With full-fledged sellers’ markets underway in dozens of metropolitan areas around the country, new research has found curious statistical patterns emerging: Even in cities where listings get multiple offers within days or hours, significant numbers of homes are sitting on the market for months with no takers.
Call them turn off listings. Despite roaring sales paces all around them, for some reason, these houses send shoppers scurrying away often because of mispricing, excessive restrictions on access to buyers and agents, failure to clean or make repairs, and a variety of other marketing bungles.
Why the glacial pace for certain homes in even the fastest-moving sellers’ markets? Realty agents who visit houses with potential buyers in tow aren’t shy about sharing the major reasons. More often than not, the root problem is the owners of the property demanding an unrealistically high price and refusing to negotiate on lower but qualified offers is the top turnoff for many buyers.
Imposing severe restrictions on when the house can be shown is another. For example, sellers who will only allow showings between 10 a.m. and noon on Saturdays, or how require a 24-hour notice before appointments to show during the week, or who won’t let anyone in unless they or the listing agent are present, inevitably delay offers and sales.
Other big turnoffs:
- Poorly cleaned, messy houses with deferred maintenance.
- Sellers who insist on being present or hover nearby when shoppers visit so they can point out every feature they improved or like. Better for sellers to be out of the house or out of sight.
- Smells inside the house that are either bad, especially from dogs, cats, and other pets, or come across as contrived, such as scented candles, potpourri plug-ins, etc. When buyers encounter obviously artificial smells, they wonder: What are the owners covering up?
Bottom line: Just because houses are selling fast in your area doesn’t mean yours will. You’ve got to think of it as a product you’re marketing, not just as your home. Get it in shape to sell. Price it realistically. Be flexible and cooperative on showings and negotiations. Unless it has grossly off-putting features costly physical defects, ugly design, bad location, bad schools your property should sell.
