When your home sits on the market for weeks or months, there’s a lot to lose. There’s a loss of time, for one thing. There’s the loss of money, especially if you’re stuck paying the mortgages on both your old home and your new home.
And there could potentially be a further loss of interest from potential buyers—as if having a home that won’t sell isn’t bad enough, the longer it sits on the market, the less likely it is to sell for a good price!
So if homes in your area are generally selling within a month but your home’s been sitting on the market for two, it’s time to start wondering why. Here are six potential reasons your home isn’t selling fast.
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Your price is too high
Without a doubt, price is the number one reason that homes aren’t selling. If your price is too high, unless you’re in an unbelievably competitive market, you simply won’t get a buyer.
If you suspect this might be the case, talk with your real estate agent and get their input. How did they come up with the price? How much of a drop would they advise? While price drops can put up red flags for some buyers, moving a price to where it should have been all along is often the only way to get things moving. -
There’s too much clutter
While you don’t have to “Marie Kondo” every nook and cranny of your house, clutter is definitely not helping you sell your home.
Counters should be clear, closet floors clean and empty, and junk drawers straightened, if not cleaned out. -
There’s no curb appeal
If your lawn isn’t mowed, your exterior paint is dingy, and your front steps are in disrepair, you’re not going to convince people to walk by your house, let alone walk in.
Curb appeal is just as important as every real estate agent and investor says it is—but the good news is that boosting your home’s curb appeal doesn’t have to cost loads of money. Hire a lawn service, put in a few solar lights along your walk, repair any dingy paint spots, and you’ll get a return on investment of more than 350 percent. -
The staging is poor
Staging can make a huge difference when it comes to whether potential buyers can see themselves in your home or not—and that difference can be either good or bad.
Completely empty homes can feel lifeless, while cluttered or poorly staged homes can feel small or overwhelming. Remember, you want the buyer to feel as if this could be their family’s new home, not that this is your family’s old home. -
You’re still working on the home
If you’re still fixing up your home, whether that means repairing grout or replacing the roof, it’s not the time to have buyers come take a look.
A home that’s “in the works” can scare off potential buyers because it feels incomplete. It could also get their minds going, thinking about any other problems or projects that might be hiding behind the scenes—and that they would have to tackle once they bought the place. -
Your listings photos aren’t professional
Since 44 percent of buyers look online before doing anything else, it’s critical to make sure your online listing looks great. That means having professional photos taken.
Yes, this can be an added expense, but it’s well worth it when you consider the time it could shave off your days on market.
If your home isn’t selling, the good news is that you don’t have to undertake an expensive remodel or repaint the entire exterior of your home. By paying attention to the smaller details, you can get things moving again, so you can move out and move on.