As I always say, real estate purchase is one of the single biggest financial commitments people make in their lives. Whether you are buying or selling. It is a big deal and so it is imperative that whatever side of the divide you find yourself, you are doing things the Right way
So why are people not buying your property? You probably have invested a ton of money in building the property, marketing the property and the property itself looks very top notch in your eyes, but still..e no dey move
Here are some of the reasons they are not moving in the market
Nobody knows about your property
Obscurity is one of the biggest issues in real estate. Nobody knows about your property, you are marketing online but you aren’t targeting the right people, instead you are targeting broke people that won’t buy your property till thy kingdom come. You have not engaged realtors to help you sell your property etc.
Kindly note that there are many properties in the market and so it's easy for your property to dissolve like salt inside water in the red sea of property inventory.
Selling typically, is a numbers game and the more people know about your property, the higher your chances of selling them.
Recommendation
Market your property like your life depends on it (because it does). Use organic mediums such as word of mouth, phone calls, WhatsApp status, Facebook and Instagram as well as even Tiktok and YouTube.
Invest in sponsored/paid advertisement using detailed targeting as this will give you more reach
Engage top selling realtors and commit them with good commissions and incentives
Invest in Open houses and bring all your high net worth friends and realtors to the event. Even if they can’t buy, you can incentivize them so that they are motivated to tell someone about your property.
Your House looks stale or is getting stale
Sometimes we build houses that ultimately look like old houses when finished because of the time lag between construction commencement and completion. If you are not mindful of patterns in the market your new house will look old on completion so it is imperative to have a futuristic approach anytime you are building.
For instance you secure a house with triangular roofing while people have moved on to invisible roofing or maybe even the finishing in the house is mediocre. These issues drive the value of the house down and you may not make a lot on eventual sale
Another way your house can look stale is if the paints are wearing off or looking stale or stained. You need keep your house as fresh as possible with fresh painting so it is desirable to potential buyers
Recommendations
Build houses that are a bit futuristic taking into cognizance new features in your market especially in the finishing of the house
Touch up your house with fine painting when paint starts to wear out
Consider reviewing your pricing to make it more competitive
Employ strategies stated in the first point
You built the wrong type of house
This one is quite tricky. People ask what is a wrong house, house na house last last. But indeed there are houses that are wrong because they are not in demand in the location that they are built and not because the house was built poorly.
For instance, you go into an estate where what is majorly built there are semi and fully detached duplexes, but instead you go and build flats or terraces. Now I am not saying that it is wrong to be different but it may be a big risk which you may pay dearly for. Which is that your property may stay very long in the market or off takers may not meet the asking price of your house because they prefer the status quo and so drag you in a price war.
I am not saying that if you go against the tide, it's a 100% failure, in the end it's possible that there is a demand for the house you built , you just need to invest in market research.
Sometimes it's best to do as the Romans do and copy what works instead of trying to stand out from the crowd. What you want to achieve eventually is to sell off your house and cash out.
Recommendation
Look for more creative ways to market your property probably investing in professional videos
Engage high selling realtors to assist in your selling
Consider doing Open Houses
Your house is not just good enough
This may sound a bit harsh, but sometimes the house we build or houses we buy and want to resell are not just good enough. It could be that the house was built with weak materials, the building work was contracted to a newbie or unprofessional company, finishing was poor, cost was was cut down so much that it affected the outcome of the house, rooms are very small, compound is tacky and choking, no park space, kitchen is too small, foundation is weak, the house is sinking etc
There are many indicators of poor homes and all the above makes the house a tough sell. It’s better to avoid buying or building a bad house from the get-go to avoid paying expensively to remedy it.
Recommendation
Consider upgrading some of the finishing of the house and adjust your pricing accordingly.
Repainting your house even to a different colour or a fresh colour may help to increase its perceived value and drive sales
Be creative in your marketing
Look for alternative uses for the house if it's staying too long in the market. Eg consider residential renting or shortlet or even renting the house as an office space
For a sinking home, you may want to cut your losses, demolish the home and start afresh or use commercially only in dry season or sell the house with the land
Your house has no USP
USP means Unique Selling Proposition. Sometimes when this is not clearly spelt out we can hardly target the right buyers of your property. The USP of the property is that special feature that differentiate the house from other houses. For instance, smart home, luxury home, green home or a combination of the above features. A USP could even be fine home
Buyers these days want their homes to be trending in any of the above categories and it's good to give the market what it wants to increase your chances of selling.
Recommendation
Consider upgrading your house but review your price point to ensure you are still profitable
Engage in creative marketing employing both traditional and digital marketing.
6. The Market is slow (Economic Recession)
Sometimes property doesn't sell quickly in the market because a recession is looming or there is a bit of uncertainty in the economy which is not an uncommon feature in a country like Nigeria where insecurity, inflation, lock down, election amongst other things. Guess what, you still have to keep marketing your house and keep your house looking clean and tidy just in case there are any emergency inspections.
Utilise digital platforms to market your property even when there is no movement, invest in technology such as virtual reality so that people may inspect your house from the comfort of your home. Even though your house stays in the market, it’s okay to wait it out. The last lockdown brought about a spike in property prices. Maybe that delay may be a blessing eventually.
Wrapping it up
In the end of this all, we have to do one or more tweaks to make our property appealing to potential buyers.
However after upgrading our property and doing all the necessary things to ensure our property is sellable, we still have to market the property in order to get value for our investment.
A bit of both traditional and digital marketing strategies is necessary to ensure the property does not stay long in the market.
Follow us me on Instagram by clicking through
Get more educative content on my YouTube