You’re trying to sell a Saint Louis MO house that just won’t sell?
And yet – the news says the St. Louis real estate market is healthy. The media is a mixed bag, some say houses are flying off of the shelf, others say we are in a balanced market, others talk about high inventory. So which is it?
The truth is that they are all true to an extent. St. Louis is a big city, consider it a collection of sub markets with different characteristics and traits, no two are the same, though some act similarly. While in demand houses go quickly and for over asking price in certain pockets of West County, certain submarkets in the city have plentiful inventory and longer days on the market.
So where’s your buyer and your offer?
These tips could be just what you need to help you sell your Saint Louis home.
Why won’t my house sell in Saint Louis? – 6 Tips To Cure It
1) Get good help.
They all say they know what they’re doing, but to get a real estate license all it takes is a 70% on an exam and not being a felon at the time of the application. I am kidding, sort of.
What I mean is that the barrier of entry for being an agent is really low. I see it time and time again, a house needing a complete remodel is priced at full retail value.
If you want great results, partner with the pros. Many agents will tell their clients whatever they want to hear to get the listing, hoping that they can make up for it later with “just a few price drops.”
Do you want to have your house for sale or do you want to sell your house? It is a serious question.
2) Don’t make too many improvements.
Too often I see over-improved properties and customized properties – those where the owners truly gone and made it their own. Even with the best of intentions, custom materials, hyper personalized colors, it’s incredibly challenging to exceed what the market is paying or to try and set a new design standard. Most buyers don’t want that, they just want to add their own touches to a neutral finished product.
3) Do make necessary improvements and repairs.
As-is properties scare off most buyers unless it is priced accordingly, and I mean accordingly. Too often I see an “as-is” or “fixer upper” advertised for maybe $10,000 off of the retail price. Eggs cost like $8 a carton, gas is close to $5 dollars a gallon, what do you think labor and materials cost on a remodeling project? It is much more than you think.
If you want to sell an as is sort of house, a good rule of thumb is to take the retail value, and price it at 70% of that.
Buyers want to see all of the little details fixed. Most buyers don’t want an “allowance” to fix things. They want to pay the right price for the right house, and move in.
Pro tip: get the house inspected by a professional home inspector, correct the deficiencies, and disclose all of it with receipts. This goes a long way towards establishing confidence that a buyer is making a good purchase.
4) Style and design matters.
What is on the outside matters as much as what is on the inside. You have a very short period of time to make a good first impression. Curb appeal is very important. Give prospective buyers a positive impression. Paint walls and trim that need to be painted, update the landscaping, keep the grass cut, keep the pool sparkling, and most of all – keep it all very clean. Consider hiring a professional stager to make the house as presentable as possible.
5) Pricing matters a lot.
There are three things that affect a house’s desirability: location, condition, and price. You can’t change the location, you can change the condition, and you can change the price. You can’t move most houses, so location is moot. So if your house is nice and ready to go, most likely you have a pricing issue. Buyers have choices, and sometimes it takes a long time on the market for sellers to figure that out.
6) Every property will sell – eventually………..
There’s no magic formula – but drop the price enough and it will sell, the question is how long will that take?
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If you need to sell a house near Saint Louis, I can help you. I buy Saint Louis MO houses.
I buy properties like yours from people who want to sell a house.