As a Realtor who lists property for sale in St. Louis and the surrounding counties on a regular basis, there are usually a few reasons a house isn’t selling.

  • Asking price is too high.  Oftentimes, sellers worry about listing their house at too low of an asking price.  The rationale is that they can always move down in price but it’s impossible to go up.  This doesn’t work, in my experience.  What usually happens is that if the price asked is too high, the house sits on the market and the pool of buyers gets smaller.  In the end, the house is sold for thousands less than the original asking price or would have sold if the pricing was accurate in the first place.

Why does this happen?  People are naturally biased about their home versus others in the marketplace.  After all, they bought the house, so it must be the best one on the street.  Also, times seems to go so fast…that new kitchen remodel from 1980 is pretty dated now, even though it seems like yesterday.

How can this be prevented?  A good real estate agent is going to have comparable sales that are relevant to the home being listed.  A bad real estate agent is going to have comparable sales that aren’t relevant to the home being listed as much as they do justify a price the agent thinks the client wants, usually biased to the high side.

  • The style of the home isn’t as highly desired right now. Buyers seem to go through phases.  Sometimes, two story homes are all the rage…other times buyers want split level homes.

It’s important to note what is hot in the marketplace.  We don’t need to concern ourselves with why something is selling quickly, just the features that make the home sell quickly.  When your home isn’t in the “sweet spot” for buyers, your only option is to lower the price or embark on what could be very costly home improvements.

  • The home has a serious construction issue. Some home buyers want to buy a house that needs no work, just move right in.  This would be the majority of the buyers; If I had to guess, I would say about 85% or more of the buyers would rather have everything they want in a home versus buying a home to remodel.  When a home is truly move in ready, it can command optimal pricing in the marketplace.  If a house needs work, then you can’t expect to get the premium pricing.

I’m not sure what owners and their agents are thinking when it comes to major repairs.  For instance, foundation work can cost many thousands of dollars.  That cost has to be reflected in the asking price of the house or it won’t sell.

In closing, the main reason your house isn’t selling is probably due to price.  The problem with missing the asking price in the beginning is that you almost always have to over correct to get the house sold as the best pool of buyers is walking through the house in the first week or so. After that, you have to wait as new buyers enter the marketplace and determine that your home is a good deal, which may take many showings of other houses nearby.