In this article we review the main reasons why a house isn’t selling and suggest some strategies you can use to help it sell.
Placing a property for sale on the market requires a large investment of time and dedication. However, if your client hasn’t received any interest after 30 days of having listed a property for sale, it is time to review your strategy.
The main reasons why a property isn’t selling
The first impression that potential buyers will have of the property is seeing it on real estate portals or on your agency's website. To capture the interest of buyers, here are some key areas and some possible solutions that you can adjust to help the property sell.
1. Overpriced properties
Today’s buyer is well informed and searching for fair market value. If your property is overpriced, it either doesn't show up in their searches or, when it does, it will be ignored.
Solution: Negotiate a price reduction with the owner
We understand that it can be very difficult to make the owner understand the real value of their property. Inform the property owner about the comparative prices of similar properties for sale in the area and explain that an accurate market value listing price is one of the best ways to sell a home quickly.
2. "Price on demand" listings
Another reason might be that you chose a ‘price on demand’ style of pricing. Your listing might not appear on some portals where the price is mandatory, or it will not appear in the search results, the email alerts, or on Properstar MyHome saved searches!
Solution: Highlight the property price as often as possible
Try to negotiate with the property owner to display an acceptable price on the listing and ensure that it will appear in all the key portals and all type of search results.
3. Listings with challenging characteristics
There simply are properties that are in less demand on the market, like land or commercial properties. Furthermore, if you are listing a property with some challenging characteristics like low light, located in areas with a lot of noise, or located in less recommended neighborhoods, you may wait longer to sell.
Solution: Make the property unique
When buyers are looking for a property, they need to imagine themselves in that home. Create a feeling of well-being and comfort through your photographs and descriptions, working with the unique features of the house.
Does the home have a tiny kitchen? Highlight the expansive patio with barbecue, outdoor bar and ample seating or show a garden decorated with cozy spaces. These are the characteristics that your photographs and videos can highlight. Tidy up the house and add soft scents to the environment for viewing appointments. These small touches will make the property more appealing to buyers and touch the emotional side of the buyer.
You can address the less desired characteristics directly with the buyers in their assessment of the property and they will be starting from a more agreeable opinion about it. Take a look to the article How to take good photos to impress real estate buyers to find some ideas.
4. Incorrect property description
If the title or the typology does not correctly identify the property in the listing, it may not appear in search results for the right buyer. If you classified your property as 4 bedrooms, but in the text or description it says 3 bedrooms, this will leave the buyer confused. If, on the other hand, you classified it as an apartment, but it is a house, your property will not show in the buyer’s search.
Solution: Focus on details
Check all the boxes that your CRM provides you to classify all the advantages of the property. For example, penthouses, garden, terrace, swimming pool, views, parking etc. are very highly searched characteristics. Provide as much detail as possible to inform potential buyers as they search online.
5. Poor Photographs
Photography is one of the most important points to keep in mind. An insufficient amount of photographs, poor quality images or poorly framed views of the rooms and exterior, all contribute to the buyer scrolling past your listing. Make sure a deep cleanup is done before the property pictures are taken!
Solution: Captivate buyers with quality photos
If you've described the property’s unique characteristics in a positive way and have done some home staging, you have almost everything you need to create photographs that make buyers take a closer look. It is important to know how to take quality photographs. We discuss this in detail in this article : Quality real estate photos – a picture is worth a thousand words.
'Staging’ a home is a widely used tactic in the United States. Agents in Spain and France are starting to stage homes more often, but in Portugal it is still widely under-utilized. Staging may be the strategy that you need to get your property off the market.
Using video is a time and money saver and a good strategy to captivate buyers. Make a comprehensive, quality video of the home as it will help you to avoid making unnecessary visits to the property. Using video is very effective if the buyer is abroad, or for the buyer with limited availability.
6. Delay in responding to leads
The buyer expects a quick response to their online inquiries and the longer it takes you to respond to them, the smaller your chances of getting the deal.
Solution: Be available
Our recommendation is to answer the client within 24 hours of the request. Often the potential buyer doesn't even remember which agencies he contacted, or asked for more information. An email or message confirming receipt of their question and letting them know that you will be in touch soon, goes a long way toward making a meaningful connection with leads. A quick response and helpful attitude is just good for business. Find out about good practices, cultural differences and tips when contacting buyers in different countries, in the article Phone & Email Etiquette with Foreign Leads.
Boost your listing visibility
Sometimes you just need to increase the size of your viewing audience to find that perfect match for your listing that is still on the market.
Elevate your listing, increase the size of the pictures, and publish internationally
It’s important to advertise the property on the right portals. If you are selling land on portals that specialize in apartments and houses, or you are selling a luxury property on portals for buyers in the middle-income bracket, it is very likely that you won’t sell. Work with foreign buyers to increase your sales opportunities and feature your properties on international portals that list your property to the right audience.
We have promotions that will give your property the boost it needs. Start selling those properties that are languishing on the local market.
There is someone across the world who would call your listing their "dream home". Get international and get selling.
More about ListGlobally
ListGlobally operates the largest real estate network in the world, advertising across +100 property portals in +60 countries and reaching a monthly consumer audience of over 150 Million potential buyers.
Contact our team and we will help you get started with your enhanced global marketing strategy. We invite you to reach out or open a chat with us on listglobally.com.
