Once you've put your home for sale, you should expect to receive regular viewings from prospective buyers, particularly now - Zoopla has confirmed it takes 27 days on average to sell a home. The combination of the pent up demand brought about by lockdown and the stamp duty holiday means that we're in unprecedented times and in fact in a mini boom.
Here's six reasons why your home may not be generating enough buyer interest and what to do about it.
Poor Marketing Content
Yes you heard us right. It's very important that your digital images sell buyers the dream lifestyle which is possible living in your home. With the majority of us searching for our home on-line, you only have seconds to draw in your buyers. Make your home stand out for all the right reasons and entice your buyer to book in their viewing.
We recommend that once your home is staged, images are taken by a professional photographer. Ask your estate agent if they have a specialist that does this. Otherwise, it's worth investing a small sum in hiring a professional photographer - particularly when you know it will increase the click-through rate by an average of 139%. Learn more facts about the value of using professional images here.
Asking Price Too High
No matter how well presented your property is, if it is priced too high you will struggle to create buyer interest.
You may have had a sale price in mind before appointing your estate agent and hopefully between you are your agent, you've come up with a price which is comparable with the competition in your local area. Spend some time getting familiar with what's going in your local housing market so you can adjust your pricing strategy if needed.
Sold house price data is easily available on a number of property portals including -
Zoopla, Rightmove and On the Market.
If you sense the pricing is creating a lack of buyer interest, immediately reach out to your estate agent - they should actively listen to your concerns and address these and do so quickly.
Here's a couple of ways to see how your agent performs against the local competition -
No Kerb Appeal
Buyers really do make up their minds if your home is their dream home, within minutes of arriving. So from the very first moment, you need to grab their attention with your kerb appeal. Put yourself in their shoes - learn more here.
In short, everywhere the buyer's eyes scan from the moment they park up should be immaculately presented.
According to the 2019 Annual Home Owners Survey by the Home Owner's Alliance, more than 68% of homeowners agreed that kerb appeal was important in their choice of home and the most important factors which determined this are:
windows which should be in good condition
a well maintained roof
tidy front garden and driveway/path
Too much Clutter
All areas, inside and out should be sorted. Not only does this give your home a free flow, it also prepares you for your move! It will also result in each room have a clearly defined purpose. Buyers are in your property for a relatively short time so make that time an enjoyable experience.
Lack of Cleanliness
We repeat ourselves because these simple steps really do make a difference. Each room should be cleaned from top to toe.
We've got plenty of top tips on how to do this here.
Too Personalised
We regularly use this saying with our clients:
"The way we live in a home should be different to the way we sell it!"
This means that we should pack away or remove items which personalise our home. Why? Because as nice as your personal possessions are, they will distract your buyer's attention. The other benefit of course, is you are giving yourself a head start by initiating the packing early.
What Options Do I have If My Home is Not Selling?
You have several options:
1. Do Nothing
Putting your head in the sand will not help. The longer your home sits on the market the more buyers will think there is a problem with it. Tackle this issue head on.
2. Reduce your sale price
Normally estate agents recommend that you reduce by at least £25,000 because otherwise you won't incentivise buyers to reconsider or look at your home. Unless your pricing is inconsistent with your local competition, we'd recommend against reducing your price at this point.
3. Change estate agent or go multi estate agent
You will be tied into an agreement with your estate agent for a certain amount of time so if you decide within that time you want to change agent, you'd have to serve notice and find another agent. This takes time and patience and will inevitably delay the time your property spends on the market. The alternative is to go multi-agent. With this option, your fees will be higher.
The Home Owners Alliance have a very useful guide on how to find the right estate agent for you here.
4. Staging
Before you consider changing estate agent or even worse reducing your sale price, we would recommend you PAUSE. Both of these actions will impact your selling timeline and reduce the amount of money you will pocket if and once a sale goes through. An investment in staging will be less than any price reduction you will have to make.
The further positives are that you:
are likely to sell for at least 8% more
will sell more quickly - 3 times faster than a non-staged home in fact!
How sort style and stage can help
Whatever the size, shape or value of your home, we can maximise its appeal to your target market. We do this by:
1. Understanding your target market and your competition
2. Identifying and tackling head on any red flags that would otherwise put off your target market, either when the buyer visits your property or as part of the buyer survey
3. We then focus on maximising your property's appeal to your target market, in and out with our well proven staging methodology. We have a range of home staging, virtual and property staging services - all tailored to your specific needs.
Professionally staged properties sell for more, typically 8% and sell more quickly, typically up to 3 times faster than a non-staged property. This is evidenced by the Home Staging Association UK & Ireland.
If you professionally stage your home, you will be that step closer to securing a sale.
If you want to sell and add value to your home, call us now on +44 7984 005 626 for a no-obligation 30 minute discussion
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