Can’t sell house in Carlisle, PA? What you’re doing wrong and how to get it sold.

Whether you’re selling for sale by owner, or using an agent to list your property, there are many possible reasons why you can’t sell your house in Carlisle. Most fall into 3 buckets… 1. Staging, 2. Marketing, and 3. Pricing. Here’s how to identify what your issues are, fix them, and get your home sold.

In general, if you put your house on the market and nobody comes to see it, something is possibly wrong with all 3. If you get to double digit showings and you haven’t gotten any offers yet, something is wrong with the price or staging (which includes condition of the property) once people get there. If you’ve done all the work you’re going to do to the property and won’t do any more (staging and repairs and updating), then it’s a price thing… If you aren’t going to change anything about the property and people aren’t making offers, then it’s a price thing. And waiting around for the “right buyer” won’t happen and hurts you in the end because every day on market will equal less money in your pocket at the settlement table.

Staging

Identify

Have you decluttered, cleaned, arranged furniture, and repaired anything that needed it? Did you make the home look the best it’s ever looked. A house that is not staged properly makes the prospective buyers question what else might be wrong with the property that they can’t see. It makes them think you have not properly taken care of the property and there could be hidden issues. This will result in lower offers and more inspections being requested. Displaying concienciousness and care to buyers as they walk through your home will translate into an overall better offer.

Fix

The home should be in the best condition it’s ever been in and look the best it ever has. If you were selling your car, you would wash and clean it thoroughly inside and out. You wouldn’t just leave it dirty with trash everywhere. You’d clean the crap out of it so the pictures look great and people are pleased when they come see it. And you’d get more money for the car. The same needs to be done with a home. There’s much more money on the line.

LEARN MORE: Complete guide to selling your home in Carlisle

Marketing

Identify

Number one, is your property on all the online search platforms (Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, and Homes.com)? This is where everyone searches for homes. If you’re not there, your home does not exist and buyers will not see it. Simply relying on a sign, or word of mouth, or selling it privately is a terrible idea. You get the most money and best terms when the property is exposed to the most people possible.

Secondly, did you have a professional take photos and videos, or at least spend time taking your own high quality media? The first impression, and some say the first showing, happens online. If they don’t like what they see, they won’t come tour your home in person. If your photos are crooked, blurry, and generally bad, in addition to just not looking good, it makes people think you take the same little care with your home.

The platforms and people also like to see a lot of photos and hopefully some video. The platforms preference listings with more media attached, and they get more views, clicks, and saves. The entire exterior and interior should be depicted and from multiple angles. Aside from enticing buyers to come see the home, those who have toured the home and have interest will look at the pictures and videos over and over and over again. So your media not only helps to get showings, it can also continue to pull the buyer in after the showing if done correctly.

Fix

The easiest fix is to hire a professional real estate photographer and videographer. It’s not super expensive and will be well worth it. If you don’t want to go that route, use the newest best phone you have access to, and take the best pictures you can take. Staged before hand, high resolution, wide/horizontal (maybe a few vertical when appropriate), straight, good framing, and good light.

LEARN MORE: Complete guide to selling your home in Carlisle

Pricing

Identify

Did you use proper comparable properties to price your house (as similar and close to your house as possible)? Were you realistic about what your home is worth based on those recent sales in your area? People are not stupid and they will not knowingly overpay for a home, and won’t even make an offer if the price seems uinrealistic and they think the seller is delusional and will be hard to deal with. And even if you were able to convince someone that your home is somehow worth more than the same one that just sold down the street, most buyers will do an appraisal and won’t pay more than the appraisal. So in the end, you’ll have to come down to the appropriate price anyway, or the buyers will walk. And the sooner you ask the right price, the sooner you will get an offer, and the more money you will get for the house. The longer it goes, the more buyers will beat you up with their low offers. It is not in your best interest to “test the market” with a higher unrealistic price to “see if anyone bites”. What will happen is you will rack up days on market, eventually have to reduce the price anyway, and the offers you get will be less than they would have been if you started at that price because of the days on market.

Example… You start at $425,000 even though the comparable sales say your home is worth $400,000. Nobody makes an offer because they feel you are so far from reality that negotiating with you will be a losing battle, so they don’t even make an offer. When you reduce the price to $415,000, and then finally to $400,000, you get way more showings and an offer. But now you have 76 days on market, and since your home has been sitting for a while, the buyer will try to negotiate more than if you had priced it at $400,000 at the beginning and the home had been on the market only a few days. Less negotiating power for the buyer if the house is fresh on the market.

Fix

Pretty straight forward… Price your home realistically, not aspirationally. Shooting for the stars just to see if there is one crazy person who is dumb enough to bite is not a winning strategy. I believe a home should be priced exactly where the comparables say it should be. Not more to “see if we can get it” (because as we’ve discussed, that will end up hurting you), and not less to “spark a bidding war”. Price your home at what the data says. If it ends up being slightly too low, buyers will bid it up. If it ends up being slightly too high, lower it quickly. But don’t knowingly price a home higher or lower to try to game the process somehow. Ask a price and have comparables and data to back it up.

An additional note… When it makes sense, price your home at $25,000 increments. Many search portals price criteria goes in $25,000 increments. So if you want people who’s max price is $400,000, and people who’s max price is $415,000 to see your house, you shouldn’t price it at $405,000 because now it won’t be seen by the $400,000 max people. At $400,000, you can hit both groups. So if your asking price is close to one of the $25,000 increments, price it right at that increment and not a little more or less. You want to be seen by the group above and below your price. List at $650,000, not $640,000, because at $640,000, the people looking at $650,000 and above will not see it. List at $525,000, not $532,500, because the people with max $525,000 will not see it at $532,500.

Takeaway

Make sure you act fast. If you get feedback about a smell or a paint color in a room or whatever it is, fix it quickly. If nobody is coming to see your house, assess what you’re doing and react appropriately in a timely manner. Again, more days on market equals less money. And the “perfect buyer” who will overlook the issues will never come. Meanwhile, time is ticking by, giving the eventual buyer more ammunition to offer lower than asking price and be less flexible in their negoatiations. Be realistic and base your actions on real feedback and data and not your personal feelings, opinions, or what you hope or want to get for your house. Remember, most buyers will get an appraisal, so even if you can wrangle someone who is willing to overpay at first, their apprisal will knock it back, and most buyers will not be willing to pay the gap unless it’s a super hot market or property.

If you’re selling on your own, try implementing the things discussed here or hire a real estate agent. If already listed with an agent, they should know this stuff and do it for you, hopefully from the beginning. If it seems like they don’t, it might be time for a different agent.

LEARN MORE: Complete guide to selling your home in Carlisle