The Five Most Common Reasons Why Your Home Won't Sell

You've put your home on the market, and now you're eagerly waiting for the first prospective buyer to contact you or your real estate agent. Within a few days, you get some nibbles, and some interested parties even come and take a look at your house. This activity keeps up, and you're hopeful for a sale within the next sixty to ninety days before the listing will become stale. But as the days pass by, you still can't make the sale and you're wondering why. The cause could be included in the five most common reasons why your home won't sell:

1. The Price is Set Too High
This is probably the most common reason why your home won't sell, especially if you're not willing to come down on the price. To drum up business, banks and other lending institutions are willing to give homeowners second, or even third mortgages, that exceed the actual value of the property. Then, when the homeowner wants to sell their house, they need to receive the full amount of the mortgage in order to pay it off. So then, the seller needs to find a buyer who is willing to pay more than the actual value of the house. Obviously, most people who are in the market for a house are savvy shoppers who refuse to overpay. So, unless you can come down on the price, your house is going to be vacant for awhile.

Even if you don't owe more money on your house than it's worth, if prospective buyers look at it as being overpriced, the results will be the same. Don't forget, your house isn't the only one on the market. Buyers will compare the condition and price of your property to several others.

2. The Real Estate Market Is In a Dry-Spell
Another one of the five most common reasons why your home won't sell is something - unfortunately- you can't do anything about. If the real estate market is stagnant, that means nobody's buying houses, and you're probably going to have yours on your hands for awhile. Until the tide turns and the sales of houses pick up again, that is. When the real estate market dries up, it's not unusual for this period to last six months to a year. All you can do is ride it out until business picks up again.

3. Odors In the House Turn People Off
Whether they know you personally or not, visitors that come to your house can always tell alot about you by the smells they encounter. If they smell pet urine, for example, they know either there's a litter box that needs cleaned out, or you have a cat that urinates wherever it wants to. If the walls are brown and the air is smoky, it tells prospective buyers that someone in the house is a heavy smoker. Some people are allergic to tobacco smoke and will turn right around and walk back out. Worse yet, if the house you're trying to sell smells like mold and mildew, that's a red light there's a moisture problem in the basement, or elsewhere.

4. Old, Worn Flooring Makes a House Look Shabby
One of the things that prospective home buyers cast their eyes on as they walk through your house is the flooring. If they don't like the color of the carpet, they can probably deal with that. At least until they can afford to replace it. But, if your carpet, tile, linoleum or wood floors are in bad shape, it will detract from the looks of the entire place. Not only that, but if your flooring needs repaired or replaced, it will make prospective buyers wonder what else you've "let go" around the property.

5. Telltale Signs of Rodent or Bug Infestation
Just like puddles of water in the basement are a sure indicator you have a water leakage problem, mouse traps, ant bait and other such products that are in plain view point to the fact that your house may be infested with bugs and rodents. At the very least, they tell prospective buyers that your house has a bad enough problem with invaders that you've needed to take some steps in order to eradicate them. The fifth most common reason why your home won't sell can instantly turn prospective buyers off as well.