Windermere Professional Partners

Why Your House Isn’t Selling

Professional Headshot of Marguerite Martin April 13, 2011
Last updated April 27, 2022

Selling your home can be one of the most stressful experiences of a person’s lifetime. In a market like the one we are in with competition from price slashing bank foreclosures nipping at your heels- it’s imperative that ever home is being shown to it’s best advantage.

As a buyer’s agent, I walk through dozens of homes with buyer’s and hear their candid feedback. Here are some common obstacles that prevent good people from falling in love with great houses:

1. SMELLS


Everyone’s house has a smell. Mine does. Yours does. Whether it’s pets, strong cooking smells, old house smell or simply that Eau de You that can be hard to define, you must do everything you can to neutralize the smells in your house. The Realtor who lists your house should be able to tell you what your house smells like- but the best person to ask is always a good friend with a great sniffer.

2. TOO MUCH STUFF


We all have friends whose homes look as pristine and neutral as a Restoration Hardware Catalog, but for the rest of us- selling means a major purge of clutter, large furniture, clothes, and boxes. Every buyer wants to be able to imagine their own things in the house- so keep the decor neutral. Buyers want to believe that they will have plenty of space for things, so closets, cabinets, and garages should be organized, spacious, and nowhere near capacity.

3. IGNORING FEEDBACK


Sellers will share the following stories, “Everybody I talked to at the open house said they liked the house, but nobody made an offer” or “We get lots of showings but nothing is happening.” Most people have a very difficult time telling a homeowner directly that they don’t like something about their home.

For this reason, every time an agent shows your house, your Realtor will follow up and ask them what they thought. It can be difficult to hear that your garage smells like pets or your price is too high for a house with only 2 bedrooms, but try to listen with an open mind. Every person that is coming through your house that doesn’t buy it is full of valuable information. Ignore honest feedback at your peril.

You can save yourself thousands of dollars in unnecessary price reductions if your home can still be still be sold for top dollar by updating an outdated stove, cleaning the moss off the roof, or painting the fence. If you are open to listening to feedback from your Realtor and Buyers you can likely avoid the frustrating uncertainty of your home languishing on the market. Before you go burying statues of St. Joseph in the yard, step back and look at your house like a buyer.

If you’re looking for a great agent to sell your home, contact us.

This article was written by Marguerite Martin (Giguere) in 2011 and was originally published in The News Tribune.