When selling an apartment, every owner expects to be able to sell the property as quickly as possible and at the desired price. However, this is not always the case. With the wrong approach to the sale of housing offer can "hang" and not sold for months. The reasons may be different - from an inflated price to the poor condition of the living space and problems with documents.
Let's consider how long an apartment should ideally be sold, which real estate options are difficult to sell, as well as what can be the reasons for a long sale and what to do to find a buyer.
How long it takes to sell an apartment on average
Even provided that the real estate market of Ukraine now has an excess of offers, it is quite realistic to sell an apartment relatively quickly. The optimal period is considered to be 1-2 months. Highly liquid objects can be bought in 1-2 weeks.
If the property could not be sold within 2-3 months, it is a reason to think about what is wrong with the apartment, the seller's expectations or the advertisement? Even for an apartment with low liquidity, this is quite a long time. If you correct the mistake, you can significantly increase your chances of selling your home.
Which apartments are difficult to sell
There are properties that take months or even years to sell. Such apartments can be divided into three main categories:
- illiquid housing - too big or, on the contrary, too small, with an unfortunate layout, with a bad location or disadvantaged neighbors, in a very old house;
- overpriced property - owners who have not analyzed the market and put the price as they want, can sell their property for a long time;
- problem properties - apartments with a bad legal history, for example, those where the owners cannot agree, there are encumbrances in the form of arrests, there are minor owners whose parents are divorced, etc.
Most often such offers buyers bypass. Given that the market is full of good options, it is quite realistic to find a liquid object at a favorable price and with normal documents, so few people will want to deal with apartments from the above list.
Common reasons why an apartment takes a long time to sell
When an apartment is not sold, there may be several reasons or just one. Therefore, when selling real estate on your own, it is important to try to analyze the situation and find out what the snag may be - an overpriced price, lack of cosmetic repairs and basic cleaning, improper promotion or something else.
Incorrectly set price
Often sellers make the same mistake - they set the price of an apartment based on their personal desires rather than on the market. Before setting the price of housing, you need to analyze similar objects, demand and other factors.
The value of the property should not be overpriced or underpriced, as the latter also makes buyers wary: they may think that there is "something wrong" with the apartment if it is sold so cheaply. Ideally, if the price corresponds to the average on the market. But fluctuations of plus or minus 10-15% of the market average are allowed.
Poor location of the house
The location of the house also affects the interest of buyers to the object. If the dwelling is located in a remote area, which is not distinguished by convenient transportation, it can be sold for a really long time. If there are no infrastructure facilities nearby, it will also further reduce the interest of potential customers.
Unattractive appearance
Many buyers want to buy an apartment in a residential condition, in which you can immediately move in and live. If the property requires serious repairs, this immediately eliminates a large number of customers.
The reason for the lack of demand can also be simply unattractive appearance of housing. If it has not been cleaned, the old furniture and belongings of the owners have not been removed, the rooms have not been ventilated before the visit, this can also stop buyers. Moreover, if the rooms are photographed in an unsightly form, then buyers will be repulsed by this already at the initial stage, that is, on viewing the ad.
Ineffective ad
Any apartment needs proper presentation. With a well thought out presentation, even an illiquid apartment can be sold quite quickly. Bad photos and poor description will definitely ruin the presentation.
It is also important to think about promotion so as to get a sufficient number of views of the object, as the conversion rate in real estate sales is about 20%. To close a deal, you need to process at least 25 calls from potential buyers and conduct at least 5 viewings. If the ad is placed on unpopular sites, it is a bad marketing strategy.
Illiquid object
If an apartment takes a long time to sell, the reason may be that it simply does not meet the current demand in the market. This happens with properties that are too large or have an inconvenient layout.
Expensive real estate, which not everyone can afford, will also wait longer for a buyer. Such apartments are usually sold for 6 months or longer.
What to do to speed up the sale of an apartment
Having analyzed your offer and discovered the reasons why an apartment may not sell, you need to correct them. Common problems such as incorrect pricing and ineffective promotion can be solved quickly.
Determining the price
To understand what price to set for the apartment, you need to research the market, look at prices for similar objects, take into account the advantages of specifically your living space. It is important to evaluate the property as objectively as possible in terms of convenience of location, condition, compliance with market requirements. If the apartment loses out on these parameters to similar objects, the price will have to be reduced. But it is better to entrust real estate valuation to professional realtors.
Work on promotion
To advertise an apartment for sale, attracted users of the sites where it will be placed, it is important to pay attention to the photos, title and description of the object.
Make attractive photos will not work if the apartment is not brought in a neat look. This may require minimal cosmetic repairs, although in most cases a good cleaning will suffice. It is also important to remove old furniture, junk and personal belongings of the owners from the apartment. It is best to take photos in the daytime with good lighting and be sure to photograph all rooms without exception.
The headline should contain the main information and an important advantage. It can be price, location or other advantages of the object. The description should not be too short and give comprehensive information to buyers. It is also appropriate to mention the "highlights" of the apartment: a beautiful view from the window, the presence of a dressing room, insulated walls, individual heating, etc.
Professional help
If the reasons are eliminated, but the apartment is still not sold, it may be that in fact the problem has not gone anywhere. It is quite difficult to sell real estate on your own, as the average seller does not know the market, is not oriented in prices, is not aware of the peculiarities of promotion and subtleties of pre-sale preparation of the object.
A professional realtor will help evaluate the object comprehensively: analyze similar objects and the market and set the price, check if everything is in order with the documents, suggest how to improve the appearance of housing, think about an effective marketing strategy. An integrated approach is used and realtors real estate agency "Mayak". What is important, the agent will take on himself and all the worries of conducting viewings to present the object from the favorable side for buyers.
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