Is your home in good condition, and you don’t understand why it’s still not selling this summer? That summer is supposed to be when demand is up, and houses sell fast, yet your home remains “uninteresting” to people.
We get how dispiriting this can be, especially when you’ve put so much effort into marketing and entertaining prospective buyers. Unfortunately, this is one of the realities when you sell your house on the market, even during the summertime.
But set your worries aside because it’s not the end of the line. You still have options to sell your home today, starting with understanding why it’s not selling and finding targeted solutions from there.
Look through the six (6) common reasons below and see if they apply to you:
Location is Not Desirable
For real estate agents, when a buyer asks them to look for property, one of the first things to know is the buyer’s purpose — whether it’s for residential purposes or purely for investment (like rentals, resale, etc.). This is because a property’s location can influence your buyer’s goal.
For example, people looking to buy a home they could live in may prefer properties within gated communities or in the suburbs. Likewise, people looking to use a property for renting may choose units near central business districts, schools, public transportation stops, etc.
So, it’s possible that your buyers are just not interested in your location because it doesn’t fit their purpose. A smart thing to do would be to screen your buyers before agreeing to a home viewing. This way, you won’t be wasting your time entertaining people who clearly will not buy your property.
Yard Not Maintained
Your curb or lawn area gives your prospective buyers their first impressions. If your yard is filled with dead leaves or twigs, or the grass is almost knee-high, they’ll know you’re not taking good care of your house. An unkempt yard will also lead them to suspect more damage inside the house, which might be expensive to fix.
Remember that in the summertime, flowers are still well and alive after the Spring bloom. If you have them on your property, make sure they stand out because flowers and greenery can increase a property’s perceived value.
If you’re selling a fixer-upper, clean your outdoors, especially right before your scheduled home viewing.
Unpleasant Smells
Odors intensify as the weather becomes hot. This is because heat accelerates gas formation, resulting in the faster release of odor-causing vapors from materials. If you have trash inside your house, make sure to take them out and empty your trash bins fully. Spraying your trash bins with odor-eliminating solutions would be even more advisable.
In addition, avoid cooking intense-smelling dishes the day before your home showing if you can. Even if there’s ample ventilation to exhaust smells from inside your home, you can never be too sure how long all the vapor molecules can spread and linger in other parts of your house.
Better Neighborhood Comps
Summer is a hot season for sellers. Chances are, you’re not the only one taking advantage of this season’s profitability. If there are houses in your neighborhood or near your home that are in better condition yet are at a similar price point to yours, then your prospective buyers most likely went with your comps.
Before selling your home, it would be best to familiarize yourself with what’s going on in your local real estate market. Once you can make a list of your comps, try to find your differences and see what your advantage is over their properties, then highlight your value every time you talk to a buyer.
Price is Too High
Prices of houses during the Summer are indeed higher than in the rest of the seasons. But this doesn’t mean that you can just increase your home’s value without limit. Your price must remain reasonable, or you’ll risk pushing your prospective buyers to your comps.
To ensure your price is competitive, it would be best to work with a licensed real estate agent or broker. They have access to information about your market comps and can professionally advise you on how much you can price high, reasonably.
Disaster and Adversities
If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the Coronavirus pandemic, it’s that situations in a single corner of the world can rapidly affect the world as a whole. We are still in the transition phase from the pandemic to the pre-pandemic era, and economies are still recuperating (if not struggling). This means that many people hit by the pandemic (e.g., lost jobs, exhausted finances due to medical bills, etc.) are still recovering from credit or deferred payments.
Hence, people are more selective and careful about their financial decisions — including buying property.
If you’re tired of waiting for your home to sell on the market and you’re not optimistic anymore that your home will indeed sell before Fall starts, get in touch with us at Spire Property Solutions. We help homeowners with their real estate problems and buy houses through cash. Our business is to purchase homes fast at fair prices without going through a long, winding process as you’re experiencing now on the market.
Call us today at (678) 318 – 1801 and get your cash offer in as fast as 24 hours!