Ocean Breezes Blog

Why hasn't your Wilmington NC area home sold yet?

If you have had your home on the market for several months and haven’t seen much activity or any offers, chances are that one or more of the reasons below are to blame.

Your price is too high

The most common reason for a home not selling is that the asking price has been set too high. The reasons for setting your price too high to begin with are many, ranging from over-enthusiastic listing agents to unrealistic seller expectations. Regardless of the reason, if you’ve priced your home too high, you’ve set yourself up for a number of obstacles to selling your home. Even if you do get an offer for the high asking price, the deal may fall apart before closing because the buyer may have problems obtaining financing. First, look at homes in your neighborhood that have SOLD, ones as similar and as close to yours as possible. These are the numbers that matter! If they are going for much less than you are asking, you're priced too high. Then look at the ACTIVE listings in your neighborhood. If you price your home much higher than those, you won't have many showings. And fewer showings = fewer offers.

The condition of your home

There is a lot of competition out there! Your home has to compete against other similar homes for sale, as well as competing against shiny, brand-new homes. The more you can do to make your home look appealing to a buyer, the better your chances for a quick sale. Look at your home with a critical eye – put yourself in the buyers position. Most buyers don't want to have to do anything except move-in. Your best “bang for the buck” when improving the condition of your home, are paint and flooring. Make sure that all of the paint is in great condition, both inside and out. Repainting doesn’t cost too much, and will usually make the biggest impact on buyers. Make sure all of the flooring looks good too. You may want to consider putting in new carpet or at least professionally cleaning them. It makes an impact on buyers coming to look at your home.

Location, location, location

When it comes to homes, things like how good the schools are, crime rates, visual appeal of the neighborhood and noise or the smell of pollution can all effect how desirable the location is. If you’re in a bad location, a good real estate agent may help to minimize some of the impact by suggesting improvements to the house. But the only really reliable way to overcome a bad location is with a lower price. Simply put, an identical home in a bad location won’t sell for as much as the same home in a better location.

Your marketing campaign is out of steam

The best listing agents all use an aggressive marketing plan to market their listings. If your listing agent isn’t actively touting his or her listings to other agents in the area, isn’t making sure your home can be found easily on the internet, isn’t running ads in the local newspapers and real estate publications, then it might be time to change agents. If all your agent has done is put a sign in your front yard and add your home to the local MLS, then that agent isn’t coming close to doing all that can be done to effectively market your home.

The market is slow

You’ll hear it described as a slow market, or a buyers market, or maybe a cold market. But it all means the same thing: that home sales in the local area, or market, are slow; that there are too many homes for sale and not enough active buyers. There are several things you can do to combat a slow market. Once again, the most effective strategy is to list at a lower price. Buyers are expecting to find bargains during a slow market. You can also help yourself by offering to pay some concessions to help a buyer who might not have a lot of cash. The ultimate way to beat a slow market is to simply wait it out. Unfortunately, that’s not always an option.

Your home isn’t easily accessible

To get your home sold quickly, it’s important that other agents in the area show it to as many potential buyers as possible. When an agent is compiling a list of homes to show a buyer, the agent will naturally tend to show those houses that are easiest to gain access to first. You should let your agent put a lock box on your home for easier showing. If not, you should do anything else you can to make it as convenient as possible for agents to show your home. And when you do get the call that an agent is going to show your house, make yourself, your family and pets, SCARCE! Potential buyers want to be able to comment without worrying about offending the seller. And if you aren't there, they are more likely to spend more time looking at your house.

The truth is, homes are selling, right in your area -- Wilmington, NC area home sales have risen for 10 straight months. Which ones are selling? The ones that are priced right, spic and span, and easily shown.