WHY PROPERTIES DON’T SELL

Have you ever wondered why a house isn’t selling?  There are a lot of reasons people give, and most of them are wrong.  In fact, there are only two reasons houses don’t sell, and only one of them is true in virtually every situation.

Before we get to the real reasons, here are the ones I get often that are wrong:

1. Location – people assume a house isn’t selling because of where it’s located.  Homes too close to a busy street, near an airport, or right next to the freeway are often reasons given…that aren’t the real reason.
2. Condition – a house that needs painting, updating, or landscaping can be seen as detriments to selling.  Not so…
3. Needs Updating  – a house that’s in good condition but is dated inside and out can seemingly take longer to sell, but it’s not because it needs to be on “Fixer Upper”.

There are more, but these are most often given.  They sound good.  But…they’re wrong.

There are only two reasons why a house doesn’t sell.  In a few cases, it’s marketing.  Specifically, people don’t know it’s for sale.  In today’s marketplace, it’s very uncommon that a house for sale isn’t seen by hundreds, even thousands, of people.  The MLS shares information with so many websites, virtually every potential buyer knows when a property goes on the market. 

In every other case, the reason a house doesn’t sell is because of PRICE. 

If you live in the United States, then you have experience with our capital markets, supply and demand, and pricing.  You’ve been to Costco and bought in bulk because it was cheaper, purchased more clothes than you intended because they were on sale, and even justified a luxury purchase like a nice watch or pair of shoes because you couldn’t pass up the price. 

You’ve also seen some beautifully renovated homes come on the market that you never saw up for sale before they were updated.  That’s because an investor swooped in and bought them for cheap and made lots of money.  Why did they buy them?  Not because they were in the wrong location or in bad condition…but because the price was right.

So, when you see a property on the market for a long time and it hasn’t sold, don’t judge anything else about it except the price.  If it hasn’t sold, it’s because it’s overpriced.  That’s all.