Why isn’t my house selling?
What a painful and difficult question to be asking. Most of us would rather do anything than wait for something.
Waiting for a buyer can be stressful when you’re selling your home. Emotionally, the constant readying for showings and let down as no offers follow can be draining.
Financially, depending on the circumstances you’re facing, the bills keep rolling in as time passes. If you’ve had to relocate, you’re now carrying the burden of paying and caring for two properties.
If the days are adding up to weeks and months, it can become downright depressing as every day passes. But there are likely many reasons why your Birmingham house isn’t selling.
It might be time to shift course on how you’re going about selling your house. When a listing lingers on the Birmingham market, something isn’t right with your listing. You should be able to sell your property.
When something just isn’t working, you fix it. Given that you have mere seconds to capture the attention of the average buyer, no one fix is more important than the other.
It all matters when you list your home. By learning these six reasons your Birmingham house isn’t selling, you can make better-informed decisions and finally sell your home.
1. Your House is Overpriced
When buyers are researching homes, they become intimately familiar with the best locations and established expectations in pricing. The key in real estate is always location, location, location.
If the features, location, and other determining factors don’t add up to your asking price, then this is most likely the reason your Birmingham house isn’t selling. People are only willing to pay a certain amount for a certain location.
People factor in simple things like how far of a drive to their favorite grocery store they will be if they buy your home.
Or how far they will be from their local Starbucks.
Perhaps what kind of school district their kids will be zoned for.
All of these factors play into how much someone is willing to pay for a specific property that all deal with location.
While buyers are willing to make offers lower than the asking price, they don’t want to deal with the discomfort of coming in with an offer so far below the asking price that it would appear insulting. No one wants to be low-balled on their property.
Overpricing equates to starting on the wrong foot with your listing. Setting the price right from the beginning is the best way to limit the time your home sits on the market waiting for a buyer.
Solution: Consider dropping your price by 5%. If you’ve been asking $200,000 for your house, drop the price to $190,000 for two weeks and see if you get any traction on that price. If you don’t get traction after two weeks, drop the price another 5% until you start getting some more visits and offers.
2. The Property is Outdated
When buyers are walking through your home, they have expectations built around the latest technology and most up-to-date modern features of a home.
You may need to renovate and update the elements of your home, from countertops to appliances and convenient features that meet the demands of technology. All of that can cost a lot of money.
In 2021, the average range for a home remodel can cost between $18,000-$76,000 and, boy, that is a lot of money to invest into a property you’re just going to sell anyway.
While you may love the wallpaper you’ve had since 1972, it’s probably turning off your potential buyers and could be the very reason your Birmingham house isn’t selling.
Solution: Update your property with some low-cost upgrades. These are things like a fresh coat of paint on the walls (neutral colors), new carpets, and new lighting fixtures. You’ll still need to invest a few thousand, but a few modern touches can go a long way for people to see the potential that your property inherently has.
3. Your Property Needs Some Repairs
If apparent repairs are needed, this is likely why your Birmingham house isn’t selling. You might have shrugged off the moldy shutters and said they weren’t an issue, but I can promise you, they are an issue and buyers will notice. Unfortunately, most buyers are looking for repairs that will be needed because those costs will come out of their budget.
It’s unlikely you’ll be able to get away with selling a property in need of substantial repairs for a higher price.
The majority of buyers seek a home ready for their family to move right into and begin their new life. Hardly anyone is wanting a fixer-upper that they will have to do construction on for the next 3-5 years.
Additionally, as you may have already learned, bargain hunters typically include contingencies asking for credit against the cost of repairs.
These deductions make the offer come in far below the home’s value, even with the need for repairs. Unless your home is brand new, there are likely to be some repairs you’re aware need to be completed.
However, being oblivious to a problem doesn’t free you of the responsibility after the sale.
You should keep in mind the consequences of failure to disclose in traditional home sales, even when you were unaware, can be extremely costly if you end up in court.
Solution: Do what repair work you are able to do without breaking your budget. If you’re saying, “But I need to sell my house fast in Birmingham, AL! I can’t wait!”, then you might want to consider going with an alternative route to selling your house. A professional home buyer will often buy your home without you needing to make all the repairs. Our company, for example, is a professional home buyer. We buy houses for cash in Birmingham, AL in as-is condition. We don’t require you to make any repairs, and we don’t charge commissions or fees.
4. There is Some Bad Advertising
Advertising is a multifaceted endeavor.
Not only must the photographs associated with your listing be of top quality, but buyers also have expectations of virtual 360 tours, which require the services of professional photographers and drone pilots.
But virtual 360 tour technology is expensive, even though it is in high demand. A strange trend is happening now where people are buying homes without ever seeing the property! This means that you might get an offer on your house, just because you have great advertising. Imagine how great that would be.
The write-up needs to entice them with a fascinating description of the property to keep their attention on your listing.
If you or your real estate agent haven’t taken advantage of the vast pool of buyers offered by optimal advertising reach and content, this may be the reason your Birmingham house isn’t selling.
Solution: Make sure that all of your listings are completely up-to-date, accurate, and are compelling in their wording and phrasing. Think of your potential buyer and what they might be looking for. Is your property able to deliver those desires to them? You also need to make sure that your photos are as high quality as possible. Don’t take pictures on a cloudy day, but on a sunny day. Use a high quality camera to capture all the vibrancy and colors of the property. Make sure your house isn’t cluttered in the pictures because people want to see the property, not all of your possessions.
5. The Staging Isn’t Right
Have you removed any personal items?
Staging is widely used in marketing homes today because it gives the buyers a blank canvas to imagine themselves occupying the space.
If your family photograph is on the mantle, or your favorite color tone of blue is on the walls, it can prevent the buyer from picturing themselves living in the home. Using neutral tones and removing some of your belongings visible during walk-throughs can vastly reduce the time on the market.
If it appears to be someone’s home already, this is a potential reason your Birmingham house isn’t selling.
Solution: Make sure you’ve decluttered your place and have allowed for the buyer to see the property in all of its inherent goodness. Think of it this way, you want to put to your best foot forward when showing the property. What would that take for your property? Don’t let the buyer say no to your property because the staging isn’t right.
6. The Availability of You and Your Agent
All of the steps involve professionals leading up to listing, open house, and showings, and finally, the inspections and appraisal all include appointments.
The meetings equate to time out of your busy day, and showings mean prepping the home to look magazine perfect at the drop of a hat. Wow, that’s exhausting!
If you’re unable or unwilling to make your home open and available with a moments notice, then you probably found the reason your Birmingham house isn’t selling
Why wait or worry? Mark Buys Houses will pay you a great price, even if your Birmingham house isn’t selling on the MLS. Find out how we can help solve your problems! Mark Buys Houses makes it easy, just call (205) 478-3284 or send us a message today.