“Every property is saleable”, there you go I just said it, so it must be 100% true – there is no tipping my hat and following it up with “Honest Guv” either, in fact I’ll prove it to you:

You Bought The House You Live In !

So, if every property is saleable why are there some homes that just seem to stay on the market for years?

I was recently doing some market research for a friends estate agency – ‘stop it you’re boring people’ – ok .. ok, whilst messing around the property portals, I was interested to see the time scale that some of the properties in my area had been on the market for:

487 Homes currently available for sale

313 of these were listed during 2018

149 listed between July to December of 2017

16 listed between January to June 2017

9 listed in 2016

That’s a whopping 35% of the listed properties that I would class as old stock, as for the 9 listed in 2016, what on earth is going on there? Have the vendors forgotten their home is on the market ? Given up the ghost ? or never wanted to sell in the first place?

This post is about those antiques that have been on the market far to long and pointers to ensure yours doesn’t become the next victim to The Stagnant Zone.

#1 OVER PRICED:

The price is the biggest killer for a property, if it is way to high you will never get a viewer that wants to buy it or may not get a viewer at all ! Ensure you know that value of your home before the estate agent comes out, don’t just work on square footage because every home is different internally. Listen to what the estate agent has to say about the price and discuss it with them.

#2 YOU DIDN’T STAGE YOUR HOME:

I’m not saying you have to spend thousands upon thousands of pounds to get your home marketable, far from it. A little Home Staging goes a long way to enticing a buyer to make an offer and if done correctly can also increase the price of your home. At least give your home a good freshen up and try to get it as close to a show home as you can – vacuuming, cleaning away dirty dishes and making beds are free!

#3 PROPERTY DETAILS:

Once upon a time, details were just stapled sheets of paper and whilst they can still be low tech stapled paper they are now also added to property portals and websites, giving purchasers the High Definition version of your home – if your Property Particulars are not up to scratch then they will just get passed over for the next set.

#4 YOU DIDN’T ACCEPT THAT OFFER:

You remember the day, second day on the market and an offer came in, which you rejected and have never had another offer since. It happens a lot more than you think and you must look at each offer on its merits, if it allows you to move and the buyer is in a position that suits you, don’t discount it.

#5 YOU MADE THE PROPERTY UN-VIEWABLE:

I know I have already spoken about leaving your house like a pack of rhino’s have just had rave in it, but this one is a bit different – a potential purchaser will try and make an appointment to view many homes in one go, if they can not gain access to yours there is a fair chance they will buy one of the others they have seen. Try to be as flexible as possible, if you can give your agent a key (You’ll have to kick the rhino’s out) and they should call you before every viewing – Don’t miss out on a buyer!

#6 THE WRONG AGENT:

I have never been one to speak ill of the competition, but as I am not an estate agent anymore I will ! There are some really, really bad agents out there, they just want to get your property on the market and then don’t care what happens to it – 2018 is going to be a tough year for selling property and you need an agent that is going to be proactive and work their backsides off for you. So, like the 9 vendors who have been on since 2016 “GET A GOOD AGENT !”

If you don’t make any of those 6 mistakes then there is no chance of you sitting on the market for an eternity – if you know someone who is selling then share this post with them (Unless its your next door neighbour, in which case sell yours and then share it!).