Are you currently thinking about selling your house? Or have you been trying to sell your home unsuccessfully for the last couple of months? If you have said “yes” to anyone of these questions then this article is for you. Today we will give you an overview on the major reasons why a home isn’t selling and on how to avoid certain pitfalls before you encounter them. It has been estimated that 1.3 million homes will be sold in 2011 and even more staggering than that is the fact that 11.7 % of all U.S. homes are vacant with Maine leading the way with 22.8 % as reported per CNN. What this means in a nutshell is that there are many Homeowners who are trying to sell their homes but aren’t being successful thus leading to a higher vacancy rate all across the nation. There is One crucial thing that I want you to remember for the time being and it is that we are in a deep -Buyers Market- which means that there are a lot more people (sellers) selling than there are buyers willing to buy * Low Demand High Supply*, for the seller it isn’t good news for the buyer it’s great news. In hindsight you can look at any major market here in the U.S. whether it is Chicago, Dallas or even Seattle and you will see scores of homeowners struggling to sell their property.
# 1 Reason Homeowners can’t sell their properties: Price!!!
I hate to say this but quite a few of the homeowners of whom I have worked with are still living in the past, let me elaborate 4 or 5 years ago the demand for housing was at an all time high properties were selling left and right sellers were making lots of money each time they sold their home. That was because back then we were in a -seller’s market – which means more buyers wanting to buy than sellers wanting to sell *High Demand Low Supply* housing became a scarce commodity and just about every Seller could obtain there asking price as long as it was in line with market values. If your thinking about selling your home and if have you been trying to sell your home unsuccessfully for the last couple of months then I want you to pick up your local newspaper and check the prices of the homes that have been sold recently near you preferably in your homes neighborhood. If your home is a 4/2 meaning it has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms then look for a home that has the same feature etc, in addition if a comparable home has something that yours doesn’t like a pool then deduct 10,000 or 15,000 off of the price of the comparable home then you get into the ballpark of what you should price your home at everything else being equal vice versa. I know that it is tempting to just increase your home price to big levels but in the end all that will happen is you getting more frustrated from the lack of buyers remember the real estate market is the one that essentially chooses what your house can and cannot go for.
# 2 Reason Homeowners can’t sell their properties: Location Condition!!
Is your home in a good visible location? Is your home hard to find? Location is just about one of the most important things in real estate the better the location of your home the more buyers you will attract it is as simple as that. The other variable in this equation is condition how does your property compare to the houses around it? If all the homes surrounding yours look really nice and clean from the outside, but yours seems to need major work on the outside then you will more than likely have a low conversion ratio. You should try to make your home look as presentable as possible and try to make it look better than the immediate homes surrounding it. Another good tip is that when you or your agent do an open house ALWAYS schedule all of your buyers at the same time it works wonders. It’s a psychological thing that works in your favor the more buyer’s there the more competitive things will get and it will give the impression that your house is very appealing and unique otherwise all the other potential buyers wouldn’t be there. » Read more: Selling A Home: Common Problems
