Why isn’t my house selling?

“Why isn’t my house selling?”

The reality of today’s market is that it’s a little rough. However, the common question, “why isn’t my house selling?” actually has several answers. While many times a property won’t move due to its high or non-competitive sale price, many factors outside of the general real estate market effect a property’s value, and how quickly it will sell.

Obsolescence is a term in real estate which refers to “negative value effects” – factors which decrease a property’s value.

The term is commonly broken down into two types: functional, and external.

A functional obsolescence is a negative aspect found within the property design, sometimes having to do with the floor plan. A common example is a layout where you must walk through one bedroom to get into another.  Another might be having the bathroom (in a one-bath home) on a different floor than all the bedrooms. A buyer may not consider buying a home with an obsolence.

Many times, a functional obsolescence is curable. However, before you go spend thousands of dollars on curing these issues, you need to see if the “cured price” of the home is high enough to justify the necessary money spent to cure the issue.  It might not be a cost effective solution. Often times, a seller’s best bet is to lower the price in order to counteract an existing negative factor. Less time, less hassle, and less money lost at the end of the day.

A buyer will see the negative functional obsolescence – and if they are willing to deal with it (or cure it themselves) they will buy at a price that has that negative aspect factored into it.

The other negative factor we encounter is external obsolescence. Unfortunately these are almost always incurable.  Most common examples of this is a property/house located on a busy road, next to high noise, pollution, commercial centers, major highways, flight paths etc.  When you own a property with a negative functional obsolescence, there is typically nothing you can do about it.  The only action you can take is to price the property with those negatives in mind.  The buyers will pay less due to any external factors that can’t be cured – but with a lower price, at least they will buy from you.

At the end of the day any negative obsolescence can be solved in most buyer’s minds by lowering the price to a point where the negative is accepted.  The important thing is to understand these issues when you’re a buyer as well.

Having a realtor who understands these issues is one of the best things you can do to accomplish your real estate goals in today’s market as quickly, and smoothly as possible. Call CMK and Associates Real Estate today for assistance in turning negative factors into positive results. Our agents can help you through complex real estate issues whether you are buying or selling.