House not selling? 10 Reasons Why (and how to fix it)

so your house has been on the market for weeks
maybe months
and you’ve had very little showings and no offers
and you’re probably wondering why
what’s wrong what is going on
before you drop your price
let’s talk about some real reasons
why your home isn’t selling and how to fix them fast
hey there home sellers
welcome back my name is Kasha
and I’m an occupied home staging specialist
meaning I help homeowners just like you
who want to live in your house
while it’s on the market so let’s get into this one
maybe you are living into
in your home and you’ve put it on the market
and it’s been out there and you’re kind of wondering
well what is going on
why is it so slow why aren’t people coming to our house
just for the showings what’s wrong
so I have got 10 reasons why
and how you can fix them fast
so let’s get into this first one
and it’s a it’s
it a lot of common sense true
but it takes a little bit of effort
to get your house looking great
cause you may have thought
well it looks great
my friends and family come over all the time
they always make comments on how nice it is and yeah
but there’s certain things that you need to do
that gonna look different
when it comes time to staging your home to sell
so that’s what we’re gonna cover
so the first one it’s
it’s a doozy good
but I have to ask it have you decluttered your house
has it been cleaned are
you know are there dishes about
is there laundry about when you take those pictures
what do the pictures look like
is it showing the clutter
is it showing a mess yeah
and those are really important questions to ask
when you take those pictures
take a look at those see what the photographer took
and kind of go oh yeah
there’s probably something that I could have
and you’re probably thinking
well people can see beyond that
that’s not a problem well
yes and no so what I mean by that is
so yes
they can see it right
and they can get beyond it
but they’re probably thinking
well if you can’t even just tidy up the home
what else haven’t you taken care of
okay and one of my top videos is
the Top 15 things that turn off home buyers
I’ll leave that link in the show notes too
take a look at that one and you might be surprised
and going oh yeah
I kind of have those things
so yeah
so take a look at that have you decluttered and cleaned
number one
that’s the first thing that you need to take care of
when it comes time to showing off your home
okay and even then
after the pictures are taken for the showings
you didn’t leave a mess of laundry
or you maybe you were painting or something
and you didn’t leave that out
now I know again
some of you are saying poor people can get over that
yes and no they wanna see the final
finished product
they need to imagine themselves living in a home
not with a mess around them okay
they need to feel like oh
we can move in right now
that’s what you want them to think about
that’s the mood you want them in
and go yeah
let’s put an offer in let’s move in like
next week if we can you know what I mean
that’s what you want them talking about okay
so number two have you depersonalized your home
and some of you may I have a few things up
you’re probably thinking
but that just takes out the character
yes yes and no
okay so what I mean by personalization
taking out removing that
depersonalizing it our family photos
if you have large
canvas pieces of family photos on your wall
or maybe you have them framed real nice
maybe you have all sorts of your
maybe your grandkids in the little frames on the mantle
on the sofa table
on the kitchen counter in the dining room
yeah all of those need to go
all of them yes
I’m saying all of them
I’m saying this with all the love of my heart here
I’m trying to help you sell your house
and people don’t want to see who else lives in here
again
they’re trying to imagine themselves living in the home
not who’s currently living in it
okay so remove all the family photos
yes all of them
for the pictures for the showings
you don’t want them cause the other thing is
you don’t want other people to know who lives here
how many kids do you have
because those photos guess what
they’re online for a really long time
uh huh yeah
so just remove all those family photos
family things anything like that
okay so that’s the second thing
number three did you leave it like you live in it
you probably have your favorite chair
maybe it’s a lazy boy or something like that
in front of the TV and that’s the only thing and
and everything else is kind of just
pushed up against the wall
and it’s just yeah
front and center yeah
that’s not the focal point we wanna think about
when you’re in the living room
your lazy boy I’m sorry to say
is not gonna be the focal point
no I’m sorry
in the living room
the focal point should be the fireplace
if you have one or the view of the backyard
if you don’t have a fireplace
right something to get them to look in the room and go
wow this is a nice space
I can see our family fitting here
not just the one lazy boy chair in front of the TV
okay alright
I said enough alright
No.4 four
okay paint colors
are they loud are they bright
are they is there a red dining room
yeah those are colors that are totally
that probably your personality
and that’s perfectly fine cause that’s your personality
maybe you have a coral peach colored living room
cause that’s what you love
that’s not gonna work for buyers okay
and I’m not trying to bash your decorating style
has nothing to do with you
when it comes to marketing your home
you have to think as a buyer
and they want neutral colors
neutral things okay
yes some of them want some color
but not coral peach not a red dining room
okay not a bright yellow kit
um kitchen or a bedroom
yeah those are
some colors are loud bright
like neon green bedroom no
so take a look at the paint colors
if you do take a look
and see all the pictures that the photographer took
is there more than two paint colors in your house
when you put the picture side by side
is it like a red dining room
a beige living room a blue bathroom
a blue bedroom a green bedroom
yeah we got a rainbow color going on
we don’t want that okay
needs to be all cohesive all the self similar colors
not allowed bright colors
okay
uh No. 5
if you take a look at the outside of your home
is the lawn cut are the bushes trimmed
is there something kind of looking scraggly
maybe the sidewalk needs to be fixed
okay if you have maybe some stepping stones
maybe those need to be replaced
or maybe sometimes people have like
you know if you have an asphalt driveway
is it looking really bad or can you just kind of
you know not cock it
is not the right word seal it
seal it that’s the word
maybe look a little bit nicer than way it is right now
but take a look at the outside of your home
your curb appeal
if you stood out on the street and you looked at it
does it look nice does it look
you know not like
a nightmare on Elm Street type of thing going on here
where it’s scary to come to your house’cause
the weeds are tall
and that you can’t even tell where the front door is
yeah you don’t want that
that’s not what buyers are looking for
okay so make sure that the lawn is maintained
that it’s always
um freshly cut
that the bushes are trimmed
they’re not blocking any windows
you know that’s not what we’re trying to go for
so you’ve heard some of my um
home staging tips I do have a free home staging guide
that you can totally download for free
to get you started cause you’re probably wondering
Kasha what do I do
OK these tips are great
but what else
can I do so if you download this free guide
it’s called The How to Start Staging your house
now I do have 10 home staging tips in there
I show you exactly how to influence buyers
what are some home improvements that you can work on
that don’t cost an arm and a leg
and I’m not saying remodel a whole bathroom
that is not what I’m saying
in there but take a look
it is totally free you can download it
I’ll leave the link in the show notes
No.6 another thing
that the reason why your house is not selling
is it empty did you take out all the furniture
and all the accessories and everything
you may not know this but
empty houses actually take longer to sell
than staged homes ask me how I know
because I did this before I became a home stager
I actually tried to sell a house that was empty
oh
this was a couple years ago
it wasn’t um
in the fast paced market or anything like that
it was an average market it was in New Mexico
um it was near a military base
so you’d think with the military moving in and out
that that would not be a problem right
well this one
because the picture showed it as an empty house
buyers had a hard time figuring out well
how big what is that room
number one how big is it
number two can I fit
I have a sectional or I have a bunk bed or blah blah
insert piece of furniture here
they can’t tell how big the space is
cause it actually looks smaller than it really is
so if your house is empty
I highly encourage you to get some rental furniture
get that staged
I actually helped a house flipper one time um
actually several times um
with some rental furniture
couple years back this has been like hmm
5 or six years I don’t do vacant houses anymore
but what we did do is that his house was on the market
it was empty it sat on the market for two months
and then I brought in staging furniture
we
I had him retake the pictures with the furniture in it
and the accessories staged and ready to go
a week later he had a full price offer on the house
yeah so furniture does make a difference
and you may be thinking well
my furniture is not the greatest looking
it doesn’t have to be
it doesn’t have to be brand new either
as long as you can show off the space
kind of updated a little bit
maybe there’s some things that you can do
that will make it look better
your furniture well yes
sometimes it makes a difference
but there are things that you can do
to make it not stand out in a bad way
so that you can help sell your house
but an empty house
takes longer to sell than a staged house
okay so if it’s empty
take a look I also have a video
on some of the costs of staging an empty house
so you kind of have an idea of what that costs
uh number seven
um I kind of group this into another one is
is there a smell are there broken things
maybe you have brought some people in and they’re like
smells kind of musty kind of moldy
maybe there’s some broken
like lights or broken steps or broken screens
like maybe they’re ripped screens or something
it’s just not looking its best
that may be some of the things that some buyers may be
you know
kind of taken away from that they may be thinking
oh well
I don’t want to deal with that
I want to move in ready house now
there are some people in the market
that will be looking for a fixer upper
that’s perfectly fine but they’re gonna low ball you
and give you a lower price for the home
and you as the home seller
are gonna get offended believe me
when we had to sell our houses
there was one person that was trying to low ball us
we’re like we’re not even gonna respond to that offer
you can leave there’s the door
haha like
you know what I’m talking about right
if you’ve ever been that situation
yeah yeah
so take a look is there anything broken
is there a smell if there is a smell
go fix it right
maybe it’s something that
it’s the carpet that needs to be cleaned
okay that’s a fix for you uh
if it’s broken things
maybe you need to have a handyman come in
and come replace it right
but those are the types of things
that you want to get done and fixed
before you sell your house okay
uh No. 8 uh
are there different kinds of wallpaper in the rooms
or are the rooms like
all different colors talked about colors right
but wallpaper I had one client who was um
her house she rented out right
so she had two bathrooms um
in this house this is a decent size house
it had three bedrooms in there um
and then there’s a hall bathroom
and then the master bathroom
right the hall bathroom
the tile needed so it could be
you know the tile could stay
that was fine but the wallpaper really had to go
it had flowers on it it was just dated
those are the types of things that again take
get that handyman come in there
unless you’re gonna do it yourself
take down that wallpaper replace it
paint the wall a neutral color
that’ll help you with reselling your home
and selling your home and if you
especially if you’re you know
either flipping it or if you’re even
you know renting it out
maybe it’s a rental property for you
okay that wallpaper is dated
and those are the types of things
that buyers are gonna look at going oh
I could work live in this house
but you know maybe you can even get
offer more for that rental property
if you just take down the wallpaper
okay so something to think about
maybe it’s the handy man that does that for you
but definitely wallpaper is something that can
now there’s newer wallpaper that’s out now that’s nicer
but if that wallpaper has been up there since like
the 1980s 1990s
it is time for that to go
you do know that’s 30 40 years old
yeah that needs to go
I’m I’m just trying to help you
OK OK alright
point take
got it
um and then the last thing is maybe you’ve um
priced it higher than you should
okay um
this one I’ve taken to heart many times
when we’ve had to sell our houses
is that you do have to keep in mind the market
and what the market will bear
is your house overpriced okay
maybe you as a home seller like oh
I spent all this money you know
before when I bought it
I should be able to get X amount of dollars for it
maybe you should but the market won’t take it
won’t bear that amount
buyers will not give you that amount of money
we had that when we bought our house in Virginia
the seller wanted he thought it was worth like
not a million dollars or like um
in the area that you’re in
I could see that but because the house has
is older there were very few updates
the kitchen had to be updated
the windows had to be updated
basically every room I mean every
everything had good bones
but really
it was more of a 8 hundred thousand dollar house
so he had to swallow that pill and say okay yeah
yeah I’ll
I’ll sell it for that so yeah uh
that was back in the in the early 2
so just so you know
so things change in your areas
it depends on your town depends on the time of year too
the time the type of market you’re in
I know some of you are getting ready now
because it’s the holidays
and you’re thinking oh
we’re gonna do this in the spring
now is the time to start
getting these types of things changed
to get the right stuff done
get those handymen in get the whatever you need
electrician plumber
whoever to get all these things fixed and ready
and make your house show ready
so it doesn’t sit on the market for weeks and months
with no showings okay
so just a couple of things to keep in mind
I went through a couple of things in here
but I know the market is slow
my free guide gets you through starting on staging
okay um
but I also do have a home staging basics course
so
if you’re interested in learning how to do it yourself
reusing your things in your house
I go room by room living room
kitchen dining room
eating kitchen bedrooms bathrooms
laundry room mudroom
what else do I have in there
bonus rooms um
yeah and curb appeal
so yeah
there’s 12 pre recorded videos
that you can take a look at
I’ll leave the link in the show notes
I’m having a Black Friday sale coming up Monday
November 24th for only one day for that course at a low
low price so now’s the time to grab it
cause otherwise later it’s gonna be a whole lot more
so take a look at that if you’re interested
if that’s something that you have the time now
because it’s November
and you’re looking to sell it later in spring
you have the time now to go through those videos
watch them at your own pace
and implement the changes quickly
and yourself with your stuff
using your things okay
so I hope this giving you some ideas
and some helpful tips on staging your house
and getting it ready to sell
I hope you guys have a fantastic week
and we’ll talk to you later bye