one. What can you do when yours just won’t sell?
When a home isn’t selling, it could be due to a variety of factors (sometimes even a combination of several of them). Diagnosing the problem with a home that won’t sell is very much like figuring out a mysterious illness, and it can be frustrating.
Still, there are a few common things that you can look at first, and they all require relatively straightforward courses of action in order to fix. When your home isn’t selling, consider these:
Lower the asking price.
Now, no seller wants to hear that their home is overpriced. But if we’re being honest, it happens and sometimes sellers aren’t necessarily the best judges of what prices the market will tolerate for their property. After all, you probably want the best deal you can possibly get for your home.
It’s important to remove as much emotion from your decision-making process as possible, and if your home isn’t selling after six months, don’t be stubborn on sticking to your price.
The reason for this is because while you may have priced your home somewhat accurately for its size, features, and even comp sales within your zip code or area, there may be other attributes of the home that affect (not in a negative way, mind you) its marketability or sale price.
Maybe your home and your neighbor’s are similar in size and construction, and maybe they were appraised at similar prices; that still doesn’t automatically mean that they should go for the same price. Did your neighbor put in granite countertops before listing? Is your yard less desirable, or is the home located on a corner (you’d be surprised at the seemingly innocuous things that affect buyers’ interest)? Remember, your home is only worth what the market will pay for it. If it won’t sell at your asking price, then you need to consider lowering that price.
You can read more about how to make your home look better and more desirable before listing here.
If you do lower your price, re-list the home.
If your listing has been on the market for longer than six months, whether you lower your price or not, it’s strongly advised that you re-list the home so the listing itself looks new.
This is because an old listing has a powerful psychological effect on prospective buyers. If they see a home that hasn’t sold for six months, they’re going to wonder whether there’s something wrong with the home that you’re not disclosing in the listing. On the flip side, a brand-new listing may elicit excitement in buyers or even a sense of urgency, leading them to assume that your home may not last very long on the market.
The more you can engender this perception, the better.
Now, when you re-list your home, consider changing enough aspects of the listing to make it look fresh – or correct any omissions from the previous listing. This includes new pictures and possibly a better description – no all caps, by the way. Your agent may be able to help you in finding a professional photographer and in property staging and describing the home.
Remember, if you did all of these yourself the first time and the home didn’t sell, then the wisdom in hiring a professional to get them done this time around should be obvious.
Don’t be afraid to break from conventional methods in listing the home.
The internet has revolutionized the real estate world, so you should take full advantage of that. While putting ads in your local paper may not be as effective as it was twenty years ago, posting your listing to platforms like Craigslist and Facebook is both free and highly effective.
Facebook, in particular, has a marketplace now speccifically for classifieds, and you can always take advantage of groups which are geared towards real estate buyers and sellers.
Beyond the internet, don’t shy away from looking around and in your own social network. You never know, your friend’s son’s soccer coach may have a cousin who’s looking to move to your area for work.
Think nationally.
Speaking of your friend’s son’s soccer coach’s cousin, you’d be surprised how things can work out for national buyers. In addition to exploring your own social network, consider posting your listing to online platforms in surrounding cities and states.
You can even offer favorable terms or timelines for a buyer who has to move, such as vitrual tours of the home, video calls, or employing an agent who specializes in national buyers.
For more perspectives on the housing market and home ownership, check back with us each week as we post new blogs and be sure to sign up for our Priority Access List for advance listings and market updates. We’ll see you next week, and in the meantime, don’t forget that you can also keep up with us on Facebook and Twitter!
- Get It Right Solutions