Top 6 Reasons Your home Won’t Sell

Top 6 Reasons Your home Won’t Sell

6 Shabby Dirty or Smelly

This would seem obvious to everyone, unfortunately I have shown homes where the buyer has walked in and cringed. Most buyers are making one of the biggest financial decisions they have ever made in their life in the worst market that most have ever experienced. You think they will pick your house?

What should you do?

Your home is up against approximately 10 to 20 other homes that are in your same area and price range at a minimum. It is your job to make your home noticeable, but not for the wrong reasons. Pick up your home or de-clutter as I call it, put some air fresheners in the the walls, personally I like vanilla but studies have shown lavender seems to be the most broadly desirable smell.

5 Ugly or Impractical improvements

Many a buyer has walked into a house that has clearly been remodeled and upgraded in anticipation of the sale, only to have their heart sink with the realization that the brand new kitchen features a counter top made, not of Granite, but brand-new, pink tiles with a Flower in the middle of each one. Or the pristine, just-installed floors feature carpet in a creamy shade of non neutral color i.e. green – the buyer’s least favorite color. New home improvements that run totally counter to a buyer’s aesthetics are a big turn-off, because in today’s era of conspicuous frugality, buyers just can’t rip out expensive,brand new, perfectly functioning things just on the basis of style – especially since they’ll feel like they paid for these things in the price of the home.

What should you do:
Make your home as neutral as possible use tans and whites as much as possible. The reality is you dont need to improve if you can make a concession on the price of your home for less than what the improvement would cost to make. Go cheap on what you do decide has to be renovated i.e. instead of replacing cabinets paint them and spend more money on curb appeal. I have had clients not want to see the inside on the basis we pulled into the driveway and they didn’t like the look or feel of the home

4 Ugly pictures or worse yet none at all

Here at FrankMclawhornRealty.com I’ve seen listing photos that have dumpsters parked in front of the house, piles of laundry all over the “hardwood” floors touted in the listing description. There was also a study recently that showed homes with photos of pink rooms sold 2x slower and for less money than homes that did not.

Listing pics that show your home in anything but the best, but accurate light will turn off a huge number of buyers before they even make it out to your home. The only thing I can say that is worse than having bad pictures is having no pictures. I have buyer’s that refuse to get an email or look at a property that they cant 1st preview online through the photos or virtual tour.

What’s should you do?
Make sure you know how your home is being presented. Check your home’s listing on online and make sure the pictures represent your home well. If not, ask your agent to grab some new shots and get them online.

3 Feeling mis-led

Here’s the deal – you will never trick someone into buying your home. If the listing pictures are photo-edited within an inch of their lives, or your home is described as an “approved” short sale when its not, buyers will learn this information at some point.

“     YOU will never trick someone into buying your home.”

If the detailed information about your home, neighborhood or even transactional position (e.g., short sale status, seller financing, etc.) is misrepresented, the sheer misrepresentation will turn otherwise interested buyers off. In cases where the buyer feels misled, whether or not that was your intention, running through the buyer’s mind is this question: If they can’t trust you to be honest about this, how can they trust you to be honest about everything else?

Buyers rely on sellers to be upfront and honest; be both. If your home has features or aspects that are often perceived negatively, your home’s listing probably shouldn’t lead with (like an add I commonly see with the intro line: “this home needs work!”), but neither should you go out of your way to slant or spin the facts which will be obvious to anyone who visits your home. Make sure you know what the description of your home reads like, before it’s published to the web, and that a prospective buyer will not feel misled by it.

2  Stalker Sellers

You may think you’re being helpful walking the buyer through your home and pointing out the kitchen cabinets you made with your own two hands, the custom mural you paid top dollar to have painted across your living room wall or the delightful sounds of happy schoolchildren running across the front yard. Unfortunately, the buyers might be trying really hard to ignore, minimize or figure out how to undo the very features of your home you hold dear.

It makes buyers feel awkward and often they want to have personal conversations with me their agent while they’re viewing your home. You the seller being there, especially walking right alongside them while they’re in your home, prevents them from being comfortable about doing this, or discussing all the things they would change if the home were theirs. You even being on the property while they buyer is there makes them feel uncomfortable. The seller being on the property rushes the buyer out of them home b/c they dont want to be in your way. They longer a buyer sits in your home the more likley they are going to make an offer on it. You want the potential buyer to get down to dirty details – the more nit-picky a buyer gets about a house and the more detailed their list of things they would change, the more serious they are about considering making an offer on this place.

What should you do?

Back off; do not under any circumstance stay in your home! Let your home be shown vacant, or leave the house when people come to see it. If you need to be there, at least walk down the street or go sit at the coffee shop down the way while prospective buyers view your home. If the buyers have questions, their people will contact your people.

The number 1 Reason your home wont sell……

1 Irrational Sellers.

Buying a house in today’s market is hard work! On top of all the research and analysis about the market and situating their own lives to be sure they’ll be able to afford the place, buyers have to work overtime to separate the real estate greats from the flops. Buyers have to get educated about short sales and foreclosures and often put in many, many offers before they get even a single one accepted. Often times if your home is priced to high compared to the others for sale in your neighborhood most buyers wont even come look at it.

How to argue a seller out of unreal

Get real. Get out there with me your agent and look at the other properties that are for sale in your area and price range. Get an accurate value on what your home should be listed at, and don’t take it personally if I or another agent or websites recommendation is low.

If your home has much less curb appeal or space or doesn’t have the quality of upgrades as the house across the way, don’t list it at the same price and expect it to sell. If you owe more than your home is realistically worth, you may need to re-examine whether you really want or need to sell, or consider a short sale, if you simply have to sell.

Don’t be tempted into testing your market with an obviously too-high price, unless you’re prepared to have your home lag on the market and get low-ball offers. The longer you test the market the more the prices are dropping. This is not the real estate market of 06′.