10 Reasons why a property may not sell

If you’ve been in the real estate industry long enough, you’ll have met clients who cannot sell their home and perhaps you’ve struggled to sell a particular home. If you were unable to pinpoint the exact issue with the house, this guide could help!

1. The house is overpriced.

This probably sounds too obvious to mention, but price can be one of the biggest hurdles when selling a property. Sometimes the seller has unrealistic expectations of what they think their house is worth. Their emotional attachment to the home might cloud their judgement here. Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) should show a more accurate value. It is also possible that the market has changed since the market was initially assessed.

2. The house is being resold too soon.

Most home buyers feel more comfortable buying houses that the occupants have lived in for 7 years or more. If someone is selling a property they have not lived in for long, buyers may suspect something is wrong with it. There are a multitude of reasons why someone might want to sell their home quicker than that, so make sure potential buyers know why it is being sold.

3. Listing photos are not adequate.

Good quality real estate photography can really help sell a property. If the current photos are not of a high enough standard, it can deter people. A clean house with good staging that has been photographed professionally can really draw in the buyers. Photographing all key features that make the house special is also important, this includes features such as the fireplace, bar, pool or water features.

4. Too many other competing properties.

If that particular area has too many similar properties for sale, it becomes a buyer’s market. If the house costs more for what it is than comparable other properties it will not sell and the seller will need to consider dropping the price or consider taking it off the market for a while until the competition goes away.

5. The house is overly personalised.

When someone goes to look at a property they are considering purchasing, they want to picture themselves living there. If the house has too many personal items such as family photos, personal items, clothing and other clutter it makes potential buyers picture the original family’s life there, not their own. They need a clean slate to picture how their things will look in it.

6. The location isn’t desirable.

If the house isn’t in a good spot, such as next to another undesirable property, on a busy road or some other factor, this could affect the value more than the owner anticipated. The price might need to be reduced to make up for it.

7. The house layout isn’t great.

There isn’t much you can do if the floor plan isn’t so good. The seller could throw in some extras such as the service of an interior designer to help make the most out of the layout.

8. The house requires some repairs.

Many buyers will be looking for a home, not a project. Make sure anything that needs fixing is fixed. This includes repainting certain rooms, doing some gardening and other minor repairs. If a buyer is counting all the cracks and marks and thinking about the effort needed to fix these, it’s a negative thought in their head or could be a bargaining chip to haggle the price.

9. The house was too hot or cold at the inspection.

If the inspections happened in winter but the heating wasn’t on, buyers are likely to notice and might think the house will always be too cold. It is worth showing off the heating and cooling of the house as this is an important feature to many people. The temperature should be set to something so comfortable people don’t even think about it. Feeling way too hot or way too cold is definitely noticeable.

10. The house smells bad.

The seller might be accustomed to the scent on their own house. If they are a smoker or a pet owner, the odors from these can be very off-putting to strangers. Professional carpet steam cleaning will be required to get rid of it. If the owner forgot to take out the trash, cooked something with a strong scent the night before these can also factor in. Any noticeable scent can be a big turn off.

photo credit: Front view of 69 Rose Street via photopin (license)