7 Reasons Why Your Home Isn't Selling

Posted by Lee and Katherine Keadle on Friday, January 29th, 2016 at 11:51am.

reasons why your home wont sell

You put your home up for sale, but you realize that something is amiss: you simply cannot sell your home. If your home hasn't attracted a serious buyer, it’s time to look at the reasons why and remedy the problem as soon as possible.

If you have your home on the Charleston Real Estate Market, here are the seven most common reasons why homes do not sell:

  1. You’re Asking Too Much

After the housing bubble, people have seen their home values shrink drastically. It could be that you’re not asking a realistic price in today’s market for your area. The number one reason that sellers overprice their home is because of emotional attachment. They're simply not objective when determining the true value of the home.

Ask a real estate agent what they would value your home at, and look at homes in the area to get a better understanding of current market rates.

  1. Your House Needs a Pick Me Up

Does your home need a pick me up? If your home is run down, you may need to put a little bit of money into it to make it sell. You don’t want to spend tens of thousands of dollars, but you do want to fix leaky roofs, repair drains that are dripping, and add a new coat of paint to make your old house look new again. These costs tend to pay for themselves in the long run.

  1. Your House Looks Run Down

In point number two, we were targeting homes that were a little bit run down and could use minor repairs to bring them up to date. But if your home looks like it’s run down – and it really is – it may mean that you need to do more than just cover up some blemishes.

If you allow your home to look like it is run down, many buyers will run the other way out of fear that you have not made the proper repairs.

  1. You Haven’t Removed Yourself from The Home

If you have family pictures in the house, a mess on the floor, or the home looks too lived in, you'll turn buyers away. People want to envision themselves in your home, and too much “you” can definitely lead to a home being on the market for an extended period of time.

Instead, try to make your home as neutral as possible while showing off strong points.

  1. You’re Not Flexible

You love your weekends and you don’t want a stranger coming into your home at this time. But you need to be flexible when showing your house. If an agent wants show your house on the weekend or an evening, you need to take any advantage you can to sell your home.

You must allow potential buyers to come to the home, and even if it is an inconvenience, you need to allow viewings whenever possible to sell your home quickly. And the shorter the notice you require, the better.

  1. You’re Not Advertising Accordingly

Advertising is the name of the game. You don’t want to allow a non-professional to take your photographs or write your home's listing. You want to ensure that your home can live up to its reputation in postings online without actually overstating the facts.

You need to be advertising in the right places, and use professional photography and writers to your advantage.

A real estate agent should be the one taking care of these details for you, but if you're trying to sell your home by yourself, you may need to look into hiring a professional for the job.

  1. Poor Location or Planning

Sometimes, your home is a victim of a poor location, floor plan, or planning. We’ve all seen homes from the 70s that simply have a bad layout in today’s world. If this is the case, you need to update your space or live with the fact that your home will be on the market for much longer than average.

If your home is in a poor location or has been poorly planned, you may even want to consider renovating the home to make it more appealing for buyers – or cutting the price significantly.

When your home isn’t selling, consult a real estate agent and find out what you can do to bolster the likelihood of making a sale. A real estate agent will be able to help you better sell your home in a timely manner at  fair market value.

Sell Your Home With the Keadle Real Estate Group!

If you are ready to sell your home, the Keadle Real Estate Group is here to help you sell your home as fast as possible. Get listed on our Charleston Real Estate MLS and get the advice and home selling expertise from our knowledgable and friendly team. 

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