Selling Tips

Why Won't My House Sell?

Generally speaking, home sellers want their property sold as quickly as possible. When the process takes longer than expected, the seller wants to know why (rightly so). We’ve compiled a list of the most common mistakes that lead to a real estate listing not selling, and how to fix them!

  1. The Photos Suck – First Impressions Matter!
    The search starts online; over 93% of buyers are using the Internet to find their home. Bad lighting, grainy quality, or even just bad angles can turn someone off in an instant. Hiring a professional photographer costs more but pales in comparison to the amount of money you are leaving on the table if you don't. Read more about professional real estate photography HERE.


  2. "As is?” Psh, as If! Repairs, Cleaning, and Staging
    Think of it this way, you wouldn’t show up to a first date wearing sweatpants, a BBQ stained t-shirt and slippers...would you? Making repairs, deep cleaning, and staging the property makes all the difference when it comes to how quickly a home will sell. We recommend bringing in a professional team so no minute detail is overlooked.


  3. No Homely Homes Dress to Impress
    Staging is one thing, but that only covers the inside of the home. The outside is just as important! It’s the first photo potential buyers see online and the first impression as they pull up to view the home. Curb appeal is one of the most underrated aspects of selling a home. Sweeping the porch, adding some potted plants, and washing windows can make a home turn from an eyesore to “show me more” in an instant.


  4. A Price Only a Mother Could Love – Right House, Wrong Price
    Let’s get one thing straight, Zillow isn’t the place to go to figure out your home’s value. The “Zestimate” is only within 5% of the sales price about 50% of the time nationally and is far less accurate for Utah homes and other states with non-disclosure laws. Listing a home too high isn’t going to generate any interest, and listing a home too low is a waste of your money. Getting an evaluation from an agent who knows the area and the current market ensures your home is priced right. Agents in most areas do this for free or hire an appraiser. Consider price reductions depending on the time of year and price range of the home, i.e. reduce luxury home prices much slower than lower-priced properties.


  5. Location, Location, Location! – It is Where it is
    Airplanes, trains, busy roads, or being next door to a gas station can all affect your home’s salability. While you can’t change the location, don’t fret; there is a buyer for every home. Getting the right buyer in the door is the key. Use a pricing strategy accounting for location and then remove as many other objections as possible, add some staging and then market the home like mad. Open houses help because it’s easy for a buyer to drop in to a home they may have otherwise dismissed. You can’t change the location, but you can make sure everything else is spot on!


  6. #SocialMediaMarketing – Get Online
    Back to #1, the internet is the kick-off point for buyers. Simply having a listing on the MLS isn’t enough, even if the real estate market is booming. Online advertising takes more than just the MLS. Having the property on multiple websites, posting blogs, and using social media greatly increase the chance of catching the attention of the right buyer. The #realestate has 23,120,140 posts right now. Add in Facebook live and Instagram stories and watch as the buyer of your house finally comes through and writes an offer.


  7. Print to the Finish Line Print Advertising
    While everything is market dependent, print marketing is part of the repertoire to get your home sold. Although the majority of marketing has gone digital, print advertising is now more rare and stands out from the rest. According to Forbes, print marketing is the ideal technique for targeting luxury consumers and older generations. It takes more time and money but can pay dividends. Flyers for open houses, postcards to targeted demographics, home magazines and other forms of print media still attract buyers to the right home: yours.


  8. Uh-oh, Things You Didn’t Know Liens, Title, the Whole Shabang
    Nothing can ruin the day like finding out you can’t get a title policy until a boundary issue with the neighbor, outstanding tax lien, or incorrect legal description is resolved. This is where those dreaded IRS liens pop up too. There are so many things that could go wrong here, start with a title report first, clean up outstanding issues, then sell your home. It is just easier that way and protects you from non-performance litigation risks.


  9. Friends Close, Agent Closer – Professional Priorities
    We all have a friend that is a real estate agent, but that doesn’t mean they should be your real estate agent. Agents with local expertise and a hard-hitting marketing plan to advertise your home (not themselves) are the way to go. Agents should work full time and treat marketing and selling like a business. Consistent results and the data to prove it ensure you are hiring a rockstar. Find an agent that is successful at your price point, don’t sell your luxury home with the fix-to-flip guru. Be sure to find out if they have a team, a marketing plan, and any difficulty they see selling your home. Most importantly, make sure they can sell you on your home. Check out our marketing page for some ideas to help guide you in selecting a pro.


  10. Open Sesame Open Houses 
    Buyers have busy lives and adding the hassle of looking for a new home increases stress. An open house offers an easy stop by for buyers. Seven percent of home buyers find their home from visiting an Open House. Agents don’t necessarily love doing them but combined with marketing efforts like postcards, social media ads and posts, Facebook live walk-through, and an email blast it is like magic. A good open house takes about three weeks to plan and execute. Check out our tips on how to do amazing open houses.

Time to Buy

Now that you've figured out how to sell your home, it's time to start looking for one to buy! Take a look at Mountain Green homes for sale and live in a mountain paradise. Mountain Green is just moments from Snowbasin Resort, perfect for lovers of adventure. Not ready to commit to mountain living quite yet? No worries, you can try the area out in a Huntsville, Utah vacation rental and see what makes the Ogden Valley so great. There's no such thing as a bad day in the mountains, let us be your guide.