Some houses sell as quickly as they are placed on the market. Others sit there languishing for months becoming not only harder to sell, but also, becoming harder to show. After all, the longer a house sits on the market, the harder it is to get rid of it. Houses pick up reputations like it or not.
Not only do the neighbors begin to realize that your home has been on the market for quite a while, but certainly so do the real estate agents. Even some of the potential homebuyers might realize that your property has been for sale for quite some time now. Surely, something must be wrong with it. What is it about your home that is keeping it from being sold?
The Overpriced House
A house that is overpriced is not going to sell as quickly as other properties simply because a quick comparison of prices will show that it is overpriced. Real estate agents won’t even want to show it after a while, leaning toward properties that are more likely to sell. After all, they want to earn a living and trying to unload a property that is simply marked up too high is next to impossible.
A good real estate agent will insist that you lower the price before putting it on the market. You should listen to him if you want to sell your home in the near future. Take note of the pricing strategies of luxury homes during slumps in the market. Those properties are marked down not by hundreds of dollars or even thousands of dollars, but they are marked down by millions of dollars.
If you price your home reasonably when you first put it up for sale, you are more likely to sell it quickly than if you wait. Once a home is visibly marked down with a “price reduced” label, every potential buyer is instantly aware that your house has been on the market for a while. They are going to know that you are not a person who is up to any more compromises. After all, you priced your home much higher than the market would bear.
The Dump or Poorly Maintained House
A house that is a real dump is not going to sell because it is a dump. The word “dump” can be used to describe a house that has a wide range of problems from dirty, in need of repairs, and unkempt to falling apart at the seams. Homeowners who do not take care of their houses while they are living in it risk the possibility of not being able to unload it when they want to do so.
A dump typically has more wrong with it though than a few “sadly in need of paint” walls and carpets that look like the entire world came tramping through after a walk through a swamp. A dump has structural problems that are real eyesores and that a few cosmetic strategies are not going to solve.
What good is a coat of paint on the front porch when the floor slats are clearly rotting out on the perimeters? What good is a new bush or two on the side of the house when clearly every tree in the back yard is dying from some type of disease? What good is allowing the buyers to keep the washer and dryer when the home is clearly infested with mice, cockroaches, and other vermin? And what good are a few dirty, but pretty, curtains when every window refuses to open and the screens are all missing?
Plus, a dump is simply one of those homes that you know you do not want to enter even when your real estate agent insists. It is one of those homes that clearly smells like animal urine as you approach it from the sidewalk. It not only has a fine coat of dust covering the window ledges or fireplace mantle, but it also has a fine layer of grime covering the walls, ceiling, and steps to the basement. It simply doesn’t matter how much potential it has. Would you want to live there?
However, if the homeowners clean it up, then it is no longer a dump and it might eventually sell. Then again, a dump in your eyes might not be the same as a dump in someone else’s eyes. After all, it is all a matter of perspective. Nonetheless, a house that was once a dump is always a dump in the eyes of the people who have already seen it, including the real estate agents.
Who Did You Say Is Selling Your House?
If you pick the wrong person to sell your home for you, you could be in even bigger trouble than you think. After all, if your brother-in-law is a real estate agent and you list your home with him, he is going to be sharing a bit more than the specs in the paperwork. Let’s face it, people like to share what they know without even realizing they are doing it. It is simply human nature to talk to those around us.
Before you know it, a conversation about the new roof leads to the fact that the house had some structural inconsistencies leading to the roof’s collapse. Gosh, would you want to live in a house like that? What else could be wrong with it? Or perhaps he will share the fact that the neighbors are real party hounds during the summer and your kids cannot get any sleep before 10 pm when the law reinforces the “peace and quiet” guidelines of the area.
How much harder is it to sell a home when every tiny negative aspect is laid out on the table for the potential buyers? Yes, the homeowners do have the responsibility to disclose certain things, but do they really have to tell the potential owners that the teenager down the block revs his car at 7 am in the morning every day or the neighbor’s cat likes to spray in your garden?
A real estate agent who knows these things is going to share these things without even realizing that he is doing it. It is simply normal conversation to share when someone else shares. In fact, he might even think he is being helpful to point out certain things. Let’s face it though, some things are better left unsaid.
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