Trouble selling your property? If you’re wondering “why isn’t my house selling?” you might be surprised to know there are many hidden answers! 89% of all house sellers got help by a real estate agent when selling their property, and that’s just scratching the surface.

Fear not, because today we are blowing the lid off the 10 most overlooked reasons why your house isn’t selling. So, read on and get ready to up your real estate game.

1. Competition and Staging

Perhaps the most overlooked reason why your house isn’t selling is competition. You might be selling only one house at a time, but potential buyers are looking at dozens.

If competing properties are presented as more attractive, then you might be losing potential buyers even if your house is equal or better. Even if you keep your property clean and well maintained, you can make it even more presentable by a process known as staging.

Staging refers to all actions that make a house look as attractive as it can be. The first step to staging is to clean and declutter your property (more on that later), but it’s more of an art than a science. Keep in mind that staging your house to sell will probably set you back a few hundred dollars, potentially more.

2. Low Curb Appeal

Potential buyers will start deciding on whether to buy a house as soon as they pull up their cars and take a look. It doesn’t matter where your house is located. You need to make the exterior as appealing as the interior.

People who think about buying your property will project themselves living in it. That is why first impressions are extremely important. Keeping your exterior presentable is one of the golden tips for a fast sale.

The term curb appeal refers to how presentable your driveway, trees, and lawn are. There are many ways to boost curb appeal. First, make sure the exterior spaces are clean and livable. Don’t stack boxes there and hope that potential buyer will just ignore them. Next, it’s a good idea to hire a professional landscaper, especially if your property is expensive.

For older houses, consider repainting and repaving the driveway to attract buyers. Your roof should also be presentable and all gutters clean to avoid any surprise floods during a storm.

3. Bad Photos

Most potential buyers will check out your pictures before even picking up the phone to call you. That’s why when it comes to selling your house, a picture is really worth a thousand words.

Multiple listing service (MLS) is a service that real estate brokers use to quickly connect and find listed properties. In MLS, properties with a single photo are often just ignored, while homes with multiple attractive photos attract a lot of attention.

If you want real estate brokers to snatch your property for sale straight away, fill your listing with attractive and relevant photographs. Obviously, you should hire a professional photographer if you can afford it. If not, here are a few tips to help you take good photos of your house:

• Avoid including yourself, or other people in the photos
• The flash should not be visible
• Shoot all areas of the house, not just the ones you think are most attractive
• Shoot all bedrooms and list them numerically so buyers know which is which
• Take close-ups of your house’s most attractive features
• Tidy up each room to what it should look when someone lives in it before taking a photo
• Include photographs of exterior spaces

4. Wrong Marketing

If your house isn’t selling, perhaps you’re just not reaching the right people. Marketing might not sell your property by itself, but it will make the process easier and less expensive for you. If you list your property in the wrong area, it is never going to sell. Conversely, if your listing is seen by hundreds of buyers, you will probably close the sale within a week.

When it comes to marketing, it’s best to upload your listing to various different sites and outlets. It’s also a good idea to print flyers for some offline marketing if you can afford it.

Some other tried and tested marketing methods include:

• Creating a video tour of your property
• Creating a virtual presentation with the help of a virtual tour firm
• Holding open house weekends where people can come and inspect your house
• Asking each potential buyer what they liked about your house and make adjustments to showcase the highlights
• Posting your house on local Craigslist pages

With the above, you will be covering multiple bases and maximizing the chances for buyers to see your ads. You can check more about selling your home on Craigslist in various online resources. The opportunities for free exposure are really incredible.

5. Full of Clutter

One of the strongest advice to home sellers is to declutter their house before selling. However, what qualifies as clutter is different from person to person, and your prized possessions might look like weird trash to potential buyers.

First, remove all mail, magazines and generally everything that has to do with your hobbies or pastimes that random people would not understand. If you are a sports team fan, make sure you remove any unusual paraphernalia.

This is also true for metal music fans, as well as video gamers. While there’s nothing wrong with sports teams, metal music or video games, they can alienate baby boomers.

If you can’t get rid of clutter completely, you should at least sort it in boxes and stack them out of sight. While potential buyers explore your home, they won’t mind a few storage boxes, but they might find your LEGO installations a bit odd.

Removing clutter makes your house look more spacious and livable. Don’t pile up everything in one corner to make up space. A room that is “heavy” on one side and empty on the other will feel unnatural and turn buyers away.

6. It’s Completely Empty

Contrary to popular belief, there is such thing as too much decluttering. If your house is completely empty, it will turn buyers away. If you have already moved into a new house, you might have taken all your stuff with you.

This leaves back an empty house that feels cold and empty. Not exactly the kind of image you want to present your buyers with.

Sure, the new owner will place their own stuff in the property, but before they decide to buy it, they would want to get an idea of what works in your house. Without any furniture or appliances, buyers won’t be able to evaluate your house.

That is why you should keep some basic furniture in your house as you are looking to attract buyers. If you don’t have any furniture for your house, you can also borrow or rent some from a friend or a rent-to-own company.

7. Overpriced Property

You might have a specific figure in mind about the sale of your house. However, if your asking price is too high, your property will remain forever unsold.

Nobody wants to give away their house, but you can’t have an asking price that’s outrageously higher than market averages. Don’t test your buyers by asking for a higher price and then hope to haggle it down. This will drive them away and make you miserable.

Moreover, the more days your house stays in the market, the less desirable it becomes, so price your house to sell. To do so, examine comparable houses and adjust the price accordingly.

8. It’s Not Standing Out Enough

As we’ve seen above, when selling your house, you are basically competing with other sellers. For that reason, your house has to stand out for the right reasons.

Potential buyers want to be surprised by existing features and unexpected bonuses. Planting a few colorful plants can make the difference between a good sale and staying three months in the market.

Think about it, a few buckets of paint and a couple dozen flower pots can make you five figures!

9. You Are Trying to Do Everything Yourself

Now, you might be trying to be frugal by selling your own home all by yourself. Don’t be penny wise but pound foolish. Trying to do everything by yourself will cost you more money and effort in the long run.

Instead, delegate things like decluttering, photographing, moving your old stuff, cleaning, maintenance, marketing and listing to qualified professionals. By paying a few hundred dollars, you can save a lot more and make your house sellable straight away.

Being a DIY guru is one thing, but managing a dozen tasks alone is flat out impossible.

10. You Haven’t Hired the Right Listing Agent

With thousands of real estate brokers out there, it might seem impossible to find the right one. Keep in mind that even if your agent seems competent and polite, they might not be the right one for your property.

When looking for a fast sale, focus on agents that sell a lot of properties in a year. If you are looking to sell for maximum market value, look for an agent that focuses on quality over quantity. If you can’t be bothered with maintenance, decluttering and staging, hire a full-service broker to deal with all the details while you wait for the money to roll in.

Tired of Wondering “Why Isn’t My House Selling”? We’re Here to Help!

Here at Bonnie Roberts Realty, we hear the question “why isn’t my house selling” all too often. With decades of experience, we are one of the world’s best resources for real estate tips aiming to help home sellers and buyers.

Come on in and check out professional advice on everything from real estate investing, marketing strategies, selling tips and a lot more!