Sometimes the market is so slow that homes don’t move as quickly. But if your home has what buyers are looking for, it will sell. If you have a home that’s not moving, your agent can tell you what’s going on. But if you’re selling your home on your own, then you’ll have to figure out why it didn’t sell. You should do a market analysis before you try to sell your home. If you did that and you’ve seen that the market is good, then you have to look deeper into why you didn’t get an offer.
There are usually some common reasons that a “for sale by owner” home didn’t sell. The number one reason is that it just wasn’t ready to be put on the market. What looks okay to you around the home doesn’t always pass the critical eye of a possible buyer.
Your home may not have sold because there were things that needed to be repaired that weren’t taken care of. Homeowners tend to get house blind and don’t see the little things – but strangers do. They see the dust on the ceiling fan and the grime on the baseboards. Your house should look clean and it should also be inviting. If your home looks like it was inhabited by a group of party animals or there’s a noticeable odor, buyers are out the door without making an offer. You have to put your home’s best impression on buyers to see. That means you need to go through all the rooms and make them look clean and spacious. You might have to replace window blinds or paint some of the rooms. You may also need to move furniture out of the house and into storage so that it doesn’t look cluttered. Another reason you may not have received any offers could be that you didn’t do your homework and set the price according to what it should be marketed at.
If you’re asking more for your home than a similar home in your area and that one sells but yours doesn’t, that could be an indicator. It could mean that if you just lower your asking price a little then you will get an offer. That could mean a reduction of $5,000 or more. If you’re in a hurry to sell, then think about dropping it even lower. Sometimes though, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the market.
Homes are selling left and right and there’s nothing wrong with your home. It’s primed to sell and the asking price is a good one. The problem with some for sale by owner homes is that the house doesn’t get the exposure it should because it’s marketed incorrectly. If people don’t know your home is for sale, then it’s like it’s not even on the market.