House Not Selling in Hot Market
A Full List of Reasons Why Your Home Isn’t Selling Even in a Hot Mark
Written By: Mariko Baerg, REALTOR of Bridgewell Real Estate Group
If you’re looking for an experienced realtor with aggressive marketing strategies to help sell your house, call me today!
If your house has been on the market for a long time and isn’t selling even in a hot market, then this blog post will help to determine what your issue is.
The answer can be a combination of issues, but usually comes down to the price or hiring the wrong agent.
With our experience, we’ve put together a full list of reasons why your home may not be selling.
This blog goes through what the problem could be, and how to identify it. Read below for more!
You Have a MARKETING Problem if…
- Your photos are terrible or non-existant
- You don’t have a virtual tour or videography to market your listing
- You’re missing room measurements or a proper floor plan
- Few people are making appointments to see your home.
- The photos are terrible or non-existent.
- There is no captivating description for your home, and the public remarks lack lustre.
- Your pricing strategy is totally out to lunch.
- Your agent’s website gets 50 visitors a month and they thinks online marketing means having your house on the MLS… or worse, your agent doesn’t even have a website.
- If you have a marketing problem, then you hired the wrong agent!
You Have a PRICING Problem if…
- You received offers from different buyers and they always come in significantly lower than your asking price, but (not) surprisingly all around the same price.
- You’re not getting any showings… or you’re getting lots of showings and no one is making an offer.
- The feedback that you receive from buyers is that the price is too high.
- You priced based on what you need it to sell for, without listening to the facts and comparing your home to other comparables that have sold in the area.
- You haven’t considered the less-attractive parts of your home in to your price. For example, being on a busy road, at a train track crossing, or in an undesirable neighbourhood.
- The market has declined since you listed your house for sale and you haven’t adjusted your price to reflect the new reality.Side Note: Keep in mind that your pricing strategy is a part of your marketing. Your agent should be advising you on pricing strategy that aligns with your goals and the market.
You Have a SHOWING Problem if…
- Your agent is a “secret” agent that isn’t easy to get a hold of, so it’s hard for other agents to book an appointment.
- You’ve restricted showing times.
- You require too much notice in advance to book a showing.
- Potential Buyers can’t get in to see your property when it’s convenient for them.
- You’re home during the showings.
- People feel uncomfortable during the showing and are rushing to get out. [whether it be your barking dog, lurking cat, teenager sleeping in the bedroom, or you eating chips & watching TV on the couch] *side note: we’ve actually seen all of this during showings.
You Have a LOCATION Problem if…
- You’re on a busy street with lots of traffic.
- You’re nearby the train tracks that can literally shake your house.
- You’re in a less-desirable part of town.
- Keep in mind that you can’t change the location of your home, and every location sells at the right price. If you have a location problem, you have a pricing problem and need to adjust in order to offset the location concerns.
You Have a HOUSE Problem if…
- Your agent is repeatedly getting the same negative feedback about your house.
- Much like the previous point regarding location, if you can’t fix the problem (ie lot size or lack of parking), then refer back to pricing. Every house sells when the price is right.
You Have an AGENT Problem if….
- Your agent doesn’t know how to negotiate.
- Your agent doesn’t know how to sell your home to potential buyers walking in the door.
- Your agent just listed the house on the MLS and is expecting it to sell itself.
- Your agent isn’t giving you feedback, updates, or keeping you informed about what the market is doing in your neighbourhood.
- Your agent isn’t following up with buyers to get feedback on your property and relay it to you so that you can discuss new strategies to get your home sold.
- Your agent doesn’t know how to market your home to result in a higher traffic listing and more buyer viewings.
You Have a TIMING Problem if…
- A bunch of your neighbours are up for sale at the same time as you, and you’re all selling basically the same property. High supply, with not a lot of change in demand.
- It’s the Christmas/winter season, last week of school/first week of summer break, or holiday time. (last 2 weeks of August, December/early January)
- The BC government just announced a bunch of changes intended to slow down the market, and the news won’t stop talking about how the market is going to crash.
- Ultimately, a timing problem will come down to one of the two: low demand, or high supply. Welcome back to economics 101!
- Nobody else is selling either.
You Have a MOTIVATION Problem if…
- You’ve said these dangerous words to you agent: “I don’t really need to sell – I just want to test the market to see if I can get what I want.”
- You aren’t listening to what the market is telling you, because it doesn’t really matter to you. You’re basing your numbers off of how much you need to net, or your remaining mortgage, or a 150% return on all renovations you’ve put in to the place. You want what you want, and if you don’t get it, that’s ok.
- Your agent and buyers are telling you that market value is less than what you want, but you won’t adjust your price and want to stay firm as is.
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If your home isn’t selling, or didn’t sell, and you’re looking for another opinion from a realtor then give us a call at 604-765-0376. We’re happy to provide you with a home evaluation, marketing plan, and pricing strategy and show you how we’ve helped sellers just like you sell their home quickly and effectively. Prefer text to set an appointment? 604-319-0200 or email [email protected] to start a conversation.
