5 Big Reasons Your House Isn’t Selling
In a perfect world, home selling would be a linear, predictable process. You put your house on the market, you schedule a bunch of showings, and you get your offer. As anyone who has sold a house before knows though, it doesn’t always work out like that, and plenty of people are left wondering why their house isn’t selling—and what they can do about it.
Homes in the United States spend about 58 days on the market, according to research from Realtor.com. (You can use their market trends forecasting tool to see the data for your specific county or metro area.) But 58 days is the average, not the rule. And that means that plenty of homeowners are finding themselves waiting longer than that to make a successful sale.
So, here’s the bad news: You can’t force anything if your house isn’t selling. A home sale requires a number of circumstances to come together—most importantly, the right buyer at the right time. The good news, however, is that you can try to pinpoint the reasons that your sale isn’t making progress in the way that you want it to. Not all of those reasons are in your control, but many are. Sometimes, a couple tweaks can make all of the difference between a house not selling and that done deal.
If your house isn’t selling and you’re left wondering why, here are five possible explanations.
- It’s Not the Right Market
There are two real estate market trends that play a major role in how fast a home sells:- The time of year that you’re listing
- Whether it’s a buyer’s market or a seller’s market
In general, early spring is the time of year that homes fly off the market the fastest. From of end of March through early April, homes have 5% less competition and sell six days faster than homes that go up in late spring, when the market starts to flood. That flood tends to last through the summer, and then dwindle down to a near halt during cooler months, when less buyers are looking to move.
Another big factor to keep in mind is whether it’s a buyer’s market (lots of homes for sale but few buyers) or a seller’s market (lots of buyers on the lookout but few homes for sale). In the latter scenario, you’re more likely to sell your home quickly, since there’s a lot of competition for properties. In a buyer’s market, however, you’re the one facing competition, and you may find that your house isn’t selling nearly as fast you want it to, or even as fast as it might have if the scenario was flipped.
The best way to avoid a stagnant sale process due to bad timing is to be strategic with when you list. It’s better to wait and get on the market when your chances for a faster sale are high than to go on the market too early and let your listing get stale.
- Your home is listed higher than the comps
- Other homes in the neighborhood are selling but yours isn’t
- You’re not getting a lot of requests for showings
- Your listing pages aren’t getting much traffic
If you suspect your home is priced too high, get a second opinion from another realtor or two—it may be time for a price drop.
If your house isn’t selling, try to figure out why as soon as you can. The longer your home sits on the market, the less action you’re going to get on it. But if you identify and take care of the issues that are preventing it from getting an offer, you could speed up the process and finally get your home sold.