We asked 1000 homeowners around the US what made their house hard to sell. With their response, we were able to put together twenty issues. Buyers disliked issues with the structure, location, price, and title issues. We’ll break down exactly what could make your house hard to sell.
Too Much Property Damage
Ignoring major repairs and forgetting to perform necessary updates to the property can make a home unsellable. According to several home sellers, who performed professional property inspection reports. Their homes estimated repair bills were in the thousands. Taking away any potential they had to profit from the sale. Or leaving them with the only option of selling to a cash buyer with the funds to repair the property.
Poor Design
Factors that make a home unsellable are designs that cannot be changed. These are the properties that realtors list as “Unique designs” or “Handy Man Special” to attract buyers. And eventually, the property goes unsold.
Mold and Asbestos are Hard to Sell
Homes that have mold or asbestos have significant health and environmental effects. These issues might not be visible at the time the house is put on the market. Until they are discovered during the home inspection process phase. No home buyer will touch a property that will cause health problems.
Maintenance Issues
Leaving your property without maintenance can be a big turn-off for buyers. These issues include air conditioning or heating systems that don’t work. Water damage in the ceilings from previous roof leaks. And appliances that don’t work. When a home buyer is looking to purchase your property, they are looking to move in as soon as you give them the keys. If there are too many maintenance issues, this makes your house harder to sell.
Bad Roof Makes a House Hard to Sell
Properties that have roofs that need to be replaced are 90% less likely to sell. Unless the seller contributes to the repair of the roof. Homes with bad roofs cannot be insured by the new home buyer, because the insurance will see the property as unfit to live in. And the bank lending the funds to the buyer will not allow the funds to clear because they cannot give money for uninsured property.
Bad Foundation
The last thing a home buyer wants is a house that’s sinking. Foundation problems are seen throughout houses that have uneven floors, cracked walls, and ceilings. And in the worst scenarios, in cities with sinkholes. Most foundation issues can be repaired, but you need to be aware and fix the foundation before putting your home on the market as the homeowner.
Code Violations and Unfinished Construction
This is a nightmare for both homeowners and homebuyers to deal with. As the home seller, you are trying to pass the problem of unpermitted work or construction that was not finished. This usually involves fines, liens on the property by the city, or the property being declared unsafe structure. As a result, no homebuyer will be interested in a property that is unsafe to live in, and accruing fines every month for the violations.
Condemned Houses are Hard to Sell
Officially declaring a home unfit to use automatically results in the property being demolished. Thereby making the structure’s value equal to zero. The only money that the homeowner could get in return is in the land value. Homebuyers are not interested in land, but builders are.
Undesirable Location
Location is a very important part of choosing a home. It’s been proven that homes near airports or industrial areas take longer to sell due to noise pollution. Homes that are also hard to rent or sell tend to be near colleges. “A bad location can only be fixed with a low price”.
Bad Smells
Several homebuyers described bad smells as a reason they drove away from a property. Smoke, pet urine, garbage, and humid smells make homebuyers automatically assume that it’s going to be tough to remove them. To avoid this, clean up and make your house less hard to sell.
Pests Infestation
Rodents, cockroaches, bees, and termites make homebuyers think of dollar signs on the costs of removal. Depending on the pest, removal can range from $100 to $5000. The homeowner should pay for the removal of pests before putting the house on the market.
Lack of Natural Sun Light
Not enough natural light coming through the windows can make a home less attractive to a new buyer. Nobody wants to feel like they are walking into a cave when they see your property.
Death in the House Hard to Sell
A death in the house can make it very difficult for the property to sell. Whether from natural causes or causes by the property itself such as a fire. The majority of home sellers described this as being a very tough point to get their house to sell.
Outdated Aesthetic
Old kitchens, bathrooms, and carpets can be potential deal-breakers. Sometimes details like unattractive countertops can lead the home to sell for much less than the market average. Fixing these details can make your property less hard to sell.
Cluttered Home Inside and Out
Sellers need to make sure their house is visible when buyers visit. According to sellers who were surveyed, their homes were full of boxes, clutter, and even hoarding. This prevented the buyers from seeing the true possibility of the property.
Highly Overpriced House
When a home isn’t selling, it’s due to the price. At times, sellers have a number in their minds that they must meet at all costs. Even if it means the home won’t sell. This mentality is wrong because home prices are dictated by the averages of homes sold in your area, not by what one individual says their home value is.
Unsupportive Seller
Homeowners have kept their homes from selling a good portion of the time. For instance, homeowners in the middle of a divorce want to keep the house when the other spouse wants to sell. Properties that are inherited and have multiple owners that need to sign off on the sale. Or even making small contributions such as cleaning the property, or including a chandelier in the sale. Those issues can make your house hard to sell.
Evicting Tenants While Selling Your House
Tenants that won’t leave your property make your house very hard to sell. Initially, buyers can’t see the property inside. Secondly dealing with the eviction takes anywhere from three months to one year. While dealing with the costs of attorneys and court fees to complete the legal process.
Very Expensive Property Liens
In most states, contractors that don’t get paid for their work can place liens on the properties they performed the work. City taxes, lawsuits, and even divorced spouses can place liens on properties they have a claim to. Most times homeowners are unaware these liens existed on their property until the time of sale.
Denied Bank Financing
Last but not least is the sale of your home falling through due to bank financing. This happens quite often, that’s why in every real estate contract there is a Bank Funding clause that if the buyer cannot obtain the funding they cannot buy your property. Issues that lead to the bank denying funding include the buyer doesn’t have enough money for the deposit. The property’s appraised value is lower than the sellers asking price. The property cannot be insured due to structural issues. And in particular, the title company not being able to provide free and clear titles.
In short, the surveyed results concluded that most houses that were hard to sell had structure issues, location problems, pricing disputes, and ownership title issues. If your property has any of these issues, contact us using the form below to allow us to help you in your situation.
Need to get an offer on your hard-to-sell house? Fill out our Contact Form today to receive a fair cash offer on your property.
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