Why Your Home May Not Be Selling, Even in a Seller’s Market

homes houses sale for signHouses are selling fast in your city, so you think yours will be easy to sell – and for top dollar. Never mind all that advice about curb appeal because these days anything is selling, right?

Well, not quite.

Even in a seller’s market – which many major U.S. cities are currently experiencing – some homes linger on the market for weeks or months, while the homes around them go into contract within days.

“If you haven’t gotten a contract after six showings, you’ve got to go back and see where the weakness is,” says Sissy Lappin, a real estate broker in Houston and founder of ListingDoor.com, which provides marketing tools to sell your home without an agent.

The answer almost always comes back to two variables: price and condition, though marketing can also play a role.

“If the house is priced right, it will sell, regardless of its condition,” says Pierre Shaheen, a Redfin agent in Hollywood, Florida. “Usually when the property doesn’t sell in a hot market, it’s the way the property is priced or the way it’s exposed,” Shaheen adds.

That exposure, or marketing, includes both modern and old-fashioned tactics. High-quality professional photos and easily accessible information help sell a home. But so do listing agents who know the neighborhood, says Lappin – although these days few prospective buyers ever meet a listing agent, since most homes use lockboxes where buyers’ agents can get the keys for a tour.

“Eighty-four percent of all homes are on a lockbox,” Lappin says. “I call this the dirty, disgraceful secret in real estate.”

A selling agent used to open all the drapes and blinds and make sure the home looked inviting before the prospective buyers walked in. Today, the blinds may stay closed, leaving the home’s first impression a dark and vacant house.

“A book is judged by its cover, and you only have one shot to make a good impression,” Lappin says. “It has to be light and bright and happy.”

Price, of course, is also important. Too many sellers set the price based on what they want to get for their home rather than what comparable homes are selling for. Or, they deem a home with a new roof and air conditioner updated, even if it still has a 1970s kitchen and bathrooms in need of renovation.

“You’ve got to price a home based on sold homes, not actives,” Lappin says. “You’ve got to look at the facts.” Today’s buyers have access to enough information via websites, apps and online home valuation tools to know what a home is worth before they come to look at it.

A home that’s not updated will sell – but only at a price that reflects its condition. “That’s not going to scare a buyer away because we’re going to present it at a price that reflects that it needs to be remodeled,” Shaheen says.

Even in a hot market, removing clutter, sprucing up your home’s curb appeal, opening curtains and using professional photos in the listing will help it sell faster. “You have to make the home look as presentable as possible,” Shaheen says.

Here are seven reasons your home hasn’t sold yet.

The price is too high. Any house, in any condition, will sell – if the price is right. But buyers expect discounts for dated kitchens, old plumbing, bad paint colors and, yes, even clutter. The danger of setting a price too high and then dropping it gradually is that when a home stays on the market too long, especially in a fast market, buyers assume there is something wrong with it and don’t even look at it. Your best bet is getting the price right the first time.

Your home is dark. A dark, vacant house does not give a good first impression. Closed drapes, dark paneling and an excess of dark leather furniture may not create the cozy look you intended. “When you walk in a home, you want it to make you feel good,” Lappin says. “It’s a dark, gloomy home, and it sets the immediate tone.” She often advises sellers to lighten up the space by painting dark paneling or cabinets white and removing big furniture and clutter.

Prospective buyers can’t get in to see it. If sellers restrict when their home can be shown, require a lot of notice or otherwise throw up roadblocks to buyers getting in, that makes the home harder to sell. Requiring prospective buyers to make numerous phone calls to get an appointment can also be a problem, as are listing agents who aren’t available when someone has questions.

The listing photos are bad. Many agents, including those at Redfin, hire professional photographers for photo shoots as part of their marketing services. Because most homebuyers use those photos to determine which homes to visit, the quality of photos can be crucial. “I’ve seen pictures of homes where there is so much clutter,” Shaheen says. “You have to clean stuff up. When we take a picture of the kitchen, the counter is completely empty.”

Your home is dated, and the price doesn’t reflect that. Lots of buyers will accept a home with original kitchens and baths – if the price is discounted to reflect the work they will have to do. But they won’t pay top dollar for a house that is not in top condition.

The home is uninsurable. This is an issue especially in states such as Florida, where you can’t get homeowners insurance without an inspection of the electrical, plumbing, roof and cooling system. But even in other states, insurance companies often refuse to insure a home that doesn’t meet basic standards. This cuts the pool of buyers down to those who can pay cash and then renovate the home to meet the insurance requirements.

Lenders won’t lend on the home. The Federal Housing Agency is particularly picky about what standards a home has to meet before it will issue a mortgage. But other lenders may also set guidelines on the condition of roofs, electrical systems or other components. If these parts of the home are in poor condition, a lender may not be willing to lend to a buyer interested in the home.

Source: realestate.usnews.com