What to do When Your House Won’t Sell
Image credit: Andrea Piacquadio
No one wants to have to face this situation, but when you’re experiencing the frustration of having a home that isn’t selling, you need to know your options so you can move forward.
Perhaps you’re one of the sellers in Ontario who are trying (or have tried to) sell their home during the market turnover to a buyer’s market. The switch to stagnation and price reductions, was quite a shock after the Ontario housing market had been on a hot streak with prices soaring and homes moving within days in a hot seller’s market.
However, whether you’re preparing to sell your home soon and want to be aware of all the possibilities, or you’re currently stuck with a house that won’t sell, below you’ll find some options on what to do with a home that’s stuck in market limbo.
Reasons Why Homes Don’t Sell
1. Market Conditions
Market conditions ebb and flow, but whether you’re in a buyers market or a sellers market, it’s important to remember homes still sell. The only caveat is that they may sell for less than they would in a seller’s market and they may take longer to sell.
The only question tends to be how long it takes for the right buyer to come along.
2. Time of Year
Photo courtesy Frank Taylor
Spring and fall tend to be the most active seasons in the real estate market. Spring is attractive because the timing allows families to change houses in line with the end of one school season, and before the start of the next, allowing children to have a smooth transition from one school year to the next. Plus, as a time when a lot of vacations happen, summer feels like a time when people have more time to undertake the process of listing, selling, buying and moving.
Fall is another attractive season because, especially in Canada, it feels like the last opportunity to complete a move before the snow and ice arrive. Not only is moving made more miserable (or even dangerous) when having to do so in icy conditions, but when you consider buying a home, houses don’t show as well when their yards are covered in snow. Plus, home inspections in the winter are more challenging too. It’s harder for inspectors to go up onto roofs and climb icy ladders, and so much more of the home is covered, such as the foundation around the exterior.
If your home is not selling, it could be that your timing with the season has not lined up with the time of highest market activity.
3. Home Condition
Photo courtesy: Omer FurkanYakar
This one is self-explanatory, but it bears mentioning that homes in poor condition will struggle to sell, especially in markets where other options for home buyers are plentiful.
Sometimes, we can’t help the condition of the house. We may not have the money to invest in remodelling, or we may be in charge of an estate sale, and that’s okay. You can only do the best with what you have. However, in light of this, it can be useful to keep expectations in line and remember that not everyone will have the bravery to take on a fixer-upper (even if HGTV makes it seem easy!).
3. Neighbourhood
Some neighbourhoods are just more sought after than others. Those that are in good school zones, or close to amenities like natural areas, parks, riverfronts or low-crime areas tend to receive the most interest from prospective buyers. If your home is in a less desirable neighbourhood, it make take longer to find the right buyer.
What You Risk When You Let a Stagnant Home Sit on the Market Too Long
Buyers who are shopping for a home can see how long a house has been listed on MLS (realtor.ca) and the truth is, the longer the home has sat on the market, the more and more it begins to look like it’s a deal waiting to be had. In fact, as a realtor, I would never recommend that my buying clients submit offers at asking price for homes that have been sitting on the market for a long time.
Why?
A house that has been listed for over 90 days or more sends the message that “this house is not in high demand.”
And rules of supply and demand dictate that what is in low demand is worth less than what (i.e. other homes) that are in high demand.
Having your home sit for a long time sends the message that low ball offers will be considered, because there are no other options.
What to Do When Your House Doesn’t Sell
Given that there are so many reasons why a home may not sell, there is no “one-size-fits all advice” for a stagnant listing. Your best option will depend on your unique situation and the market you’re operating in, so always seek a realtor’s advice. However, some general options in front of sellers include:
1.Pull Your Home Off the Market and Re-list Later
This is particularly useful when your home has been sitting for 90 to 120 days, when you’re entering into the winter or when you’ve entered a very, very slow market.
While realtors who review your listing in the future (when you relist) will be able to see the listing history and therefore know that you pulled the listing down, pulling the listing for the time being still offers many advantages:
The market could flip in your favour
Depending If your house had been stagnant in a buyer’s market, you may find that by the time you re-list that the market has flipped in your favour (to a seller’s market). While this is obviously not a guarantee, this can happen in just a short season.
Relisting with a new price has a different psychology than price reductions
While a price reduction (also called a price improvement) can demonstrate that you’re motivated to sell and can be an effective strategy, reductions have a different feel than re-listing with a new price after some time has passed.
While a re-listed price may still show motivation, it can also act like hitting a ‘reset’ button, where the message is that the price change wasn’t just driven by a seller’s motivation alone, - it was also move to bring the price in line with market pricing.
Why does this matter?
It’s less enticing to low ballers.
This is because a reduced price that’s in line with market pricing (e.g. comparable to other homes like yours in the market) makes low ballers seem unreasonable in requesting to pay even less.
This isn’t to say that low offers won’t happen. It’s the real estate market after all! But pricing is psychological and emotional and the truth is, a re-listed price hits differently.
You can re-list in the spring or fall, which are more active seasons
If you had a listing go up in the winter and saw no suitable offers come in, it could be the time of the year. Relisting it again in a more active season like the spring or fall offers you the advantage of hitting the market at a time when the most buyers are known to be active (historically speaking).
2. Lower The Price of Your Home
Reducing the price of your home is a common strategy to help breathe life into a stale listing. Most buyers are shopping with a budget in mind and are only considering homes within that range. When you reduce the price of your home, you put it into a different pricing tier, and therefore can expose it to a greater pool of buyers who would have never considered (or may not have ever even seen your listing come up) before.
How much should you reduce your home price?
That, my friend, is a question that’s up to you based on your personal circumstances, as well as the advice of your realtor, based on market conditions/activity.
Motivated sellers may want to reduce the price by more than those who don’t have a strong deadline or need to move.
3. Upgrade or Remodel Your House
If your home has received a lot of interest, but no suitable buyers, the problem may be related to the condition of your home.
Why do I say this?
If you’re getting a lot of interest (i.e. showing requests and/or people going through open houses held by your realtor), it sends the message that people are attracted to your listing because of the price, neighbourhood or both.
However, when you’re receiving a lot of interest but no offers on the home - as a realtor - this is when the condition of the home comes into question.
Often, you can find out crucial details about this by having your realtor ask other realtors who have viewed the home with their clients, for feedback.
In most instances, there is something about the home that’s putting potential buyers ‘off.’ This can be something as simple as how clean your home is, or the dominant paint colours being bright or outdated (both of which are easy to fix).
I’ve also seen some people list estate sale homes in original condition, only to watch them stagnate because their relatives simply couldn’t keep up with maintenance and the house is showing obvious signs of neglect. Sometimes these listings go down, renovators go in, and then the listing pops back up again with a shiny new kitchen, refreshed paint, and a brand new sparkling price too.
Remember: All Homes Sell Eventually
There’s no doubt about it - having a home that refuses to sell is a frustrating experience for everyone involved.
After all, I’ve never met a realtor who didn’t want a sale.
So, keep the lines of communication open with your realtor, expressing your expectations and desires, but also remaining open to hearing their advice and recommendations too. Anyone worth hiring will want the best for you, as well as top dollar for your home.
But also, take good care of yourself in the meantime, prioritizing your mental health, staying hopeful, and remaining focused on the end goal. Remember, all homes sell eventually.
You’re just one ‘right buyer’ away.
