Struggling To Sell Your House? 6 Options When Your Home Won't Sell

November 16, 2022

Struggling To Sell Your House? 6 Options When Your Home Won't Sell

Any homeowner's dream is to have a flood of interested home buyers see their property, inquire further, then make multiple offers, maybe at sums more significant than the asking price. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Has it been a few months? Your house still sitting on the market despite your high expectations that it will sell quickly?

When the market isn’t biting and a house stands empty, sellers face stressful or even disastrous consequences, both financially and emotionally, particularly if they have already invested in another property.

When your house sits on the market for an extended period without receiving any offers, you may feel despondent. You may have offered significant discounts and invested a considerable amount in advertising, yet you still haven't received any calls. You might even consider pulling your house from sale if you haven't gotten any bids. When a home is on the market for too long without any offers, it might lose its appeal and hurt its prospects of selling in the future. 

Don't let the fact that your house hasn't sold yet crush you; there are still things you can do. 

Listen To Feedback

Perhaps your house is coming off as too personalized, what with the Star Wars office, the metallic wallpapered bedroom, and the cat cubbies everywhere. Or maybe your home has some unattended updates or repairs that are a real turn-off to buyers, like the carpeted smelly bathroom in your main bedroom. A little work can make a big difference. Don’t lose out on a sale when all you need is a fresh coat of paint or a couple of new light switches.

Your listing agent should follow up with the agents of all potential buyers by asking about their thoughts on the pricing of your home, its condition, and its staging. The seller should see all of this advice and criticism as constructive, which will help them sell the house faster. However, many sellers ignore the comments, confident they are correct in their market assessment and asking price.

A property could sell in a week if enough potential buyers take the time to offer input, but it can stay on the market for months if the seller refuses to adapt. There is seldom any face-to-face interaction between the seller and the buyer. They instead rely on intermediaries such as real estate brokers. You may, however, provide your agent with questions to present to the buyer directly. 

Feedback from home buyers is crucial. Sellers can't tell whether they're doing well or if there's room for improvement. Regardless of what the seller believes, it will not affect the sale. The final say always belongs to the home buyer. 

Lower The Price

It's easy to get carried away by the excitement of a hot market, but it doesn't mean you should overprice your home. Forbes claims that 96% of housing markets are priced too high.

Businesses and big buyers may benefit, but average homebuyers will have a hard time finding anything in their price range. Always keep in mind that a fair bargain is always a good idea. Additionally, increased interest rates have constrained consumer spending

Your house may not quickly sell even if you believe the asking price is fair. When this happens, it may be time to consider a price reduction to attract a buyer. Your home's asking price is probably too high if prospective buyers remark on it.

On the other hand, if you're getting a lot of showings but just lowball offers, you're probably already relatively near to the market value of your house and you only need to shave a few thousand dollars from your asking price.

Experts believe that if you decide to lower your home's asking price, you should do it promptly, preferably within the first two weeks on the market — especially today, when supply is so limited. Don't lose out on the flurry of interest that a property often receives in its first 21 days on the market.

Take Better Photographs 

Having high-quality photos of your home for sale may help it sell faster and for more money. An investment in a professional photographer to take your listing pictures may pay off in spades when it comes to luring potential buyers.

If you're trying to save money by not employing a professional photographer, taking bad photos with your phone or a low-end camera won't do the trick. Talk to your real estate agent for recommendations if you need help finding a photographer. The selling agent may have already scheduled a professional photographer to take pictures.

A high-quality camera gives you much more control than a phone camera. It will help if you also have a wide lens, which many phone cameras lack. Don't fool yourself into thinking that grainy phone images will do the trick when marketing your property for sale; you need professional-quality photos.

While a smartphone's camera won't do the trick for professional-grade photos, state-of-the-art gear is also unnecessary. If you're determined to do it yourself, any digital point-and-shoot camera with five megapixels or more will do. A digital single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is worth the extra money since it gives you greater creative control and accommodates a broader range of lenses. Purchasing a tripod is highly recommended if you want to take clear photographs. You also want to be sure to use effective lighting. Setting up lighting rods is extremely important so as to highlight the space appropriately. 

Clean Your Place Up

If your home has too much clutter and seems run down from the street, it's time to give it a makeover. Make a positive first impression on visitors by clearing away any unwanted clutter and giving both your interior and your exterior a thorough cleaning. Additionally, using a professional stager is highly recommended.  

If you ask any realtor, they will tell you that the finer points are what really bring in the buyers. You'll need to do more than just a regular cleaning to get top dollar when selling your property. Attempting to sell your house is like trying to sell anything else: appearance is key.

Property staging is preparing a home for sale to look its best and more appealing to prospective buyers. However, what exactly does it entail to stage a home? Prospective buyers are the audience, and your property is the stage. Make your residence more attractive to buyers by cleaning, rearranging furniture, and replacing worn or outdated furnishings. 

Get A New Realtor

Your real estate agent might simply be doing a poor job. Think about making a switch. Keep in mind that selling your home on your own might be a challenging endeavor. Find a seasoned broker to handle your transaction.

You might think about finding a new agent if the bad agent is uncommunicative or can't provide a satisfactory explanation for the property's lack of sales success.

That said, don’t assume that a fresh broker will provide a silver bullet. Keep in mind that other agents are incentivized to tell you what you want to hear if you speak with them. If they promise they can get you the pricing you desire, be sure to have some hard numbers to back up their statements.

These days, it's unusual for a real estate agent to have exclusive access to buyers due to the internet's widespread availability and ease of use. Homebuyers have an understanding of the real estate market.

Sell At A Different Time

If you can wait, you may consider waiting until the next peak time to sell, given the market fluctuations and record-high inflation.

Properties often sell at a rapid pace in the early spring. If you're looking to sell your residence quickly, you might consider listing it during the first week of April or the last week of March. It peaks in the summer and dies down to a trickle in the fall and winter when fewer people are in the market to relocate.

It's also essential to think about if the market is more of a buyer's market (many listings but few buyers) or a seller's market (many buyers but few listings). A short sale is more probable in the second case since buyers have fewer options. But when you're the seller in a buyer's market, you may discover that your home isn't selling as quickly as you'd like—or as soon as it would have in a seller's market.

Making a well-thought-out listing timetable is your greatest defense against a sale that stalls for lack of interest or activity. Instead of putting your home up for sale too soon and risking a lack of interest, wait until the market conditions are favorable for a swift sale. 

Why Can't I Sell My House?

You've placed your home up for sale, but it's not getting any traction. If you had been able to sell your home fast, you could have moved swiftly and closed on a new one. It's discouraging when that happens, but it might imply you're just not using the right strategy.

Even if the agent you're considering hiring seems qualified, seasoned, and trustworthy, that doesn't mean they're ideal for you or your property. To sell the house fast, for instance, you should use a local real estate agent adept at handling large volumes of transactions. In contrast, if making a lot of money is your first priority, you could be better off with an agent who can attract wealthy purchasers while fielding fewer but more substantial bids.

You should also check out what's happening in the housing market in your area. Examine the information on residences that are under contract or awaiting sale. It may take two or three months for the market movement to catch up with the information on previously closed properties. The data on pending sales transactions is the most up-to-date snapshot of the market conditions. 

Next, think about the buyers' comments on the home's overall presentation, from the curb appeal to the inside. Of course, you cleaned up and fixed up your property before putting it on the market, but now that you have some competition, maybe you should take another look.

Your property won't be as appealing to buyers if, for instance, its furniture is old and worn while all the others on the market have brand-new furnishings. There might be a need for some maintenance or upgrading. Determine the best use of your time and resources by inquiring about the strategies that will get the most return from your agent.  


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