Some things you obviously cannot change about your home or property, and likely you have been OK to live with them as they may not bother your lifestyle and that is quite understandable (we purchase what we like and what gives us satisfaction). But in our demanding “new realty” real estate climate and much slower sales market, where buyers have lots of choice, are not easily satisfied, take their time and are more cautious, owners now need a greater level of patience and resilience when selling.
I am attempting in this article to outline some of the areas and missing property features that may affect your selling time & ultimate sale price. These things don’t mean you won’t sell but they may affect the amount of time it takes, your home being compared to many other properties, and your final dollar amount possibly not being what you had hoped for. Much of this information is based on dealing with properties that I have represented that were quite challenging to sell, as well as feedback from many agents showing those and other listings and colleague opinions. Some that did not sell easily did finally sell but many were at significantly lower pricing than the initial listing price and took a very long time.
Some area that may affect a timely sale:
- Too many stairs or levels in the home design (affects older buyers in particular).
- Bedrooms on lower level (many families with little kids prefer bedrooms on the same level as the master).
- Insufficient storage or number of bathrooms.
- Proximity to highway and road noise.
- Adjacent property or area not well kept or land cluttered with visual issues.
- Older or dated home condition requires significant amount of updating and renovation.
- Dark interior décor, finishing and colors.
- Home much too large and pricing out of reach for many of today’s buyer pool.
- Bungalows that are not walk-outs.
- Driving time too long to Calgary or towns or amenities.
- Too high pricing starting out.
- Unfinished basement height doesn’t allow lower level development
For acreages some other particular issues:
- Very low water well producing rates. (Of course with a cistern this can be managed but often the perception of a low well rate is hard to overcome with new acreage buyers).
- Not enough privacy around the property and lack of enticing views.
- Very steep hill road access and gravel road access.
- Lack of vegetation on the property.
- Wood basement (often gets an unnecessary bad rap) as people generally want a concrete foundation despite the fact well constructed wood basements have long life.
- Most of land unusable (e.g. mostly sloped or hilly). But still picturesque which is appealing.
I am not meaning to be discouraging with this list but just hoping to bring a little more objectivity to the process. Some buyers will still work around some of these issues but I am suggesting that the process may take longer these days and you may get tired and discouraged along the way with buyers taking their time and being more cautious. You are not alone, but as I stated at the beginning, when listing these days one must take a longer selling timeframe perspective (and if you sell fairly quickly, great as sales are still happening)! You must ensure your pricing is in a competitive range to other properties, present your property in the best light possible both clean and de-cluttered, staged if necessary and repairs made where you can. And be patient for the “right buyer” for your particular property.
© 2019 Wayne Chaulk