You’ve taken the decision to put your property on the market. You’re ready to sell and move on. But no-one is showing any interest. Perhaps you’ve had a few viewing, but they’ve led nowhere. Or perhaps you’ve had absolutely no messages or phone calls at all.
What’s going on? Why are you not getting any interest? While sellers can sometimes be oblivious to glaring issues (such as questionable decor choices or photographing the entire property in selfie mode), the causes aren’t always crystal clear. To help you work out why you’re not getting any interest, here are a few problems that could be worth considering.
The price is too high
First of all, consider the price. If you set the price yourself, it’s possible that you may be asking too much.
Asking a couple realtors to provide an appraisal can give you a more professional objective opinion as to what the value of your home is. Seeking out multiple valuations allows you to work out an average price tag (you may find realtors all suggest a similar price). You do not have to work with a realtor once they have given an appraisal and can continue to sell privately if you’d prefer.
Another option for evaluating the price is to compare the price of properties in the area. If you’re roughly asking the same price as other properties, then the price is not the issue. However, if you’re asking for much more, this could be why you’re not getting interest.
The timing isn’t good
Certain times of the year can be slow for sales. You may find that you get no interest in December or January, because most people are too preoccupied with Xmas (or are too busy financially recovering) to think about buying a home.
The summer months can also be slower as this is when many people are on vacation. In areas where you are competing with lots of sellers, you may not get any interest until September.
Also make sure that there have been no recent major incidents in your area that might put off buyers such as high-profile crimes or natural disasters like floods. Wait until media attention has calmed down to think about selling.
The photos are bad
Don’t expect much interest if your photos are blurry, pixelated, poorly lit or poorly framed. While taking your own photos can be a way to save money when selling privately, you need to consider that you are competing against professionally photographed homes.
By hiring a professional property photographer, you could end up with some much more enticing pictures. Tricks that professional photographers use include shooting with wide angle lenses, using a tripod to take steady pics, optimizing lighting by shooting at certain times of the day and even using drones to take aerial photos.
There’s too much clutter
Good photography skills can only do so much to make a property look attractive. A common turnoff that many sellers are guilty of is trying to sell a home that is full of clutter.
All this clutter will make it harder to make out the proportions of the room and it will make your home look less appealing – even if you plan to take the clutter with you.
Tidying up and creating a more minimal look could help increase interest from buyers. This could be an opportunity to sort through all your possessions, so that you can decide what you really want to take to your new home with you. You may be able to make some money by selling some stuff, plus you’ll save money on moving costs by not having to take as much clutter.
Don’t want to part with any of your possessions? Another solution is to temporarily move this clutter into self-storage. This allows you to move it all into your new home while taking it out of your property.
You haven’t staged the property
Staging the property involves decluttering and depersonalizing the property, as well as potentially adding props to make it look more attractive.
If you’ve already moved everything out of your home, staging could be valuable for helping to make the space look more cozy and live in. At the same time, you want to avoid displaying anything too personal that might prevent a buyer from picturing themselves living there. Family photos and souvenirs are examples of possessions that you should consider hiding or putting into storage.
Staging could also include making minor improvements like repainting walls or replacing carpets. This is worthwhile if you’ve got a very unique decor taste (such as floral wallpaper everywhere or pink carpets).
There’s zero curb appeal
Curb appeal is the way your property looks from the outside. Even if the inside of your property is amazing, a patchy front lawn and dirty front door might stop you from getting interest.
Take steps to make the front of your property look more attractive. This could include cleaning the exterior of your home, or laying down some fresh turf so that your lawn looks green and lush.
There’s visible damage and decay
Be careful of taking photos of parts of your home that are damaged or decayed – such as walls that are cracked or plumbing that is rusted up. While you can’t hide these parts of your home forever (a viewing will reveal all), showing too much dilapidation upfront will stop most buyers from even considering a viewing.
The best way to deal with damage and decay is to get it fixed before you sell your property. If you’re on a tight budget, this may not be possible with major damage. However, there may still be impactful minor repairs you can make such as filling cracks or replacing rusted faucets.
You’re not marketing far and wide enough
The reason you’re not getting any interest could simply be because you’re not advertising thoroughly enough. To help you attract interest, you ideally need to be listed on various sites, and potentially using tactics like posters and social media advertising.
Of course, when you work with a realtor, they do all this marketing for you. Yes, you will have to pay commission. But it may be worthwhile if you’ve been struggling to sell your home privately due to not knowing where or how to market your home.
Meg is an author at Cinnamon Hollow. She writes on a variety of topics sharing tips and ideas for daily life.
