You’re trying to sell a Connecticut house that just won’t sell?
And yet – the news says the real estate market is hot. The media is practically shouting again about multiple offers, high demand, and record-setting over asking prices. The Connecticut market is booming everyone is selling their house except you. So why won’t my house sell in Connecticut? At least you aren’t that guy.
So where’s your contract? Where are your buyers? And when you find them why do they keep walking away?
These tips could be just what you need to help you sell your Connecticut home.
Why won’t my house sell in Connecticut? – 6 Tips To Cure It
1) Get good help.
Just like before, there are novice agents and investors rushing into the booming market trumpeting that they know what they’re doing. They go on Zillow, Refin and get an estimate. Then they go to a realtor they find on the exact same website or off a Facebook Ad and they sit back waiting for the offers to come in.
But they don’t get any offers. They’re getting hit hard with the nuances of financing, deal structure, and evaluation. Seriously, chances are good that real estate is your biggest investment – don’t trust just anyone’s advice. If you want great results, partner with the pros not some guy that is spending thousands of dollars on Advertising to find suckers. If they are paying that much for Ads chances are they will get it out of the commission you pay them.
2) Don’t make too many improvements.
Too often we see over-improved properties – those where the owners have gone too far. Even with the best of intentions, exceptional craftsmanship and true artistic talent, it’s incredibly challenging to exceed what the market is paying.
I had the good fortune to meet a lot of wonderful expert craftsmen and tour their houses. I met an Italian gentlemen in his 90s. He came over here from Italy in the 1950s and settled in Rocky Hill. He built this beautiful split level home with his own two hands. Brick exterior, Tuscan tiling through out the house. A stone fireplace that looked like it would last for centuries. But he wanted a lot of money for the house. More than the market around him could bare. As beautiful as the house was the neighborhood was a typical suburban street where houses were going for about $450,000. He wasn’t going to to get $2 million dollars for it.
Most buyers want to add their own custom touches that expresses their personality. But your buyers aren’t you they have their own personality and you will alienate a lot of buyers lowering your chances to sell. Get rid of all the clutter and think “neutral”.
3) Do make necessary improvements.
Unfixed stuff scares buyers. Show that you’ve been a responsible property owner and get all the little details fixed. Nothing is worse than when a buyer steps out of their car and sees an unmowed lawn, junk in the driveway, green stuff growing on the siding. It means the owner isn’t taking care of the house and if they aren’t taking care of the small stuff chances are the big stuff are going to be problems.
Don’t leave gaps in the trim or plates off of the switches. Get it inspected by a professional home inspector, and show off the healthy home report. Most sellers wait until the buyer gets an inspection report and they get shocked by all the things that have to get fixed. Get your own report before you eve consider selling it so you are prepared to put it on the market.
Then fix what you think is reasonable. This goes a long way towards establishing confidence that buyers are making a good purchase.
4) Style and design matters.
Curb appeal is as important as the inside – so don’t neglect one part of the property to improve the other. Give buyers a cohesive impression of great style. Paint the walls, update the landscaping, and most of all – keep it immaculately clean. Consider hiring a professional designer to help tastefully stage the property. Or have them stage it virtually. Virtual staging is a cheap option and they can stage the same room several different ways. So you get the best of both worlds. An empty house for buyers to image what it would look like with their design and several options that they wouldn’t have thought of.
5) Pricing matters a lot.
If you’re getting a lot of showings but not a lot of offers, you might not be too far off in price.
With the high interest rates these days buyers are walking away from houses they would have put in offers on last year at the same price. Buyers budgets are tight with high inflation these days. the high gas prices, winter around the corner and looming budget cuts and layoffs heading into next year, there are very few buyers and the ones that are still in the market know it and are controlling prices.
If your best efforts to advertise your property aren’t making the phone ring, you’re probably overpriced. Why won’t my house sell in Connecticut? You will have to consider cutting your prices.
6) Every property will sell – sometime.
There’s no magic formula – but there’s no substitute for experience.
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If you need to sell a house near Connecticut, we can help you. We buy Connecticut houses.
We buy properties like yours from people who need to sell fast. Before the market takes a down turn consider a fast cash offer from us.