3 reasons why your house isn’t selling and what to do about it

Picture this: you’re sipping your morning coffee, flicking through property listings on your phone, and there it is again, your own address staring back at you. You’ve crunched the numbers, talked it over countless times at the dinner table, and weighed every memory tied to those walls. Still, the offers just aren’t rolling in. Maybe the kids’ toys have outgrown the living room and you need an extra bedroom. Maybe the empty spare rooms echo a little too loudly now the nest’s quiet. Or perhaps that once-promising investment property isn’t pulling its weight and you’d rather put your money to work elsewhere.

Whatever your story, you don’t want your home lingering online while the next chapter of your life waits. If your listing’s gathering virtual dust, it’s time to dig deeper.

Here are the three most common reasons a property stalls on the market—and how you can fix them.

1. It’s overpriced

At the end of the day, any kind of property, whether small or large, whether brand new or in need of a fix-up, will sell if the price is right. 

If a property is sitting on the market for weeks on end, while it can possibly be due to a quiet period in the real estate sector, it’s typically also because it’s overpriced.

Emotional connection with the property can lead to people overvaluing their home and thus putting personal feelings over researched comparisons. Unfortunately just because you treasure something, doesn’t mean everyone else will. 

For example, there may be recent similar sales in the suburb for $700,000 but the owner believes their property is ‘better’ so they list it for $800,000. This then leads to them waiting and waiting and waiting for a buyer who is unlikely to ever show up.

This is why it’s important to pick the right professional sales agent who can provide a comparable market analysis. Once the owner has gone through the other recent sales they are now in a better position to make an informed decision on the right price to list it for.

Doing things this way gives the seller the best chance of securing a buyer in the first few weeks, which is generally when demand is greatest. Having to lower the price to attract the same crowd that may have been around when the property was first listed is simply a waste of time and likely money.

2. It needs some love

While investors that are familiar with buying might be keen on real estate they can add value to by undertaking cosmetic renovations, this won’t be the answer for most buyers. With how busy life can be, some families newer to the market may be scared off when they walk into a property that has seen better days because it’s yet another task they’ll have to deal with.

The vast majority of buyers simply want a property they can unpack their belongings into and call home.

This means that if your home has some faults that maybe could use some prettifying, it may be worth investing in such adjustments. For example, peeling paint on the walls, a bathroom that was renovated in the last century and threadbare carpets throughout likely aren’t going to impress.

Now, you don’t have to spend a fortune to update the property. In fact, you’d be surprised what big results a little bit of paint can do for a property. Small changes may just be what is needed for a home to go from drab to fab.

3. It looks too much like the owner

This is the arch-nemesis of all people who are selling their home.

Whether the property has been lived in for a year or decades, it’s likely that the home has been decorated to suit the inhabitant’s individual likes and tastes. This could be from the owner or the current tenant, but where possible, it’s good to flatten things out.

Humans are all different, which is why life is so full of creativity and colour. Unfortunately though, when it comes to interior decorating, one person’s love of excess is another person’s headache.

So, if your property is not selling, if plausible, try removing all personal bits and pieces like photos and obscurely loud decor that shouts ‘this is my home and not yours’.

The ideal situation is to create an environment where potential buyers can see themselves living in the space. If they walk in and all they see is someone else’s touches, then they are less likely to want to do anything other than walk right out again.

Conclusion

Working with a professional property stylist and the real estate agency you’ve selected when it comes time to put a property on the market is a smart move. By working with people who are regularly dealing with homes, you are creating the best outcome for a successful sale.

They can objectively suggest what needs to be decluttered or assist in styling your property to ensure that it makes a great first impression on potential buyers. It’s also their job to help you understand the current favourable market conditions, as well as the appropriate listing price.

Using all these tools and making the applicable changes may help you get a little closer to the eventual settlement of your property. It is your investment and your home, after all, so you should get the most sensible outcome you can.